Monthly Archives: August 2012

Reprint – A Light on the Past

Adult Memories, Automation, British Columbia, Coast Guard, Foghorns, History, Information, Keepers, Light, Lighthouses, Reprint, Stories, Visitors, Women, , , , , , , ,

A light on the past

with permission from Rosalind Duane, North Shore News, August 05, 2012

Elaine Graham remains the only resident among the historical buildings at Point Atkinson Lighthouse. Photograph by: NEWS photo, Lisa King

ELAINE Graham was raised in the slums of London, far from the multi-hued green of nature.

“There was nothing on my street when I was growing up,” she recalls. “I had lots of play-friends, loads of kids to play with, but there wasn’t even a geranium on a windowsill.”

Many years later, Graham is now surrounded by 75 hectares of the largest first-growth stand of coastal-elevation trees in the Lower Mainland. Her home is nestled among the remaining structures at the base of Point Atkinson Lighthouse, which stands on a craggy promontory at the edge of Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver.

She has spent half her life here, and is eager to tell the story of her neck of the woods.

Graham moved to the Point Atkinson Lighthouse station with her husband Donald and two young sons in 1980. Donald became the last of the lighthouse keepers at the site (along with senior keeper Gerry Watson) when the lighthouse was automated in 1996.

The Grahams stayed on in one of the two keeper’s houses, she as a park attendant and he as a groundskeeper. Continue reading Reprint – A Light on the Past →

Reprint – Christmas Tree Lighthouse

Art, Florida, History, Light, Lighthouses, Ornaments, Ornaments, Reprint, Travel, , , , , , ,

Do you want to save a lighthouse? Do you like lighthouse Christmas ornaments? This article might appeal to you. It appeals to me because it is another way to raise money to save a lighthouse. If you look on this website, there are many more ideas too.

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Christmas tree lighthouse

Reprinted with permission from Tim Croft of The Star

First published July 26, 2012 11:58 AM

Lighthouse ornament

The St. Joseph Historical Society (Port St. Joe, Florida) is encouraging folks to put a touch of lighthouse under the Christmas tree this year.

As part of a fund-raising effort in its quest to save the Cape San Blas Lighthouse from the wrath of Mother Nature, the Historical Society is selling a gorgeous brass-and-silver colored replica of the lighthouse in the form of a Christmas ornament.

Cape Blas lighthouse

Each ornament costs the Historical Society $10 – Cape San Blas Lighthouse is emblazoned across the top-front of the ornament, St Joseph Historical Society on the lower back – to produce.

Members of the SJBHS are selling each ornament for $20, with the other $10 going directly toward the fundraising pot to save the lighthouse. Continue reading Reprint – Christmas Tree Lighthouse →

Mise Tales Nine

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For an update on what a Mise Tale is then please see Mise Tales One.

LIGHTHOUSE GIN – A BEACON OF HOPE FOR GIN LOVERS EVERYWHERE

I am planning on making a post later on the use of the lighthouse symbol in advertising, but this advertisement for Lighthouse Gin from New Zealand came across my desk and it was too good not to mention.

Nicely designed website, New Zealand product, lots of information, and some delightful recipes for those that like gin.

The source for this link actually came from The Dominion Post website in new Zealand that had a recipe for Gin and Tonic cake. One of the ingredients was this Lighthouse Gin, so I just had to research it.

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This seems to be turning into an advertising Misc Tales post. Today I found this website for Lighthouse FTO Coffee Bright & Light produced by the Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company, USA. At $12.99 US it is not too bad a price.

For the lighthouse collector, there are several more varieties available in different cans, so you will have to drink a lot of coffee to make up the whole collection!

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Oops! What Happened to the Water?

Adult Memories, British Columbia, Coast Guard, Communication, Environment, Fisheries and Oceans, Fishing, Lighthouses, On The Job, Radio, Wildlife, , , , , , , , ,

A few days ago I posted an article on the lightkeepers being the eyes and ears of the BC coast. While writing it an incident was brought to my mind of my early days in 1977 on McInnes Island. We arrived on McInnes in August 1977 so this had to have happened in Spring 1978.

Every year on the British Columbia coast the herring start their spawn in early spring. We, being curious lighthouse keepers are always interested in the goings on in the sea, from the arrival of the salmon to the arrival of winter storms. We always had our eyes out for something happening.

Well, one of the things we had been warned about was pollution. One morning I awoke and the ocean around the lighthouse as far away as Price Island, two kilometers away, was a milky white as though lime had been dumped in the ocean. Nowhere could I see blue sea except distantly in front of the lighthouse.

white water – photo Flickr by poecile05

I was astounded! What had happened? I had no idea. Last night everything was normal; today, total chaos!

I phoned Coast Guard Radio in Bull Harbour and reported this accident, not knowing what it was or how to describe it. The operator said he would pass it on to the Coast Guard. 

That was it? The ocean was polluted! I could not see a foot into the water! That was all they were going to do? Continue reading Oops! What Happened to the Water? →

Lightkeepers are the Eyes and Ears of the Oceans

Anti-Automation, British Columbia, Environment, History, Information, Keepers, Lighthouses, Oil Spills, On The Job, Ships & Shipping, Shipwrecks, , , , , , , ,

Isn’t this a pretty neat photo? But what is it you ask?

If you run Google Chrome as a web browser1 you could use the Search by Image extension to find other copies of the photo and then the website, and then what is shown in the photo. Here I have just presented a photo with no information (caption).

This photo was shown in Facebook at one time I think. Through the browser extension mentioned above I found the origin of the photo and an explanation. Continue reading Lightkeepers are the Eyes and Ears of the Oceans →

Are You Looking for Lighthouse-Related Items?

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When I was browsing a crafty website called Completely Coastal which I reviewed earlier I came across an advertisement for Etsy. Searching for things lighthouse, I typed that into the Etsy page search box. The page in the picture below came up.

It is page one (1) of two hundred eighteen (218) pages of lighthouse-related items, for a total of 8,696! Enjoy! Tell us what you bought!

Clicking on the photo below takes you to the lighthouse search items on Etsy.