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American Lighthouse Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box 565
Rockland,
Maine 04841
Phone: 207-594-4174
Fax: 207-596-1091
info@lighthousefoundation.org
The American Lighthouse Foundation is a
Non-Profit 501(c)(3) Organization dedicated to the
preservation of America's historic
lighthouses & lightships and
their heritage.
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Coast Guard Connections Work Together - Add
New "Shine" to
Little River Light
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In August 2006
a collaborative effort that personifies the very essence of “Team Coast
Guard” in action, went above and beyond the call of duty to help the
nonprofit American Lighthouse Foundation by volunteering to add a new
“shine” to the lighthouse at Little River Light Station in Cutler
Harbor, Maine.
The Coast Guard connections that comprised the team
project were as diversified as the volunteers themselves, and included
active duty personnel from two units, as well as two retired
Coastguardsmen and a Coast Guard Auxiliarist. Together the group of
volunteers epitomized a long-standing Coast Guard tradition when it
comes to “keeping a good light.” Working from ladders and hanging from
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Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani
A group of Coast Guard
volunteers, which included
active personnel, retired Coasties and a
Coast Guard Auxiliarist, worked together to repaint
Little River Light
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Bos’n chairs 40 feet in the air, the crews cleaned, prepped and painted the
exterior of the 1876 cast-iron tower top to bottom – an effort that would
have made any bygone lighthouse keeper beam with pride.
Little River Light Station, which is owned by the Maine-based American |
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Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani
"Keeping a Good Light"...
MK2 Charles Rockefeller, BM1 Domingo
Barra, FS2 Brandon Saiz, SK2 Kevin
Stancliff, SN Eric Lauginiger (in Bos'n chair), DC2 John Griffin,
Auxiliarist Bob Trapani, BM3 Andrew
Butchart and SN Mike Ackiss (kneeling)
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Lighthouse
Foundation (ALF), was designated just a few years ago as one of the ten
most endangered historic sites in the state of Maine. Since that time,
ALF has spent over $200,000 and invested countless volunteer hours in
working to restore the remote light station, which is located on a
15-acre island at the entrance to Cutler Harbor in Downeast Maine.
The United
States Coast Guard has been a good |
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friend to the American Lighthouse Foundation at Little River ever since the
nonprofit assumed ownership of the historic site in 2002 under the National
Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. As the restoration of Little River
Light Station nears completion in 2006, the Coast Guard once again stepped
forward through the efforts of their volunteers to lend a much-needed
helping hand to the project.
Crewmembers from the buoy tender ABBIE BURGESS under the command of Captain
Paul Dilger, based in Rockland, Maine, and personnel from |
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Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team in Southwest Harbor,
Maine, under the command of BMC Charles Petronis, participated in the
two-day volunteer project. In addition to the active duty personnel,
Master Chief Dennie Dever, USCG (retired) and BM3 Al Vachon, USCG
(retired), as well as Coast Guard Auxiliarist Bob Trapani, Jr., who also
serves as |
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
The 175-foot Keeper Class Buoy
Tender ABBIE BURGESS at
Little River Light Station
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the executive director for the American Lighthouse Foundation, rounded out
the “Team Coast Guard” effort.
Though the American Lighthouse Foundation now owns the light station, the
U.S. Coast Guard still maintains the active light in the tower, as well as
the station’s foghorn. “It’s part of our heritage and we’re just giving back
because, you know at one time, we did maintain all the lighthouses,” said
BM1 Domingo Barra of the ABBIE BURGESS.
For a retired Coastie like Al Vachon of Nottingham, New Hampshire, the
experience of volunteering at Little River had extra special meaning. |
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Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani
BM3 Al Vachon, USCG (retired) works on
repainting the cupola of Little River Light
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“The opportunity was like a step back in time for me
because thirty-three years ago, I was a Coastguardsman stationed at
Little River Light as a lighthouse keeper (1972-73),” says Vachon.
“Sometimes good memories come and go, but in this case I was able to
relive my time at Little River Lighthouse as a work volunteer for the
American Lighthouse Foundation and have the opportunity to help put a
fresh coat of paint on the light tower.”
Retired BMCM Dever echoed Vachon’s sentiments, noting,
“Being able to help with the Little River Lighthouse project in August
equated to a combination of several |
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things I will
always hold hear – the Coast Guard’s ATON mission, the islands of Maine,
lighthouses, and the old fashion alliances that made/make them what they
are.”
