New Jersey Lighthouse Challenge this weekend, Oct. 19-20
This weekend you can visit 10 participating lighthouses, three life-saving stations, and one museum, while supporting the ongoing preservation of these historic beacons, during the 20th annual Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 19 and 20.
All participating sites are open during the challenge from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Information can be found at lhchallengenj.org.
The Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey is also on Facebook at Facebook.com/Lighthouse-Challenge-of-NJ.
Click here to learn how you can win a $100 prize
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Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse opens in limited release
The much anticipated film The Lighthouse opens today in limited release. The New York Times calls it a “horror movie about inner and outer darkness.” The Los Angeles Times says that actors Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson “make a mad and mesmerizing duo” in The Lighthouse.
Justin Chang in the Los Angeles Times continues: “The Lighthouse is a ferocious battle of wills, a tour de force of cold, clammy suspense and a protracted descent into cabin-fever madness. It is also a gorgeous piece of film craft, a chance to savor the visual glories of a bygone era of cinematic artisanship: a boxy aspect ratio, a black-and-white palette bathed in expressionist shadows, the rich textures of 35-millimeter celluloid.”
The plot is simple; it’s the story of two keepers at a remote lighthouse on the Maine coast, circa early 1900s. Over the course of a month of foul weather and isolation, the men go mad. That’s about it. Anyone who has studied lighthouse history knows that such things, while the exception to the rule, did happen. Hopefully audiences won’t see this film as instructive of American lighthouse history, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be be fascinating cinematic art.
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California tech executive Steven Broudy buys Superior Entry Lighthouse (WI) through government auction
He knew people thought he was crazy. But he didn’t see it that way. “Life is too short to not take big, bold risks and do something because it feels right,” he said. Steven Broudy has gone to war — five times. And not long ago, his wife was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. He wants the lighthouse to be a refuge for her, too.
You can read the rest of this story here
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Split Rock Lighthouse (MN) gets a new site manager
Next month, Hayes Scriven will take over as site manager of Split Rock Light Station, where he’ll oversee all the daily operations of the historic lighthouse on Lake Superior’s North Shore. He replaces Lee Radzak, who retired in April after 36 years in that role. “Lee lived on site with his family — raised two kids there — and so my wife and I are pretty much going to do the same thing,” said Scriven.
“It is really my dream job,” Scriven said.
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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