Economy puts lighthouse museum in jeopardy

PizzaFest Raises Funds and Spirits

The first-ever "PizzaFest" benefit for Whaleback Lighthouse on Saturday evening, May 16, at the Kittery (Maine) Lions Club was a great success. Nearly $1700 was raised and a good time was had by all.

Pat Heffernan entertained with his Irish
music and witty storytelling.

Ownership of Whaleback Lighthouse, located a short distance offshore from Kittery, was conveyed to the American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF) in November 2008. One of ALF's chapters, Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse (FPHL), is managing the restoration of the historic beacon. Since 2001, FPHL has cared for Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse in New Castle, NH. This year, the group will open Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse for nearly 30 public open houses; check www.portsmouthharborlighthouse.org for the schedule.

FPHL plans to commission an historic structure report of Whaleback Lighthouse at a cost of $7000. The report will serve as a guide as restoration moves forward. Full restoration is likely to run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and could take a few years to complete. Ultimately, FPHL plans to open the tower for limited public tours, which will access the lighthouse by boat. The present difficult landing conditions will have to be improved, along with the deteriorating interior of the lighthouse, before public access becomes feasible.

FPHL board members Jackie Maurice and
Joanne Yeaton volunteered at "PizzaFest."

At the PizzaFest event on May 16, attendees got to enjoy pizza donated by a dozen restaurants in the area: Badger Island Pizzeria, Jitto’s, Hap’s, Darleen’s, Momma D’s, Rosa, Bread Box, Flatbread Company, Dominos, Pizza Factory, Joe’s NY Pizza, and Pizza Hut. Along with the pizza, there was salad and soda, courtesy of Shaws Supermarkets. And for dessert, there were delicious cookies and brownies made by several FPHL volunteers.

Sharon Mills, secretary of FPHL,
staffed the merchandise table at PizzaFest.

Along with the delicious food, there was foot-tapping, singalong entertainment provided by Pat Heffernan. Heffernan has been performing Irish and folk music for years, usually as one half of Shannachie. On this night, he was pressed into solo duty as his musical partner, Patrick Keane, was under the weather. Heffernan, who's also on the board of directors of FPHL, performed two lively sets that had the entire audience clapping along between bites of pizza.

Shannachie also donated CDs and a free performance for the evening's raffle. Other raffle and silent auction items included tickets to the Ogunquit Playhouse, a signed book by Jimmy Buffett, photography by John Bedard, a haircut and manicure at the DuDa Spa, lobster dinners at the Weathervane restaurant, and more.

Left, Bob Trapani, executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation, with Joel Shelburne, creator of New Hampshire Lighthouse Week (first week in June).

Jim Pope, one of the last Coast Guard keepers at Whaleback Lighthouse before its 1963 automation, entertained the audience with his memories of life in the offshore tower. FPHL presented Pope with a lifetime membership in recognition of his role in keeping lighthouse history alive.

It was a great night. Special thanks also to the Kittery Lions Club, gracious hosts of the event.



L to R: Jeremy D'Entremont, operations manager for FPHL; Jim Pope, one of the last keepers of Whaleback Lighthouse; Ross Tracy, chairman of FPHL.

Volunteers helped serve pizza










Donna and John Bedard, members of FPHL, donated original photography for the event.










Ann Trapani, right, associate director of the American Lighthouse Foundation, volunteered at PizzaFest along with daughters Nina and Katrina.






L to R: Pat Heffernan, Sharon Mills, William Marshall, Jackie Maurice, Joanne Yeaton, Jeremy D'Entremont, and Ross Tracy of FPHL.





Photos by Bob and Ann Trapani.

PizzaFest with Music by Shannachie: A Benefit for Whaleback Lighthouse

Saturday May 16, 2009, at 6:00 p.m.
Kittery Lions Club, 117 State Rd. (Route 1), Kittery, Maine

Join the Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse for a unique and tasty event! Try the best offerings from pizza restaurants in the Portsmouth/Kittery area. More than a dozen restaurants will be taking part. Along with pizza, there will be salad, soft drinks, and cookies. There will also be a silent auction with great prizes, including tickets to the Ogunquit Playhouse and gift certificates to local restaurants.

Irish music by Shannachie will enliven the evening. Pat Heffernan (guitar, vocals, songwriter, shennanigans) and Patrick Keane (bass, banjo, vocals, and "ham") make up Shannachie. Since 1995, they've been having fun entertaining people with Irish pub singalong songs all over New England.

Proceeds benefit the restoration of Whaleback Lighthouse.

Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors (65 and over) and $10 for children (12 and under).

You can buy tickets online at www.portsmouthharborlighthouse/pizzafest.html, or you can send a check made out to: Whaleback Committee of FPHL, to: Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, P.O. Box 8232, Portsmouth, NH 03802-8232. Be sure to include your address.

Advance tickets are recommended. If space is still available, tickets will be available at the door.

Maine Lighthouse Museum Looking for Support

The museum housing the nation's largest collection of Fresnel lenses and other important lighthouse artifacts may soon have to close its doors due to a lack of revenue. Click here for the story in "Village Soup."

