Light Hearted

According to an old Native American legend, there was a giant devil who caused much mayhem in a region that included parts of what is now Westchester County and the Bronx, New York, and portions of southeastern Connecticut. The giant was chased from the area by warriors, but he threw huge rocks at them across Long Island Sound. Some of the boulders landed in the sound and he used them as stepping stones to make an escape. Early maps noted the reefs in Long Island Sound as the “Devil’s Stepping Stones” after the Native American legend.

Stepping Stones Lighthouse was built in 1876 to warn mariners of the dangerous rocks and also to serve as a guide into the East River. The light was automated in 1964, and the lighthouse was awarded to the Town of North Hempstead in 2008 under the guidelines of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. The Town of North Hempstead, the Great Neck Park District, and the Great Neck Historical Society have forged a public/private partnership to work for the restoration of the lighthouse.

The lighthouse is in poor condition and is in desperate need of repair.  If it decays any further, there is a probability that it will be demolished, and a modern automated navigational beacon erected in its place. Bob Muller is the president of the Long Island Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society and author of the book Long Island’s Lighthouses: Past and Present. Bob Lincoln was the longtime commissioner of the Great Neck Parks District and is the committee chairperson of the Stepping Stones Lighthouse Restoration Committee.

Great Neck Historical Society page for the lighthouse

The port of San Luis, California, developed into a major shipping point in the 1870s. A lighthouse at Point San Luis began operation on June 30, 1890. The beautiful Victorian building consists of a square wooden tower attached to a keeper’s dwelling. The Point San Luis Lighthouse Keepers, a dedicated group of preservationists established in 1995, spearheaded a 15-year restoration effort that led to the lighthouse being opened to the public. Docent-led tours are available year-round.

Kathy Mastako is a docent and historian for the Point San Luis Lighthouse Keepers. She has written numerous articles for the organization’s newsletter, for the Avila Beach Life newspaper, Lighthouse Digest magazine, and for the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s quarterly journal, The Keeper’s Log. Kathy’s new book The Lighthouse at Point San Luis, has just been published by the U.S. Lighthouse Society. The book tells the stories of the keepers and families at the Point San Luis Light Station, civilian and Coast Guard, from 1890 to its 1975 automation.

Buy the book on Amazon

The Light Hearted podcast was launched in June 2019 to serve as a place for the exchange of information and ideas about lighthouses in the United States and around the world. Since then, there have been 200 numbered episodes, plus more than a dozen “special editions.” This episode celebrates episode 200 with comments from many guests who have appeared on the podcast previously.

Also included: host Jeremy D’Entremont asks co-hosts Michelle Jewell Shaw and Cindy Johnson why lighthouses still matter. There’s also a discussion of the podcast with U.S. Lighthouse Society Executive Director Jeff Gales. And, of course, blooper reels!

Armand Houde was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1927. He served in the U.S. Navy on the USS Gage and took part in the Battle of Iwo Jima, receiving a WWII Victory Medal, American Theatre Ribbon, and Asiatic Pacific Area Ribbon with Star, and various other medals. Houde continued in the Coast Guard after World War II and served at several shore stations and on several vessels, including the Handkerchief Shoal Lightship, before coming to Portland Head Light Station in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

He was at Portland Head from March 1963 to October 1965, and then served as keeper at Annisquam Light Station in Gloucester, Massachusetts, from October 1965 to November 1967. His later Coast Guard experience included more time on lightships and at stations on Cape Cod. Armand Houde retired from the Coast Guard in 1978, and he died in August 2000 in Pompano Beach, Florida.

In this interview, Houde’s children Janice Reynolds and Ed Houde recall their family’s time living at light stations and other aspects of their father’s career.

Four light stations were established on Maine’s Kennebec River in 1898, on the approach to the busy shipbuilding center of Bath. The keeper’s house at one of the stations, Doubling Point, was sold to a private owner in 1935. The house has been owned for many years by Jim and Joyce Spencer, who also spearheaded the formation of the nonprofit Friends of Doubling Point Light in the late 1990s.

In 1982, Coast Guard first class boatswain’s mate Karen McLean became the officer in charge at the Kennebec River Range Lights Station (also known as the Doubling Point Range Lights). In that position, she was also in charge of the light stations at Squirrel Point and Doubling Point. She was one of the first women and the last female to become officer-in-charge of a Coast Guard family light station. In early 1987, Karen’s husband, Lt. Dan McLean, took charge of the station. Karen and Dan have now stepped into lead roles for the Friends of Doubling Point Light.

This is part two of a two-part interview with Jim and Joyce Spencer along with Karen and Dan McLean. Bob Trapani, Jr., executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation, co-hosts.

November 4, 2022

This is a special bonus episode of Light Hearted. The subject is a new play called A Safe Passage, being performed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, from November 4 through November 13. The play, which is definitely of interest to lighthouse fans, is presented by Glass Dove Productions at the Players Ring Theatre in Portsmouth.

