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Lighthouse News of the Week – October 15, 2021

2021 New Jersey Lighthouse Challenge this weekend

The Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey is an annual event that takes place the third weekend of October each year.  The challenge is to visit ten land-based lighthouses, three lifesaving stations, one museum, one virtual site, and the Lighthouse Society of New Jersey site over the two-day weekend. The challenge route covers the Atlantic Coast from Sandy Hook to Cape May and the Delaware Bay and River Coast from Cape May to Paulsboro.  

Absecon Lighthouse, New Jersey. (Courtesy of Absecon Lighthouse)

Take the challenge and learn more about these historic treasurers of New Jersey. While there is no fee to participate, a small registration fee enables you to collect a souvenir from each site.

Click here to learn more

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Rockland (ME) will now be responsible for maintaining its iconic lighthouse

A volunteer group is turning over the responsibility of maintaining and improving the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse to the city. The group, Friends of Rockland Harbor Lights, has leased the building that houses the lighthouse at the end of its nearly mile-long breakwater for about 20 years. That has now ended.

Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

Due to costs and volunteers getting older, Rockland Mayor Ed Glaser said the group did not renew the lease when it expired last month. The city must now assume responsibility for maintaining one of the city’s most iconic treasures.  

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Split Rock Lighthouse (MN) to allow visitors again for Fitzgerald memorial

A Lake Superior lighthouse plans to welcome visitors back for an annual memorial honoring the sailors who died when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank. Every Nov. 10, the day the ship sank in a gale in 1975, the Split Rock Lighthouse just south of Beaver Bay holds a beacon lighting. Lighthouse officials announce the names of all 29 sailors who died as a bell tolls, Minnesota Public Radio reported Sunday.

Split Rock Lighthouse, Minnesota. U.S. Lighthouse Society photo.

Lighthouse officials say this year’s ceremony will be a hybrid, with the lighthouse grounds open to the public and a livestream on the Minnesota Historical Society’s Facebook and YouTube pages for those who can’t attend. The ceremony will begin at 4:30 p.m.

Click here to read more

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Trinidad Lighthouse (CA) to host stewardship work day in preparation for 150th anniversary

he Trinidad Lighthouse is hosting a stewardship work day with a group of volunteers on Saturday, Oct. 30. The Trinidad Coastal Land Trust is partnering with the Bureau of Land Management for this event. They are looking for volunteers for paint removal inside the lighthouse in preparation for a fresh paint job, minor repairs in and around the lighthouse, invasive plant species removal, and native plant planting.

Trinidad Head Lighthouse, California. U.S. Lighthouse Society photo by Richard Whitwer.

Click here to read more

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Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation volunteers hold work day

Volunteers from the Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation conducted their last work trip of the season to the Harbor of Refuge Light Oct. 2. The group spent the day cleaning, painting and getting ready for the 2022 season.

Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation photo

Click here for the Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation website

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Around $1 million may be needed to fully restore the Frankfort North Breakwater Light (MI)

Fundraising efforts are moving forward in Frankfort to preserve one of the region’s most iconic landmarks. Built in 1912 and expanded upon 20 years later, the aging North Breakwater Light is in need of restoration. The City of Frankfort obtained the lighthouse in 2011 under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act program.

Frankfort North Breakwater Light, Michigan. U.S. Lighthouse Society photo by Mike and Carol McKinney.

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Five saved during boat rescue off Penfield Reef Lighthouse (CT)

A boat rescued five people Saturday morning near the Penfield Lighthouse off the coast of Fairfield, Connecticut. Marine units responded to a boat in trouble near the lighthouse.

Penfield Reef Lighthouse, Connecticut. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

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Spurn lightship (England): Hull’s historic vessel towed to new berth

Hull’s Spurn lightship was towed into the Humber Estuary on the morning tide after strong winds delayed earlier attempts to move it. Two tugboats pulled the vessel from its Hull Marina berth to Dunston’s shipyard at William Wright Dock. It is due to enter dry dock ahead for works restoration as part of Hull’s £30m maritime regeneration project.

Spurn Lightship at its berth in Hull, England. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

Click here to read more

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Work under way to transform and restore iconic Cloch Lighthouse (Scotland)

Work is under way to transform and restore one of Gourock’s most iconic landmarks to its former glory. The owners of the Cloch Lighthouse, Captain Duncan Telfer and his wife-to-be Junn Sukisjinn, started to renovate their home in July with help from Edinburgh-based Benjamin Tindall Architects.

Cloch Lighthouse, Scotland. U.S. Lighthouse Society photo by Tom Tag.

Click here to read more

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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.

If you have items of interest to the lighthouse community and its supporters, please email them to Jeremy D’Entremont at Jeremy@uslhs.org

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