Federal Money for Lighthouses
Two United States Senators, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, both from Michigan, have introduced legislation to create a competitive grant program that will help pay for the preservation and rehabilitation of historic lighthouses. This will help fill in a void, left by the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act that allowed other government agencies and nonprofits to obtain ownership of lighthouses, but provided no money to help them out. If this legislation passes, it might make those nonprofits and communities who decided not to apply for a lighthouse because of a fear of raising funds, look a little foolish, especially if their local lighthouse was sold at auction to a private owner. The proposed pilot program would distribute $20 million a year for three years..

Flying Santa
Over the years the amazing stories of the Flying Santa who dropped Christmas packages to lighthouse keepers at New England’s lighthouses have been widely reported on and publicized. The most famous of those were Bill Wincapaw and Edward Rowe Snow. However, very few have ever heard of the visits by Santa Claus to the remote lighthouses in Canada’s British Columbia. You can now learn the story of one such 1960’s visit in the December issue of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. If you are not yet a subscriber you can do so at www.LighthouseDigest.net or by calling 1-800-668-7737 and ask to have your subscription start with the December 2008 issue.

Southeast Light to be Renovated
It’s been quite a few years since Block Island Rhode Island’s Lighthouse was saved from toppling over the bluff, but now the money is in place to restore the interior of the keeper’s house. The delay was caused by disagreement as to how the money raised should be spent.

Other Government Lighthouses
Most people seem to think that only the old United States Lighthouse Service built lighthouses in the United States. But, there was another government agency that built one or more lighthouses for a similar yet different purpose. The story of history rediscovered will appear in the print only edition of the December issue of Lighthouse Digest magazine. To subscribe go to www.LighthouseDigest.net or call 1-800-668-7737 and ask to have your subscription start with the December issue.

Colossus of Rhodes to be Rebuilt
Plans are underway to build a replica of the Colossus of Rhodes, a lighthouse that was on Sidon’s list of the Seven Wonders of the World that was compiled some 2,137 years ago. The original Colossus of Rhodes is believed to have stood approximately 120 feet high standing on a 25-foot high white marble base. Built on the Greek island of Rhodes it was destroyed by an earthquake in 226 BC and its remains laid on the ground for hundreds of years before being carted off. Plans for the replica are not yet finalized, but they call for the new Colossus of Rhodes to be taller than the original, anywhere from 200 to 300 feet high.

Lighthouse Group Suffers Financial Loss
During the heavy rains from Hurricane Hannah that struck Maine this past fall one of the new boats donated to Little River Lighthouse sank causing $2,300 in damage. On a technicality the insurance company has declined to pay for the claim, of which $2,000 would have been covered. The volunteers are asking lighthouse aficionados to help them recoup the cost by making a much-needed donation to the group at Friends of Little River Lighthouse, P.O. Box 671, East Machias, Maine 04630 or on-line at their web site at www.LittleRiverLight.org.

New Owner for Whaleback Lighthouse
The federal government has awarded ownership of the historic Whaleback Lighthouse, which sits surrounded by water on the Maine and New Hampshire border, to the American Lighthouse Foundation. The lighthouse was automated in 1963 and there is no keeper’s house at the structure. The lighthouse will be managed by the Friends of Portsmouth Harbour Lighthouse, which is a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation.

A Story Behind the Products
As you browse through the pages of the Lighthouse Depot catalog there is a real story behind many of the products. Some examples can be found in the Harbour Lights replicas such as:

Bishop & Clerks Lighthouse where the shortest lighthouse keeper in history served.

Avery Point Lighthouse, which is the only lighthouse built specifically as a memorial to the lighthouse keepers of yesteryear.

The beautiful Braddock Point Lighthouse that was built using some of the materials from the Cleveland Main Lighthouse in Ohio.

Waukegan Harbor Lighthouse that resembled Holland’s Big Red Lighthouse, except it was white.

Tucker’s Island Lighthouse that slipped away into the sea to be lost forever, but is now featured on a New Jersey license plate.

Alpena Lighthouse located in the city that hosts the annual Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival, which is the largest lighthouse festival in the United States.

