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Telethon Raises Big Bucks
A weekend telethon on a local TV station on Canada’s Grand Manan Island raised a whopping $55,000 toward the restoration of its local 1860 Swallowtail Lighthouse. Those funds increased the money collected so far to $210,000 toward the $500,000 restoration amount that is urgently needed. (Photo by Ed Corey)
Will Barnegat Lightship be Saved?
The Camden, New Jersey County Board of Commissioners has agreed to purchase the seven-acre Pyne Point Marina and remove the many abandoned vessels that are there to turn it into a waterfront park. It is unclear at this time if they will be able to save the rusted-out Barnegat Lightship that has been sinking in the mud since it was purchased and brought there by the late Rodney Sadler who had hopes of restoring it, but was never able to secure the funding. The ship that is on the National Register of Historic Places has also been declared one of New Jersey’s most endangered historic properties. (2017 photo by Randy Hemstad)
Product Features Lighthouse
Lighthouse Digest subscriber John Grigg, from Minnesota, sent us these packages of SKIN TAC Wipes that feature a lighthouse on them. We wonder why the company chose to use the image of a lighthouse. We always love to see and acquire products with a lighthouse on them. Items like this also make unique collectibles for lighthouse aficionados, while helping to create an interest in lighthouses.
Vintage Sign Features Lighthouse
Lighthouse Digest subscriber Lori Harvey discovered this old sign on display at the Boone County Historical Society in Boone, Iowa. Interestingly, the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland, Maine has a vertical Blue Beacon Coal sign on display that was donated by Terry Harrison.
Scottish Lighthouse Leader Dies at 86
Former Scottish lighthouse keeper Jim Oliver, who was also one of the members of the driving force who founded the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses in Fraserburgh, Scotland, has died at the age of 86. Following in his father’s footsteps, Jim Oliver became a lighthouse keeper in 1966, serving as an assistant keeper at Eilean Glas, Isle of May, Maughold Head, and Cape Wrath lighthouses before being appointed head keeper at Pentland Skerries Lighthouse in 1985. From 1988 to 1991, he was the last keeper to serve at the famous Kinnaird Head Lighthouse when it was automated. He then worked tirelessly for the next four years to create and open the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses, where he served as the assistant manager until he retired in 2011. (Photo by DC Thomson)
Delaware Light For Sale
The Liston Range Front Lighthouse in Middletown, Delaware near Port Penn, is for sale for a whopping $1.2 million. Located on 4.7 beautiful acres on the Delaware River, the 3,781 square-foot structure has three bedrooms and 1½ baths. The lighthouse has been in private ownership since 1954 and it still has its 4th order Fresnel lens in the lantern. To learn more about this lighthouse, we refer you to the story “A Lighthouse Christmas at Liston Range Front Light” in the December 2005 issue of Lighthouse Digest. If you don’t have that back issue, you can read the story in the online archives at www.LighthouseDigest.com/archives. (Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)
Famous Lighthouse For Sale?
This rare 1978 Greyhound Bus travel poster was a real eye-catcher in its day. This original 28”x38” poster was seen for sale on Ebay. I missed out on the bidding, but would have loved to have gotten this for the Museum at Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth, Maine for display at the museum. It’s a neat collectible and unique slice of lighthouse history.
