Light Hearted
301 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 63 ratingsThe official podcast of the U.S. Lighthouse Society
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Episodes
Light Hearted ep 274 – U.S. Lighthouse Society founder Wayne Wheeler, part 1 of 2
April 21, 2024 04:00 - 57 minutes - 43.1 MBWayne Wheeler in 1983 The name Wayne Wheeler has become synonymous with lighthouse preservation and education. He’s one of the pioneers of the lighthouse preservation movement and one of the foremost experts on lighthouse history in the U.S. A 1962 graduate of Syracuse University, Wayne spent 23 years in the Coast Guard in the aids to navigation field. In the early 1980s, when he was the chief of the Coast Guard’s aids to navigation branch in northern California, questions involving lightho...
Light Hearted ep 273 – Edward Peppitt, author and host of the “Keeping Watch” podcast
April 14, 2024 04:04 - 1 hour - 51.2 MBEdward Peppitt is the southeast England representative for the Association of Lighthouse Keepers, or ALK, and he produces and hosts a podcast called Keeping Watch. He’s also a fundraising ambassador for Shift MS, a charity aimed at keeping multiple sclerosis sufferers as active as possible. Ed Peppitt at Happisburgh Lighthouse in England. Ed has written a new book called The Beacon Bike. It tells the incredible story of his 3,500-mile bicycle ride to explore the lighthouses around the coas...
Light Hearted 272 – Gene Davis, director of Coast Guard Museum Northwest
April 07, 2024 04:02 - 46 minutes - 35.4 MBGene Davis with a fourth-order Fresnel lens from New Dungeness Lighthouse, Washington. The Coast Guard Museum Northwest, located on an active Coast Guard base on the waterfront in Seattle, Washington, opened in 1976. The museum serves as a showcase for some of the Coast Guard’s most important stories, lessons, and accomplishments, and the museum’s extensive archives are available to researchers. Inside the Coast Guard Museum Northwest. The guest in this episode, Gene Davis, was the planni...
Light Hearted ep 271 – Tony Ashdon, Coast Guard lightkeeper
March 31, 2024 04:13 - 46 minutes - 34.6 MBTony Ashdon (left) with Light Hearted host Jeremy D'Entremont. Photo by John Lopez The guest in this episode, Tony Ashdon, spent 22 years in the Coast Guard including some time as a lighthouse keeper. Tony spent some years on an aids to navigation team that serviced lighthouses and other aids in District One, in the northeastern U.S. He was also part of an inspection team for a while. He spent a few years as the keeper of the old Deer Island Light in Boston Harbor, a spark plug type lighth...
Light Hearted ep 270 – Emily Straight and Vince Bailey, “The Lighthouse Lowdown”
March 25, 2024 00:50 - 46 minutes - 33.5 MBThe podcast "The Lighthouse Lowdown" was launched in 2022 by two residents of Kansas City, Missouri, Emily Straight and Vince Bailey. To date they have published almost 50 episodes, covering history, spooky stories, and all the "things that make lighthouses cooler than your average tower." Emily Straight and Vince Bailey at Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse in North Carolina Emily is a nautical-loving, lighthouse enthusiast who is excited to spread the word of wicked sea sentinel stories. She is a...
Light Hearted ep 269 – Buzz Hoerr and the Michigan Lighthouse Alliance
March 17, 2024 10:01 - 1 hour - 44.8 MBHarbor Beach Lighthouse, Michigan (USLHS archives) The Michigan Lighthouse Alliance (MLA), founded in 2003, encompasses more than 50 preservation groups and lighthouse stakeholders from around the state of Michigan. The purpose of the Alliance is to advocate for the preservation of the historic aids to navigation on the Great Lakes. The MLA holds a conference every two years, and this year’s will be April 21st to 23rd in Port Huron, Michigan. Buzz Hoerr Our guest in this episode, Buzz Hoe...
Light Hearted Lite #2 – Joseph Smith & his portrayal of Augustin Fresnel
March 13, 2024 14:41 - 19 minutes - 15.9 MBThis is an edited version of an interview that was featured in Light Hearted episode 44 in January 2020. Joseph Smith has been a theatrical performer based in New York City since 1995. His passion is to create excitement and curiosity about history by giving voice to stories that celebrate the human spirit. He has written and performed a portrayal of Augustin Fresnel, the inventor of the Fresnel lens that revolutionized lighthouse lighting. It is a portrayal of one man’s fascination with “f...
