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The Big Sable Point Lighthouse Keepers Association had an eventful year in 2005. Craig Renny became the Executive Director of the Association, upon the retirement of Nancy Gerts, in November. The association acquired a 25-year lease on the Little Point Sable Lighthouse and a concession agreement was signed with the city of Ludington to restore and maintain the Ludington North Breakwater Lighthouse.
Big Sable Point Lighthouse served over 30,000 visitors during the 2005 season. The volunteers, under the direction and assistance of Robert Sperling, built public restrooms that are reproductions of the original outdoor privies. The paid and volunteer staffs, along with visitors, were able to view two bald eagles on the beach, north of the light, on many autumn mornings. One hundred and forty volunteers made all of the activities at the lighthouse possible during the year.
The Big Point Sable Lighthouse will be offering bus days to visit the light on June 17, July 22 and September 16. On these days, you can avoid the 1.8 mile walk to the light for $2 per person with a maximum fee of $10 per family.
Big Sable Point will be opened from May 1 through the last weekend in October. Children must be a minimum of 36 inches tall to tour the tower, due to safety considerations.
The long anticipated acquisition of a 25-year lease with the state on Little Point Sable Light was realized in early December. Thirty people from the state, BSPLKA and the Lighthouse Seekers group gathered at the light on a very windy and snowy day in early December to celebrate.
The very beautiful and very original lighthouse will be rehabilitated in the spring and is scheduled to open to the public on the first weekend of June. The LPS light will be open Friday–Sunday, from 10 am until 6 pm through the last weekend of August. The light has not been available for public tours since 1949, so the Lighthouse Seekers and BSPLKA are very excited.
BSPLKA and the city of Ludington have signed a concession agreement concerning the Ludington North Breakwater Light. The city applied to the National Park Service in October 2005 for a 25-year lease on the light. Upon acquisition of the light, BSPLKA will rehabilitate
the light and open it to the public for tours. The opening
of the Ludington North Breakwater Light is tentatively scheduled on the first weekend of June, dependent on the
lease. The LNBL will be opened with the same schedule as
Little Point Sable Light.
BSPLKA is pleased that they will have two, and likely, three lighthouses open in the summer of 2006. The lights cover almost 100 miles of Michigan coast and were responsible for saving many lives. All three lights continue to operate under Coast Guard supervision. To learn more, visit their website at www.bigsablelighthouse.org or call (231) 845-7343 for additional details.
This story appeared in the
April 2006 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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