Coast Guard Auxiliary Spreads Holiday Cheer at Hospital Point

Seen in front of Hospital Point Lighthouse in Beverly, Massachusetts, in this photo are members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary North Shore Division Lighthouse Team, just after they raised the holiday wreath on the lighthouse tower. (Photo by Barbara McGowan.)

"This is an annual tradition that takes place the Saturday after Thanksgiving and we all look forward to it," says Philip Karwowski of the USCG Auxiliary.

Hospital Point Light Station serves as the home of the commander of the First Coast Guard District, currently Rear Admiral Daniel A. Neptun. 

You can read more about this lighthouse here.

Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse Looking Bright for the Holidays

For several years, the volunteers of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses - a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation - have been decorating Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse in New Castle, New Hampshire, with a display of Christmas lights. This year is no exception, as seen in these photos by Bob Trapani.

 

L to R: Jeremy D'Entremont, William Marshall, and Ross Tracy of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses. Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.

NBC-TV News Report on Faulkner's Island Light, Connecticut

On November 23, 2010, Ryan Hanrahan of NBC 30 (Connecticut) did a report on the restoration of Faulkner's Island Lighthouse in Guilford, CT. Check it out below.

Here comes that Flying Santa Claus again

Photo by Brian Tague

Friends of Flying Santa, a nonprofit organization, will be delivering toys to more than 600 children of Coast Guard families stationed  in New England this holiday season, keeping true to the tradition established back in 1929 by aviator William Wincapaw. 

Capt. Wincapaw and his successor, author and historian Edward Rowe Snow,  believed that these Christmas missions of good cheer were important to recognize the lifesaving crews and families who kept watch along our coast.

For more about this wonderful tradition, click here.  

There's a detailed history of the Flying Santa here.

A Touch of Christmas Shines Bright at ALF’s Gift Store and Interpretive Center

The annual Festival of Lights event along Rockland’s (Maine) downtown Main Street, which occurred on November 27-28, 2010, is a time when businesses outfit their storefronts in a festive manner as part of a weekend celebration for the holidays.

The American Lighthouse Foundation’s Gift Store and Interpretive Center, located at 464 Main Street in Rockland, once again joined in on the festivities by decorating the organization’s storefront for Christmas.
Click here to read more.

Cleveland Ledge Light auction extended

The auction for Cleveland Ledge Light has been extended; the current posted closing date is December 6. The high bid as of the afternoon of December 3 is $60,000.

Click here to check the latest on the auction.

Cleveland Ledge Lighthouse auction

Under the guidelines of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000, Cleveland Ledge Light in Buzzards Bay -- near Bourne, Massachusetts -- was offered to a suitable applicant, such as a nonprofit group or community. There were no applications, so the unique 1943 lighthouse -- built in the Art Moderne style -- is currently up for auction to the general public.

You can monitor the auction by clicking here.

You can see photos from a recent inspection here. 

As of the afternoon of Nov. 26, the high bid is only $14,000. The auction is scheduled to close on Monday, Nov. 29, but it could be extended.

I haven't had the opportunity to get inside this lighthouse, so I can't comment on its interior condition. There's no doubt that it needs some restoration, and taking on its preservation will be daunting for its new owner. Let's hope the person or persons who win the auction have a full comprehension of the challenges of caring for an offshore lighthouse. This is a one-of-a-kind structure that deserves to be preserved as a historic icon.

For more on this lighthouse, click here.