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Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse Work Day -
September 2005
By Sheri Poftak |
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Wood Island
Lighthouse near the mouth of the Saco River off the coast of Biddeford
was constructed on the eastern end of the island nearly 200 years ago in
order to make travel safe for maritime commerce, and the large fishing
fleets which went in and out of Winter Harbor (now Biddeford Pool).
The location
of the island's boathouse and boat ramp is on the western end of Wood
Island, the calm water end. Today, a boardwalk of over ½ mile gives |
Photo by Sheri Poftak
Marty
Burgess on ladder
Kyle Noble
on roof work
to repair
leaks
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access to the Lighthouse from the boat ramp. The Coast Guard did a
major rehab of both the boardwalk and boat ramp in 1994. The Friends of
Wood Island Lighthouse are now responsible for the upkeep and maintenance
of these structures.
On our fall work day, many repairs were made, including several
underpinnings of the walkway and leaks in the roof of the small
building attached to the tower. The group of 18 volunteers also |
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Photo by Sheri Poftak
Back row:
(L to R) Kevin Burke, Dan Banik, Rick Kaylor, Diane Noble
Front
Row: (L to R) Steve Sullivan, Carol Bassett Jack Moore, Anne
Basset
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preempted the sea from causing harm to
the boardwalk by moving many large logs from the seaward side of the
walk to the landward side, preventing these logs from ramming the walk
in future winter storms. The job of power washing the tower was started,
though there is more to go, a good deal of it is now gleaming white with
the destructive lichens |
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removed. Gutters
were cleaned, grass was mowed, and some protective work was done on the
electric transformer box which is badly rusted.
Getting equipment
to the Lighthouse is a trick as it is with so many lighthouses. The many
volunteers made this job much easier, a half mile is a long tote to take
heavy tools, ladders etc. Everyone worked hard but enjoyed a magnificent day
on the island. At the end of the day, we lowered the flag which was raised
by FOWIL for the first time in 18 years, last September. The last keeper
left in 1986 and the flag was lowered. It now flies over the Lighthouse
every spring and summer thanks to the Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse.
More Photos...
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Photo by Sheri Poftak
Dave Curran cleans dirt
from the tower
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Photo by Sheri Poftak
Sean Murphy helps with
job of cleaning the tower
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Photo by Sheri Poftak
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Sandy Wolcott works on
the lower parts of the tower
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(L to R)
Sean Murphy, Dan
Banik,
Richard Minton fix
underpinnings of the boardwalk leading to the lighthouse
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Photo by Sheri Poftak
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Photo by Sheri Poftak
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FOWIL Chair Brad Coupe (back) &, Marty
Burgess help with boardwalk repairs
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Jack Moore works to move logs
that could cause damage to the
boardwalk
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Photo by Sheri Poftak
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Photo by Sheri Poftak
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The crew works to
clean up logs which could cause
damage to the boardwalk
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Kyle Noble repairs leaking areas at the
lighthouse
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Photo by Sheri Poftak
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Photo by Sheri Poftak
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A "light" moment...Paddy the
dog plays in the water while
the crew is busy working
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