Keepers Make Annual Return to Rockland
Breakwater Lighthouse
A hardy group of volunteers from the
Friends of Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse assembled bright and early on
the morning of May 24, 2008 with one goal in mind – to open the Rockland
Breakwater Lighthouse to the public for the first time this season.
On this particular windy day, the walk out the 7/8
mile-long breakwater would not
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
(L to R) FORB volunteers Eric Davis and
Ted Panayotoff helped carry a host of items out to
the lighthouse -- a 7/8 mile-long
walk over
the Rockland Breakwater
be leisurely in nature. Five
volunteers loaded themselves down with packed tote bags of every size,
which contained items ranging from merchandise to safety equipment, and
started for the lighthouse on opening day 2008.
By literally shouldering a physical burden on the long walk out the
century-old breakwater, volunteers of the Friends of Rockland Breakwater
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
Ted Panayotoff works to open
the wooden storm shutters for opening day
Lighthouse (FORB),
a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, were ensuring that the
group could effectively greet and educate the public, and raise critical
funds for ongoing preservation at the historic site.
The group also
received a much-appreciated helping hand from three individuals, Mike &
Paula Doe of Scarborough, ME and Tim Wolff of Exeter, NH, who were
encountered along the way and had witnessed the volunteers working hard
to carry their loads.
No sooner had the FORB volunteers (Sally Cran, Eric
Davis, Laura Davis, Ted Panayotoff and Bob Trapani, Jr.) and their
friends reached the
lighthouse and
staged the items and equipment inside the 1902 sentinel, the first visitors
of the 2008 season were arriving and subsequently welcomed to ‘step into
history’ for a memorable tour of the site.
The appreciative visitors walking through the door were excited to find the
lighthouse open, which proved to be the group’s rich reward for their ‘above
& beyond’ efforts on this first day of what promises to be a another
wonderful year and chapter in the history of Rockland Breakwater
Lighthouse.
FORB staffs the lighthouse every weekend from Memorial Day through
mid-October each year, offering the general public fun-learning tours of the
lighthouse and breathtaking seascapes of West Penobscot
Bay, which are best seen from atop the brick light tower.
In addition to their commitment to public access at the
lighthouse, the Friends of Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse continue to
work hard at restoring the historic site to its former glory.
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
(L to R) Sally Cran and Laura Davis
prepare merchandise table displays
inside the lighthouse
During the past year alone, the group carried out over $50,000 in
restoration improvements at the lighthouse, which included repainting the
exterior of the former keeper’s dwelling and installing a new railing system
around the perimeter of the massive granite pier that supports the
lighthouse.
To learn more about the Friends of Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse or how you
can volunteer or donate to the project, visit
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
(L to R) Eric Davis and Ray
Comeau raise the American flag at the
lighthouse on opening day
Eric Davis opens up the lantern of the
lighthouse before visitors arrive
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
Ray Comeau locks a wooden shutter in the
open position at the lighthouse
(L to R) Sally Cran and Laura Davis
prepare the cash register and merchandise displays
on opening day at the lighthouse
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
Charlie's Marine in Rockland delivers the
lighthouse's floating dock out to the breakwater for the new season
Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse on
May 24, 2008
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
A view from the
lighthouse on May 24, 2008 looking eastward toward North Haven and
Vinalhaven