Light Hearted ep 268 – W. Scott Jett, Hereford Inlet, NJ
March 10, 2024 05:03 - 46 minutes - 36.2 MBHereford Inlet Lighthouse (courtesy photo) Hereford Inlet, a break in the barrier islands along the east side of Cape May, New Jersey, was used by whalers as far back as the 17th century. Shifting sands and a strong current made the inlet dangerous for mariners. As coastal shipping and the use of the inlet increased, funds for a lighthouse were appropriated in 1872. A wood frame combined keeper’s house and lighthouse began service in 1874. The beautiful Victorian design was the work of the L...
Light Hearted Lite #1 – Sophie Blackall
March 06, 2024 16:43 - 17 minutes - 12.4 MBWe've produced almost 300 episodes of the podcast Light Hearted in the past five years. Most of the interviews we’ve done have been a half hour to an hour. We realize that listening to an hour-long podcast is not something everyone wants to do, so we’re introducing something we call Light Hearted Lite. In this new series, some favorite interviews from the past five years have been edited down to around 10 to 20 minutes. We’ll still keep posting the longer episodes as well. For this first edi...
Light Hearted ep 267 – Patrick Mont and Chelsea clocks; Guin and Dani talk lighthouses; Portsmouth Harbor Light, NH
March 03, 2024 05:05 - 57 minutes - 41.2 MBDani and Guin doing what they love There are three segments in this episode. First, 11-year-old Guinevere Porter and her best friend Dani, Kentucky residents, talk about their visits to some beautiful and very tall lighthouses in Georgia, Florida, and elsewhere. As they correctly point out, we need kids to get interested in lighthouses. They will be the ones caring for them in the future, and also, visiting and climbing them is fun! A U.S. Lighthouse Service Chelsea clock In the second seg...
Light Hearted ep 266 – John Zimmerman and Jen Lewis, St. George Reef, California
February 25, 2024 05:17 - 55 minutes - 40.8 MBThe seas off the northern California coast are notoriously rough, and no area is more treacherous than St. George Reef, which is the tip of a submerged volcanic mountain about six miles offshore. Construction of a lighthouse on the reef began in 1883. It took nine years to complete the massive 90-foot-tall granite tower on top of a 50-foot-tall base. A powerful first-order Fresnel lens was installed, and the lighthouse began service on October 20, 1892. St. George Reef Lighthouse, California...
Light Hearted ep 265 – Whale Rock, RI, and the Hurricane of 1938
February 18, 2024 05:56 - 1 hour - 46.8 MBWhale Rock Lighthouse (U.S. Coast Guard) Walter Eberle with his wife Agnes Whale Rock Light, a typical cast-iron “spark plug” type lighthouse, was constructed at the entrance to the west passage of Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay in 1882 to help mariners past a treacherous reef. Isolated Whale Rock was not a desirable location for keepers, and 16 different men served as head keeper between 1882 and 1909. A 1924 storm sent waves over the top of the tower and did some damage to the structure...
Light Hearted ep 264 – Kristen Heather and Jeanette Rodriquez, Point Fermin, California
February 11, 2024 06:10 - 1 hour - 39.9 MBThe area in Southern California known as San Pedro saw Spanish use dating back to the 1540s. Once a separate township, it’s now part of Los Angeles. After the Mexican-American War, San Pedro’s harbor was expanded and improved. Congress appropriated funds for a lighthouse at Point Fermin, San Pedro’s southernmost point, in 1854. The light began service on December 15, 1874. Point Fermin Lighthouse, California. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. Kristin Heather and Jeanette Rodriguez Point Fermin ...
Light Hearted ep 263 – Joanne Mulloy and Jerry Arnold, Mukilteo, Washington
February 04, 2024 06:40 - 59 minutes - 40 MBMukilteo Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D'Entremont On the east side of Washington’s Puget Sound, Mukilteo grew as a port in the late 1800s, with salmon canning and lumber as leading industries. Funds were appropriated by Congress for a lighthouse at Mukilteo in 1903, and construction began in 1905. A 30-foot tower was built, attached to a fog signal building, with two large, separate dwellings for the keepers and their families. The station began service on March 1, 1906. The light and fog sig...
