Our fourth work team headed to the island this morning aboard Gwen and Doug Noren’s boat Victory. Texas-based volunteers Kathy & Bruce Rollins are beginning a 3+ week residency, their fifth time serving as keeper volunteers. Doug and his friend Scott hoisted an acetylene torch up the skeletal tower in an attempt to free the […]
Sometimes dreams come true. In 2008 when we first visited the station, the 1867 lighthouse windows were covered with plywood. The “lean to” had mostly collapsed. The interior was dark. Lead paint chips crunched underfoot. The place smelled of mouse droppings. In 2014, when I retired, it was, unfortunately, much the same. My husband, John, […]
Carl & Dori Behrend of Old Country Painting & Restoration completed their engagement on the light yesterday. They were assisted by tuckpointing expert Mark Lee. Over the past two weeks they prepped, primed and painted the underside of the 1867 Lighthouse lantern room as well as the soffits and facia boards on the Lighthouse dwelling. […]
Team 3 headed out June 26 on a foggy Saturday morning for a three-day stay at the station. The team was headed by Cathy Allchin, with support from volunteers Peter Koeppen and Kailie Sjoblom and captain Joerg Rothenberger. Passenger Mark Lee rounded out the crew, heading out to assist contractor Carl Behrend with tuckpointing. This […]
Long term member David Nobles donated a new John Deere S130 lawn tractor to FILA on Wednesday. He also delivered a further gift of a 3000 watt generator. These extraordinary gifts will make our teams more productive. Thanks, David. (Photo: David with DNR representative Ham Hobson and members Karen & John Wells who assisted with […]
Carl and Dori Behrend of Old Country Painting & Restoration, well-respected lighthouse restoration professionals, headed out to the island Saturday escorted by Lightkeeper and the FILA team of Cathy Allchin, Pete Koeppen, John McKinney, Linda Posler, Kathy Sanders and Captain Joerg Rothenberger. The scope of work includes: prepping and painting the underside of the 1867 […]
At approximately 9:30 on Friday, June 11, the outbound crew celebrated Joerg Rothenberger’s 2500th nautical mile on behalf of FILA since he became owner of Lightkeeper and his 37th trip as skipper. Joerg provided champagne in celebration of the milestone. In total, the organization has logged an estimated 7200 nautical miles across various boats on behalf […]
A team of Cathy Allchin, Brian Freiberger, Jim Greenwell, Joerg Rothenberger and Karen Wells opened the station during their June 11 – 13 work trip. They mowed around buildings, installed a historic screen door, fixed a window, assessed materials requirements for later projects and, importantly, began the long process of digging out the boathouse.
Announcing the start to our 2021 season. Captain Joerg reports Lightkeeper was launched today. Looking forward to a trip out next week.
On Friday, May 28, the Michigan State Historic Preservation Review Board approved the nomination of South Fox to the National Register. There’s still a further review at the Federal level before we’re officially on the register, but this is a significant milestone. Great news!