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 New England Lighthouse Lovers -  NELL


A chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation





 

NELL’S 2010 YEAR IN REVIEW
Tom Kenworthy, President, NELL 
The weather for the weekend of January 14 and 15, 2010 was sunny with blue skies, perfect for NELL’s annual Lighthouse Hot Chocolate & You weekend. The Hilton Hotel, Mystic CT was our host hotel.

We first visited Morgan Point Lighthouse for our 2004 LHHC&Y. Having received so many requests to visit/revisit Morgan Point Lighthouse, it made good sense to use that as our starting point for our 2010 LHHC&Y.

Leaving Morgan Point, we made the short drive to USS Nautilus and the Submarine Force Museum. Here members decided which to visit first with, it being about a 50-50 split. I went to the museum first and then toured the Nautilus. There was so much to see and learn I wish we had planned to spend more time there. But we didn’t, so I will probably revisit them in the spring.

After lunch, we visited the Palmer House, then the Stonington Lighthouse and Museum, ending our day back at the hotel for hot chocolate, brownies, tea and coffee, along with some light refreshments, courtesy of the Hilton Hotel, Mystic CT. After warming up on hot chocolate, we sang Happy Birthday to our good friend and member Patrick Clark. The perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

As spring approached, thoughts went to lighthouse preservation. NELL received a Project H.O.P.E. request from Anthony Savino, NELL member and a member of the newly formed New London Ledge Light Foundation (NLLLF). In his request, Anthony stated NLLLF needed help in scraping, spackling, and general cleaning. He also stated that the only reason the work party would be cancelled would be due to inclement weather and/or high seas. Thankfully, the weather, wind, and waves were calm and Anthony reported that much was accomplished and he is looking forward to another Project H.O.P.E. at the ledge light sometime in the coming year.

Receiving many requests from our members to travel to “foreign lands” (outside of New England), Ron and Mike put together a trip to the St. Lawrence Seaway. The weekend of May 14-16 was the weekend we went to lands not travelled to by NELL. For some unknown reason, reservations for this trip were very slow in coming in. Then they suddenly stopped. Ron and I discussed the situation. He re-worked the figures and we were able to notify all who had signed up for the trip that we did not have the required number of reservations but, if they were willing to pay $15 more per person, the trip would definitely go as planned. Everyone agreed that they would be willing to do that, so we went ahead with the plans and confirmed the dates with the boat company so we wouldn’t lose our deposit. Two days before we were set to leave for the resort, we received our 79th reservation making it possible to offer a refund to the people who agreed to pay the extra fare. Most people donated it to our preservation fund, while others happily received a refund.

Members and non-members who signed up for the trip headed to Capt. Thomson’s Resort and Uncle Sam Boat Tours in Alexandria Bay. On Saturday, we cruised the St. Lawrence Seaway seeing many lighthouses and had a great “bag” lunch. They were so unbelievably big, many members had enough left over for their picnic lunch the next day. On Sunday we held our semi-annual meeting which included elections of our officers. You were promised a short meeting and we had one of the shortest we’ve ever had. After the meeting, many members took a self-guided land tour of the lights we had seen the previous day and some lights that could not be seen on the cruise. The outcome of our first “out of the New England area” event was a resounding success.

We had received many requests to go to or return to Vermont which NELL first visited in September 2004. So, with autumn only a couple turns of the calendar pages away we started to prepare for our return. In order for us to re-visit Isle LaMotte and Windmill Point, Ron and I found it necessary to drive up to Vermont and meet with the Clark’s, Rob and his mom Claire, owners of both lights. After meeting with the Clark's and seeing the problems that could arise, we were able to devise a plan that was suitable to both parties and, like magic, the two lighthouses were included in our itinerary.

Cruising Lake Champlain we saw a half a dozen lighthouses, including the old foundation of Colchester Reef lighthouse, which is now part of the Shelburne Museum. Upon returning to the dock, we took our group picture and many members then went to the Shelburne Museum to see Colchester Reef along with many other structures in this unique outdoor museum. Members Fran D. and Greg F. did a unique thing after the meeting. The took a flight to photograph the lights we had just seen by water. After the meeting on Sunday, we had the opportunity to visit and climb Isle LaMotte and Windmill Point thanks to the generosity of owners Rob and Claire Clark.

In the fall our parent organization, the American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF) and its chapters, joined in a fund-raiser with each participating chapter submitting a photo of “their” lighthouse. As NELL does not have a lighthouse under its stewardship, we submitted our logo surrounded by a collage of lighthouses that received preservation grants from us. Each chapter then received 300 copies to sell, with profits going toward preservation.

