Notification came in the mail yesterday that a new association has been formed. Washington Lightkeepers Association is now up and running.

The Mission Statement is as follows:

Lighthouses and lightships shine a light on history and society. The WLA is dedicated to the rehabilitation, restoration, preservation, and perpetuation of Washington's lighthouses and lightships, as well as their history and lore.

The WLA will serve as a cental point of communication between lighthouse organizations in the state and a clearinghouse for information nationwide.

WLA will organize and implement events and activities to celebrate the state's lighthouse and lightship heritage and will share and disseminate a collective knowledge on a wide range of related education and preservation topics.

WLA will serve in an advisory capacity by developing consensus-based and constitiuent-based postions on issues affecting the Washington lighthouse and lightship community and it will keep constituents informed on issues of general interest.

IF you are interested in joining the efforts of this group, please send a request for information to:

washingtonlights@earthlink.net

Derith,
I was at the Florida Lighthouse Association yesterday and we had a stack of membership forms for the Washington Lightkeepers Association, that were given out. On a personal note I have mailed my membership form.

Needless to say, since I live in Washington, this is great news. I always envy those of you in the east who have organizations such as NELL and Tampa Bay Lightkeepers to participate with. Hopefully, this new organization will give us Northwesterners some of the same pleasures.

As a matter of interest, I contacted this new group and found that it is headed up by Elinor DeWire. I'm sure many of you know of her from her books. She also spoke at the Baltimore reunion. She moved to Washington several years ago and has been very active in several other local lighthouse groups.

Larry (a new member of the Washington Lightkeepers Association)

A Washington Lightkeepers Website is already in the making. WashingtonLightkeepers.com Check back later as more content is added.

I sent in my membership within days of receiving the notice. Knowing Elinor a bit, I was confident the new group would start out on the right foot, with honest intentions, applicable knowledge, and a good work ethic. As someone who has been a founding president, I know what a tough task she has ahead.

Please support the WLA. It will be money well spent.

The Washington Lightkeepers Association is hosting a membership meeting, Nov. 12 next to Admiralty Lighthouse. Our website provides details of this and other Washington Lights events.
http://www.walightkeepers.com/
Check out our "images" page, order WLA merchandise or leave a comment in our "guestbook." We'd love to hear from you!
Bruce
WebPhotog@walightkeepers.com