Light Hearted ep 262 – Old Point Loma, California
January 28, 2024 05:24 - 47 minutes - 31.2 MBOld Point Loma Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. Congress authorized lighthouses at several California locations in 1850, including San Diego. Construction began in 1854 on a lighthouse on a high bluff at the end of Point Loma, more than 400 feet above the sea. The lighthouse began service in November 1855. Its active life was fairly short, as it turned out. The great height of the light station was a handicap when low clouds and fog surrounded the bluff, so a new lighthouse was built...
Light Hearted ep 261 – Cornelia Cesari, Baker island, Maine
January 21, 2024 05:06 - 1 hour - 44.2 MBCornelia Cesari Maine's Baker Island is about four miles southeast of the much larger Mount Desert Island. A lighthouse was established on the highest point of the island in 1828. The early history of the light station is very much tied into the history of the family of William and Hannah Gilley. The Gilleys had taken possession of the island in the early 1800s, and William was appointed as the island’s first lighthouse keeper. The original tower was replaced in 1855 by the 43-foot-tall cyli...
Light Hearted ep 260 – Julie Barrow, Pigeon Point, CA
January 14, 2024 05:00 - 1 hour - 41.5 MBJulie Barrow at Pigeon Point Light Station, California. Courtesy of Julie Barrow. California’s iconic Pigeon Point Lighthouse, located on the central coast between Santa Cruz and San Francisco, has been guiding mariners since 1872. Today, the historic light station is managed by California State Parks, and the former keepers’ housing serves as a youth hostel. The lighthouse has been closed to climbing since December 2001, after the collapse of some of the brickwork from near the top of the ...
Light Hearted ep 259 – A look back at the career of lighthouse technician Harry Duvall
January 07, 2024 05:01 - 59 minutes - 46.8 MBHarry Duvall and Dan May. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. Harry Duvall enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in the 1960s and trained as an electronics technician. After graduating from college, he returned to the Coast Guard as a civilian employee based at the district engineering office in Boston. For well over 30 years, he coordinated all the lighthouse automation and modernization projects for the First Coast Guard District. Harry Duvall, left. and RADM Dan May in the lantern room at Point Jud...
Light Hearted ep 258 – Bob Trapani Jr.: New England’s fascinating day beacons
December 31, 2023 06:54 - 56 minutes - 43.6 MBA day beacon (or daybeacon) is defined simply as an unlighted nautical sea mark, serving to aid navigation during the day. The U.S. Coast Guard maintains many modern day beacons around the country, but the subject of this episode is the historic day beacons of New England. Some of them date back more than 200 years, and they have fascinating stories to tell -- tales of shipwrecks, pirates, and more. Joining host Jeremy D'Entremont is Bob Trapani Jr., who is the executive director of the Ameri...
Light Hearted ep 257 – Ford Reiche, Little Mark Island, Maine
December 24, 2023 05:10 - 48 minutes - 34.8 MBLittle Mark Island—about one acre in size—is in Maine’s Casco Bay, near the town of Harpswell. On the island is a 50-foot tall, stone, pyramidal tower that was built in 1827. It’s known as the Little Mark Island Monument. It wasn’t built as a lighthouse—it was originally intended to serve as a day beacon or day marker to aid local navigation. In 1927, a navigational light was added to the top of the tower. Little Mark Island, Maine. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. Ford Reiche, photo by Jerem...
Light Hearted ep 256 – Boston Light Keeper Sally Snowman and the end of an era, part 2 of 2
December 17, 2023 05:09 - 47 minutes - 29.8 MBSally Snowman and her husband Jay Thomson on the occasion of Sally's retirement on December 15, 2023. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. At the end of this year, Sally Snowman will retire after 20 years as keeper of Boston Light in Massachusetts, America’s oldest light station. As a civilian employee of the Coast Guard, she oversaw tours and managed the Boston Light Augmentation Program, under which members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary perform various functions at Boston Light. She also has repres...
