Lighthouse Ghosts, 13 bona fide apparitions standing watch over America's shores - is the title to a new book by Norma Elizabeth and Bruce Roberts. The book is scheduled to be released this fall in time for Halloween. Bruce Roberts, as most of you know, has co-authored many of the best selling lighthouse books of all time, and this one promises to be great. The retail price for the book has not yet been set, but we expect it to range between $9.95 and $12.95.

The U.S. Government has transferred ownership of Wisconsin's Wind Point Lighthouse to the Village of Wind Point for use as a historic monument. The lighthouse is one of 17 lighthouses on the Great Lakes currently being transferred to local communities or non profits.

The new video, Lighthouses of North America is well worth the $19.95 price tag. The 60 minute tape has good background music and excellent photography and features lighthouses from all over America.

The Sunday Star-Ledger, a New Jersey newspaper with a circulation of 710,650, conducted a readers poll on what should appear on the reverse side of the new "States Quarter". Guess what won? If you guessed a lighthouse you were right. Ol'Barney, more correctly known as Barnegat Lighthouse won. The vote was close, with Barnegat Light beating out Thomas Edison by only 13 votes. Now to see if New Jersey's government officials will listen.

Michael E. "Chris" Roy, 45, or Westport Island, Maine has died. Chris was a crew member of the Grand Banks Schooner Sherman Zwicker and a long time lover of lighthouses. He was co-caretaker of Maine's Ram Island Lighthouse and greeted hundreds of people that visited the island yearly. He will be missed.

Two new books by the famous duo of lighthouse authors will be released this June. Southeastern Lighthouses and Gulf Coast Lighthouses, by Bruce Roberts and Ray Jones will add to their ever expanding list of lighthouse books. Southeastern Lighthouses covers lighthouses from the Outer Banks to Cape Florida and Gulf Coast Lighthouses covers lighthouses from the Florida Keys to the Rio Grande.

In North Carolina you can now choose from four different background designs that you would like on your driver's license. They are Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, The Wright Brothers' plane, the Great Seal of North Carolina, or a silhouette of the state. According to an article in the Charlotte Observer newspaper in an interview with George Washington (yes, that's his real name) an examiner for the state, he said that 99% of the women choose Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and 99% of the men choose the Wright Brothers' airplane. Women interviewed at the examiners office said they picked the lighthouse because it was romantic, but on that day some men were also picking the lighthouse. Said one man, "I don't know why I picked the lighthouse, I guess I'm just different.

An article located recently from the Pontiac Daily Press (Michigan) dated June 27, 1939, had a headline that read simply, "U.S. Lighthouse Service Changed." The article went on to say, "The old and colorful lighthouse service passes out of existence as a separate unit of the government on July 1, and a general order from the treasury set up 13 districts for joint operation of the service and coast guard. This is in line with President Roosevelt's reorganization plan No. 2, consolidating the bureau of lighthouses in the commerce department and its functions with the coast guard in the treasury department. Rear Admiral R. R. Waesche, commandant of the coast guard, will assume direction of the lighthouse service, a position now held by H.D. King."

Scheduled for release this fall is a replica of the Edmund Fitzgerald from the studio of Cheryl Spencer Collin. Hopefully it will include the Whitefish Point Lighthouse. We don't know what her plans are. However if you have suggestions, you can write to her at 24 River Road, Eliot, Maine 03903.

Concerned citizens of De Tour Village and Drummond Island in the eastern upper peninsula of Michigan have banded together to save the De Tour Reef Lighthouse. They formed the De Tour Reef Lighthouse Preservation Society, a non profit group, to obtain the lighthouse from the Coast Guard which has declared the beacon as surplus property. Sometime in the near future, we will do an in-depth story on this lighthouse. If anyone knows of old photos of the original lighthouse, old newspaper stories, photo of keepers please contact us. To join the De Tour group, membership dues are $15 annually or $500 for a lifetime membership. Their address is P.O. Box 519, De Tour Village, MI 49725-0519.

The new Fisherman's Memorial Lighthouse at Lighthouse Park in Warrenton, OR, is now scheduled to be open to the public starting May 16. Tentative hours are 11am to 4pm daily.

