Wednesday Medley

Terri's questions for the week:

NATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE DAY – August 7

  

NATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE DAY

Observed annually on August 7, National Lighthouse Day honors the beacon of light that for hundreds of years symbolized safety and security for ships and boats at sea.  At one time, the beacon of light could be found across almost all of America’s shorelines.

A lighthouse is described as a tower, building or any other type of structure that is designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. 

Lighthouse Facts

• Mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, reefs, safe entries to harbors
• Assist in aerial navigation
• The number of lighthouses has declined due to the expense of maintenance. Modern electric navigational systems are replacing them. 
• Their light source is called a lamp (either electric or oil-fueled).
• Originally lit by an open fire and then candles.
• Differ depending on the location and purpose but have standard components
• The lantern room is a glassed-in housing at the top of a lighthouse tower
• Beneath the lantern room is the Watch Room or Service Room 
• Next to the Watch room is an open gallery.
• Development accelerated in the 17th century with Britain’s Trinity House constructing its first in 1609.
• In North America, St. Augustine, Florida built the first lighthouse. Printed on a 1791 map, it had been built by Menendez after his landing in 1586.
• Boston Light built on little Brewster Island next in 1716.
• The oldest existing lighthouse in the United States is the Sandy Hook Lighthouse in New Jersey.  Built in the year 1764, this lighthouse is still in operation.
• At the end of the 19th century, the United States had the most lighthouses of any nation.
• The 9th Act of the first Congress created the US Bureau of Lighthouses in 1789, which placed lighthouses under federal control.
• The United States Coast Guard took over on July 7, 1939.
• Hobbyists enjoy visiting and photographing lighthouses. They also collect ceramic replicas.  

HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalLighthouseDay

Tour lighthouses near you. Take a road trip. With lighthouses on every coast and the great lakes, one or more is surely worth the trip! Share your photos of lighthouses and use #NationalLighthouseDay to post on social media.

NATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE DAY HISTORY

On August 7, 1789, the United States Congress approved an act for the “establishment and support of Lighthouse, Beacons, Buoys, and Public Piers.”  It was two hundred years later that Congress designated August 7 as National Lighthouse Day.

Everything above is from the National Day Calendar website.

1.  Let's start with a number! How many lighthouses have you visited?

Funny you should ask, because last week, when we spoke about national parks, I posted about the Fire Island Lighthouse.  You can read all about my visit to the lighthouse here.  

Tomorrow night (weather permitting) we will do our annual dinner cruise to Fire Island.  

Long Island has a second famous lighthouse, Montauk Point Light.  It sits on the easternmost tip of Long Island, next to Montauk Point State Park.   The lighthouse is a National Historic Landmark.  When I was a child, my mom and dad liked to drive out to Montauk to see the lighthouse.  We'd run around the dunes in the park, but never actually went into the museum. Later we'd stop for ice cream in Southampton.

Photo credit:  Wolfgang Wander - http://www.pbase.com/wwcsig/image/53410670 / Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=779484

Technically not a lighthouse, but equally iconic -- the art deco water tower at Jones Beach State Park:

The park is 90 years old this month, and the water tower, all lit up at night, is as much a navigational beacon as any lighthouse.

2.  Have you been inside a lighthouse and did you walk to the top?

I did not have a chance to climb to the top of the Fire Island Lighthouse.  I'm sure the view is magnificent.

3.  Do you seek them out when you are traveling the coastlines or are you not that big a fan?

I do love to visit historic sites, including seaports and old ships.  But I don't think I've ever paid attention to whether there's a lighthouse in the area.  I'm sure I saw the lighthouse at Mystic Seaport when we visited there,and I"m sure I took note of the lighthouse when we visited Newport, RI,  but I don't really remember either.

4.  Do you have a favorite scripture or another reference to share with us concerning a guiding light in your life?

Not scripture.  Actually it's song lyrics.  Peter, Paul and Mary.  I'll just post the last verse of the song, and you can listen to the whole thing if you choose to.

What is the memory that's valued so highly
That we keep it alive in that flame?
What's the commitment to those who have died
That we cry out they've not died in vain?
We have come this far always believing
That justice would somehow prevail
This is the burden, this is the promise
This is why we will not fail!

Don't let the light go out!
It's lasted for so many years!
Don't let the light go out!
Let it shine through our love and our tears.

5.  If you don't collect lighthouses when you travel, is there something tangible that you tend to collect as a souvenir when you are on vacation or a road trip?

I don't collect anything anymore, but I used to collect magnets.  I had multiple magnets from each trip we took, and displayed them on a filing cabinet at work.  I changed jobs 5 years ago and no longer have a metal file cabinet.  The magnets are put away for now.

6.  Please share something with us about your week.

As I mentioned earlier, I am so hoping for good weather tomorrow. We plan to take our annual dinner cruise to Fire Island. We meet at Captree State Park and take the Moonchaser across the Great South Bay to Ocean Beach to enjoy a seafood buffet at Flynn's.  It promises to be a lovely evening -- unless it rains.