People from all over the North America attended this
years 2nd International Lighthouse Challenge, “Lights Across
the Border,” that took place September 12 at West Quoddy Head and Lubec
Channel lighthouses in Lubec, Mulholland and Head Harbour lighthouses on
Campobello Island and Little River Lighthouse in Cutler.
Organizers for the event reported that the crowds were of
a good size because of Maine Open Lighthouse Day, which also took place
on the same day.
Although there were some minor delays in getting people
to Little River Lighthouse because some people showed up too early at
Little River before the tide was high enough to get them to the island
while others arrived very late in the day after standing in the long
line at West Quoddy Lighthouse, where over 500 people had showed up.
“Fortunately, no one complained,” said Tim Harrison, chairman of the
Friends of Little River Lighthouse. He went on to
Photo by Dylan Case
During the entire weekend of the
lighthouse events a large 30 foot long flag was displayed from
Little River Lighthouse in memory of
those who lost their lives in the
9-11 terrorist attacks. The flag
was first displayed at the lighthouse in October 2001, when after being
dark for 26 years; the lighthouse was re-lighted as a “Beacon of Freedom
to the World.”
say, “Although Maine
Open Lighthouse Day put a slight crimp in our well planned Lighthouse
Challenge, our volunteers met the challenge.
Stephen Cates, a local lobsterman had his large lobster boat on standby most
of the day, in case it was needed. But the three small boats from the
lighthouse were able to handle the job, so toward the end of the day, Cates
finally left
“However, when so many people suddenly showed up so late in the day, another
local lobsterman, John Drouin, stepped forward with his large lobster boat
to help transport people to the island,” said Harrison. When Drouin saw all
the people arriving at the same time he immediately realized that the three
small lighthouse boats would take way too long in transporting people back
and forth in the time allowed before the tide would make it impossible to
reach the lighthouse and asked, “Do you want me to get my boat?” Organizers
of the event, almost in unison hollered, “Yes, please!”
Harrison said the
people were just plain happy to be able to climb three remote lighthouse
towers in one day and view the others. “We had more
Photograph by Dylan Case
These two youngsters, Meg Moulton and
Libby Kalloch, at Little River Lighthouse
gave a thumbs up to the International
Lighthouse Challenge, “Lights Across the Border,” where visitors at
Little River Light enjoyed free hot dogs, soda, lemonade,
apples and homemade brownies, and
enjoyed tours of the restored keeper’s
house and climbed the tower.
children than ever this year, which was great, because
they will be the future caretakers of our historic lighthouses and we
want to get them involved at an early age. Also, this year, we had two
high school student volunteers, Tyler Warner and Andrew Farnsworth, as
tower guides at Little River.”
Harrison said he spent a lot of his time at Little River
Lighthouse transporting people in a trailer hauled behind a small
tractor who couldn’t make the long walk up
and over the island. “They were almost as thrilled by the tractor ride as
they were by seeing the restored lighthouse,” he said.
However, one of the big attractions of the day nearly took the thunder away
from the lighthouses and that was the whales and the seals. Visitors at Head
Harbour Lighthouse on Campobello Island and at West Quoddy Head Lighthouse
in Lubec, reported numerous whale sightings in the waters off the
lighthouses. Plus, an estimated two dozen or more seals were showing off in
the waters around Little River Lighthouse. At one point it seemed as if one
seal wanted to climb in a boat and ride with the visitors. One man
exclaimed, “I could see his whiskers, I could have petted him!”
As well as raising money for the ongoing restoration and care of the
lighthouses, the event served as a boost to the area’s economy. All in all
in was a good day of family fun that revolved around the great outdoors and
historic lighthouses.
