Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse
PO Box 26, Biddeford Pool, ME 04006
photograph by Bill Edmunds our website Tech Support.
Who is This?
Keeper Edward Frank
1952-1956
Keeper Frank passed away July 16, 1980
FOWIL General Meeting
Saturday, July 21
9:00 a.m.
Firebarn, Biddeford Pool, Maine
Come and meet the family of Keeper Frank, his wife Eloise and children, Steve and Michele, who lived on the island in the 1950s. Steve Frank, a Principal of the Winslow Elementary School, has a great slide presentation which he will share with us. Our new merchandise will be available for sale, the Executive Committee will bring us up to speed on the status of its efforts on behalf of the lighthouse and there will be a report about the shipwreck study embarked upon by the history group.
Steve and Eloise Frank and Michele Blake
FOWIL Merchandise
is off and running.
FOWIL now has long sleeved and short sleeved cotton shirts in several beautiful weathered colors with the Wood Island Lighthouse logo printed on the chest area. We understand that sweatshirts and hats are also planned and may possibly be available soon. A lot of hard work went into this project many thanks go to Renee Messier and Anne Bassett, the prime movers. Terry Lowell, Keeper Russ Lowell's wife, gave aid as well through the company which she works for.
Where can you buy yours?
We will let you know by e-mail as soon as we find out. We do know that FOWIL merchandise will be available at the July 21st General Meeting. A quick prilimary sale in the Biddeford Pool Village over Memorial Day was wildly successful. Thanks to the Union Church and the Red Geranium gift shop, we had a location to set up our sales table for two days.
Ascending the Tower
Yes, we are going up to the top!
For several years now, the Executive Committee has pursued a plan to make the Wood Island Lighthouse tower safely accessible to our visitors. Because the lighthouse is on the National Historic Register, there is careful oversight of every improvement. The group which guides FOWIL to an historically acceptible solution for a handrail system in the tower is the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. FOWIL, under the guidance of a hard working volunteer architect and builder, submitted a plan early this spring for railings to be installed in the tower. Just this week, we have received word that our handrail plan has been accepted by the MSHPC. It is now top priority to get the handrails fabricated and installed so our visitors can view beautiful Winter Harbor and Saco Bay from the top of the Wood Island Lighthouse Tower.
Bravo!
Shipwreck
Annie L. Wilder
A great deal of attention was dawn to the mouth of the Saco River when the two-masted schooner carrying a carload of lime, caught fire. The entire stern of the ship was destroyed and Captain W.P. Greenlaw of the Annie L. Wilder said that he had lost everything he owned as he carried no insurance on his 1/4 share of the ship. The two crew members left immediately for Rockport while Greenlaw spent the night at Biddeford Pool until he could make arrangements to salvage the rigging and sails. The ship ran aground at the outer edge of Negro Island and began to break up immediately. The ship was 76 feet long and 22 feet wide.
"It Happened Here" by Jeffrey Scully
First 2007 "tour" of Wood Island Light
Duane Prugh teaches a course about Maine lighthouses at the University of Maine Senior College. He brought his class, a group of 17 hardy students to Biddeford Pool on May 16th in the pouring rain. They knew that the weren't going to be able to go to Wood Island because Lightrunner wasn't in the water yet, but they had planned on walking to East Point to view the lighthouse across the water. Mother Nature nixed that with a mighty deluge. The group accepted it all cheerfully and were satisfied with a visit to a FOWIL members home to hear about the lighthouse, see photos and posters and view the FOWIL DVD about a tour. We appreciate their wonderful attitude.
Lighthouse class from U.of Me. Senior College
Tours Begin June 30
by reservation only
207-286-3229
Tours run on Wednesdays and Thursdays 5PM & 6PM
Saturdays 1PM & 2PM
The Friends of
Wood Island Lighthouse
is a chapter of the
American Lighthouse Foundation.
It was formed in the Spring of 2003 specifically to
preserve and restore the Wood Island Light Station.
Please visit our website.
photo from Burnham family album