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Cape Cod Lighthouse Cruise offered
Boston Harbor Cruises is offering a special Cape Cod Maritime Week Special Lighthouse Cruise on Saturday, May 21 onboard the MV Salacia (a high speed catamaran). The cruise departs McMillan Wharf in Provincetown, MA and returns at approximately 3:30PM. You will view all the lighthouses of Cape Cod Bay including Race Point, Long Point and Wood End Lights, Sandy Neck Light at Barnstable, the 3 bridges over the canal, the Canal Coast Guard Station, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Cleveland Ledge Light in Buzzards Bay, Wings Neck Light, Gurnet Light and Duxbury Pier Light. The cruise is narrated -cash snack bar on board or bring you own snacks - Adults $55 PP, children $40 PP, FMI Call 1-617-227-4321 or go to www.bostonharborcruises.com
Looking for photos of Radio Direction Station
Lighthouse Digest is searching for old photographs of the Cape Elizabeth Radio Direction Finder Station in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. We are also looking for photos of the keepers of the station who were John A. Long, Robert N. Mellor, Thomas J. Carnevale, and Raymond Bradford. The station, located near Maine’s Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse, was operated by the United States Lighthouse Service. If any of our readers can help please email editor@LighthouseDigest.com or write to Editor, Lighthouse Digest, P.O. Box 68, Wells, ME 04090.
North American Lighthouse Festival to be revived
Preservationists are reviving the North American Lighthouse Festival to be held this August 19-21 in Mackinaw City, Michigan. The festival was not held in the last couple of years because of previous poor attendance. The new revived festival will be held at Conklin Park across the street from Traverse Bay Woolen Mills. Entertainment will be provided both evenings by Music on Mackinaw Foundation and Sheplers Mackinac Island Ferry will be adding lighthouse tours especially for the event. For more info call Chris West at 906-250-5097 or email him at chriswest@waugonshance.org.
Point Fermin to host flower show
California’s Point Fermin Lighthouse will host its First Annual Spring Garden Show at the lighthouse this May 14 and 15 from 10 AM to 4 PM each day. The event will feature garden and lighthouse tours, professional garden speakers, flower and garden vendors, children’s crafts, door prizes and food. The gardens around the historic lighthouse bloom all year long. The gardens were established at the Point Fermin Lighthouse back in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Admission fee is $5.00 for adults and $1.00 for children. The event benefits the lighthouse. Point Fermin Lighthouse and Museum is located in the Point Fermin Park at the end of Gaffey Street in San Pedro, CA. FMI call 310-241-0684.
Harbour Lights autograph signing
Lighthouse Depot will be hosting a joint Harbour Lights autograph signing on May 14 from 1 to 3 pm. Both Kim Andrews and Nancy Younger will be on hand to autograph Harbour Lights replicas. This is a great chance to met the mother/daughter team in person, get your photograph taken with them, met other lighthouse collectors, and have some good old fashioned fun. This will also be an opportunity to purchase a Harbour Lights Special Event replica of Fourteen Foot Bank Lighthouse #42677, which is only available for sale at an autograph signing. To order an autographed replica of Fourteen Foot Bank Light or any other Harbour Lights replica that you’d like to have autographed call toll free at 1-800-758-1444 or on line at www.LighthouseDepot.com
Tower Notes
The spring issue of Tower Notes, the official newsletter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, (ALF), is now available. If you are not a member of ALF and are interested in getting a copy of the current Tower Notes, they will send you one for a $10.00 donation to American Lighthouse Foundation, P.O. Box 889, Wells, Maine 04090. Also, if you join now and become a member, one will automatically be sent to you. You can join "on-line" at www.LighthouseFoundation.org or call them at 207-646-0245
Wisconsin Harbour Lights Collectors Club
The Wisconsin Lighthouse District Club is organizing a dinner on May 21 with collectors. If you are a Harbour Lights collector and are interested in joining this would be a good time to do so. Everyone is invited, contact Suzanne Murphy by email at wis.lightkeeper@verizon.net before May 1 to sign up and get information. As usual there will be drawings and gifts.
Cape Cod Maritime Days
This year’s Cape Cod Maritime Days will be May 14-22. Many of the Cape’s Lighthouses will be open throughout this time. For all the details go to www.capecodmaritimedays.com.
