Light Hearted – Details, episodes & analysis

Matthew Cohen is a nautical photographer with more than 20 years of experience. Matthew acquired his love of boating as a child and raced with the successful Roger Williams University Varsity Team. Following that, he became an accomplished sailing instructor for 15 years at the Sail Newport Sailing Center, and he’s logged over 30,000 ocean miles as a sailor.

Sakonnet Lighthouse, RI. Photo by Matthew Cohen. Matthew Cohen

Matthew’s work has been printed in more than 30 maritime publications and has been showcased in over a dozen galleries, shows, and retail spaces. He’s now in the early stages of a new photography project related to lighthouses, which is described in this interview.

This episode is also available in a special video edition – see https://youtu.be/iklkA8JvSsk?feature=shared

This edition of Light Hearted Lite features several edited interviews that were originally heard in two episodes back in the spring of 2020. The subject is the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s popular lighthouse passport program. The program provides enthusiasts the opportunity to help preserve lighthouses, and a great way for them to keep a pictorial history of their lighthouse adventures. Small donations are made by passport holders for the stamps.

The interviews are with Skip Sherwood, director of the passport program, and several hall of fame stamp collectors: John MacFarland, James Hill, Sharon Mills, Al King, and Scott Walbert.

Click here for more information on the passport program.

James Hill Al King Sharon Mills Scott and Diane Walbert John MacFarland Mary Lee and Skip Sherwood

Barcelona Light Station, photo by Mike and Carol McKinney

In 1828, Congress appropriated five thousand dollars to construct a lighthouse in Barcelona Harbor on Lake Erie in New York. The harbor had just been designated an official port of entry when the lighthouse was built. In the early 1800s, lumber, salt, flour, and fish were shipped to and from the port. The lighthouse is a conical stone tower, 40 feet tall. It’s believed to be the very first natural gas-powered lighthouse in the world.

Barcelona Lighthouse is undergoing a major restoration (New York State Parks) Marla Bingham-Melcher

The light was discontinued as an aid to navigation in 1859, and the property was transferred to New York State Parks in 2007. There’s a museum in the keeper’s house, and currently there’s a major project in progress that includes the rehabilitation of the lighthouse tower. Our guest is Marla Bingham-Melcher, the manager of the five state parks in Chautauqua County, including Barcelona Lighthouse. This episode is co-hosted by Averie Shaughnessy-Comfort, executive director of Lake Erie Lights of Pennsylvania.

Seal Point Lighthouse is on Cape St. Francis in South Africa, close to the southeasternmost point on the continent. At 91 feet tall, it’s the tallest masonry building on the South African coast.

Seal Point Light Station (courtesy of Seal Point Lighthouse)

Construction began in 1874, and materials had to be hauled by oxcart to the remote location. The light station began service on July 4, 1878. For many years, Seal Point was considered one of the most isolated staffed light stations on the country’s mainland.

Paul Duval Wesley Randles

Seal Point Lighthouse has been developed into a major attraction in recent years, with a boutique hotel, a restaurant, and more. There’s also a studio called Salt, with yoga, Pilates, fitness, and dance instruction.

Visitors can also climb the 154 steps inside the lighthouse tower for a spectacular look at the Cape St. Francis seascape.

Courtesy of Seal Point Lighthouse

Paul Duval is the CEO of Petrel Ventures, the company that has developed the light station site. Wesley Randles is the chef and manager of the Nevermind restaurant at the light station.

The waterfront of Belfast, Northern Ireland, is home to one of the world’s biggest tourist attractions: Titanic Belfast, also known as the Titanic Museum. The museum opened in 2012 and attracted more than six million people in its first seven years of operation. In 2018, two important new attractions – the Great Light and Titanic Walkway – officially opened to the public near the museum. The so-called Great Light is the world’s first and largest hyper-radial Fresnel lens — the largest and most powerful lighthouse lenses ever made. It was originally installed in Tory Island Lighthouse in 1887, and it went through some unusual changes over the years.

The Great Light, photo by Albert Bridge. Titanic Quarter, Belfast  CC BY-SA 2.0 Sally Montgomery

Dr. Sally Montgomery has been a science educator for more than 40 years. She is currently a board member of the Commissioners of Irish Lights, a board member of the Titanic Foundation, and a former trustee of the Maritime Belfast Trust. Sally has done much in-depth research on the history of the Great Light.

Focus 244 Gallery, York, Maine

Focus 244 is a new photography gallery in York, Maine. This month the gallery is hosting a lighthouse festival, featuring an artists’ reception on July 22, kids’ activities on July 23, and also an evening presentation by “Light Hearted” host Jeremy D’Entremont on July 23. Shannon Culpepper is the curator of the Focus 244 gallery.

Absecon Lighthouse in Atlantic City, New Jersey, has the distinction of being New Jersey’s tallest lighthouse and the nation’s third tallest masonry lighthouse at 171 feet. The tower was designed by George Meade, who later commanded the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. The light went into service in early 1857.