This year NELL gave out grants totaling $6,900.00 and donated $1,600 from our trips for a total of $8,500.00. Giving us a grand total of $138,902.88 donated to New England lighthouses. Congratulations to all members, past and present. Without you, your dedication and hard work, this would not have been possible.

As of Dec. 10, 2010, our 2009 membership stands at 308 members, slightly down from last year.

I hope you and your families all had a good Christmas and holiday season and a happy New Year. Now it’s time to rest up and start to prepare for another great year of lighthousing. I look forward to meeting our new members and renewing old friendships.

To see the full reports on our trips and more pictures please go to our web site www.nell.cc

October 2010

Dear NELL Members and lighthouse enthusiasts,

Below is information on a slide presentation about lighthouses on a tour made to South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana. I received a request to help advertise this and thought that you would be interested in this free event from a non profit organization.
Attached is a picture of four South African lighthouse stamps which I believe will be included in the presentation. Remember, you do no have to be a stamp collector to attend or enjoy this program.

Regards,
Tom Kenworthy
President
New England
Lighthouse Lovers
NELL
"Keeping the Flame"
www.nell.cc

FREE TALK ON SOUTH AFRICAN LIGHTHOUSES
AT SPELLMAN MUSEUM

On Thursday, October 14 at 7:30 pm at the Spellman Museum of Stamps & Postal History at Regis College in Weston, MA. Richard Johnson, the President of the Samuel Osgood Stamp Club of Lawrence, will make a slide presentation about the lighthouses he visited on a tour he made to South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana in 2004. His talk will incorporate photographs and stamps of various lighthouses he visited. The trip was organized by the US Lighthouse Society.

Johnson is a life member of the American Philatelic Society and a member of both the American Topical Association and the Lighthouse Philatelic Society. The program is free and open to the public. The galleries will open at 6:30. You do not have to be a stamp collector to enjoy this talk. More info is at www.spellman.org or call Henry Lukas, Education Director at 617-784-5838.


stamps


Dear NELL Members,
The next time you visit Owls Head Lighthouse in Maine you might not recognize it. Owls Head has been undergoing restoration which is almost complete. This light was in dire need of some TLC and finally received it thanks to funding of $80,000 by our parent organization, the American Lighthouse Foundation along with Friends of Rockland Breakwater a Chapter of ALF. The US Coast Guard signed the license over to ALF in 2007.

Here is the link to the July 1st update on the restoration progress at Owls Head Lighthouse.

 http://www.lighthousefoundation.org/alf_lights/owlshead/ohl_rest20100709.htm

The project is expected to wrap up later this month, but the progress to date is at a point where things are really starting to look good on both the interior and exterior of the tower. I just might have to plan a trip to Maine this year to visit Owls Head again.

Regards,
Tom
President
New England Lighthouse Lovers
NELLLogo
"Keeping the Flame"
845-896-5787
Between 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. EDST  

Posted November 15, 2008

Dear NELL Members,

Due to the many new memberships we have received I find it best to send this to all members. I have received several inquiries stating "I (we) just joined NELL. That automatically makes us members of ALF, correct?" The answer to that is -- no my friends, that is not correct. True, some chapters have that in their agreement with ALF, but due to the complexities and differences of each agreement that each chapter has, that clause is not universal. It pertains to a very small group of chapters within the chapters that make up ALF. Here again, going back to those complexities, NELL is the only chapter of ALF that does not have a particular lighthouse under its stewardship but does support and donate money to all ALF lights and other New England lighthouses.

We (NELL) have our own dues structure as does ALF. (NELL dues run from Jan. to Dec. and ALF has your anniversary date when you joined as your renewal date.) NELL highly recommends that a NELL member join ALF and help support our parent organization. Do we require you to join ALF? Definitely not and we never will. But as I have already stated we do recommend it and request that you do so.

NELL, ALF and many other lighthouse organizations have members only event[s] throughout the year so it does benefit you to become a member, but that remains as your choice.

For further information regarding the American Lighthouse Foundation and their dues structure please go to: http://www.lighthousefoundation.org/index.html or call 1-207-594-4174.

I hope this clears up any confusion and or misunderstandings any of you might have. Thank you.

Regards,

Tom Kenworthy
President, NELL


August 17, 2008
lighthouseLighthouse "Bagging" Boom

I received this from Ron Foster and thought you'd enjoy it. I think we will stay lighthouse lovers though. smiley vace

Regards,
Tom




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