The antique apple trees continue to do well. They got a minor trim from the closing team this week. While the ideal time to trim is late winter, they seem to survive our delayed pruning. Look at all that fruit!

A number of years ago, curious about what variety they were, we took a sample to Kilchermans Christmas farm, Northport, MI who specialize in heritage apples. They identified it as a Caville Blanc d’Hiver, a rare variety considered to be the classic dessert apple of France.  Here’s the explanation they provided us.

Most of the apples will go to the birds and deer this year as our “on island” season ends as the closing team heads home today.

 

It’s impossible to capture the feeling of having a 360 degree view in the lantern room again. This is truly a milestone project.

The original glass was mostly shot out by the time the DNR enclosed the lighthouse with plywood in the 1980’s. FILA upgraded the plywood in 2006 to protect the lantern room from further damage. A few years back, we inserted Lexan in some of the panels to give light and a tiny view. Over the past two years, the team of Barb, Marty & Tom have carefully removed the astrangals (vertical supports) and top and bottom stops, then cleaned and replaced them. Some were sufficiently damaged that they fashioned temporary wooden stops while taking samples back to to recreate proper metal ones. Almost every screw that had to be removed put up its own unique battle! For now, we’ve used Lexan panels, each custom fit since even though the openings may have been exactly the same back in 1867, they aren’t now. Our eventual goal would be to install original glass but in the interim we’ve made a huge improvement and learned a lot.

Here’s a sample from a couple different directions….

Photos: Barb Falkenhagen (taken from a video)

Many thanks to the lantern room team!

Just a reminder, a variety of South Fox Island Light Station merchandise is available through our friends at the Shoal Shop.

Proceed go toward transportation and restoration costs. We have the following items available for purchase.

 

Or, if you’d like to support the cause directly, you can make a tax deductible donation here.

Our island team enjoyed a very special Strawberry Moon on Wednesday night.

A strawberry moon, so-named by Native Americans marking the season when wild strawberries are harvested, describes June’s full moon and marks the start of summer.

In European tradition, the June moon was also sometimes referred to as a “Honey Moon” for its somewhat golden color. It marked a time when marriages were common.

The 2025 strawberry moon was particularly unusual as it coincided with an event called the major “lunar standstill” or “lunistice”….essentially the moon’s equivalent of a solstice where it reaches its most extreme northern and southern points in the sky. This phenomenon occurs only once every 18.6 years. This won’t occur again until 2043.

The moon appeared lower in the sky than usual, enhancing its size and color. When the moon is near the horizon, it often takes on an orange or reddish hue.

Photo credit: Sandra White