Absecon Lighthouse, New Jersey, at sunrise. Courtesy of Absecon Lighthouse. Buddy Grover and Jean Muchanic Buddy Grover

After three quarters of a century as a family station with a principal keeper and two assistants, the light was deactivated in 1933. There was talk of demolishing the lighthouse, but it was saved when Atlantic City took control of it in 1946. The Inlet Public/Private Association was created in the 1990s to rebuild the principal keeper’s dwelling, which had been demolished, and to restore the lighthouse and lens.

Jean Muchanic has been the executive director of Absecon Lighthouse for nearly 20 years. And Buddy Grover has been a lighthouse volunteer for more than 10 years. At the age of 95, he greets visitors in a keeper’s uniform and answers their questions.

The first lighthouse in the Pacific Northwest was established in 1856 on the north side of the entrance to the Columbia River at Cape Disappointment, in the state of Washington. High land blocked the view of the light from the north, so Congress appropriated funds for a second lighthouse at North Head, just two miles north of Cape Disappointment. North Head Lighthouse, a 65-foot-tall brick tower with a sandstone base, began service in 1898 with its light 194 feet above the water.

North Head Lighthouse, courtesy of Washington State Parks

In 2012, Washington State Parks took ownership of North Head Light Station, which is within Cape Disappointment State Park. The lighthouse has undergone a major restoration in recent years.

The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center stands high on the cliffs of the state park, and on display in the center is a first-order Fresnel lens that served in both of the local lighthouses at different times.

The first-order Fresnel lens on display in the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

Stephen Wood is an exhibit project specialist, and Alex McMurry is a historic preservation planner for Washington State Parks.

The National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000, or NHLPA, was created to aid the preservation of federally owned historic light stations. The NHLPA program is a partnership that includes the Coast Guard, the National Park Service, and the General Services Administration, or GSA. The NHLPA allows lighthouse properties to be transferred at no cost to federal agencies, state and local governments, nonprofit corporations, or educational and community development organizations.

Sonia Allon-Singh Anthony Barbati Kevin Legare

Kevin Legare, Sonia Allon-Singh and Anthony Barbati are realty specialists for the GSA, working out of the GSA’s New England Region offices in Boston. All three of them are involved with the lighthouse properties that are currently up for transfer.

Joe Rivers

The U.S. Lighthouse Society is holding a National Lighthouse Day Dance Contest this summer, and Joe Rivers has written and performed an original song for the occasion. Click here for more details. Joe is interviewed in this episode about his ideas behind the song.

Erie Land Lighthouse, photo by Brian Berchtold.

There are three lighthouses on the Lake Erie shore within the state of Pennsylvania. The first of the three, Erie Land Lighthouse, was erected to mark the entrance to Presque Isle Bay. It has the distinction of being the earliest commissioned light station on the American side of the Great Lakes. The present 49-foot tower was built in 1867 of Berea sandstone.

Erie Harbor North Pierhead Light, photo by Brian Berchtold. Presque Isle Light Station, photo by Brian Berchtold. Averie Shaghnessy-Comfort

Presque Isle Lighthouse began service in 1873, and Erie Harbor North Pierhead Light has stood since 1940. All three of these lighthouses are now managed by the Presque Isle Light Station, also known as Lake Erie Lights of Pennsylvania, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to the preserving these historic structures, educating the community on their value, and interpreting them for future generations. Averie Shaughnessy-Comfort, interviewed in this episode, is the executive director of the Presque Isle Light Station.

The 66-foot tall cast-iron Chicago Harbor Lighthouse began service in 1893 to help guide shipping traffic in and out of the busy harbor. A new organization, Friends of Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, has been formed to preserve the historic structure. In this episode the organization’s president, Kurt Lentsch, is interviewed by Ralph Krugler.

Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

Connie and Elson Small in the 1940s

Constance Scovill Small was born into a Maine family that included sea captains and lighthouse keepers. Connie had dreams of being an artist or writer, but when light keeper Elson Small asked her, “Do you love me enough to go with me on a lighthouse?” she knew she had to say yes. They were soon married.

Connie Small and Jeremy D’Entremont in 2003

Connie and Elson had a 28-year career at light stations including Maine’s Avery Rock, Seguin Island, and St. Croix Island –also known as Dochet’s Island — and New Hampshire’s Portsmouth Harbor.  Portsmouth Harbor Light Station was their first home with electricity, in 1946. 

Some years after Elson’s death in 1960, a woman in a social club said to Connie, “How on earth could anyone have any kind of a life in a lighthouse?”  That started Connie on a mission that led to the publication of her book The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife when she was 85 years old. Connie lived to the age of 103, passing away in 2005.

This interview was recorded at the Mark Wentworth Home in Portsmouth in 1997 by Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont. It’s been edited for this podcast, and some of the questions have been re-recorded for sound quality and continuity.

Connie and Elson Small at Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse in the 1940s

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