Light Hearted ep 255 – Boston Light Keeper Sally Snowman and the end of an era, part 1 of 2
December 10, 2023 05:14 - 55 minutes - 33.7 MBIn 2003, the active duty Coast Guard personnel that had been assigned to Boston Light on Little Brewster Island, America’s oldest light station, were reassigned to meet the needs of Homeland Security. Sally Snowman was named the new keeper. She became the first woman keeper in Boston Light’s long history, which dates back to 1716. Sally Snowman (U.S. Postal Service photo by Dan Afzal) Boston Light Station, photo by Jeremy D'Entremont After 20 years as keeper, Sally recently announced her r...
Light Hearted ep 254 – Laurie Perkins, Tawas Point, MI; Dan May’s new book “Preserving America’s Lighthouses”
December 03, 2023 05:08 - 1 hour - 47 MBRADM Dan May, USCG (ret.) Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. Daniel R. May graduated with a degree in ocean engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, in the class of 1979. During his time as the ocean engineer for the Fifth Coast Guard District, Dan worked on lighthouse projects from Delaware Bay to the Carolinas. Dan eventually moved to Civil Engineering Unit Providence, Rhode Island, where he served as the project engineer for several major lighthouse projects inc...
Light Hearted ep 253: Gary Kalan, Stamford Harbor, CT; Judianne Point, Pomham Rocks, RI
November 26, 2023 06:08 - 52 minutes - 37.3 MBStamford Harbor Lighthouse in May 2023. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. The entrance to Stamford Harbor in Connecticut, on Long Island Sound, is obstructed by treacherous ledges. One of them is known as Chatham Ledge. The construction of a lighthouse to mark the dangerous location was completed in 1882. The finished tower, 3,600 feet from shore, was a fairly typical cast-iron "sparkplug" style lighthouse of the era. Stamford Harbor Lighthouse was discontinued as an aid to navigation in 1953, an...
Light Hearted ep 252 – Alysa Hardin-Lapp and John Havel: Cape Hatteras, NC
November 19, 2023 05:33 - 58 minutes - 5 MBCape Hatteras Lighthouse, North Carolina. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. Alisa Hardin-Lapp andi "Light Hearted" host Jeremy D'Entremont. Photo by John Havel. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on North Carolina’s Outer Banks is one of the most visited lighthouses in the world. Offshore from Cape Hatteras is a dangerous twelve-mile long sandbar called Diamond Shoals. Countless shipwrecks there led to the nickname “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” A lighthouse was first authorized at Cape Hatteras in 1794, an...
Light Hearted ep 251 – Carolyn Wellman, Bodie Island, NC; travels with Guinevere
November 12, 2023 05:03 - 45 minutes - 34.5 MBBodie Island Light Station, North Carolina. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. Bodie Island (pronounced "body") is a long, narrow peninsula at the northern part of the Outer Banks in North Carolina. The original Bodie Island Lighthouse was built in 1847 in a location that is now underwater. That tower was abandoned in 1859 due to its poor condition. The second lighthouse was an 80-foot tower built in 1859, but it was destroyed in the Civil War. The 160-foot brick lighthouse tower that stands today...
Light Hearted ep 250 – Rachel Balderson, Old Cape Henry, VA; “Lighthouse Keeper Wars”
November 05, 2023 04:00 - 39 minutes - 31.6 MBOld Cape Henry Lighthouse, Virginia. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. There are two lighthouses at Cape Henry in Virginia, marking the south side of the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. The older of the two lighthouses was built in 1792, and it was the first federally funded public works project of the newly formed United States government. It was authorized by President George Washington and overseen by Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the Treasury. The sandstone tower stands 92 feet tall. A n...
Light Hearted ep 249 – A family sails to lighthouses in Long Island Sound; a Florida lighthouse historian’s journey in Maine
October 29, 2023 04:36 - 1 hour - 49.8 MBThe Povyshevs family with their 34-foot sailboat Ellls in the background. L to R: Valeriia, Anna, Stanislav, and Darina. This episode is dedicated to the simple pleasure of visiting lighthouses. The guests in the first interview are Anna Povyshevs (also known as Anna Fox) and her daughter Valeriia (Val). Anna is originally from Ukraine and Val was born there. Along with Anna’s husband and another younger daughter, the family has been sailing from their home port in Stamford, Connecticut, o...
