A specially commissioned cross-stitch artwork of the
lighthouses where the Morong family of Maine lighthouse keepers were
stationed, has been donated to the Friends of Little River Lighthouse in
Cutler, Maine, by Pennsylvania resident Shelley Wykoff, who is a
descendant of Frederic Morong, the first lighthouse keeper to serve at
the Lubec Channel Lighthouse in Lubec.
The large 37” x 33” artwork was designed and completed by
Kathy Burger-Johnson who owns Accents Lighthouses of Dunbar, Nebraska, a
company that specializes in designing cross stitch lighthouse work to
help preserve lighthouse history. Johnson was commissioned by Wykoff to
design and make the artwork to preserve the Morong family’s rich
maritime history and heritage.
The centerpiece of the artwork
Photo courtesy FLRL
Kathy Burger-Johnson with the completed
cross-stitch artwork of the Morong family lighthouse heritage
that she was commissioned to make
by Shelley Wykoff, which was
donated to the Friends of Little River Light, a chapter of the American
Lighthouse Foundation. Once framed, the
artwork will go on display at Little
River Lighthouse in Cutler, Maine.
depicts the poem, “Brasswork,”
which was written at the kitchen table at Little River Lighthouse by
Frederic Morong, Jr. during the time that Willie Corbett was the lighthouse
keeper. At the time, Morong was the District Machinist for the U.S.
Lighthouse Service, before he was appointed as the Lighthouse Inspector. The
poem became the official poem of lighthouse keeper’s nationwide and Morong,
Jr. became the semi-official poet of the U.S. Lighthouse Service and later
the U.S. Coast Guard.
The artwork also features the 1939 emblem of the 150th
anniversary of the U.S. Lighthouse Service, the Coast Guard emblem, and
images of the
Photo courtesy Lighthouse Digest
Frederic Morong, Jr. the District
Machinist
for the U.S. Lighthouse Service,
who wrote
the famous poem, “Brasswork,” at the
kitchen table at Little River Lighthouse.
various lighthouses where Frederic Morong, Sr., Alonzo
Morong and Clifton Morong were stationed.
Maine lighthouses the Morongs were keepers at were;
Browns Head, Seguin Island, Fort Popham, Portland Head, West Quoddy Head
Lighthouse, Lubec Channel, Petit Manan, Libby Island, Cape Elizabeth,
and White Head Island, as well as Race Point Lighthouse on Cape Cod in
Massachusetts.
When the project was completed Wykoff wanted to find an appropriate place to
donate the completed artwork for display and she contacted Tim Harrison,
editor of Lighthouse Digest magazine. Harrison, who is also the
co-chair of the Friends of Little River Lighthouse, suggested it could be
appropriately displayed at the lighthouse where “Brasswork” was written.
Wykoff concurred.
Coincidently, Johnson’s husband had to make a business trip from Nebraska to
southern Maine, so she went with him to bring the completed work along. It
was presented to Lee Leighton, a volunteer for the Friends group, who then
brought it up to Cutler. An anonymous benefactor has now agreed to have the
artwork framed under archival glass to protect it for permanent display at
Little River Lighthouse in Cutler, Maine.
