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Members and friends of the nonprofit Florida Lighthouse Association (FLA) will celebrate the organization’s 20th Anniversary this October 21-22 at the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse in Ponce Inlet Florida.
As with many nonprofit organizations, the FLA started small, with only 26 people attending its first meeting in 1996 at the Key Biscayne Community Church in Key Biscayne, Florida where their goals were laid out to create a statewide organization that would promote Florida’s lighthouses through preservation, education, and management of the state’s historic lighthouses. Upon incorporation, their first officers were Ann Caneer, President; Rick Schulze, Vice-President; Arnold Shore, Secretary; Kathy Fleming, Treasurer; with Board of Directors members Joseph Paris, George Blanck, Larry McSparren, Hibbard Casselberry, and Richard Johnson. Thomas W. Taylor was appointed as the Registered Agent. Many of these people continue their work to this day and have been joined by new generations of volunteers.
One of their first projects was to get a specialty lighthouse license plate to raise awareness and funds for the preservation of Florida’s lighthouses. It took them a long ten years, but their goal was accomplished on May 28, 2008 when Florida’s governor signed the legislation for the “Visit Our Lights” license plates.
Today the all-volunteer FLA supports Florida lighthouse groups through a well-defined and highly successful grant program, many of which are often used to secure matching funds, thereby multiplying the efforts of FLA.
We congratulate the volunteers of the Florida Lighthouse Association on reaching this milestone of 20 years, and we wish them continued success for the next 20 years. To learn more about FLA, you can visit their web site at www.floridalighthouses.org.
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