Chicago Harbor Light at Flower Show
This spectacular replica of the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse at the Lincoln Park Conservatory Spring Flower Show in Chicago, Illinois, is entitled “Cooler by the Lake.” Posing with the lighthouse are members of the board of the recently formed Friends of Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, who have embarked on a fund-raising effort in an attempt to save and restore the1893 lighthouse that has been suffering from neglect for years. (Facebook photo)
Scotland’s Lighthouse Workers Strike
In what is a world first, thirty employees of the Northern Lighthouse Board, which manages over 200 lighthouses and other aids to navigation in Scotland and the Isle of Man, voted recently to go on strike for higher wages. The Northern Lighthouse Board also operates two tenders, the NLV Pharos and the NLV Pole Star. (Little Ross Island Lighthouse in Scotland, Lighthouse Digest archives photo)
Engineering Award Given
The structural engineering team from Gartley and Dorsky Engineering and Surveying of Camden, Maine, was recently honored by Maine Preservation for their work on Maine’s Isle au Haut Lighthouse at a ceremony held on March 22nd at the Maine Maritime Museum. (Lighthouse Digest archives)
Earthquake Strikes West Quoddy Head Lighthouse
The U.S. Geological Survey reported that this past May 7th, a minor magnitude 2.0 earthquake shook the area near West Quoddy Head Lighthouse in Lubec, Maine. Fortunately, there were no reports of any damage.
Voted Most Beautiful
According to a survey taken by Boston.com, its readers chose Maine’s Portland Head Lighthouse as the most beautiful lighthouse of 20 lighthouses selected in all of the New England States. The other lighthouses, chosen in alphabetical order by state (not by vote-tallying order), were the following lighthouses in Massachusetts: Boston Harbor, Brant Point, Cape Ann, Eastern Point, Highland (Cape Cod), Nobska, Sandy Neck, and Scituate lights. Maine lighthouses chosen were: Little River, Nubble, Pemaquid Point, Portland Breakwater, and West Quoddy Head lights. The three lighthouses in Rhode Island that made the cut were: Block Island Southeast, Bristol Ferry, and Castle Hill lights. The only lighthouse in Connecticut that was included was the New London Ledge Lighthouse.
NELL Founding Member Dies
Leon R. Hall, Sr., a founding charter member of the New England Lighthouse Lovers (NELL), has passed away at the age of 71. For many years, Lee served as the vice-president of NELL, which has raised tens of thousands of dollars for lighthouse restoration projects throughout the New England states. Proud to call himself a “Cape Codder,” he travelled to lighthouses all over the United States to photograph and learn more about them. He is survived by his wife Judith; son, L. Russell Hall Jr.; daughter, Mallissa; and step-daughter, Danielle. Our condolences go out to his family and wide circle of friends.
Museum Gets Fresnel Lens
Florida’s Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Museum now has a 4th order Fresnel lens on display, thanks to the U.S. Coast Guard. At one point, for different brief times in its history, the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse did use a 4th order Fresnel lens. The lens is on long-term loan from the Coast Guard. (Courtesy Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Museum)
Lighthouse on Tombstone
We recently discovered this beautiful headstone with a lighthouse for Florise Marie (Colbeth) Bishop at the Hillside Cemetery in Bucks Harbor, Maine. Florise’s sister, Janice, was married to Coastguardsman Robert Cale Sr., who served as a lighthouse keeper at Maine’s Libby Island Lighthouse from 1949 to 1951, and Little River Lighthouse from 1951 to 1956. (Photo by Kathleen Finnegan)
Hillsboro to Get Makeover
Florida’s Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse in Pompano Beach, Florida, will soon be getting a $225,000 makeover that will bring back the original color scheme to the137-foot-tall tower. Currently, there are two black and three white sections, which will be reversed to three black and two white as when it was built. This may seem like a subtle change to some, but it will look slightly different. Also, included in the restoration will be new entrance and watch-room outer-gallery deck doors, replacement of exterior windows and all new inside electrical wiring. The work will take place over the next 12 months.
Remembering Statue of Liberty Keeper
Dana Kenn is shown here after placing a USLHS Memorial Marker on Memorial Day weekend at the gravesite of her great-grandfather, Charles N. Miller (1862-1933), who was an assistant keeper at the Statue of Liberty from 1889 to 1898. An official ceremony to honor keeper Miller is expected to be held this October at the cemetery. Reminder: If you have not replaced the flag at the gravesite of lighthouse keepers where you or your group have placed markers, it is never too late to do so.
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This story appeared in the
Jul/Aug 2023 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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