Lighthouse Preservation Group Hires Executive Director
The American Lighthouse Foundation, the nation’s leading lighthouse preservation organization, announced today the appointment of Bob Trapani, Jr. as its first Executive Director.
"We are honored that Bob accepted the position," said Tim Harrison, president of the nonprofit organization that is based out of Wells, Maine. "Bob brings years of leadership experience in building and managing nonprofit maritime organizations to our group," said Harrison.
The hiring of Trapani comes after a yearlong nationwide search by the group to find someone that who could become the first executive director of the 11-year-old organization.
The American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF) prides itself on what’s been accomplished with only volunteers since our founding in 1994," said Harrison. "We have helped save lighthouses all over the United States, we have created the largest archive of lighthouse history, and we have founded the Museum of Lighthouse History, which now has some of the rarest artifacts from the old United States Lighthouse Service and Coast Guard on display in the United States. However, it was now time to take our organization to the next level by making a commitment to the hiring of a full time executive director. We exist solely on donations, so this is a big step for us as well as a risk -- not only for us, but also for Bob and his family."
Trapani is currently the President of the Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation, a position he will leave on May 1st when he moves his family to Maine. He previously served as executive director of the Delaware Seashore Preservation Foundation, a steward of the 1876 Indian River Life-Saving Station.
Trapani said, "No organization has done more to save lighthouses than ALF, and that’s the primary reason I accepted their offer."
He went on to say, "Lighthouses will only be saved through a combination of hard work, education and a constant commitment to fundraising. The more money that the American Lighthouse Foundation can raise through education and public awareness for the plight of our lighthouses, the more bridges of achievement will be built for the future. ALF’s efforts saving numerous lighthouses from being lost, its effective stewardship of lighthouses through various chapters, its role as a national advocacy group, and its efforts to draw public attention through awareness and education makes it an honor to become the first executive director."
Along with the operation of the Museum of Lighthouse History in Wells, Maine, the American Lighthouse Foundation has 18 lighthouses directly under its care, with all but one in New England. Last year the group saved Prospect Harbor Lighthouse in Prospect Harbor, Maine, and has numerous other restoration projects underway.
To learn more about the American Lighthouse Foundation you can visit their web site at www.LighthouseFoundation.org or call them at 207-646-0245.
2005 Lake Superior Conference
Be a part of the Soo Locks 150th Anniversary Celebration. GLLKA’s 2005 Lake Superior Cruise will take place in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan on July 30. Transportation will be provided by the Soo Locks Boat Tour Company as we depart at 7am for an eight-hour cruise. After passing up-bound through the American locks, we will hug the beautiful Canadian shoreline of eastern Whitefish Bay to view Gros Cap Reef Light and head all the way out to Ile Parisienne Light. From there we will circle back to see Point Iroquois Light from just offshore. On the way back to the Soo we will view the ruins of Round Island Light, taking note of the old keeper’s house from the Cedar Point Range on the mainland behind the island. We will also see the Birch Point Range and Brush Point Range Lights, Pte. Aux Pins Main Light, the Pte. Aux Pins Range Lights, and pass down-bound through the Canadian lock before returning to our dock.
This Lake Superior trip is limited to 125 people. A U. P. - style continental breakfast (more than a donut and coffee) and a box lunch will be provided on the boat. Our host hotel for this event will be the Ramada Plaza/Ojibway Hotel located less than a block from the Soo Locks Visitors Center. Dinner will be provided at the hotel. Registration for this conference is $160 for members. Non-members will be charged $30 extra and receive a one-year GLLKA membership. A block of rooms is being held at the Ojibway Hotel for GLLKA at the group rate of $99. Call 1-800 654-2929 or 1-906-632-4100 to reserve your room.
For the last eleven years, these Lake Superior Conferences have been coordinated by Suzette Cooley-Sanborn and Jennifer Tregembo. Suzette retired as a coordinator last year and this year will mark Jennifer’s last conference. Come and meet the next generation of coordinators, Sally Frye and Glynne Ellen Van Dyke.
