New USLHS podcast “Light Hearted” premieres on Monday, June 3!
Check this space this coming Monday, June 3, for the premiere of the new U.S. Lighthouse Society podcast Light Hearted. In the first installment, host Jeremy D’Entremont interviews Sophie Blackall, author/illustrator of the Caldecott Medal winning children’s book Hello Lighthouse.
Jeremy and co-host Cindy Johnson will discuss the very beginnings of the use of light for coastal navigation, and there will be a trivia question with prizes.
A second episode of Light Hearted will be released on Thursday, June 6, featuring an interview with Chad Kaiser of the New Dungeness Light Station in Washington.
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Fire Island Lighthouse (NY) closed while damage is assessed
photo by Barry Kurek
Officials announced yesterday that Fire Island Lighthouse will be closed for about three weeks to analyze damage caused over the years. The tower and the outdoor terrace both will be closed starting Wednesday. The Keeper’s Quarters Museum, gift shop, and Fresnel lens building will remain open.
Tests will be carried out “to better understand how the building performs structurally, and to determine the cause of ongoing problems including high moisture within the facility, and deterioration of the outer face of brick and shotcrete coating,” the National Park Service said in a release.
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Gay Head Lighthouse (MA) needs $500,000 in renovations
Gay Head Lighthouse, at the western end of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, was moved back from its perch at the edge of an eroding colorful clay bluff in 2015 by the International Chimney Corporation. Word is that an additional $500,000 is needed to restore the 1856 brick tower.
Click here to read more about this story
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Coast Guard Auxiliary hosts tours at Neds Point Lighthouse (MA)
U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 63 will offer tours of Ned’s Point Lighthouse in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, this summer from June to October, with two special tours in November and December. They are also planning a special Fourth-of-July-themed event on July 5.
An unusual architectural touch in the 1838 tower at Neds Point is the cantilevered granite stairway, with 32 steps embedded in the inner wall without the use of mortar.
Click here for the dates and times.
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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 jeremy@uslhs.org
Jeremy D’Entremont is the author of more than 20 books and hundreds of articles on lighthouses and maritime history. He is the president and historian for the American Lighthouse Foundation and founder of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, and he has lectured and narrated cruises throughout the Northeast and in other regions. He is also the producer and host of the U.S. Lighthouse Society podcast, “Light Hearted.” He can be emailed at Jeremy@uslhs.org