Longterm volunteers John & Karen Wells announced their retirement at season’s end.
Shortly after their first trip in 2008, John got a safe ladder donated to access the skeletal tower. This was the first of over $20,000 in product and service donations including custom cut wood, CAD drawings, blacksmithing, power & hand tools, scaffolding, safety equipment, books for the “Lighthouse Library” and even sausage for pancake breakfast fundraisers. If FILA needed something, John could usually find a way to make it happen.
He was also instrumental in fundraising, taking a leadership role in FILA’s capital campaigns throughout his tenure and established the annual fund drive which continues to be a major source of the organization’s funding. John coordinated many of our oral histories and established the organization’s archives at the Bentley Historical Library. He’s scraped more lead paint than one can imagine and applied literally gallons of paint to light station projects.
Karen became active in project management starting in 2014, leading window & door restoration, whitewashing and various masonry & woodworking projects. While her greatest contributions were involving others in the project, she was no stranger to hard work.
She wrote the first successful DNR Partnership Grant (outhouse, bunk beds, “lean to” interior materials) and many later grants. She drafted the first pass of the National Register Nomination, has written articles about the station for multiple publications, and has been the face of much of our social media for over a decade. She’s been one of our biggest recruiters of volunteers both “on island” and off and many of our current volunteers have links to her.
Well done, Wells!
Rollins Interview – “Why we come”