News Archives
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Early summer activitiesA lot is going on on the island and on the mainland. Andy Thomas' Showboat was launched on May 27, for a second summer as a workboat for FILA thanks to Andy's generousity, while FILA's own boat, the Lightkeeper, was still being worked on at Gull Island Marine in Northport. Weather permitting, work trips to the light station were made on a weekly basis since the second week of June. Some of them also included rides for Volunteer Lightkeepers of the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum (GTLHM). The first journey brought some problems due to unfavorable wind and waves after anchoring. Our skippers had to move the Showboat several miles northward, which necessitated quite a hike for those on shore to get back on board. However, the trip was concluded in full safety. On June 6, a board meeting was held at the Children's Museum in Traverse City. Financial issues (still pretty serious!) were discussed as well as maritime matters (status of the boats), the new display for the South Fox exhibtion at the GTLHM and the Webcam project, featuring a video camera at the light station with live feed to the GTLHM and to the Internet. A second trip, on June 11 - 13, again brought two GTLHM Volunteer Lightkeepers and a FILA crew to the light. The three days on the island in perfect weather conditions were highlighted by the visit of Steve Zimmerman and Jim Viviano, both of Kalamazoo, who were on a 150 mile kayak journey from Sleeping Bear to Bois Blanc. They spent one night with the FILA crew at the lighthouse. The whole gang had a great time there, both working hard and socializing. By the way, as a little contribution to FILA's environmental commitment, all crew members on the island always collect all litter they find while roaming the beaches and take it back to the mainland. On June 26, a Thank you dinner for Andy and Gloria Thomas was held at the Bluebird in Leland. Their very kind help, lending their Showboat to our now licensed FILA skippers, Ron Fitzsimmons and George "Carp" Carpenter, made it possible for us to reach the island despite the technical troubles with our own boat. On July 1st, the new South Fox Lighthouse display was opened to the public at the GTLHM. After a complete overhaul not only of the engines over winter, thanks to a lot of hard work by Phil von Voigtlander and his volunteers, the Lightkeeper boat has been launched and may be ready for action fairly soon. Another board meeting was held at Phil's
in Northport on July 10th. Details will follow.
Hans Joerg Rothenberger |
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FILA
skipper Ron Fitzsimmons and the two GTHLM
Volunteer Lightkeepers at the front door
of the old lighthouse.