Dever went on to say, “ATON is arguably the Coast Guard’s biggest and most
expensive mission, and it is the most under publicized, but yet has the
finest camaraderie and sense of purpose. Why else would a big buoy tender,
and Aids to Navigation Team, a former lighthouse keeper, a retired Master
Chief and a Coast Guard Auxiliarist all show up – almost on queue, to help a
nonprofit organization toil at painting a tower high up on extension
ladders, as well as move boulders, haul logs and stack concrete bags, just
to name a few of the things the crews helped with.”
The “Team Coast Guard” approach might have brought a wide-range of Coasties
together to lend a hand with work projects at Little River Light |
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Station, but what was just as impressive was the seamless
effort that was put forth by the volunteer group. Each item on the work
itinerary for the light tower was carried out in perfect sequence, with
full attention paid to both the site’s historic integrity and the safety
of each individual.
“Though most of us had never worked together prior to the
Little River |
Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani
(L to R) Coast Guard Auxiliarist Bob
Trapani & BMCM Dennie Dever, USCG (retired) teamed up to clean the
exterior of the light tower in advance of the repainting project
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project,” said Coast Guard Auxiliarist Bob Trapani, “it was amazing to see
how everyone tackled their job with pride and worked like clockwork with
each other on every facet of the light tower project. You couldn’t help but
be proud of not only the work that we carried out together, but also the
fact that each Coastguardsmen knew they were helping to preserve an
important part of the Coast Guard’s time-honored heritage of ‘keeping a good
light’ for mariners at sea.”
BM3 Al Vachon, USCG (retired) noted, “For that moment in time I felt like I
was a member of ‘The Guard’ again, and was proud to work alongside a very
professional group of people who confirmed in my mind that the Coast Guard
motto Semper Paratus (Always Ready) is a true reality.
Master Chief Dennie Dever, USCG (retired), summed up the project by saying
the Coast Guard volunteers didn’t just come to Little River Island “for the
splendid scenery.” As Dever astutely noted, “That’s just what we do. Power,
influence, and achievement are odd in that you gain it by giving it away.
Call it a great ATON day!”
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Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani
BM3 Andrew Butchart uses a
extra-long extension to roll a
fresh coat of paint on the
exterior of the lighthouse
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Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
BMCM Dennie Dever, USCG (retired) preps
and primes
the cast-iron components
on the entry door
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Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani
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BMCM Dennie Dever,
USCG (retired) works the lines topside while USCG Auxiliarist Bob
Trapani cleans the upper portion of the cast-iron tower
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Captain Paul Dilger,
commanding officer of the Coast Guard buoy tender ABBIE BURGESS, with
the cutter in the background off Little River Light Station
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Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
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Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
SN Eric Lauginiger works from
a Bos'n chair as he repaints the
underside of the lantern's
exterior gallery
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Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani
(L to R) SK2 Kevin Stancliff (topside)
helps SN Eric
Lauginiger (in Bos'n chair) and
FS2 Brandon Saiz (topside) works
with Auxiliarist Bob Trapani (on ladder) to repaint the upper portions
of the light tower
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Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani
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(L to R) FS2 Brandon Saiz and SK2 Kevin
Stancliff of the ABBIE BURGESS work the lines topside for crewmembers
painting from ladders and
a Bos'n chair
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The 175-foot Keeper
Class Coastal Class Buoy Tender ABBIE BURGESS (left) and a 55-foot ANB
buoy boat from USCG ANT Southwest Harbor out in front of Little River
Light Station
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Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani
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Photo by Tim Harrison
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(L to R) Captain Paul Dilger of
the ABBIE BURGESS and
BM3 Al Vachon, USCG (retired)
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ANT Southwest Harbor's
55-foot buoy boat, under the command of BMC Charles Petronis, moored up
in Cutler Harbor while ANT personnel worked on the island
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Photo by Tim Harrison
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Photo by Tim Harrison
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(L to R) FS2 Brandon
Saiz and SK2 Kevin Stancliff look on as SN Eric Lauginiger paints the
underside of the lantern gallery from a Bos'n chair
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(L
to R) Auxiliarist
Bob Trapani, FS3 Christine Sussman
and BM3 Al Vachon, USCG (retired) work
on repainting the
cupola and lantern
of Little River Light
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Photo by Kathleen Finnegan
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Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
A "Team Coast Guard" Approach helped
keep the light "shining" at Little River
Light Station in August 2006
Posted: 9/6/06 |
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