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Lighthouse News of the Week – October 29, 2021

Fundraiser to benefit Seguin lighthouse group (ME)

Friends of will host its annual Fallfest fundraiser on Nov. 6, 5:30-9 p.m. at the Taste of Maine restaurant in Woolwich, Maine. Comedian John Ater will entertain following a buffet dinner. There will also be live and silent auctions. Tickets are $45 and are available at keeper@seguinisland.org or by calling (207) 443-4808. Friends of Seguin Island Light Station maintains the historic lighthouse on Seguin Island off the coast of Phippsburg. The organization is seeking funds to replace the roof on the station’s main house at $20,000 and repairs of a tramway to the tune of $25,000. Friends of Seguin’s funds come from membership, grants and the Fallfest fundraiser.

Seguin Island Light Station, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

Friends of Seguin Island website

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A New York builder restores Historic Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse (CT) for sleepovers with his grandchildren

After years of summering in the beachfront enclave of Fenwick, 70-year-old Frank Sciame in 2015 bought the Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse—a working lighthouse featured on Connecticut license plates—from the Coast Guard. He has since spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to restore the weather-beaten structure, taking pains to make it look much as it did when it was built. A New York City builder and history buff, Mr. Sciame says he did the project—completed last year—for his 11 grandchildren, to “make it a three-dimensional tool to teach my grandchildren about historic preservation, about how things were built in the late 1800s.”

Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse, Connecticut. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

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Dining room set comes home to Cheboygan’s Front Range Lighthouse (MI)

A dining room set of furniture once purchased specifically for the Front Range Lighthouse in Cheboygan, Michigan, has made its way back to the lighthouse after 100 years, donated by the family who purchased the furniture. “I’m so happy to see this furniture back where it belongs,” said Linda Birely, who donated furniture that was purchased for the lighthouse more than 100 years ago. “Many of my family members wanted it, but this is where it should be.”

Cheboygan’s Front Range Lighthouse, Michigan. U.S. Lighthouse Society photo by Mike and Carol McKinney.

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Gay Head Lighthouse (MA) keeper assumes a new watch

Standing at the top of the Gay Head Light on Martha’s Vineyard you can see for miles, a 360-degree view of the Atlantic Ocean, Noman’s Land, the Elizabeth islands, fishing boats trawling the waters, the foliage turning autumnal red and orange, tourists below looking out at the same view.

Gay Head Lighthouse, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

These views, both past and present, are what Chris Manning is looking to preserve as the new keeper at the Gay Head Light. The Aquinnah select board appointed him to the job in October, along with assistant keeper Isaac Taylor, taking over for Richard Skidmore, who kept guard over the light for 31 years.

Isaac Taylor (left), the new assistant keeper, and outgoing keeper Richard Skidmore (right). Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

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London’s only lighthouse is back up and running again (England)

It’s been a long time since any light shone out of London’s only lighthouse but, thanks to a new art installation, it’s back to its beacon-like best.  The old Bow Creek Lighthouse at Trinity Buoy Wharf, near Canning Town, closed down in the late 19th century, but since September 30 has been beaming a ray of light over the river to North Greenwich.

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Lighthouse (Wikimedia Commons photo by Grim23)

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The Delaware State Society Daughters of the American Colonists presents donation to Friends of Fenwick Lighthouse

The Delaware State Society Daughters of the American Colonists met at Harpoon Hanna’s Restaurant in Fenwick Oct. 12. DAC members presented a $1,000 contribution to Winnie Lewis, president of Friends of the Fenwick Lighthouse.

Fenwick Lighthouse, Delaware. U.S. Lighthouse Society photo by J. Candace Clifford.

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Brevard’s (FL) historic homes and museums – including Cape Canaveral Lighthouse – offer holiday “pastports”

The good news is that the beauty and good cheer of the turn-of-the-century holidays is a mere ticket away, thanks to the Museums of Brevard Second Annual Historic Homes Holiday Tour. The bad news is that only 150 tickets are available, thanks to the continued presence of COVID-19. This year, the tour includes the Moore Cultural Center & Museum and the 1848 Cape Canaveral Lighthouse. 

Cape Canaveral Lighthouse, Florida. (Courtesy of Ron Thorstad, Sunward Tours)

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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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