Light Hearted ep 248 – Jennifer Anielski, Mariners’ Museum of Newport News, VA; Ghosts of St. Augustine, FL
October 22, 2023 04:19 - 54 minutes - 41.1 MBThe first-order Fresnel lens from Cape Charles Lighthouse in the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. The collection of the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia, includes a vast art collection, boats from around the world, a first-order Fresnel lens from Cape Charles Lighthouse, and much more. Among the museum’s projects has been the conservation of archaeological material from the USS Monitor, the famous ironclad warship built for the Union Navy dur...
Light Hearted ep 247 – The Twin Lights of Thacher Island, Massachusetts
October 15, 2023 04:43 - 55 minutes - 38.8 MBThe historic twin light station on Thacher Island, off the east side of Cape Ann in Massachusetts. is one of the small number of lighthouse sites in the U.S. that are designated National Historic Landmarks. In 1771, there were nine lighthouses in operation in North America. The original twin lighthouses built on Thacher Island in 1771 were the first built to mark a dangerous spot rather than a harbor entrance, and they were also the last lighthouses built under British rule in the colonies. T...
Light Hearted 246 – Cristina Alonzo: O Camiño Dos Faros (The Lighthouse Way) in Spain
October 08, 2023 06:52 - 57 minutes - 36.3 MBO Camiño dos Faros, or The Lighthouse Way, is a 125-mile hiking route in Galicia in the northwest part of Spain. The route passes nine lighthouses, as well as forts, fishing villages, beaches, and important landmarks in the portion of the coast known as A Costa da Morte. National Geographic called the Lighthouse Way an under-the-radar gem, and The Telegraph called it “one of the 50 best adventure vacations in the world.” The Lighthouse Way is divided into eight sections, with an average hikin...
Light Hearted ep 245 – Pete Lesher, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
October 01, 2023 04:16 - 49 minutes - 35.4 MBThe Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum campus (courtesy of Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.) The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Maryland, explores and preserves the history, environment, and culture of the entire Chesapeake Bay region, and makes this resource accessible to all. The museum’s collections include historic watercraft dating back to the 1860s, maritime paintings and prints, ship models, a Chesapeake region folklife collection, and a dozen historic vessels still afloat...
Light Hearted ep 244 – Cape Blanco Lighthouse, Oregon
September 24, 2023 04:20 - 59 minutes - 37.5 MBThe peninsula known as Cape Blanco, the most westerly point on the coast of Oregon, was named by Spanish explorers because of its high, light-colored cliffs. The reefs around the cape were a hindrance to navigation, leading to the establishment of a lighthouse in 1870. The brick tower, 59 feet tall with its light 256 feet above mean high water, still stands. It’s the oldest continuously operated lighthouse in Oregon, and also the highest above sea level. The lantern room originally held a fix...
Light Hearted ep 243 – Sam Perlman, Door County Maritime Museum, Wisconsin
September 17, 2023 04:52 - 58 minutes - 38.9 MBThe Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay features the 10-story Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower. The Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, is dedicated to showcasing the area’s rich maritime roots. The museum’s exhibits spotlight fishermen, ship captains, skilled craftsmen, inventors, and lighthouse keepers, among others who have contributed much to the area for centuries. Under the same management is the Death's Door Maritime Museum in Gills Rock, which traces th...
Light Hearted ep 242 – Christian Fiedler: Beacons Through Time; Winner of USLHS dance contest
September 10, 2023 04:15 - 55 minutes - 40.3 MBChristian Fiedler Solargraphy – also called solarigraphy – is a niche form of pinhole photography that stretches single exposure images to an extreme exposure length. Relying on homemade cameras, darkroom paper, and a small pinhole instead of a glass lens, solargraphs allow an image to be captured over months or years. The path of the sun and the landscape appear directly on the surface of the paper. Solargraph image of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, New Hampshire. The walkway out the lighth...
Light Hearted ep 241 – Bar Harbor Grand Slam Lighthouse Cruise (ME); Graves Light lens project (MA)
September 03, 2023 06:18 - 54 minutes - 39.1 MBIn addition to their nature cruises, Bar Harbor Whale Watch in Maine runs regular sightseeing cruises that go near several of the local lighthouses. For years, pre-pandemic, the company also ran occasional all-day lighthouse cruises that passed close to as many as 15 or 20 lighthouses. An annual July cruise was known as the Grand Slam cruise. The cruises were put on hold during the pandemic. The tradition is being revived, with an all-day cruise going near at least 20 lighthouses this Septemb...
