Mackinaw City – The Board of Directors unanimously approved new leadership for the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association (GLLKA), a local non-profit with over 1100 members, dedicated to preserving lighthouses and telling the story of the amazing personnel who have lived in them.
Jim Tamlyn personifies leadership, not only creating the first northern Michigan tri-county 911 system, but also guiding the Emmet County board of commissioners for over two decades. Tamlyn is also known to countless visitors at the McGulpin Lighthouse as the driving force behind the county’s purchase of the beacon in 2009. Tamlyn was instrumental in creating a successful giftshop at McGulpin, and many of the improvements that are enjoyed by visitors during the tourist season. Noting the importance of local history, he helped create the Emmet County Historical Commission, which featured leadership from GLLKA visionaries Dr. Sandy Planisek and Dick Moehl.
“We are thrilled Jim has agreed to helm our organization” GLLKA President Ric Mixter says, “He has sailed the waters as a young able-bodied seaman aboard the historic Chief Wawatam and was crucial in the development of the light at McGulpin. He inspires volunteerism and has many connections that will help us fund our own lighthouses at St Helena and Cheboygan. He’s known many of our founding members and has a clear understanding of how GLLKA can continue to promote our maritime resources.”
Tamlyn will oversee day to day operations of the group, leaving former Executive Director Terry Pepper open to continue with cruises, tours and historical writings. Pepper took a leave of absence for health reasons earlier this month, but continues to consult for the group, editing their Facebook postings and the quarterly magazine “The Beacon”.
GLLKA membership is open to the public starting at $40 per year. Dues fund our ongoing lighthouse preservation and education initiatives, ensuring that our lighthouse heritage will survive for future generations.
Submitted by Ric Mixter, President, GLLKA, June 26, 2017
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U.S. Lighthouse Society News is produced by the U.S. Lighthouse Society to support lighthouse preservation, history, education and research. Please consider joining the U.S. Lighthouse Society if you are not already a member. If you have items of interest to the lighthouse community and its supporters, please email them to candace@uslhs.org.
Candace was the US Lighthouse Society historian from 2016 until she passed away in August 2018. For 30 years, her work involved lighthouse history. She worked with the National Park Service and the Council of American Maritime Museums. She was a noted author and was considered the most knowledgable person on lighthouse information at the National Archives. Books by Candace Clifford include: Women who Kept the Lights: a History of Thirty-eight Female Lighthouse Keepers , Mind the Light Katie, and Maine Lighthouses, Documentation of their Past.