Following Mr. Cohn were CWO Waldrip and Mr. Eric Gilbertson, who is the Vermont
Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer. A letter was then read from U.S. Senator
Patrick Leahy who could not attend. (Lucky later remarked, “When we light Isle La
Motte, we’re gonna invite Bush!”)
The microphone was then turned over to Lucky Clark who recounted the story of his acquisition of the Windmill Point Lighthouse. In 1963 he and his new wife took a ride to see the remains of the trestle bridge from the days that the Rutland RR ran from Burlington through the Islands and the peninsula to New York. (They’re still there, we saw them from the bridge earlier.) His Dad said, “Why don’t you take Claire to see the
lighthouse too?” When they arrived at the lighthouse the current owners asked if they were the party who wanted to buy it. They weren’t, but they did!
http://a2.cpimg.com/image/C6/8A/12170182-8d1b-028001E0-.jpg Son Rob Clark then spoke and told of the efforts involved in getting Windmill Point relit
and how soon 4 other lighthouses on Lake Champlain would also shine again.
http://a9.cpimg.com/image/69/87/12170089-88c8-028001E0-.jpg Next up was BMCS James Steudle out of Burlington who spoke of his relationship with
Lucky and Rob over the years, humorously recounting several episodes when they had
not seen eye to eye over the operation of the lightstation.
http://a7.cpimg.com/image/93/91/12170387-3681-028001E0-.jpg It seems that once when the light was in trouble, Lucky couldn’t wait for the Coast Guard to arrive and climbed the tower himself. When someone did show up and yelled at him for being up there he said something like, “Well I’ll be right down as soon as I’m done fixing your gol darn light!”
At this time Lucky was presented with a plaque from the Coast Guard in recognition of his preservation efforts and his perseverance in getting the light back into Windmill Point
Lighthouse. This had been a dream of his for many years. He was also presented with the light that was removed from the skeletal tower.
http://a2.cpimg.com/image/84/90/12170372-2a38-028001E0-.jpg By now the sun was setting behind both the lightless skeletal tower
http://a2.cpimg.com/image/F2/94/12170482-67e1-016C0200-.jpg And the lighthouse.
http://a7.cpimg.com/image/E3/93/12170467-1881-02000151-.jpg The ceremony concluded with a countdown by those assembled and at 8:33pm on National Lighthouse Day Windmill Point Lighthouse shown again after 71 years!
http://a0.cpimg.com/image/B2/A2/12170930-33cb-028001E0-.jpg Now the light was on, really. I hard a hard time capturing it as it flashed rather quickly.
Not being very dark yet it was hard to see at first and there were lots of folks up in the
lantern room and outside on the deck. When we finally left and returned to Rouses Point
we could see the light quite clearly. I had asked one of the many, many Coasties who was there about the light. If I got it correctly he stated that it was a 1.15 amp prototype bulb that he and another fellow had come up with that was
visible for 7 miles. He said that it was brighter than the light that had been in the steel
tower and that the same light was going to be installed in the Isle La Motte Lighthouse.
There are a few additional photos here:
http://members6.clubphoto.com/susan529192/878514/owner-7cb8.phtml
