Digest>Archives> February 2000

Keepers Korner

Tid-bits from the Tower

By Timothy Harrison

Comments?    

Preservation

The prices of U.S. Lighthouse Service artifacts have gone absolutely insane. E-Bay is the best place to find these items. I recently saw a brass Oil Measure Can of the U.S. Lighthouse Service, starting minimum bid was $2225.00. There were no bids on the item. I can see why, the price. However, there are plenty of private collectors that are willing to pay top price for lighthouse artifacts. I have no problem with this, it's the way of free enterprise. However, too many lighthouse artifacts are falling into the hands of private collectors and will never be displayed for all to view and enjoy. Most non profit groups cannot afford to purchase lighthouse artifacts with these skyrocketing prices. If anyone has a lighthouse artifact from the U.S. Lighthouse Service or the U.S. Lighthouse Establishment, you can make a tax deductible donation of the item to the American Lighthouse Foundation, P.O. Box 889, Wells, Maine 04090 or email me with the information at Timh@lhdigest.com. The Foundation will make sure the artifact is properly displayed for all to see, and if you want, will even make a sign that says the item was donated by you or in the memory of a loved one.

We are interested in obtaining a photograph of the lighthouse lens at Eaton's Neck on Long Island, RI. If anyone has one that they could share with us, we would appreciate hearing from you. Send to - Editor, Lighthouse Digest, P.O. Box 1690, Wells, Maine 04090

Christopher West is trying to get a group together to save Michigan's remote Waugoshance Lighthouse. He is taking on a project that although, not impossible, may be improbable. All it would take is lots of money, and the money is spread out pretty thin for lighthouse restoration projects. If you are interested in helping him or joining his efforts, you can contact him at Christopher West, 1828 Wilkinson, Marquette, MI 49855 or call him at 906-226-3673.

New Jersey's Tinicum Rear Range Lighthouse in Paulsboro, is scheduled for some restoration work in March of this year. The U.S. Coast Guard plans to strip and repaint the tower and make other necessary repairs. Estimated cost of the project is $159,000.

HELP! We are in need of some good, clear, close-up photographs of the Five Mile Crib in Lake Erie, Cleveland, Ohio taken prior to 1990 and some after 1990. If any of our readers can help us out, please send to Editor, Lighthouse Digest, P.O. Box 1690, Wells, Maine 04090. We need the photographs for a future story.

Something a Little Different

A couple of years ago Kleenex came out with a lighthouse tissue box. Now, Scotties tissues has also come out with a decorative tissue box that features a lighthouse scene. You might want to hunt for it at your grocery store.

Check It Out!

If you're a fan of D. Morgan then you might be interested in the new D. Morgan Lighthouse checks. They're available from Checks Unlimited by Current as Item # 114-Song of the Sea, at P.O. Box 35630, Colorado Springs, CO 80935 or by calling 1-800-565-8332 or on line at www.currentchecks.com.

Speaking of checks, Designer Checks, Inc. has a series of lighthouse checks from the paintings of Donna Elias called Lighthouses Sea Chart Collection. You can contact them at Designer Checks, P.O. Box 9222, Anniston, AL 36202-9222

And, of course, there are the Bev Schreiber lighthouse checks. Bev donates part of the profits from all checks sold to the American Lighthouse Foundation. Order forms can be obtained from The American Lighthouse Foundation, P.O. Box 889, Wells, Maine 04090.

There are also the lighthouse checks that are advertised in this issue of Lighthouse Digest. So as you can see, there are plenty of designs to choose from for a lighthouse check. Please don't ask which one is my favorite. I like them all.

In the News

Maine's Cape Neddick (Nubble) Lighthouse really made the big time in mid December. It was featured, in full color, on the front page of the Sunday edition of the New York Times, one of the largest circulated newspapers in America. There are was no story, simply the headline, "All is Calm, All is Bright" with the caption, "On the coast of Maine, the 120-year-old Cape Neddick Light Station, known as Nubble Light, welcomes the holiday season with some extra illumination delineating its buildings atop a rock promontory." We figure that photo should draw an additional few thousand more people to plan on a visit to Maine and the lighthouse.

The Lighthouse Stamp Society now has a web page. You can visit it at -http://www.lighthousestampsociety.homepage.com

Have you seen the new Ford Motor Excursions/No Boundaries magazine advertisement? It features a beautiful color picture of Maine's Marshall Point Lighthouse. Even Ford Motor is into lighthouses. Now, if we could only get them to donate some money to the American Lighthouse Foundation for lighthouse preservation and restoration.

A rare right whale was recently spotted in the waters off Casco Bay, Maine. Three hours after it was spotted and escorted around by the Coast Guard it swam past Portland Head Light and back out to sea. The whale was escorted by the Coast Guard because right whales have a tendency to swim close to the surface and many have been killed by boats. Experts believe the whales are nearly extinct with only about 300 left.

Alice Hillary is a volunteer member of the Tinicum Rear Range Lighthouse Society. However, she is also a dedicated employee of the McGraw-Hill Companies. Her employer has awarded her a $1000.00 gift for her volunteer work. The award will be given to the lighthouse in her name. We'd like to see more companies give awards for volunteer work. If you know of any businesses where the money was awarded to a lighthouse, let us know.

This story appeared in the February 2000 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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