Long Beach Bar Lighthouse that rose from the ashes.

Nauset Beach Lighthouse that was once one of the original twin lights of Chatham on Cape Cod.

The Cape Canaveral Lighthouse witnessed America’s space program from the very beginning.

Sandy Hook Lighthouse, which is the oldest standing lighthouse in the United States.

Other items that come to mind are the U. S. Lighthouse Service polar fleece jacket, the U.S. Lighthouse Service cap and the Lighthouse Service Mate’s jacket , all which are attractive items by today’s standards and would most likely be worn today by the lighthouse keepers. When wearing these items you continue to show your love of history and honor the people who served so faithfully.

Last Month’s Trivia Questions and Answers

1. I traveled by lighthouse tender to many lighthouses and visited with the lighthouse keepers and their families to bring the gospel to them. As well as visiting with many of the lighthouse keepers, I corresponded with hundreds of them. I wrote a number of articles about lighthouse life and the life of the crews on the lighthouse tenders on the high seas. I would often assist lighthouse keepers who had suffered a financial hardship and I lobbied Congress for higher pay for lighthouse keepers. The newspapers gave me a nickname that I became known as, more in my retirement, than in my years of work. Although I loved New England, I spent my retirement years in Michigan. What is my name? Answer: Rev. W.H. “Grandpa” Law who was known as the Sky Pilot to the Lighthousemen. Unfortunately there were no correct answers submitted.
   
   
2. As a lighthouse keeper, I always wore a long dress. My claim to fame started when a reporter took a photograph of me in my long dress as I climbed the exterior ladder up to the first platform of the lighthouse where I became the keeper after my husband’s death. What is my name and what was the name of the Empire State lighthouse where I served? Answer: Kate Walker of the Robbins Reef Lighthouse in New York. Unfortunately there were no correct answers submitted.
   
   
3. As a young man, I loved the adventure of the high seas. I traveled with Commodore Mathew Perry on his 1853 expedition to Japan. Some historians say I was one of the first westerners to spend the night on Japanese soil. However, I eventually settled down to be a lighthouse keeper and served for nearly 20 years at one lighthouse where I thoroughly enjoyed my family life on land. What is my name and which New England lighthouse did I serve at?Answer: John Buckridge of the Lynde Point Lighthouse in Connecticut. Congratulations to George Maina of South Plainfield, NJ whose name was randomly selected from among the correct answers submitted. We have shipped George his prize of an autographed copy of the book Lighthouses of the Sunrise County that was written by Timothy Harrison, editor of Lighthouse Digest.
   

This Month’s Trivia Questions

1. As a Superintendent of one of the Districts of the United States Lighthouse Service, I got into a heated argument with President Franklin D. Roosevelt while trying to convince the president not to dissolve the Lighthouse Service and merge it into the Coast Guard. The president, while making his point, shook his fist at me. What was my name?
   
   
2. Before I assumed control of all of the lighthouses in the United States, I saved the original copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of United States from being burned by an enemy. What was my name?
   
   
3. I was once one of the most well known and one of the largest oil companies in the United States. For many years my company’s distinctive logo appeared on all crates of kerosene shipped to the United States Lighthouse Service for use in lighting the lamps for the lenses in nearly all U. S. lighthouses. What was the name of my company?
   

Light Up Your Christmas and the New Year
Christmas will be here sooner than you think and Lighthouse Depot offers a wide variety of gift items, plus there are many products on our web site that are not found in the catalog, such as a large selection of in-depth lighthouse history books, as well as colorful lighthouse coffee table books that all make for great gift giving for lighthouse enthusiasts, to the novice, or for children to help pique their interest in our maritime heritage. Have fun browsing our web site at www.LighthouseDepot.com and while you’re there be sure to check out our Clearance Central for special deals on discontinued items.

From all of us at Lighthouse Depot, we are sincerely thankful for your support over the years and we wish you a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving.

Lighthouse Depot, helping to save lighthouses, one gift at a time.

We support the efforts of The American Lighthouse Foundation. You can too!

Lighthouse Depot
P.O. Box 427
Wells, ME 04090
1-800-758-1444