Light Hearted ep 240 – Bob Trapani: Maine Open Lighthouse Day
August 27, 2023 04:16 - 55 minutes - 41.1 MBBurnt Coat Harbor Light Station on Swans Island, Maine, is one of the sites participating in Maine Open Lighthouse Day. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. Maine Open Lighthouse Day is a popular annual event that's sponsored by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Maine Office of Tourism, and the American Lighthouse Foundation. It attracts between 15,000 to 18,000 visitors each year and offers the general public the rare opportunity to climb and learn about more than a dozen historic Maine lights. The event t...
Light Hearted ep 239 – Slip Point, Washington; Lovells Island, Massachusetts
August 20, 2023 04:03 - 43 minutes - 31.4 MBSlip Point Lighthouse, courtesy of Slip Point Lighthouse Keepers The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a body of water the Salish Sea's main outlet to the Pacific Ocean. Clallam Bay, Washington, is an indentation on the south side of the strait, about 30 miles from its mouth. Slip Point is at the east end of Clallam Bay. A fog signal was established at Slip Point in 1905. A lantern was hung on the fog signal building to provide a navigational light until another appropriation paid for the addition...
Light Hearted ep 238 – Mary Beth Volmer, Friends of Plum & Pilot Islands, Wisconsin
August 13, 2023 04:05 - 51 minutes - 34.9 MBPilot Island, Wisconsin. Photo by Tim Sweet, courtesy of Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands. Porte des Morts, from the French meaning “door of the dead,” is a strait that connects Lake Michigan to Green Bay, Wisconsin. A lighthouse was established in the strait on Plum Island in 1849, but it was determined to be too far west to aid shipping. It was replaced by a lighthouse and fog signal on Pilot Island, less than two miles to the southeast. Plum Island Rear Range Light, Wisconsin. Courtesy...
Light Hearted ep 237 – U.S. Lighthouse Society Executive Director Jeff Gales
August 06, 2023 04:03 - 49 minutes - 34.4 MBJeff Gales and Augie This episode features a wide-ranging conversation between Light Hearted host Jeremy D'Entremont and Jeff Gales, executive director of the U.S. Lighthouse Society (USLHS). Topics include the early history of the USLHS, the Society's move from San Francisco to Point No Point Light Station in Seattle, the passport program, overnight stays at the Society’s properties and other lighthouses, and the changing role of foghorns in today's world -- and more. Jeff Gales became the...
Light Hearted ep 236 – Canadian light keepers Karen Zacharuk and Chris Mills
July 30, 2023 13:46 - 1 hour - 51.8 MBThis episode features two re-edited interviews from past years, Karen Zacharuk and Chris Mills. For more than 15 years, Karen has been the keeper at Cape Beale in British Columbia. Cape Beale is one of 27 lightstations that remain staffed on the coast of British Columbia. As keeper, Karen maintains the navigation equipment and buildings, monitors weather and sea conditions, and watches for emergency situations. Karen Zacharuk and friend at Cape Beale Chris Mills is originally from Ontario, ...
Light Hearted ep 235 – Paul Duval & Wesley Randles, Seal Point Lighthouse, South Africa
July 23, 2023 04:25 - 53 minutes - 37.6 MBSeal Point Lighthouse is on Cape St. Francis in South Africa, close to the southeasternmost point on the continent. At 91 feet tall, it’s the tallest masonry building on the South African coast. Seal Point Light Station (courtesy of Seal Point Lighthouse) Construction began in 1874, and materials had to be hauled by oxcart to the remote location. The light station began service on July 4, 1878. For many years, Seal Point was considered one of the most isolated staffed light stations on the...
Light Hearted 234 – Sally Montgomery and Northern Ireland’s “Great Light”; special lighthouse month at a York, Maine, gallery
July 16, 2023 04:17 - 1 hour - 45.1 MBThe waterfront of Belfast, Northern Ireland, is home to one of the world’s biggest tourist attractions: Titanic Belfast, also known as the Titanic Museum. The museum opened in 2012 and attracted more than six million people in its first seven years of operation. In 2018, two important new attractions – the Great Light and Titanic Walkway – officially opened to the public near the museum. The so-called Great Light is the world’s first and largest hyper-radial Fresnel lens -- the largest and m...
