Congrats and a Faux Lighthouse

First off, my wife and I have subscribed to the Lighthouse Digest since 2008 and love it. And the funny thing is, we learned about Lighthouse Digest from outside the country (well, barely), at a small restaurant on Canada’s Campobello Island, in New Brunswick on our way back from East Quoddy Lighthouse, (Head Harbour Light). I receive several publications, but this is the one I really look forward to the most. And happy 20th anniversary...an excellent milestone.

 I’ve attached an interesting photo to this email. I know that you have a nice collection of the weird, unusual, and very neat vintage photos. My wife Amy and I just got back from a lighthouse trip to the Chesapeake to visit/see several lighthouses. Along the way, we saw plenty of businesses with lighthouses on their signs; but this business took it to the next level, and they built the lighthouse into their building. When we saw this, we thought of you, and had to take a picture.  

It’s the Langley Federal Credit Union building in Hayes, VA.

Thanks again for a wonderful publication,

Kevin Albelli

Remembering a Family’s Beacon of Hope

My grandfather, Lee S. Liggan Jr., loved lighthouses and enjoyed reading all of the Lighthouse Digest issues that he received. I gave him a subscription to Lighthouse Digest every year for Christmas!  He passed away May 3, 2012 and I wrote a poem that embodied all of his many qualities, because he was the lighthouse of our family. Thanks for keeping as many lights on as you can in our lighthouses!

A Beacon of Hope

A light of hope in darkness,

When waves crash along the shore.

You were like a lighthouse,

Now in peace forevermore.

A guiding light, a beacon

You embodied all that is good and right.

And you always knew how to care for your family

Like a star guiding us through the night.

A strong unwavering presence,

You helped us to shelter life’s storms.

And you would always go out of your way

To make sure that we were all safe and warm.

A man well loved and respected

A husband, father, and then,

A grandfather turned great-grandfather

A new time begins.

A time for hugs and kisses

Of memories to share.

A time for remembering your life,

And how you will always be there.

You are always with us,

In spirit and memory.

And now you are in Heaven,

Sailing on the eternal sea.

Rachel Morris

Remembering and Honoring

I have been a long time subscriber to Lighthouse Digest, and can’t wait for each next issue. You folks are doing a great job informing us about lighthouses in general, and the problems they have.

My great great-grandfather, George William Stickney, was the first keeper of the two range lights in Newburyport Harbor, Massachusetts, from June 1873 until Oct. 1886 at the huge salary of $250. He is buried in the Stickney plot in Oak Hill Cemetery in Newburyport. When not tending lights he was a pump and block maker.

Both lights are still in place and much restoration has been made to both. I had a bronze plaque placed on the door of the front range light to recognize his term as keeper.

Edward C. Stickney

Newsletter Report

The following is from the front page of the Summer 2012 quarterly newsletter of the St. George Lighthouse Association and we thought it should be shared with our readers in this section of Lighthouse Digest.

Lighthouse Digest, the acclaimed periodical dedicated to covering the news and history of the world’s lighthouses, celebrated its 20th anniversary with its summer 2012 issue. To commemorate 20 years of advocating for the country’s lighthouses, editor and publisher Tim Harrison identified the “twenty most historically significant lighthouse events in the past twenty years.”

Included in the 20 events on the Lighthouse Digest list is the “Rebuilding of Cape St. George.” This is a very noteworthy recognition of our efforts.

Consider this: Lighthouse Digest, based out of East Machias, Maine, was a monthly magazine until 2011, when it became bi-monthly. That’s over 230 issues in 20 years. Each issue includes 10 or so feature articles about lighthouses worldwide – important stories about lighthouses destroyed, lighthouses saved, lighthouses sold, lighthouses named to the magazine’s “Doomsday List” -- and stories about the thousands of people who have played a role in lighthouse history. That’s 2300 stories. And of those 2300 stories, our story made the top 20!

Harrison says that two of the 20 events rank number one and two in importance: the Maine Lights Program, which concluded in 1998 with the transfer of 28 Maine lighthouses from Coast Guard ownership to non-profits or other government agencies; and the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000, based on the Maine Lights Program, by which Congress allowed non-profit organizations to gain ownership of U.S. lighthouses. These two events set the stage for private preservation of these national treasures.

The other 18 events, Harrison says, are all equally important. So we rank with the moving of North Carolina’s Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the founding of the American Lighthouse Foundation, the establishment of a National Lighthouse Museum, and the commemoration of lighthouses on American coins and stamps.

That’s pretty good company!

This story appeared in the Nov/Dec 2012 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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