ALCC, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE RUN FRESNEL LENS CONFERENCE
Forty-two participants from 15 states and all four coasts gathered in
Buffalo in mid-October for a state-of-the-art instruction course in
the inspection, care and repair of classical lighthouse lenses. Hosted by
the Buffalo Lighthouse Association, the three-day course brought together
most of the nation's top lighthouse lens and lantern room experts and
students from the National Park Service, Coast Guard, Bureau of Land
Management, and non-government lighthouse sites and lighthouse organizations.
The course included two days of classroom instruction and a training day
that included work with a fourth-order bivalve Barbier, Beard et Turenne
lens in the historic 1833 Buffalo Light, emergency repairs to ameliorate
litharge failure in the bulls-eyes of a third order Chance Brothers lens at
the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, and inspections of a
fourth-order fixed lens at Buffalo's Coast Guard base and a fifth-order
fixed lens at the historical society museum. Museum curators also made
their extremely rare, early 19th century Argand-Lewis lens, one of only two
in America and the only one in a public collection, available for inspection.
Instructors for the Lenses and Lanterns II training course, co-organized by
the National Park Service's Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC)
and the American Lighthouse Coordinating Committee (ALCC), included
nationally-respected lampists Jim Woodward, CWO Joe Cocking and Jim Dunlap,
as well as metalwork experts Gary Knappenberger and Alex Klahm, lens
historian Thomas Tag, U.S. Coast Guard Curator Gail Fuller, International
Chimney Corp. lighthouse project manager Joe Jakubik, and lighthouse site
leaders Lee Radzak (Split Rock), Don Hampton (Ponce de Leon). Sessions also
were led by ALCC president Mike Vogel, who distributed an updated version
of the ALCC's national lens inventory, and NPS HPTC director Tom McGrath,
who organized the instruction program with early assistance of Cullen
Chambers of Tybee Island Lighthouse, who had hosted the first such lens
session in Florida nine years ago.
Participants took home several print and electronic tools from the
conference. Lens restoration specialist Dan Spinella, who participated as
an instructor long-distance from Florida, debuted and distributed a new
40-minute "Lighthouse Illumination Technical Edition" video that drew rave
reviews, and will be marketed soon. Dan also produced an 18-minute video on
replacement optics especially for the conference. In addition to the ALCC
National Lighthouse Lens Survey in print form, students and instructors
alike also received a CD-ROM with speaker-provided course materials and
reprints of items ranging from the ALCC lens position paper to the entire
Historic Lighthouse Preservation Handbook, and a new Coast Guard CD-ROM
debuted by Gail Fuller that includes, among other things, the Coast Guard's
historic lighthouse records in searchable form. Not only that, they got to
sample true Buffalo-style chicken wings at the Anchor Bar, where they were
invented.
WINTER 2002 NEWS BRIEFS
7th Annual
Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival
Alpena, MI.
October 10-13, 2002
There will be helicopter, bus, boat and plane tours throughout the weekend, area lighthouses will be open. Climb to the top of the tower and gaze across the lake. Visit with lighthouse groups from all over the Great Lakes and beyond. Lots of lighthouse exhibits, vendors, food, music, dancing and dinner.
Call 989-595-3600 for more information
Most events begin or take place at the Alpena Civic Center
Please check out the festival web site at the following, it provides a lot of information on the events and activities in the area and local museums.
Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival Web Site
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Tawas Coast Guard Station
The former US Life Saving/US Coast Guard Station located in Tawas, Michigan is up for sale. The asking price is $750,000. The Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy (MLC) is interested in saving this property from the demolition block. The property has no historic preservation covenants on it. It is one of only a few 1876 stick style life saving station architectural styles left in Michigan and throughout the country. The site comes as is and is available to be split up into condos or whatever anyone wants to do with it, including demolition.
The station has 350 foot of lake frontage. It is in a family trust right now. All heating, septic, appliances, etc. are intact and in working condition. Without a historic preservation covenant attached to it, we are almost certainly going to lose this station if a preservationist or organization does not get their hands on it. As most people know, the original life saving service 1876 stick style boat house station is still there but has been modified over the years. I have been to the site and you can still make out the details on the building even though it has been added onto numerous times. As most of these stations in the past were torn down we don't want to lose this one either.
For the full story with photos click here.
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PHILADELPHIA ARCHIVES TO HOST LIGHTHOUSE EXHIBIT
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Mid-Atlantic Region announces the opening of its new exhibit, Beacons on the Shore: Lighthouses of the Mid-Atlantic Region.
The exhibit focuses on several themes including the architectural evolution, technological development, and maintenance of lighthouses. Visitors will take a symbolic voyage along the eastern seaboard of the United States from Cape Fear in North Carolina to Long Beach Island in New Jersey with visits to the Outer Banks, Cape Henry, the James, Potomac and Delaware Rivers, the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, and the Delmarva Peninsula.
The exhibit features architectural drawings and documents from the records of NARA, Mid-Atlantic Region; vintage photographs from the Still Pictures Branch of NARA; and modern-day photographs, lighthouse models, and artifacts donated by private citizens.
The exhibit will be open to the public January 28, 2002 through January 11, 2003. The National Archives exhibit gallery is located in the Robert N.C. Nix Federal Building on Chestnut Street between 9th and 10th Streets in Philadelphia. The hours are Monday-Friday, 8:00AM-5:00PM, and the second and fourth Saturdays of each month, 8:00AM-4:00PM. Admission is free.For more information please contact Matthew DiBiase at 215-597-5694.
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AMERICAN LIGHTHOUSE COORDINATING COMMITTEE
The American Lighthouse Coordinating Committee (ALCC) is a consortium of organizations and individuals dedicated to lighthouse preservation, restoration and rehabilitation. It seeks to develop consensus positions on issues of broad and far-reaching significance to the lighthouse community, share knowledge and expertise on lighthouse preservation issues with the Coast Guard and other government and lighthouse organizations, and serve as a central communication and coordination point to keep the lighthouse community informed about critical issues. The ALCC serves as a voice for the community.
Please send items of interest to the lighthouse preservation community to Candace Clifford at <alcc@sitestar.net>. Sorry, items marketing lighthouse promotional items will generally not be accepted. Anyone wishing to unsubscribe should send a message to that effect to <alcc@sitestar.net>.
If any lighthouse group has any special promotional events coming up please e-mail us and we will post them here.