Light Hearted

Light Hearted 341 – Rick St. Pierre, Coast Guard keeper at Boon Island, Maine

[https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/rick-st-pierre-1024x990.jpg]Rick St. Pierre Rick St. Pierre, originally from New Bedford, Massachusetts, had a 20 year career in the Coast Guard that included some time as the officer in charge at Boon Island Light Station in Maine. He was the officer in charge 1973 to 1975. In this interview, he remembers the daily duties on the island as well as the station’s resident ghost. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/653S_Boon_Island_ME_CG4-1024x801.jpg]Boon Island Light Station, U.S. Coast Guard photo. All the light station buildings except for the lighthouse tower have been destroyed. Rick’s years in the Coast Guard also included 3 ½ years on the cutter Eagle, on a weather cutter off the east coast of Canada, and on the cutter Storis, enforcing maritime law around Alaska. He lived at West Chop Light Station on Martha’s Vineyard for a while when he was the executive petty officer at Coast Guard Station Menemsha. He also spent time at search and rescue stations including South Portland, Maine, and he ended his Coast Guard career at Governors Island in New York. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/eagle-1024x683.jpg]The Coast Guard cutter Eagle. U.S.Coast Guard photo.

Light Hearted Live #2: Dave Waller, owner of Graves Light in Boston Harbor, MA

This is the audio from the live streaming podcast episode of March 26. The complete video can be seen on the USLHS YouTube channel [https://youtu.be/nb7oRGsxXX0?si=IicNpVeVc1vVdGQr]. Joining host Jeremy D’Entremont is co-host Sarah MacHugh, along with producer Ralph Krugler. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/289_8931adj2-1024x420.jpg]Graves Light and the Boston skyline, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_3743-768x1024.jpg]Dave Waller Boston businessman Dave Waller, founder of a special effects company, bought Graves Lighthouse at auction in 2013. Graves is a 113-foot granite tower built in 1905, on a barren ledge in outer Boston Harbor. Since purchasing the property, Dave has carried out an incredible restoration. He’s also built and installed a first-order Fresnel lens made of spare parts from other lenses.

Light Hearted ep 340 – Point Vicente, California

[https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_1129adj-1024x683.jpg]Point Vicente Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont. The Palos Verdes Peninsula is located within southwestern Los Angeles County, California. With increasing maritime traffic into the harbor of Los Angeles, a lighthouse was built on a high bluff in Rancho Palos Verdes in 1926. The light station buildings were built in the Spanish revival style that’s prevalent in the area. The 67-foot concrete tower originally held a third-order Fresnel lens, which is now on display at an interpretive center a short distance away. The light was automated and destaffed in the early 1970s. The lighthouse tower and other light station buildings are on an active Coast Guard station. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FriendsOfPointVicenteLighthouse-01.jpg]Amy Forte, Tisha Edge, and Catherine Sinich, are the founders of Friends of Point Vicente Lighthouse [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/KipLouttit-cropped-1024x1024.webp]Capt. Kip Loutit A new nonprofit organization, the Friends of Point Vicente Lighthouse [https://friendsofpvlighthouse.org/], is working to restore and preserve the historic site. We have three guests in this episode. Catherine Sinich and Amy Forte are co-founders and board members for the Friends of Point Vicente Lighthouse. Captain Kip Louttit is retired from Coast Guard active duty but remains active in the Coast Guard Auxilary, and he has the title of Staff Officer for Navigation Systems, Point Vicente Lighthouse.

Light Hearted Lite 39 – Meghan Agresto, Currituck Beach, NC

[https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_3991adj-683x1024.jpg]Currituck Beach Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont This is an edited version of an interview that was first heard in August 2021. Our guest is Meghan Agresto, manager of the Currituck Beach Light Station  in Corolla, North Carolina. Currituck Beach Lighthouse—the northernmost of six light stations on the Outer Banks—began service on December 1, 1875.  It was the last of the tall brick lighthouses built on the Outer Banks. The 162-foot-tall tower has an unpainted red brick exterior. After automation in 1937, the site fell into disrepair until the nonprofit Outer Banks Conservationists renovated the station’s buildings and opened the site to the public in 1990. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Meghan-and-Jeremy-768x1024.jpeg]Meghan Agresto with Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont Meghan Agresto has been the resident site manager of the Currituck Beach Light Station for more than 20 years. Meghan is the modern day lighthouse keeper, along with her partner, Luis Garcia. They raised two sons in a house on the property. When the boys were young, Corolla had no school of its own, so Meghan started a school for local children.

Light Hearted ep 339 – Travis Gilbert and Logan Merchant, Old Baldy, NC

[https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Bald-Head-NC-2001-by-JCC-3.jpg]Old Baldy Lighthouse, USLHS photo by J. Candace Clifford There’s been a lighthouse standing on Bald Head Island at the entrance to the Cape Fear River in the southeast corner of North Carolina for more than two centuries. The original lighthouse began service in 1795 and was the first lighthouse in the state. The Old Baldy Lighthouse that stands today—officially known as Bald Head Island Lighthouse—was built in 1817. The 110-foot tower is constructed of soft red bricks and covered with stucco. Today, after taking the ferry from the mainland, visitors can climb the lighthouse for a view of Bald Head Island. Next to the lighthouse, the Smith Island Museum offers more information about the lighthouse, pirates, surfmen of the United States Lifesaving Service, and other island history. We have two guests in this episode. Travis Gilbert is a public historian and preservationist and the director of philanthropy for the Old Baldy Foundation. Logan Merchant is on the board of directors of the Old Baldy Foundation and is also an educator in the Wake County Public School System. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Bald-Head-NC-NA-26-lg-26-08-2015-001-ac-1024x814.jpg]Nineteenth century view of Bald Head Island Light Station from the National Archives.