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Canadian
lighthouse keeper, for helping to save Nova Scotia’s lighthouse history.
In
presenting the ‘Beacon of Light’ award, during a slide show to the community
showing the restoration of the lighthouse, Tim Harrison, who is also editor
of Lighthouse Digest magazine, said, “Hal really is a ‘Beacon of Light,’ to
all those who know him.” In response, Hal said, “The world has been good to
me and now it’s simply my turn to give back.”
Saving Little River Lighthouse
Each and
every day all summer long, over the past three years, Hal has motored a
small boat out to the island for another long hard day of bringing life back
to the once endangered Little River Light Station.
Hal, now
78, a retired consulting engineer, is a jack-of-all-trades, who can build
and make anything and everything and he even brought his own tools.
Cutler
residents allowed Mr. Hal to park his motor home on their property and hook
up to their electricity. Otherwise, Hal says, he wouldn’t be able to afford
a campground or a motel for the entire summer.
Since
Little River Lighthouse is on an island, restoration has not been easy.
Although Hal was able to get some supplies in nearby Machias, much of the
material needed for restoration can only be found two and a half hours away,
which means five hours of driving time for each trip. In addition, Hal
needed to ensure he had everything necessary each time he went for supplies,
which in itself took up extra time. Just walking up and down the aisles of
the hardware stores and lumberyards takes time. If he would forget
something, it could delay his planned work for another two or three days.
Fortunately, for the first two years, he had his own truck to haul
materials.
Getting
the supplies to the island is also another problem. Many days there were no
other volunteers around to help him load and unload the boat. Many times fog
would also delay work, making it impossible to get to the island, while
other times due to fog or bad weather, Hal would get stranded on the island.
Last
year Hal was able to enlist the help of his long-time friend Betty, also 78,
who came up from
Alabama
to visit him. She must have liked working on the island with Hal, because
she married him and came back a second year to help him.
Although, volunteers showed up to help, from time to time, for the most
part, Hal worked on the island by himself. Hal also acted as a general
contractor of sorts, finding professional tradesmen to do some of the work
he was not familiar with. Even that was sometimes a problem, especially when
some found out that they had to work on a remote island. One tradesman had
to travel 2 ½ hours just to get to Cutler, and then he and Hal had to make
several boat trips just to bring the equipment and supplies to the island
for one project.
This
year, Hal’s third, saw the fruits of his hard work paying off. Things began
to fall into place, more volunteers showed up, and he even had a contingent
of Coast Guard volunteers from
Southwest Harbor,
Maine, who lent a hand.
But, the
facts are clear; the restoration of Little River Lighthouse would not have
been accomplished at such a pace, especially with limited funds, if it had
not been for Hal Biering, known officially as “Mr. Hal.”
Amy
Sinclair of CBS TV-13 in
Maine
interviewed Hal for a regular news segment called, “Where’s Amy?” When Amy
asked Hal how much he charged for his services and all the work he does, Hal
replied; “I do this for free. I don’t play golf, I don’t play bridge, I just
like to work. Someday people will be able to say, “A man from Alabama helped
save this lighthouse”
What’s Next?
“Mr.
Hal” said he was touched by the recent disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina
and he and his wife Betty are headed for Biloxi, Mississippi, where he will
spend some time helping in the rebuilding process. But, he says, “There are
still lots of projects to be completed at Little River Lighthouse, and I’ll
be back in Cutler next year to finish things up. After that, I’m taking a
vacation, maybe to Mexico.”
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