We are heading to the festival this weekend... spending Saturday at the festival in Alpena then we plan on catching Bill's signing in Saginaw, MI at Blocks Hallmark on Sunday on the way back to Indy!!

Paul, we are in Paradise, Mi. as I type this, visiting Crisp Point and Whitefish. We have to be home by Sat. or we would catch Alpena, we're about driving right by there.

We made a couple of quick stops on the way to Alpena today...



The first trip back to Tawas since the Spring of 97... a lot has changed!




After a quick stop at Sturgeon Point we arrived at Alpena...

That's a beautiful shot of Sturgeon Point and the bittersweet!

I imagine there will be lots of brochures about specific lighthouses available this weekend in Alpena. I'd appreciate it if someone could grab one of each for my collection.

Thanks in advance.

Sue and I went over to see how the setup was going and to check out tomorrow's schedule...



I found this young family of lighthouses getting ready for their big day tomorrow at the festival!!

A few images from the Festival...


Sue pointing to the missing rail on our (thanks Jake!) Old Michigan City Christmas lighthouse, after Bill signed it....


Collectors getting their Peggy's Cove signed by Bill at the Huron Lights booth...


Lighthouse Depot was at the festival, including the boss on the left, Tim Harris...


There are booths located outdoors as well, it seems like there were a lot more lighthouse societies represented this year at the festival than when we were here two years ago..


Lunch.... Great Brats!!!


String attached... is Bill's theme for his talk.. keep that string short.. teach lighthousing to kids...


Karen wins again... two weeks ago it was the Hoosier Lighthousing Grand Prize-- this time an American Shoal lighthouse at Bill's Seminar!!

I couldn't just drive by Tawas on the way home and not drive over to the park and shoot some pictures of the lighthouse with the clouds that we had today!!

John - I grabbed brochures for you at Alpena and all over Michigan, like I previously told you I would. Send me your address, so I can mail them to you.

Suzanne Murphy

Ten members of the Great Lakes District Harbour Lights Collector's club attended the Alpena Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival.

Suzanne Murphy

Looks like it was a lot of fun? This is a future must do! Great shot of Tawas Paul.
Bob

Future Artist Proofs?



From the Alpena Festival - lighthouses modeled by the next generation of keepers! Help bring the history and joy of lighthouses to your local school!

T

Hey Tim, ...Are you sure those aren't from your own private collection?

Bob

Hey Bob, I think one of them is from Tim's very own collection, If you look right in front of the big white one in the center, I believe you'll see Port Lego Light North Dakota. I remember seeing it on his desk at the FSB.

John,
Suzanne and I went to many Michigan lighthouses, and thought of you. Hope you enjoy the brochures as much as we did seeing the lights!
It was a lot of fun, and Suzanne was a great tour guide as well as a friend to get me to see many of the Michigan Lighthouses. (2100 miles)
Even Crisp Point was exciting, as well as the Mackinaw Bridge with my van!! It was a VERY windy day.

Pam

P.S. Hope you're feeling ok!

Pam - third car from the left? I thought that was you waving at us... :-)

Memories from Childhood:

Being among the first non-governmental, non-official vehicles to drive across the "Big Mac" the day it opened in 1958.

G. Mennen "Soapy" Williams and a few others were ahead of us.

Dear Paul,

Thanks so much for the terrific photos of the Alpena Lights Festival. I had wanted to go this year, but I got very sick at the last minute. Thanks to your post, I was able to get a flavor of the event. I plan on attending next year.

With much appreciation for your efforts,

Scott