Digest>Archives> Jan/Feb 2008

Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association

By Terry Pepper

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The Cheboygan River Front Range Lighthouse. GLLKA ...
Photo by: Terry Pepper

Originally a small and informal gathering of retired lighthouse keepers, their families and friends, the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association (GLLKA) was officially incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 1984, making it one of the nation’s longest lived lighthouse preservation groups. With a mission statement calling for “the preservation of lighthouses, the stories of those who kept them, and developing a new generation of preservationists”, the Association’s President Dick Moehl quickly realized the group needed to find a lighthouse to restore in order to fully live bring its mission to reality.

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GLLKA is working in partnership with St. James ...
Photo by: Terry Pepper

Finding the abandoned 1873 St. Helena Island lighthouse to be in deplorable condition, the group set its sights on adopting and restoring the abandoned relic. The Coast Guard had removed the lantern and most of the dwelling roof was missing. Vandals had broken into the structure, and had torn out the windows, doors, stairs, interior trim and anything else, which could be removed. After obtaining a license to restore the light station from the Coast Guard in 1984, the group immediately took the abandoned lighthouse under its wing. With the help of a stalwart group of dedicated volunteers, work began on clearing years of accumulated debris and brush and securing the station for eventual restoration.

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Michigan’s St. Helena Island lighthouse as it ...
Photo by: Dick Moehl

The lighthouse was listed on the National list of Historic places in 1988, and the following year the boys and parents of Boys Scout Troop 4 of Ann Arbor Michigan, began what would become an annual pilgrimage to St. Helena to assist with the restoration. After hearing of the groups’ success, numerous other youth groups, Church groups and Girls Scouts began lining-up to assist with the restoration.

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Everything that is transported to St. Helena ...
Photo by: Dick Moehl

Over the ensuing years, the entire lighthouse complex has been lovingly restored, including the installation of a new wood shingle roof, rebuilding of the boat house and assistant keepers dwelling, installation of new lantern and chimney, and the replacement of thousands of bricks in the tower. Perhaps most amazingly, all of the volunteers and materials have to be transferred to small inflatable boats to get to the station as a result of the shallow waters, which surrounds the island. Over the years, 21 Boy Scouts have successfully undertaken Eagle Scout Service Projects and Girl Scouts have earned 3 Gold and 5 Silver awards for their work on the island.

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Boy Scouts form a human chain to pass bricks from ...
Photo by: Dick Moehl

Talk about bringing the groups’ mission statement to life!

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St Helena Island Lighthouse as it appears today.
Photo by: Terry Pepper

With work at St. Helena Island progressing well, GLLKA entered into an agreement with the Hiawatha National Forest to assist with the restoration and preservation of the Round Island lighthouse near Mackinac Island. The group not only assisted with the restoration of the exterior of the station and its associated structures, but also purchased and installed the necessary equipment to register and relight the lighthouse as a private aid to navigation. The group successfully applied for ownership of the 1880 Cheboygan River Front Range lighthouse under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act in 2003, obtaining ownership of the station in 2004. After upgrading the living quarters, GLLKA volunteer keepers have opened the lighthouse to the public every weekend during the summer seasons, while simultaneously performing restoration and maintenance tasks. In 2005 the group obtained a Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program grant to conduct an engineering study of the structure, and recently submitted an application for a grant to undertake the restoration of the tower and lantern, which have suffered a longstanding water infiltration problem.

GLLKA is also working in partnership with St. James Township on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan in the restoration of the St. James lighthouse, which the township also obtained through the NHLPA in 2004. Current cooperative efforts include the administration of a grant through the MLAP to restore spalling brick on the exterior of the lighthouse tower, elimination of long-standing moisture problems and formulating plans for the complete restoration of the station. GLLKA also works to support other lighthouse groups throughout the Great Lakes and across the nation through involvement in the American Lighthouse Coordinating Committee, for which group Dick Moehl served as the Committee’s first President, the Michigan Lighthouse Alliance and numerous other affiliations. Over the past two years, GLLKA even lent a hand in the restoration of the Sandy Neck Lighthouse in Massachusetts by allowing that group to use patterns made for the restoration of the St. Helena lantern in casting new lantern components for the east coast lighthouse.

GLLKA members are spread throughout the USA and Canada, and keep track of the Association’s accomplishments through a quarterly 42 to 56 page newsmagazine “The Beacon,” which not only covers the group’s numerous accomplishments, but also includes news articles on lighthouses throughout the Great Lakes and rich articles on Great Lakes lighthouse history by noted Great Lakes lighthouse historians. As a key component in fundraising for its restoration efforts, the group narrates numerous lighthouse cruises throughout the Straits of Mackinac every summer, along with hosting events throughout the Great Lakes, which provide a unique combination of expert narration with the opportunity to experience many lighthouses which are normally difficult to see.

This story appeared in the Jan/Feb 2008 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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