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South Fox Island Lighthouse

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August News

The Lightkeeper, FILA's boat, was used to haul a lot of heavy material to the light station. FILA members and many volunteers have been working very hard on various damaged areas of the buildings.

Phil von Voigtlander removed tons of pebbles from the interior of the boat house. George Carpenter replaced parts of the carpenter's shop that had been gnawed away by carpenter ants (no kidding!). Bill VanderSalm painted the red brick walls of the oil house in white as they had originally been.

With the permission of the Department of Natural Resources, a great new FILA sign, prepared by Jan Nickerson and produced and generously donated by Britten Banners in Traverse City, was mounted on the posts of the DNR's own sign next to the oil house.

A whole squad of members of the Nickerson family, who formerly owned most of South Fox Island, volunteered many man-days  -  even quite a few more than originally planned, because bad weather made it difficult to get them back to the mainland.

There still are certain problems with one of the Lightkeeper's engines. Our boat specialists are working on them. Thanks to the prudence of our seasoned captains, the safety of our passengers and the boat never was affected, though. However, the cost of the engine repairs and the fuel still is a very serious issue. The frequent use of Andy Thomas' Showboat instead of the Lightkeeper caused additional expenses for repair and maintenance. Donations are badly needed.

At the Port Oneida Fair, FILA was represented by Sandy Bradshaw and H. Joerg Rothenberger with an updated photo display. A few new contacts were made that may prove beneficial to FILA in the future.

At the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum, Barbara von Voigtlander and Sally Frye presented FILA and the lighthouse project to the visitors of the 2nd South Fox Island Day, which also featured the Waltz Pistols, a live blue-grass band, to draw attention to the South Fox exhibition.

In close cooperation between Bob Zwemer of FILA and Stephanie Staley of the GTLHM, the Web cam project for both lighthouses has left the planning stage. More on this topic will be reported a.s.a.p..
 

Lumber aboard the FILA boat
Lumber inside the Lightkeeper's cabin. From left: Sandy Bradshaw, Greg Nickerson and George Carpenter
 

Landing beams
Bringing beams ashore: George (with Miss Cricket), Phil and Greg.

Gravel inside the boat house
BEFORE: inside the boat house, pebbles up to the sill (photo shot in July).
 

Boat house interior cleared
AFTER: tons of gravel removed.

Destroyed front door sill
BEFORE: the sill under the threshold board, virtually pulverized by ants.
 

Carp repairing the sill
ACTION: Carp doing carpentry work on the front door sill of the carpenter's shop.
 

Repaired sill
AFTER: the original threshold board on the
new sill. Problem solved without visible change.
 

Oil house painted white
The oil house, freshly painted in white.
 

New FILA sign
The new FILA sign between the boat house and the old lighthouse.

FILA display at Port Oneida Fair
Sandy at the FILA stand in Port Oneida.
 

Band at Port Oneida Fair
The Waltz Pistols, shot at the Port Oneida Fair, played for FILA at the GTLHM.
 

Hans Joerg Rothenberger
August 29, 2007
 

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