Dick Moehl Named Founding Director Emeritus
of DRLPS
DRLPS Elects Officers for 2008
Drummond Island, MI (December 20, 2007)
- At the
December meeting of the Board of Directors of the DeTour Reef Light
Preservation Society (DRLPS), Richard (Dick) L. Moehl was unanimously
named Founding Director Emeritus. Officers for 2008 were also elected.
Dick is a well known lighthouse preservationist. In
August 1997, when he was made aware of the U.S. Coast Guard’s excessing
of the DeTour Reef Light, he contacted Bob Jones and Jim Charles of
DeTour
Photo Courtesy DRLPS
Dick Moehl, DRLPS
Founding Director Emeritus
Village. Together they took a boat ride out to the lighthouse to
investigate its condition. This boat ride was the inspiration for the
community to come together for a common cause to save the DeTour Reef
Light. In January 1998, the DeTour Reef Light Preservation Society was
formed as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) volunteer organization to restore and
preserve the lighthouse.
Dick has served as an interface with the national lighthouse community. He
is a member of the original DRLPS Board of Directors and has been an
integral part of the Society’s successes for the past 10 years. He has been
President of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association (GLLKA) since
1985, and the project manager for restoration of St. Helena Island
Photo by Nella Gries
DRLPS 2008 Board
and Chairs
L to R: Glenn
Lahti, Chuck Feltner, Don Gries, Sandy Wytiaz, Jeri Baron Feltner,
Paula Bardsley, Dave Bardsley, Ann Method Green, Russ Norris, Clif Haley
Light Station since 1986. He is a staunch advocate
of preserving lighthouses, and has testified before a number of Federal
House and Senate hearings regarding the transfer process of the nations’
lighthouses. These hearings resulted in the passing of the National
Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act.
In 2000, Dick was presented with the
Governor George Romney
Lifetime Achievement Award, one of Michigan's most prestigious
volunteer recognition events
In 2007, the American Lighthouse
Coordinating Committee (ALCC) selected Dick to receive the Holland Award,
to recognize his truly exceptional contributions. The Holland Award is the
major national honor bestowed by the lighthouse preservation community.
Dick is also a past president of the ALCC
He retired in 1998 from Beacon Investment after 32 years. Dick received a
BBA from the University of Michigan after serving in the U.S. Air Force
during the Korean War. Dick and his wife, Margaret, live in Pinckney MI.
Officers elected by the DRLPS Board of Directors include: Russ Norris,
President; David Bardsley, Vice-President; Glenn Lahti, Secretary, and Chuck
Feltner, Treasurer. Ann Method Green, Public Relations Chair, was elected
by the board to fill Dick Moehl’s vacated directorship.
The DeTour Reef Light Preservation Society (DRLPS) has worked diligently
since 1998 to restore and preserve the DeTour Reef Light located one mile
offshore in northern Lake Huron at the far eastern end of Michigan’s Upper
Peninsula between DeTour Village and Drummond Island. Built in 1931, the
83-foot tall lighthouse is a strategic and historic landmark that marks a
dangerous reef to help guide ship traffic from and to Lake Huron and Lake
Superior via the strategic St. Mary’s River. The DRLPS completed major
restoration of the structure in 2004, and public tours to this unique
lighthouse began in July, 2005.
The DRLPS received the 2005 Governor's Award for excellence
in historic preservation, and the Superior Award in 2006 from the Historical
Society of Michigan. The DeTour Reef Light is listed on the National
Register of Historic Places.
The DRLPS is preparing a gala celebration to mark their 10 years of
restoration and preservation efforts. The celebration will be held at the
Easter Upper Peninsula Fine Arts Center in DeTour Village, MI, on August 30,
2008.
To learn more about the organization, the lighthouse, and the
public tours and light keeper programs, please visit
, email DRLPS@drlps.com, call 906-493-6609 or write to
DRLPS, PO Box 307, Drummond Island, MI 49726.
