The story below, which was published on December 17, 2007,
has been reprinted with permission courtesy of VillageSoup.com / Knox County
Times…
Owls Head Light Under Wing of American
Lighthouse Foundation
By Leanne M. Robicheau
VillageSoup/Knox County Times News Editor
OWLS HEAD (Dec 17): The American Lighthouse Foundation
has taken Owls Head Light under its wing.
Earlier this month, the Foundation secured the license
for Owls Head Light from the U.S. Coast Guard, which allows the
nonprofit organization to restore and maintain the deteriorating 30-foot
brick tower and open it to the general public.
Photo by Leanne M. Robicheau
The American Lighthouse Foundation
recently obtained a license from the U.S.
Coast Guard to assume responsibility for
the care of the Owls Head Light tower. From left
are newly appointed ALF President
Dot Black, ALF Associate Director Ann-Marie Trapani, Mary-Ellen Dilger
of Warren, Maine
Lighthouse Museum Board Chairman Paul
Dilger and ALF Executive Director
Bob Trapani.
“We requested a license back in 2006,” Bob Trapani, executive director of
the ALF, said Monday, and the license was finally signed earlier this month.
Trapani also is the director of the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland.
“It is one of the more exciting ones the American Lighthouse Foundation has
ever signed,” Trapani said of the license. “It really stands for a hub of
what we are. It’s accessible. That’s exciting.”
“We have just formed a triangle,” said Dot Black, also known as “Mrs.
Lighthouse.” Black is the widow of Ken Black, aka Mr. Lighthouse, who
Photo by Leanne M. Robicheau
Owls Head Light was
authorized and first lit in
1825. Today, this fourth-order
Fresnel lens, which replaced
the original lamps in 1856,
remains in use.
founded the Maine Lighthouse Museum more than three
decades ago.
Dot Black, who was appointed president of the ALF on Dec.
1, also is president of the Friends of the Rockland Breakwater
Lighthouse. She was instrumental in the Friends leasing the breakwater
beacon from the city of Rockland six years ago.
The Maine Lighthouse Museum, Rockland Breakwater Light
and Owls Head Light form the triangle Black mentioned.
At exactly 100 feet above sea level, the Owls Head Light
offers a birds'-eye view of Rockland Breakwater Light and both lights
are a focal point from the Rockland waterfront, where the Maine
Lighthouse Museum is situated.
Now the task of fundraising begins.
The organization's goal is to raise an estimated $257,000 to historically
restore the brick and steel tower to its original luster, Project
Coordinator Paul Dilger said, noting lighthouses need constant attention to
maintain a sparkle. Dilger is chairman of the Maine Lighthouse Museum Board
of Directors.
Dilger's intimate knowledge of the light coupled with his
aids to navigation experience during his 30-year Coast Guard career make
him the perfect person to lead the project, said Trapani.
The last time there was major work done to the brick
structure was in the 1980s when Andrew Germann manned the family light
with his wife, Denise, and their children, Dilger said.
A tour in the tower on Monday showed that the structure
is in need of some tender loving care. From top to bottom, the interior
paint was peeling. The Fresnel lens and tower needed cleaning.
The Owls Head Light license is the first official
document Black
Photo by Leanne M. Robicheau
Mary-Ellen and Paul Dilger
lived at Owls Head Light
Station for three years while
he was commanding officer of
the 175-foot U.S. Coast Guard
cutter Abbie Burgess, which
is homeported in Rockland.
has endorsed since becoming president of the foundation, she said.
"The chapter is very excited," she said. "We've embraced it."
The Friends of the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse is a chapter of the ALF,
Trapani said, noting that the Owls Head Light is licensed under the ALF
through the Friends group.
The Friends and the Foundation also will be partners in fundraising efforts
and will be developing educational programs, logos for merchandise and
creative offers to visitors of the lights.
"We really do have a responsibility to educate the public on why it's
important to preserve lights," Trapani said.
The licensing deal also gives added meaning to the "Light to Light Walk/Run"
that enters its sixth season next summer, said Black. The 7.5
Photo by Leanne M. Robicheau
Paul Dilger, left, and Bob Trapani look
over the lantern room inside the Owls
Head Light tower.
mile course begins at the Owls Head Lighthouse and
ends at the Marie "Sis" Reed Park near the Rockland Breakwater Light.
Owls Head Light brings the number of lighthouses under
the care of the ALF to 19, Trapani said, and the organization is
presently working on obtaining ownership of Whaleback Light.
The lighthouses currently under ALF's wing are:
Avery Point, Connecticut
Boon Island, Maine
Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Dutch Island, Rhode Island
Halfway Rock, Maine
Little River, Maine
Long Point, Massachusetts
Newport Harbor, Rhode Island
Owls Head, Maine
Pemaquid Point, Maine
Perkins Island, Maine
Pomham Rocks, Rhode Island
Portsmouth Harbor, New Hampshire
Prospect Harbor, Maine
Race Point, Massachusetts
Rockland Breakwater, Maine
Sandy Neck, Massachusetts
Wood End, Massachusetts
Wood Island, Maine
VillageSoup/Knox County Times News Editor Leanne M. Robicheau can be reached
at 207-594-5351 or by email at
lrobicheau@villagesoup.com
