Light Hearted

This is an edited version of an interview first heard in episode 21 in August 2019. Halfway Rock Lighthouse is a 76-foot granite tower built in 1871 on a windswept ledge far out in Maine’s Casco Bay. The property was bought at auction in 2017 by entrepreneur Ford Reiche. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/FORD-REICHE-IMG_4988-1024x683.jpg]Ford Reiche in 2017; photo by Jeremy D’Entremont. His amazing restoration has earned him several awards. The Maine Preservation Association recognized the project with its 2016 Preservation Award, and the American Lighthouse Foundation presented Ford Reiche a 2017 “Keeper of the Light” award honoring his “contribution to the preservation of America’s lighthouses and their rich tradition.” Most recently, he received this year’s National Maritime Historical Society Distinguished Service Award.

To celebrate the 300th episode of this podcast, host Jeremy D’Entremont spoke with almost every person who’s served as a co-host in the past five-plus years. He asked each person a simple question – What has been your most memorable lighthouse experience? The answers are all over the map, which points out that there are an infinite number of ways that people connect with lighthouses. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/300th-pic-2-1024x1012.jpg] [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/300th-pic-1-1024x895.jpg] Interviewed are Averie Shaughnessy-Comfort, Ben Ridings, Bob Trapani Jr., Cindy Johnson, Emily Straight, Heather and Guin Porter, Jen Lewis, Judianne Point, Michelle Jewell Shaw, Ralph Krugler, Rob Apse, Sarah MacHugh, Shalana Millard, and U.S. Lighthouse Society Executive Director Jeff Gales.

[https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/d73c5670-87bd-4dcf-bc8d-e93216ead9f9-819x1024.jpg]Nick Korstad Nick Korstad, who is originally from Portland, Oregon, fell in love with lighthouses when he was in middle school. When Borden Flats Light in Fall River, Massachusetts, came up for sale via government auction in 2010, Nick saw a great opportunity. He achieved his dream of public access when he opened the lighthouse for overnight stays in 2013. Big Bay Point Lighthouse on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has been privately owned since the early 1960s and it was has been converted into a bed and breakfast inn. Since 2018, Nick has been the resident owner. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/IMG_4046adj-1024x683.jpg]Big Bay Point Lighthouse, Michigan. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont. In recent years, Nick has spearheaded the restoration of Browns Head Lighthouse on Vinalhaven Island in Maine. In 2022, a nonprofit group called the Friends of Browns Head Lighthouse was formed, with the goal of opening it to the public for overnight stays next year. Much work has already been completed. At the end of 2023, Nick was elected president of the American Lighthouse Foundation. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/IMG_2047adj-1024x683.jpg]Browns Head Lighthouse, Maine. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

[https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/overfalls-1024x683.jpg]Lightship Overfalls, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont The Lightship Overfalls, more properly known as the LV-118 or the WAL 539, was the last lightship built under the U.S. Lighthouse Service. Built in East Boothbay, Maine, in 1938, the 116-foot-long vessel incorporated the latest features of lightship design at the time. The LV-118 saw duty in several locations in its active career. From 1938 to 1957 it was at Cornfield Point, at the east end of Long Island Sound off Old Saybrook, Connecticut. From 1958 to 1962 it served at the Cross Rip station near Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. And from 1962 to 1972 it marked the approach to Boston Harbor, six miles east of Boston Light. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Bolster-839x1024.jpg]John Bolster and his grandson ringing the ship’s bell aboard the Lightship Overfalls [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/LV-118-Cornfield-Point-1024x585.png]From 1938 to 1957, the LV-118 was at Cornfield Point, at the east end of Long Island Sound. (USLHS archives) Today, the Lightship Overfalls is a National Historic Landmark. Thanks to thousands of hours put in by countless volunteers, the vessel is fully restored and is open to the public on the Lewes waterfront. The guest in this episode, John Bolster, is the curator and a board member for the Overfalls Foundation.

[https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Henry.jpg]Henry and Chris with two of their grandkids This is part two of a two-part interview with Henry Gonzalez, who became the president of the U.S. Lighthouse Society this past spring after 25 years in a vice presidential role. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/HC@-Fastnet-2024-768x1024.jpg]Chris and Henry at Fastnet Lighthouse in Ireland. Henry has lighthouses in his  blood. He’s the great-great-grandson of a lighthouse keeper who served on the north coast of Spain from 1863 to 1904, and he  has a third cousin who is currently a lighthouse keeper in Spain. Henry and his wife, Chris, have seen hundreds of lighthouses throughout the United States and Spain, Portugal, France, and Norway. They have three children and six grandchildren, several of whom are being trained to be future lighthouse keepers.