James L. Webb is trying to find out what lighthouse his great grandfather was keeper at. He was John Elisha Bunker (born Elisha Bunker) on May 25, 1839, in Athens, Maine. For four years he worked on the Desdemona, a whaling vessel. He then became a seaman and joined the Navy. He married Hannah Maria Whittier on November 24, 1864, in Portland, Maine, after which he became a lighthouse keeper for a short time. It is believed he was a keeper in the Portland Maine area, although he could have also been stationed in the Boston area. If you can help Mr. Webb, please E-mail him at - spydr3@juno.com. If you do not have access to E-Mail write to Lighthouse Digest and we will E-mail your message to him.

The State of Maine Department of Tourism has finally realized the importance of the state's lighthouses. In new full color advertisements that are appearing around the country they are using lighthouses to lure visitors. One ad features a couple sitting on the rocks at Pemaquid Point Lighthouse admiring a beautiful sunrise with a headline that says "With 64 Lighthouses To Point The Way, You Won't Get Lost Along Our Coast. (Unless, Of Course, You Want To.) The other ad features a couple of kyackers paddling in front of the Cape Neddick-Nubble Lighthouse with a headline that reads, " 64 Lighthouses, 2,000 Islands, 5,000 Miles Of Coast. Zero Deadlines."

The Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association has received through legislative transfer a quitclaim deed to the St. Helena Light Station. The lighthouse which has been an ongoing restoration project of GLLKA is located in the western Straits of Mackinaw in northern Lake Michigan.

Faith Crandall Scott, 79, has passed away. She was the owner of New York's Barcelona Lighthouse which has actually been in her family's possession since it was purchased from the United States government on the late 1800's.

An article in The Beacon, the official publication of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association tells of a story which showed up on the Internet. It seems that someone has compiled a list of alien bases all over the world. The internet list claims there is an alien underwater weapons storage base in Lake Michigan near the Big Sable Lighthouse. We hope they got permission from the Big Sables Lighthouse Keepers Association before they constructed the base. Better yet, we would hope the aliens make a donation to the ongoing maintenance of the lighthouse.

Philadelphia's Independence Seaport Museum has a new series of programs and exhibits depicting the reality of pirates along the eastern seaboard. For more information on these events, call 215-925-5439.

We are always looking to purchase artifacts of the old United States Lighthouse Service (USLHS), or United States Lighthouse Establishment (USLHE). If anyone has any for sale, please send description or photo, along with the asking price to Timothy Harrison, Lighthouse Digest, P.O. Box 250, East Machias, ME 04630.

A 5 year old German shepherd mysteriously got himself hurt at Oregon's Yaquina Head Light. It seems the dog "Buddy" and his master when on a late rainy night walk by the lighthouse when the dog fell over a cliff in what is called the North Cove which is an approximate 80 foot slope then a 20 foot straight drop to the beach below. Fire Department rescue workers were called to the scene and could hear the dog barking below. After the search lights arrived, they decided the only way to rescue the dog was to tie people together with ropes and sort of slide over the side to rescue the dog. While they were waiting for additional rescue workers to arrive the dog suddenly appeared at one of the fire department trucks. Just how the 130 pound dog got back up the side of the slippery cliff is unknown. But he did, and even more amazing is that the dog was not injured. However, park officials are upset with the dog's owner, saying that none of this should have happened. The park gate was closed and locked for the night and the dog and master went around the fence and ignored the signs.

We have just received notice from the U.S. Trademark office that Lighthouse Digest has been approved as a registered trademark. This basically means that no other person, or business may use our name. Also approved as a registered trademark was "The World's Largest Lighthouse Gift and Collectibles Store."

Over the last several weeks "yours truly" has been on a number of radio station interviews across the United States. A heavy concentration was in Michigan, where I was interviewed by stations in Iron Mountain, Grand Haven, Saginaw, and Muskegon to name a few. Stations in North Carolina, Massachusetts and Delaware have also interviewed me, plus, a brief, but good, interview on Channel 13 TV out of Portland, Maine.

Speaking of media, The Learning Channel (TLC) a nationwide cable company, is making a documentary on Ghosts of Lighthouses. We know they plan to visit Maine's Seguin Island Lighthouse this spring. An exact air date has not yet been established.

The State Port Pilot Newspaper in Southport, North Carolina has changed the banner of their newspaper. Their new banner features an artist depiction of Bald Head Lighthouse and Oak Island Lighthouse designed by graphic artist Debi Coleman. Send them your congrats by E-mail to pilot@southport.net.

