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Lighthouse News of the Week

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Grosse Ile North Channel Range Front Light, Michigan. U.S. Lighthouse Society photo by Chad Kaiser

Grosse Ile Lighthouse (MI) gets funding for repairs after ice damage

On February 7, strong winds forced ice floes against Grosse Ile Lighthouse (also known as the Grosse Ile North Channel Front Range Light) on the Detroit River in Michigan, breaching its metal railings and causing damage. On February 20, the Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program announced that the Township of Grosse Ile will receive a $40,000 grant to hire contractors to carry out extensive renovations at the lighthouse. The grant was part of $113,000 awarded by the Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program from the sale of specialty license plates sold in Michigan.

A $40,000 grant was announced to hire a consultant to produce a Historic Structure Report (HSR) for the North Manitou Shoal Light to guide future rehabilitation in compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.

Finally, the Keweenaw County Historical Society will use a $33,000 grant to hire contractors to replace or rehabilitate 12 double-hung wood windows, rehabilitate two original wood casement windows in the tower and build and install 13 new storm windows at the lighthouse on Lake Superior.

You can read more on this story here and here.

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One year after being paralyzed with rare disease, woman climbs 219 steps of St. Augustine Lighthouse (FL)

On February 19 (2/19), 2018, Malea Guiriba was diagnosed with Guillain Barre Syndrome, or GBS. She became paralyzed in a matter of days. She was told she might never walk again.

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Stairs at St. Augustine Lighthouse. Wikimedia Commons photo by S.W. Clyde.

Malea has been an activist who created created a program called Pie in the Sky that provides food to hundreds of elderly in St. Johns County, Florida.

You need to check out this article (be sure to watch the video) to see what this strong-willed woman did one year after her diagnosis. This may not be lighthouse news, exactly, but it’s the kind of positive news we can all use.

Click here for the story.

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Lighthouse Lecture at the Carrabelle History Museum (FL)

The Carrabelle History Museum (Florida) is hosting a free program about the Lighthouses of the Forgotten Coast, featuring the St. Marks Lighthouse and the Crooked River Lighthouse, this Saturday, Feb. 23 at C-Quarters Marina, 501 St. James Ave (Hwy 98), Carrabelle, FL. Seating for the program, from 10 a.m. to noon, is first come, first served, and is limited to the first 100 people. The Carrabelle History Museum will be joined by Ken Clineman, historic and environmental interpreter for St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, and Joan Matey, curator for Crooked River Lighthouse.

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Overnight accommodations at Haig Point Lighthouse, South Carolina

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Haig Point Lighthouse 1883 (U.S. Coast Guard)

South Carolina’s Haig Point Lighthouse (a.k.a. Haig Point Range Rear), on Daufuskie Island just south of Hilton Head, has a colorful legend that concerns a keeper’s daughter named Maggie. Maggie’s father, Patrick Comer, was the first keeper of the lighthouse in 1873 and his family lived at Haig Point for 18 years. Maggie fell in love with an engineer who was doing some work at the lighthouse, the story goes. Something unexpected occurred and the couple parted; he left and never returned, leaving her with a broken heart. Residents and visitors over the years have claimed they felt the presence of Maggie at the lighthouse.

The lighthouse is now available as a guesthouse with two bedrooms, kitchen, dining room and porch overlooking Calibogue Sound. It’s also a venue for weddings, special events, and private parties. Maybe you’ll even get to meet Maggie.

Click here for rates and availability and photos of the property

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U.S. Lighthouse Society podcast “Light Hearted” to premiere on April 22

The new U.S. Lighthouse Society podcast, “Light Hearted,” hosted by author Jeremy D’Entremont, will be full of interviews with people in the world of lighthouse preservation and education, along with special features and surprises. Each new episode will be posted here, and it will be available through iTunes and other venues. We will keep you posted!

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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. You can receive these posts via email if you click on the “SUBSCRIBE” button in the right-hand column. Please support this electronic newsletter by 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 Jeremy at nelights@gmail.com.

2 thoughts on “Lighthouse News of the Week

  1. Hi George – One of the many helpful things Candace created is a finding aid for the National Archives lighthouse holdings at https://lighthousehistory.info/research/uslhs/. And there’s also a page about Mark Mollan at the National Archives, someone you may want to contact if you’re doing research; see http://clifford-archive.uslhs.org/2013/12/18/archivist-mark-mollan-keeper-of-lighthouse-records/

    Also, if you’re looking to hire a researcher, you’ll want to look at this list – https://www.archives.gov/research/hire-help/topics.html?topic=coast-guard-lighthouse-customs

    Sandra MacLean Clunies is someone I’ve dealt with over the years, and if she’s available, she’d be a good choice. You can email her at sandy@clunies.net. If she isn’t available I’m sure the other researchers cited on the list as having Coast Guard/lighthouse records as a specialty are extremely capable.

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