Lighthouse Spring Event
The American Lighthouse Foundation is hosting its annual spring event Saturday June 18 that includes a cruise aboard the Vista Jubilee out of Warren Rhode Island that will travel to 15 Rhode Island lighthouses. Cruise departs at 10 AM and returns at 3 PM. Included in the $35.00 ticket price is a full buffet lunch, lighthouse items for sale, raffle items and lots of fun. Cruise departs no matter what the weather. This is followed by an evening dinner meeting in nearby White’s in Westport, MA and breakfast meeting, both with raffle prizes and informative information and more fun. Dinner is $32 and breakfast is $20 per person. All proceeds befit lighthouse restoration. Purchase tickets for all three events for only $82.00. A block of rooms are reserved for the American Lighthouse Foundation at the Hampton Inn in Westport, MA (next door to White’s of Westport) for the event. To order your tickets call 207-646-0245 or FMI go to www.LighthouseFoundation.org.
Carole recovering
Carole Reilly the founder of the Delaware Bay Lighthouse Keepers & Friends Association is recovering after having a leg amputated. She is a wonderful lady who has done much to promote the history of the lighthouses in her area. Get well cards can be sent to Carol Reilly, 279 Mayflower Dr., Buena, NJ 08310.
Last Month’s Trivia Question & Answer
The building of the 110-foot Trinity Shoals Lighthouse 20 miles off the coast of Louisiana began in 1873. How long did it take to build the lighthouse or in what year was construction completed? The answer to this trick question is: Trinity Shoals Lighthouse was never completed. Construction stopped in 1873 because of weather conditions. At that time $90,000 had already been spend on its construction. Congratulations to Brent Westwood of Martinsville, VA, whose name was randomly picked from among the correct answer entries. We have sent Brent a Lighthouse “Footprints in the Sand” afghan as his prize.
This months Trivia Question
To squelch rumors of buried treasure, in the mid 1930’s, the government hired a man to spend a full year on this island to search for the treasure. What is the name of the lighthouse on the island? Send your answer along with your full name and mailing address to Dee@lhdigest.com. We will randomly pick one name from among the correct answers for a wonderful prize from Lighthouse Depot.
New Maine Lighthouse Museum to open
The new Maine Lighthouse Museum, formerly the Shore Village Museum in Rockland, Maine will officially open at its new location on June 25. However, this will only be phase one of the move and only some of the artifacts will be on display. Phase two will be ongoing. This is part of a $1.2 million dollar expansion for the new Gateway Center on Rockland’s waterfront. The artifacts are from the amazing and largest collection of Fresnel lens and other artifacts amassed by Ken Black, known to many as "Mr. Lighthouse." Look for the full story in the next issue of Lighthouse Digest magazine.
Yaquina Head Light to close
Yaquina Head Light in Newport, Oregon, will close in June and will remain closed for as much as six months while the station gets a much needed restoration. However, unfortunately, the powers that be at the Bureau of Land Management, have decided in their infinite wisdom, to replace the current colors on the lighthouse of spruce green and red to black, white and gray. They claim the new color scheme will be more historically accurate.
Restoration project slowed down
The restoration of Maine’s Little River Lighthouse has slowed down due to a lack of funds. Last year, the American Lighthouse Foundation, the nonprofit that is restoring the lighthouse, had to divert a large sum of money allocated to Little River Lighthouse to the nearby Prospect Harbor Lighthouse to save it from imminent collapse. ALF is hoping that the public will step forward with additional donations. To help complete the restoration of this historic station, your tax-deductible donation can be sent to the American Lighthouse Foundation, Little River Restoration, P.O. Box 889, Wells, ME 04090.
Helicopter tours to Boon Island
This summer, Lighthouse Depot will be sponsoring helicopter tours to Maine’s remote Boon Island Lighthouse. The tours will depart from the Sanford Airport in Sanford, Maine. Lighthouse Depot will donate part of the proceeds from each tour to the American Lighthouse Foundation for its efforts in preserving lighthouses and their history. Full details will soon be available.
Other tours
Lighthouse Depot also has a number of exciting bus tours this year to lighthouses in Maine, Nova Scotia, and elsewhere. For more information look for the full-page ad in Lighthouse Digest or on line at www.LighthouseDepot.com/Tours.
Mother’s Day
Don’t forget that it’s not too late to order a lighthouse gift from Lighthouse Depot for Mother’s Day. All moms love lighthouse related gifts.
Clearance Central
Be sure to visit the Lighthouse Depot clearance Central where there is an ever-changing selection of discontinued items.
Lighthouse Depot, helping to save lighthouses, one gift at a time. 
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