NEWSLETTER
If you are having difficulty seeing the Newsletter, please click here.
Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse
PO Box 26, Biddeford Pool, ME 04006
photograph by Bill Edmunds
Who is this?
photo shared by the Burley Family
This is Keeper Thomas Henry Orcutt and his dog Sailor at the lighthouse in the summer of 1900.
Webcams are back online
Winter storms with very high winds brought many trees down in the Biddeford Pool area.. Several big ones came down taking out the power lines which bring electricity to the Wood Island transformer on the mainland. From this box, a sub marine cable brings power to the lighthouse.Central Maine Power not only had to take all the trees down, but also had to replace several poles before power could be restored to the island. Though the light and foghorn run off of solar power, the webcams depend on the electricity coming from the mainland via marine cable. The long interval with no electricity brought the webcams down for quite awhile. They are now back up and running. You can find them here: Webcam
If you are running Windows 7, you may not be able to view one of the webcams. A fix has be suggested - download and use Google's Chrome search engine.
A treasure has been shared with FOWIL
Belinda (Burley) Dapice was going through her family archives and came across three photos of her grandparent's trip to Biddeford Pool in August 1900. She found us online and sent scans of these photos. Notice the ship under full sail in the right background. This photo is the only one we have of this special scene. Belinda's Grandmother, Louise Wells, was a student at Oberlin College in Ohio in the early 1890's where she became friends with Florence Durand. Florence's mother seems to have owned a cottage in BP known as the Barrel. Louise visited the family several times and in 1900, when these photos were taken, she stayed from August until October. At that time she was visited by her suitor, Harry Burley, and agreed to become his wife. We are thrilled to have these photos in the Wood Island Lighthouse Archives and thank the family.
Many thanks to the Burley Family, especially Belinda Burley Dapice.
New Merchandise
There will be a new item or two in the online store this summer as well as at the Red Geranium Gift Shop in Biddeford Pool - All proceeds from the sale of these items go to the restoration effort.
More news on these items in June.
2010 Summer Season
The Fowil Executive Committee, Captains, Crew and Hosts are getting ready for a busy summer season. We have three new hosts who have joined the effort to make tours of the lighthouse available to the public. The grounds will be beautified and cared for by the Woodchucks. Plans for restoration efforts this summer will be published in the June newsletter. If you are thinking you would like to be involved with FOWIL, now is the time to contact us to find out how you might help.You can do this by e-mailing Brad, Executive Committee Chair or Sheri, History Chair.
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 by Sheri Poftak