Digest>Archives> September 2005

Keeper's Korner

News and Notes from the Tower

By Timothy Harrison

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12th Annual Photo Contest

It’s time once again to get your photos together for the Lighthouse Digest Photo Contest. The categories this year are Best Daytime View, Best Lens Lighted and Foreign Lights. Prizes and complete rules will be in the October issue. Photo Contest 2005, Lighthouse Digest, P.O. Box 250, East Machias, ME 04630.

Avery Point Light Relighting Postponed

Due to unanticipated delays in the restoration construction, the relighting and re-dedication ceremony of the Avery Point Lighthouse, scheduled for September 24, 2005, has been postponed until the restoration work and installation of the dedication brick walkway are 100% complete. Once the work is completed and a new date for the ceremony is established, appropriate announcements will be made through the Avery Point website www.averypointlight.com and various media including Lighthouse Digest.

Battle Continues at Currituck

The ongoing battle between the ruthless Currituck County, North Carolina government officials and the nonprofit Outer Banks Conservationists may move to federal court. The county government has tried every possible move to seize the lighthouse from the nonprofit group that restored, saved and opened the lighthouse to the public. This is an ongoing battle and you can brush up on the previous stories about it on our website at www.LighthouseDigest.com. As far as I’m concerned, this is one of the biggest travesties of political power seen for many years by a county government, which is out of control and filled with greed. Why the U.S. attorney has never done anything to investigate these officials is beyond me.

Cape Enrage Gets New Owners

One of New Brunswick, Canada’s oldest lighthouses now has new owners. The Canadian government transferred ownership to Cape Enrage Adventures who will now maintain and care for the lighthouse.

Harrison Interviewed at Live Broadcast

Maine’s TV 6 early evening news was recently preempted for a special half hour broadcast on Maine’s lighthouses. The live program took place with Portland Head Light as the backdrop. Our editor was able to get some great PR for lighthouses, this magazine and the American Lighthouse Foundation. The broadcast also promoted and showed clips from the video, Lighthouses of Maine, A Journey Through Time.

Keeper Dies on Duty

Hendrik "Hennie" Swart, the lighthouse keeper at South Africa’s Dassen Island Lighthouse, died of a heart attack while on duty. A rescue helicopter sent to the island arrived too late for paramedics to save the 49-year-old lighthouse keeper who suffered a heart attack. South Africa still has a number of staffed stations. Swart was healthy and never experienced any medical problems in the past. He leaves behind his domestic partner Debbie Mitchell and three children.

Ken Black Honored Again

Ken Black, founder of the Maine Lighthouse Museum and known in many circles as "Mr. Lighthouse", recently served as Grand Marshall of the 58th Annual Lobster Festival Parade in Rockland, Maine. The Maine Lobster Festival is one of New England’s largest festivals.

Lighthouses Survive Hurricane

A number of Florida lighthouses suffered from a hurricane, but all have survived. Some of the paint was sandblasted off Crooked River Light; there was more water around Cape St. George; St. Marks Light lantern room suffered window and water damage; Boca Grande suffered lots of minor damage but none of it was threatening.

Lighthouses To Go Up for Auction

Since qualified applicants, under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, could not be found for a number of Virginia’s historic lighthouses, they will most likely soon be put out for public auction. They include Newport News Middle Ground Lighthouse, Thimble Shoal Lighthouse, Wolf Trap Lighthouse and Smith Point Lighthouse. The real shame is that many of our lighthouses may not be saved because Congress has failed to fully protect these historic structures.

New Gravestone

The Veterans Administration (VA) has replaced the missing gravestone of William Rowlinski who once served as the keeper at Florida’s Ponce Inlets Lighthouse. Since Rowlinski was a Civil War veteran, the VA was able to foot the cost of the stone, replacing the one that had disappeared. The new gravestone was dedicated at a ceremony at the Smyrna Cemetery in Edgewater.

Old Lady Gets a Makeover

Ladies’ Delight Lighthouse, on Maine’s Lake Cobbosseeconte, has received a new makeover. Although the lighthouse is made of stone, the old lantern room was made of wood and needed to be replaced. The new lantern room, made of aluminum, was recently installed to give the light a new lease on life. It is one of the few inland lighthouses left in Maine. The Cobbosseeconte Yacht Club paid for the restoration. To read past stories on the lighthouse, visit our website at www.LighthouseDigest.com

QVC at Portland Head Light

The popular QVC at home shopping network recently filmed a segment at Maine’s Portland Head Lighthouse. The segment was part of the channel’s Decade of Discoveries Tour.

This story appeared in the September 2005 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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