Whaleback Lighthouse, a granite tower built in 1872, is perched on a wave-swept ledge just offshore from Fort Foster in Kittery, Maine. It’s a beloved icon of the Seacoast, but very few people have the chance to experience it first hand. “It’s hard to raise funds for a lighthouse that people can’t visit,” laments Ross Tracy, chairman of the Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse (FPHL). FPHL is a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, the organization that was awarded ownership of Whaleback Lighthouse last November.
To solve the dilemma, the directors of FPHL have devised a unique plan. The lighthouse, which is about 60 feet tall, will be carefully dismantled by volunteers, block by block. Volunteers will be expected to bring their own crowbars, and must be capable of lifting 4,000 pounds. "This should be a perfect project for local senior citizens and schoolchildren," says Yvonne Zemotel, treasurer of FPHL.
Each block will be carefully numbered with a waterproof marker. “We’ll most likely use a black Sharpie,” says Tracy. The blocks will be hauled to the vacant lot on Route 1 that was once home to Yoken’s Restaurant, and the tower will be re-assembled in its new home. “We figure the lighthouse will make a nice companion piece to the old Yoken’s ‘Thar She Blows!’ sign,” says Joanne Yeaton, vice chairperson of FPHL.
Asked if the lighthouse will retain any navigational importance so far from the sea, Sharon Mills, secretary of FPHL, replied, “The light and foghorn will be a boon to late night drivers finding their way home from the bars in downtown Portsmouth. To replace the lighthouse off Kittery, we’re thinking of painting the rocks day-glo orange for the benefit of the fishermen.”
Happy April First!
ReplyDeleteI posted this to my facebook page...everyone is having so much fun I may not tell them.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Jeremy, but we at "Rye Reflections" already moved Whaleback a year ago on April 1, 2008. See:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ryereflections.org/servlet/pluto?state=3030347061676530303757656250616765303032696430303435393838
Click on the HOME navigation link on that page for some other remarkable events reported on then -- particularly the gigantic lobster that was landed at Rye Harbor.
- Phil Mataelven
Well, they were just kidding, but we really mean it. And as you can see, we've developed a very detailed plan for dismantling and moving the lighthouse.
ReplyDeleteNice Job Jeremy! ;)
ReplyDeleteHere's the current total from my comments...I thought you'd enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteIt was particularly funny in my household, because we know all the locations.
I posted:"Volunteers will be expected to bring their own crowbars, and must be capable of lifting 4,000 pounds. "This should be a perfect project for local senior citizens and schoolchildren," says Yvonne Zemotel, treasurer of FPHL."
Man, I ain't messing with any seniors or schoolchildren in THAT neighborhood. :D
And the responses were:
1.LMAO
2.ye gods! Are they swedes?
3.ok that's funny !
4.My kids have to share a crowbar; are they still welcome?
5.Good GRIEF. That must be the side of town where they had that steroid spill into the water reservoir :p.
6.I'm thinking turnout will be low.
7.OMG!!!!! they're GIANTS or maybe there's something special in the water???
8.I want those school children to come work in my yard this weekend!
9.Maybe they're not-so-secretly looking for new super heroes?
10.Rough crowd! Send them my way.
11.SUPER-GRAN!!!
Thanks for sharing those! Made my day.
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