The Hingham Institute for Savings in Cohasset, MA, has donated $1000 to the proposed memorial honoring the two keepers who lost their lives when the first Minots Ledge Lighthouse collapsed into the sea. Estimated cost of the monument, which will stand on Government Island in Cohasset, will be $36,000.

Several people who are planning on attending the Door County Lighthouse Walk and other lighthouse events have written to ask about alternative housing other than motels. Many areas have hostels, cabins for rent, etc. Remember, when travelling to see lighthouses, if you have questions about an area, its motels, restaurants and other historic sites, the best place for information is the local Chamber of Commerce. Most towns of any size have one. Otherwise, contact the individual states Chamber of Commerce or Office of Tourism which are almost always located in the states capitol. If you have stayed at a particular place in a lighthouse area that you think is exceptional, send us the information. We might make up a list of recommended accommodations in the future.

The Boston Globe newspaper recently had an editorial where in they supported Hull, Massachusetts as the site for a National Lighthouse Museum. The ending of the editorial stated, and we quote, "Lighthouse enthusiasts are passionate and preserving by nature, and they will find their way to this museum, wherever it is built. But leaders of non profit lighthouse societies who serve on the selection committee should look beyond their committed memberships. The new national recreation area being planned for the Boston Harbor Islands, of which Hull is an important part, offers the museum the prospects of healthy visitorship, strong fund-raising and increased preservation efforts for America's lighthouses still endangered by neglect and erosion. If the selection committee plots cautiously in the maritime tradition, Hull's proposal will seem as inevitable as the tide."

A Japanese reader of Lighthouse Digest is looking for post cards or photographs of Coast Guard vessels, naval ships, passenger ships, merchant ships, ocean maps, etc. If any of our readers have anything extra that you would like to give him, you can write to him at: Mitsuhiro Kadota, 5-13 Ebara 5-chmpe, Shinagawa-ku Tokyo, 142-0063 Japan.

WANTED - information on Michigan's Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse. We are looking for old photographs of the lighthouse, old newspaper stories about it, recorded memories, and just about anything else for a story. We already have what little there is from the various lighthouse books, If you have anything, or know where we can find the information, please send it to, Editor, Lighthouse Digest, P.O. Box 250, East Machias, ME 04630 or E-Mail us at timh@lhdigest.com.

Carole Reilly, "The Lighthouse Lady" has published a beautiful set of seven Delaware Bay Lighthouse post cards. The cards include Brandywine Shoal, Fourteen Foot Bank, Miah Maull, Elbow of Cross, Cross Ledge, Ship John Shoal, and East Point Lighthouses. Most of these lighthouses are not published by other post card companies. The unique thing about these cards is that cards three through seven feature an insert photograph of how the lighthouse used to look like.

Florida's Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society has won their battle with the Coast Guard to keep their lens in the tower. The Coast Guard had originally said that the mechanism that allowed the lens to rotate, and broke back in 1992, would cost too much to fix and they would remove the Fresnel Lens from the tower. The group which gained letters of support from several local communities finally won their battle when the Coast Guard announced that the mechanism would be repaired and the lens would stay.

Frederick L. Leighton of Milford, MA has died at the age of 75 after a long illness. Mr. Leighton was born on Cranberry Island, Maine, son of the late Frederick S. & Evelyn Leighton. He spent much of his young life at Eastern Mark Island Lighthouse, where his grandfather was keeper, and later skippered excursion boats from Seal Island. He also served seven years in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II and received a Presidential award from President Truman. He was a member of the last crew of the Joseph Conrad, now a National Historic Landmark in Mystic, Connecticut.

California's Point Arena Lighthouse now stands alone against the skyline on its rocky point. The string of power lines that draped themselves from pole to pole have now been taken down and buried under the ground. This increases the scenic beauty to the station, as well as helping prevent power outages during storms.

The Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society is working hard on getting a Maryland Lighthouse license plate. They would like to see Thomas Point Lighthouse on a plate. The group has previously started a campaign to get a lighthouse on a Virginia license plate. Look for the April issue of Chesapeake Magazine for a story about their efforts.

Speaking of the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society, members of their group recently spent a day working on the restoration of the Fort Washington Lighthouse. This is a very active group and if you live in the Chesapeake Bay area we would recommend you join them. They do publish a nice news letter. Membership for individual is $10. per year; family, $15 per year; student, $5. per year and seniors, $5. per year. You can contact them at P.O. Box 1270, Annandale, VA 22003-1270.

This story appeared in the March 1998 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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