Ford Reiche earned the American Lighthouse Foundation’s Keeper of the Light award in May 2017. The award is “designed to honor those individuals and organizations in the national lighthouse community who have contributed in a significant manner to the preservation of America’s lighthouses and their rich heritage.”
The Society salutes Ford Reiche for not only preserving the lighthouse at Halfway Rock but for also documenting its rich history! Reiche is currently writing a book about the station using the material he has collected from the National Archives and other sources.
Reiche reported that the tower’s restoration has been completed and shared these photos illustrating recent events at the station:
This summer I entertained at Halfway Rock a former keeper who had last been there in 1961, when he been stationed there for a year. Ken Rouleau now lives in Derry, New Hampshire. I had an old photo (of Ken’s) of him standing in front of an RDF tower and the old bell tower in 1960. This summer I took a new image of the same man standing in same exact spot 57 years later. See the before and after shots below, plus another old USCG image of the whole facility, to help you get your bearings. Ken has lasted better than the RDF tower and the bell tower. . .
Reiche reported on another enjoyable outing to Halfway Rock (HWR) this summer when he took out retired Dr. Martha Friberg of Cape Elizabeth, Maine:
When Martha’s mother was a young woman she had gone to HWR with Martha’s grandfather in the 1940s. As a gift, the HWR keeper had given her his brass dustpan marked ‘USLHS.’ The woman always felt guilty about having gotten government property as a gift. She died long ago, but her daughter, Martha, gave it back to me/HWR when she visited me this summer. [See photos below] of Martha and me, and two older pictures of Martha’s mother on her visit to HWR when she was given the dustpan in the 1940s.
Based on emails from Ford Reiche, September 27, 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 join 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.
Wish your org could consider honoring Metalsmith Alex Klahm who has restored many lighthouses, including ours during a $ million restoration in 2005-06. Alex really excels in his craftsmanship and knowledge of lighthouses.
Thanks, George Collins, Newport, OR >
Wish your org could consider honoring Metalsmith Alex Klahm who has restored many lighthouses, including ours during a $ million restoration in 2005-06. Alex really excels in his craftsmanship and knowledge of lighthouses.
Thanks, George Collins, Newport, OR >
Ford has done an amazing job! I got to spend a day at Halfway Rock in August. Having been there before restoration, I was hugely impressed. Nice job with this story.
I’m an ‘all-things-to-do-with-the-sea’ type of woman & I’m sitting here in Cambridge, UK, watching the TV programme about the restoration of HWR lighthouse. I’m so in awe of the man’s dedication & resilience, & so pleased to have found this link to its completion. Brilliant work, Mr Reiche!
I’m an ‘all-things-to-do-with-the-sea’ type of woman & I’m sitting here in Cambridge, UK, watching the TV programme about the restoration of HWR lighthouse. I’m so in awe of the man’s dedication & resilience, & so pleased to have found this link to its completion. Brilliant work, Mr Reiche!
One summer, my best friend, his sister and I foolishly journeyed from S. Harpswell in a small boat out to Halfway Rock where we met three young Coastguard men who were desperate for cigarettes! We tied up to the mooring buoy and were rowed up to the lighthouse where we got the ‘ grand tour ‘. One of the men was overhauling one of the two Diesel Generators which supplied power to the entire operation.
This may have been only a couple years before the lighthouse was de-commissioned. The TV program featuring the extensive repair and furnishings brought back wonderful memories !!
Thanks for posting – what a great memory! You might also want to listen to our podcast episode featuring Halfway Rock: https://news.uslhs.org/2019/08/15/light-hearted-ep-21-ford-reiche-halfway-rock-maine/