International Lighthouse Challenge Announced
Three different lighthouse groups have announced a “Lights Across the Border
Lighthouse Challenge,” that will take place on Saturday, August 9, 2008. The
Challenge will include Head Harbour Lighthouse and Muholland Lighthouse,
both on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada, and Lubec Channel
Lighthouse, West Quoddy Lighthouse and Little River Lighthouse in the State
of Maine in the United States.
The Friends of Head Harbour Lighthouse, West Quoddy Head Light Keeper’s
Association and Friends of Little River Lighthouse, a chapter of the
American Lighthouse Foundation, are planning the event to draw public
attention to the lighthouses and educate others about their efforts to save
the structures and preserve the history of the lighthouses of Washington
County and Campobello Island. Cosponsoring the event along with the
lighthouse groups are the University of Maine-Machias, Machias Savings Bank,
and Lighthouse Digest Magazine. Other cosponsors are expected to join
shortly.
The event will start at Head Harbour Lighthouse on Campobello Island in New
Brunswick, and finish with boat trips, weather permitting, to Little River
Lighthouse in Cutler, Maine, and then conclude with an evening cookout
supper on the mainland in Cutler. Attendees will be encouraged to hike the
trails along the ocean at West Quoddy Lighthouse and there will be exhibits
areas set up at or near each lighthouse. Some of the lighthouses will also
be having events the following day.
The event will have special T-shirts and other souvenir items that will only
be available for sale on the day of the event that will feature the logo of
the “Lights Across the Border Lighthouse Challenge.” Participants will be
given a map, which will be stamped, at each location, to prove they were
there, and everyone completing the Challenge will receive some type of a
completion souvenir, which is still being designed.
Although people are not yet required to have passports to cross to and from
the United States to or from Campobello Island, Canada, the law may change
by the time of the event. If the law does change, participants will be
required to have a Passport and are encouraged to apply for one now, if they
don’t yet have one.
Although the event booklet, which will include advertisements from a large
segment of business firms in the area, history of the lighthouses and maps,
will not be mailed out until the springtime, pre-registration, which is
$15.00 per person, is encouraged before the event. Registration from fifteen
days prior to the Challenge and up to the day of the event will increase to
$25.00 per person. More information can be obtained by calling Kathleen
Finnegan at 207-259-3638 or Junia Lehman at 207-733-2457.
Those wishing to participate in the event are encouraged now to book their
overnight accommodations early because the area has limited accommodations,
especially in the summer months. Working in partnerships with the
lighthouse groups to help with promote the event and assist people in
finding accommodations are the Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce at
www.machiaschamber.org
and the Cobscook Bay Area Chamber of Commerce at
www.cobscookbay.com.
Registrations for the event can now be made by mailing $15.00 per person to:
Lights Across the Border Lighthouse Challenge
P.O. Box 671
East Machias, ME 04630
USA
Posted: 12/3/2007
