Sable Points Lighthouse Keepers Association (SPLKA), a non-profit organization, manages three historic lighthouses within a thirty-mile stretch of Lake Michigan’s shoreline. Since 1987, members of SPLKA have worked tirelessly to restore, preserve, and make these lighthouses accessible. SPLKA also operates a Volunteer Keepers program, which allows its members the opportunity to live and work at the lighthouses free of charge during a seven-month season, from May to October.
SPLKA is currently seeking individuals to assist with its volunteer resident keeper program in 2019. Volunteers help the non-profit organization operate Big Sable Point Lighthouse, Little Sable Point Lighthouse, White River Light Station, and Ludington North Breakwater Lighthouse.
Clean and comfortable accommodations are offered free of charge within houses in Ludington State Park and Silver Lake State Park grounds. One week and two week tours are available, May through October.
Applications for membership and for the Lighthouse Keeper program are available on the SPLKA web site at www.splka.org. To learn more about the program email splkaoperations@gmail.com or call Rachel Bendele at 231-845-7417.
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If you have items of interest to the lighthouse community and its supporters, please email them to Jeremy at nelights@gmail.com.
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.