Lighthouse News

A free unique printable lighthouse card for your holiday card sending from Lighthouse News. The file consists of three pdf files and instructions. One file is the entire card in one page, two of the others are the card in separate files. Whichever way to print is covered. It’s in the form of a zip file, and a readme is included.

Credit goes to Mark Allen for the original photo and to Sue Berry for photoshopping it. Card design by Lighthouse News. Inside of the card reads as below (green text on the top of the inside and the red in the signature area).

With Thanksgiving just past us and the holiday season in full swing, this tale from Seamond Ponsart Roberts is well worth repeating. Seamond is the daughter of one of the last civilian lightkeepers, and has graciously agreed to let Lighthouse News repost this story, originally published on the Flying Santa website. And for those of my readers in Maine: Jeremy D’Entremont, lighthouse historian and author, and Brian Tague, president of the Friends of the Flying Santa, will present a program on the Flying Santa Program at the Friendship, ME, Town Hall. Captain Bill Wincapaw of Friendship, the original Flying Santa, started the program to deliver Christmas gifts to lighthouse kids in 1929. See the Events Calendar for details on the program (november 27).

For Halloween, the tale of the piano playing ghost at Seguin Island is a perfect way to get into the spirit of the season. This tale was also featured in the Maine Sunday Telegram on October 28, so for those that haven’t seen it, let me share the story, along with an unsolicited letter I received in email not too long ago. Let me mention here that the person describing this haunting tale, A Memory on the Wind, is very reputable. Her evocative portrait of that sunny day on Seguin Island says more for the presence of the lingering spirit of the wife than anything I’ve read. With this unsolicited story, from a person that had no knowledge of any ghost story, Seguin Island, lone sentinel of an island in the Atlantic off the coast of Maine is truly one of our most haunted lighthouses.

Part of the reason the government is giving away (or selling) lighthouses at a record pace is because the maintenance is too much. When a lighthouse goes to a non-profit or municipality, the Coast Guard washes its hands of the building, but generally retains the use of the facility as an Aid to Navigation (AToN) and requires access to maintain the actual light. But the Coast Guard is stretched thin due to new responsibilities with Homeland Security and more, so what better way to ease the maintenance and costs than by going green?

Sometimes we need a little affirmation of our decision to get married. For Melody Kloska and Matt Behrs, that decision came after five years and several failed marriages between them. For a new beginning together, they chose to speak their vows at the beach at Wind Point Lighthouse in Wisconsin, at sunrise on August 18. Instead of throwing the traditional bouquet, they chose to throw a bottle in Lake Michigan, with a message inside. Written on the paper were their names, the date and their wedding vows. After a failed attempt by Behrs (he threw it underhand) which landed back on the beach, the bottle finally ended up in the lake, and was caught by the waves.

The coverage of Sankaty Lighthouse’s move continues, with some archived stories posted at the Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror, along with a photo gallery.

• Prep Work Uncovers Hidden Steps
  
• Saving Sankaty
• Inside the Sconset Trust
• Sankaty Light Photo Gallery

Be sure to check their main page for a gorgeous photo of the moon over the light.

After sixteen years of planning and fundraising to the tune of $4 million dollars, Sankaty Lighthouse, Nantucket, MA, is up on jacks and ready to roll into the future. Expert House Movers of Virginia Beach, VA, subcontractors for International Chimney, raised the 157 year old, 450 ton lighthouse over one foot in the air on September 18 while preparing for the historic move, set to begin October 1. Security will be tight around the lighthouse, which will be dimmed as it’s being moved. The Nantucket Independent Online will have a front row seat as the official photographer of the event, and has been running a fascinating series of articles on the historic move.

The above was the headline in the Baltimore Sun which caught the eye of Lighthouse News. The story is referring to the Maryland Lighthouse Challenge, and is a very nice overview of the weekend activities, which was to visit as many of Maryland’s ten lighthouses as possible. While it certainly seemed to be a fun weekend for lighthouse enthusiasts, the real meaning behind the story’s headline is that all of our nation’s lighthouses have so little time. And this applies to other countries as well. Most are endangered by years of neglect, as almost all are automated. Without a lighthouse keeper to tend to the maintenance, these historical gems are in danger of being demolished or just left to rot.

Come and enjoy the “Lights Along the Shore” Lighthouse Festival happening along the Lighthouse Route and Evangeline Trail from Friday, Sept. 14 to Sunday, Sept. 16, 2007. It’s an opportunity to learn more about the seafaring heritage and history behind the lighthouses in Southwest Nova Scotia. One will have an opportunity to view many lighthouses and experience the atmosphere surrounding these historical structures.

Point Cartwright Lighthouse, in Queensland Australia, will join other buildings such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Kensington Palace, the Empire State Building and more when the concrete tower is bathed in pink lights beginning September 26, 2007. The lighthouse, a reinforced modern (1978) tower, will join in Estee Lauder’s Breast Cancer Research Foundation’s annual Global Illumination Initiative to raise funds for breast cancer research and promote awareness of this killer.