The Players Ring Theatre is located at Prescott Park on the waterfront of Portsmouth. Since 1992, it’s been a center for the production of new and original plays by regional artists.

Here is a description of the play: “New Years Eve, Ireland, 1979. Christy, a lonely lighthouse keeper, is not entirely certain he wants to see 1980. He has lost his wife, his daughter, and his will to go on. But when he sees a young woman on the rocks poised to jump into the sea, he races into the storm to pull her back from the brink. But Christy is about to realize that the woman is not what she seems and this final rescue is much more than he bargained for.”

Irene Kelleher, who wrote “A Safe Passage,” has said, “’A Safe Passage’ was born out of my stay at an Irish lighthouse. It is a story of lost and found. A story of two people, extremely different, who have found themselves isolated and adrift from the rest of the world. A story of Christy the lightkeeper, who shines a ceaseless vigil for all at sea but is lost himself, and the young woman who does not want to be saved.”

The interview in this podcast episode is with two people involved in the production – the director, Catherine Stewart, and Emily Karel, who co-stars in the play and is also a producer.

The city of Bath, Maine, on the Kennebec River, has long been known as the City of Ships. By 1800, Bath’s shipyards were producing vessels used in domestic and international trade. Doubling Point Lighthouse was established in 1898 on the northwest end of Arrowsic Island, at a sharp double bend in the Kennebec River, near the shipyards of Bath. It was one of several aids to navigation built on the river in the same year.

In 1935, the keeper’s house at Doubling Point was sold to a private owner. The keeper at the range light station a short distance away became responsible for both stations. Responsibility for looking after the light later went to the keeper at Squirrel Point Light Station in 1980. Beginning in the early 1980s, Doubling Point Light was again monitored from the Doubling Point Range Lights Station. It became the job of one keeper to look after the Range Lights, Doubling Point Light, and Squirrel Point Light, as well as their fog signals. For a few years, this job was performed by Coast Guard Boatswain Mate Karen McLean, one of a very small number of female Coast Guard lighthouse keepers.

This is part 1 of 2 parts. The guests in this episode are Karen and Dan McLean, who are now taking the lead roles in the Friends of Doubling Point Light organization. Also joining in the interview is Jim Spencer, founder of Friends of Doubling Point Light, and his wife Joyce. Jim and Joyce are the longtime owners and residents of the keeper’s house at Doubling Point. This episode is co-hosted by Bob Trapani, Jr., executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation.

Patricia Heyer is a history buff with an interest in coastal folklore as well as research and marine science. She has written extensively for both children and adults during her career. She coauthored Shark Attacks of the New Jersey Shore: A History with her husband, Robert, in 2020. In 2021, Shark Attacks of New York: A History was released, as was Ghosts Along the Navesink and Shrewsbury Rivers.

Pat’s new book, Haunted Jersey Shore: Beaches, Boardwalks, and Lighthouses was published by the History Press in August. In the book, she uncovers the eerie mysteries that shroud many of the New Jersey shore’s iconic landmarks, including the lighthouses at Navesink, Cape May, Barnegat, Sandy Hook, and others.

Pat is an avid reader, beachcomber, and animal rescue supporter. She lives on the Jersey shore with her husband and their rescue cat, Gracie.

October 16, 2022

This is part two of a two-part interview with three people involved with the preservation of historic Wood Island Light Station near Biddeford Pool in southern Maine. Brad Coupe is one of the founders of Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse and served as its longtime chairperson, and George Bruns is the current chairperson. Richard Parsons serves as the group’s historian and his new book, Wood Island Lighthouse: Stories from the Edge of the Sea, was published this year by the History Press.

Sarah MacHugh co-hosts with Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont. Episodes 194 and 195 are also available in video versions on the USLHS YouTube channel.

October 9, 2022

Maine’s Wood Island, about 35 acres in size, is about two miles east of the entrance to the Saco River and less than a mile from the village known as Biddeford Pool. Congress appropriated $5,000 for a lighthouse on Wood Island in March 1806 and the light began service in 1808. The 1808 tower lasted until 1839, when a new 44-foot conical rubblestone tower was built. Keeper Thomas Orcutt’s dog, Sailor, achieved widespread fame in the late 1800s and early 1900s because of his habit of pulling a rope with his teeth to sound the station’s fog bell for every passing vessel.

In 2003, a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation called Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse was formed to care for the light station. The group has been working for a full restoration of the lighthouse tower, keeper’s house, and other buildings. In the summer season, boat tours are offered to the island and light station from Biddeford Pool.

Three people are interviewed in this episode. Brad Coupe is one of the founders of Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse and served as its longtime chairperson, and George Bruns is the current chairperson. Richard Parsons serves as the group’s historian and his new book, Wood Island Lighthouse: Stories from the Edge of the Sea, was published this year by the History Press.

This episode is also available in a video version on the USLHS YouTube channel, with added video clips featuring co-host Sarah MacHugh at Wood Island. This is part one of two parts; part two will be posted on October 16.