The Maine Lighthouse Museum has its roots in the collection amassed by the late Coast Guard officer Ken Black, known far and wide as "Mr. Lighthouse." Many lighthouse buffs recall the humble Shore Village Museum in Rockland, tended lovingly by Black for years.

Lots of small private donations would be a shot in the arm for the museum, but what's needed even more is substantial corporate support. Everyone loves lighthouses, and it could be a huge PR coup for any Maine company that lends major support to the museum. Not that it has to be a Maine company -- the museum is really America's Lighthouse Museum.

Lighthouse of the Week: Newport Harbor Light, Rhode Island

This lighthouse is one of the easiest in Rhode Island to visit, as it's located on the grounds of Newport's Hyatt Regency Hotel. It's relatively small and unassuming, but it has a rich history.

The deep, protected harbor at Newport was the key to its development from the start. By the early 1820s, it became clear that a lighthouse was needed to help guide vessels into the harbor, and on March 23, 1823, Congress appropriated $2,500 for that purpose.

The original lighthouse exhibited a fixed white light, visible for 14 nautical miles. Keeper Samuel Watson first illuminated the multiple oil lamps in the lantern on January 1, 1824. The 20-foot octagonal freestone and brick tower was fraught with problems almost from the start.

According to a report by Lt. George M. Bache of the U.S. Navy in 1838, the tower was “in a very bad condition, owing to its faulty construction.” He also found much wrong with the six-room stone keeper’s dwelling, which he said was badly built.

A dangerous reef extended out from the northern end of the island, and vessels often went aground there. In the late 1830s a breakwater was constructed over the reef. It was planned at first that the lighthouse would be relocated to the end of the breakwater. Instead, a new 35-foot granite tower was erected on the breakwater. The Army Corps of Engineers completed the breakwater in 1842. The old lighthouse remained in use until December 18, 1842, when the new tower was lighted for the first time.

At first, the keepers continued to live in the original dwelling. The original lighthouse tower was relocated to Prudence Island in 1851 and remains in operation there today. It is the oldest surviving lighthouse in the state.

John Case spent a decade (1853–63) as keeper. The next man to take the position, John Heath, died on September 24, 1868, and his wife received the appointment to replace him. Mary Ann Heath remained keeper until 1873, when Henry Crawford succeeded her.

Having a comfortable two-story house attached to the tower certainly made life easier for the keepers and their families, but Mary Ann Heath must have had quite a scare when a tremendous storm on September 8, 1869, carried away about a third of the slate roof and damaged her boat, which parted its moorings.

In 1869, the Secretary of War authorized the U.S. Navy to take over Goat Island for a new Naval Torpedo Station. The station was an important center for experimentation with various torpedoes and mines, for training of personnel, and eventually for the manufacture of torpedoes. During World War II, the station became the largest employer in the state, with more than 12,600 employees. Eighty percent of the torpedoes used in the war were produced at Goat Island.

Charles Schoeneman would become such a fixture as keeper that locals often simply referred to the lighthouse as Schoeneman’s Light. Keeper Schoeneman spent a remarkable 39 years at the station. An article on the occasion of Schoeneman’s retirement recalled the famous Portland Gale (the steamship Portland sank during the storm, with the loss of about 200 lives) of November 26, 1898. The storm broke every window on the north side of the keeper’s house.

On November 9, 1921, the 155-foot submarine N-4 rammed the breakwater near the lighthouse, causing damage to the foundation of the keeper’s dwelling and signaling the end of the staffed light station on Goat Island. Schoeneman retired during the following year, and the keeper’s house was demolished. The light was electrified, and personnel from the torpedo station took over its operation. The light was automated in 1963.

The Coast Guard licensed the lighthouse to the American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF) in 2000. Newport Harbor Light, known to most locals as Goat Island Light or simply “the Green Light,” continues as an active aid to navigation, its fixed green light 33 feet above the water.

There's more on this page and in my book, "The Lighthouses of Rhode Island."

Latest list for NHLPA

Under the National Historic Lighthouse Act of 2000, each year several lighthouses are being transferred to suitable new owners. If no qualified organizations apply, the lighthouses are auctioned to the general public. The latest list includes three very historic lighthouses in the Northeast:

Robbins Reef Light in New Jersey, longtime home to heroic lighthouse keeper Kate Walker.

Saddleback Ledge Light in Maine, a rugged and remote lighthouse designed by famed architect Alexander Parris.

Minot's Ledge Light (left), off Boston's South Shore in Massachusetts, one of the greatest of all American lighthouse engineering achievements and one of the world's great wave-swept towers.

For the rest of the lighthouses on the list, check Sue Clark's "Lighthouse News" site.

Hopefully, some qualified nonprofit organization -- or maybe a partnership or coalition of multiple groups -- will be interested in Minot's Ledge Light. To me, it would be a crime to sell one of our most historic lighthouses to the high bidder.

New England Lighthouse Events

Check out my newly revamped events calendar at www.my.calendars.net/nelights/