Digest>Archives> Sep/Oct 2011

Wickie's Wisdom

Saving History

By Timothy Harrison

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The Cleveland West Breakwater Lighthouse was once ...

A while back we joined the FACEBOOK community on the World Wide Web to help promote Lighthouse Digest and hopefully reach new people who might never have heard about us and might be interested in subscribing to our magazine.

Other than the few lighthouse groups around the nation that help us sell subscriptions to Lighthouse Digest and subsequently receive a donation back from us for their efforts, for the most part we have no real way to track where many of our new subscribers come from. Ever since joining FACEBOOK we have been unable to determine if it has helped us reach new people and new subscribers, or if it has even helped to get more people interested in lighthouses.

However, there is one thing that we have learned about being on FACEBOOK. People love beautiful photographs of lighthouses, even those who might not have an interest in lighthouses. However, what is disturbing is that when historic lighthouse photos or historical lighthouse information is posted on FACEBOOK, the number of comments and the number of “LIKE” key-clicks on those postings is well below those of the “pretty picture” postings.

I guess we should not find this surprising, especially since we are hearing more and more often from the mass media about the large numbers of people who know little about our nation’s history, and of many more who could care less.

That’s where you, our subscribers, can help us make a difference.

If you believe, as we do, that researching and reporting about what otherwise would be forgotten lighthouse history is important, you can tell others about us and encourage them to subscribe to Lighthouse Digest.

In the last issue of Lighthouse Digest you read about and saw historic photos that, without our efforts, most likely, would never have been published. In fact, most of these stories and images would not easily be found on the Internet, if at all. The same is true in this issue of Lighthouse Digest, especially the story and photos of life at Throggs Neck Lighthouse in New York, a vital slice of history that has now been told to the world and saved for future generations.

I have often said, “One can learn more about early American history by studying lighthouses than from any other single source.” That’s why each issue of Lighthouse Digest is packed with a variety of stories that all, in one way or another, relate to reporting and saving all things related to lighthouses and the history associated with them.

Lighthouse Digest does not receive grants or any type of federal or state support. Lighthouse Digest exists almost entirely on subscriptions to the magazine. Our mission is simple: to rediscover and report on lighthouse history, thereby saving it for future generations, and to promote the efforts of lighthouse preservation groups by drawing public attention to their efforts. If you believe in what we are doing, please tell others about us and encourage them to subscribe or purchase gift subscriptions for others. We can’t do it alone; we need your help.

Thanks for your support,

Timothy Harrison

Editor & Publisher

Lighthouse Digest

P.O. Box 250

East Machias, ME 04630

Editor@LighthouseDigest.com

This story appeared in the Sep/Oct 2011 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.

All contents copyright © 1995-2024 by Lighthouse Digest®, Inc. No story, photograph, or any other item on this website may be reprinted or reproduced without the express permission of Lighthouse Digest. For contact information, click here.


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