Light Hearted ep 233 – Jean Muchanic and Buddy Grover, Absecon, NJ
July 09, 2023 04:02 - 1 hour - 41.7 MBAbsecon Lighthouse in Atlantic City, New Jersey, has the distinction of being New Jersey’s tallest lighthouse and the nation’s third tallest masonry lighthouse at 171 feet. The tower was designed by George Meade, who later commanded the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. The light went into service in early 1857. Absecon Lighthouse, New Jersey, at sunrise. Courtesy of Absecon Lighthouse. Buddy Grover and Jean Muchanic Buddy Grover After three quarters of a century as a fa...
Light Hearted ep 232 – North Head Lighthouse, Washington
July 02, 2023 04:00 - 59 minutes - 43.4 MBThe first lighthouse in the Pacific Northwest was established in 1856 on the north side of the entrance to the Columbia River at Cape Disappointment, in the state of Washington. High land blocked the view of the light from the north, so Congress appropriated funds for a second lighthouse at North Head, just two miles north of Cape Disappointment. North Head Lighthouse, a 65-foot-tall brick tower with a sandstone base, began service in 1898 with its light 194 feet above the water. North Head ...
Light Hearted 231 – National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act and the GSA; National Lighthouse Day Dance Contest
June 25, 2023 04:18 - 53 minutes - 38.3 MBThe National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000, or NHLPA, was created to aid the preservation of federally owned historic light stations. The NHLPA program is a partnership that includes the Coast Guard, the National Park Service, and the General Services Administration, or GSA. The NHLPA allows lighthouse properties to be transferred at no cost to federal agencies, state and local governments, nonprofit corporations, or educational and community development organizations. Sonia A...
Light Hearted ep 230 – Lake Erie Lighthouses of Pennsylvania; Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, Illinois
June 18, 2023 04:02 - 57 minutes - 43.7 MBErie Land Lighthouse, photo by Brian Berchtold. There are three lighthouses on the Lake Erie shore within the state of Pennsylvania. The first of the three, Erie Land Lighthouse, was erected to mark the entrance to Presque Isle Bay. It has the distinction of being the earliest commissioned light station on the American side of the Great Lakes. The present 49-foot tower was built in 1867 of Berea sandstone. Erie Harbor North Pierhead Light, photo by Brian Berchtold. Presque Isle Light Stat...
Light Hearted ep 229 – Connie Small, “The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife”
June 11, 2023 05:10 - 59 minutes - 41.3 MBConnie and Elson Small in the 1940s Constance Scovill Small was born into a Maine family that included sea captains and lighthouse keepers. Connie had dreams of being an artist or writer, but when light keeper Elson Small asked her, “Do you love me enough to go with me on a lighthouse?” she knew she had to say yes. They were soon married. Connie Small and Jeremy D'Entremont in 2003 Connie and Elson had a 28-year career at light stations including Maine’s Avery Rock, Seguin Island, and St. ...
Light Hearted ep 228 – USLHS tours, and “Lighthouse Girl” revisited
June 04, 2023 15:32 - 1 hour - 46.4 MBDianne Wolfer’s 2009 book Lighthouse Girl won the West Australian Young Readers' Book Award for Picture Books. Lighthouse Girl tells the poignant story of Fay Howe, who was the daughter of the lighthouse keeper at Breaksea Island, near Albany in Western Australia, during World War I. In late 1914 a fleet of 36 troop ships left Albany bound for Egypt and Gallipoli. Fifteen-year-old Fay communicated with many of the men using semaphore flags or Morse code. The sight of Fay Howe waving to them ...
Light Hearted ep 227 – Barry Porter, “Adventures of a Lightkeeper” (Newfoundland) pt 3 of 3
May 28, 2023 04:02 - 46 minutes - 38.2 MBCourtesy of Barry Porter Barry Porter was born into a farming family in Porterville, on the north coast of Newfoundland, Canada. After working as a welder, Barry applied to be a relief lighthouse keeper with the Canadian Coast Guard. He spent the next 23 years working as a lightkeeper in four different locations. He has written about his colorful career in a new book, Adventures of a Lightkeeper. Barry Porter and his wife Alice at Bacalhao Island Lighthouse. Courtesy of Barry Porter. Steph...