The Harbour Lights Collectors Society will be entering its second decade the end of next month.

I’ve learned that while there will be some changes to the membership package of benefits, the membership dues will remain the same as for the current year.

A letter will be mailed to current Society members this week announcing the gift lighthouse and the Members Exclusive lighthouse as well as changes to the Society package. Once the letter is in the mail, the information will be available at HarbourLights.com.

This letter will be followed up shortly after with the mailing of the Lighthouse Legacy which will include photos of both the gift and exclusive pieces and a membership renewal/application.

We will be watching for it!

Cindy

Any predictions what the Society piece will be???


?????????

Inquiring minds want to know.

bobo

I don't know...it feels really strange to me that NO ONE knows anything about the Society pieces!!! Every year since I can remember, the rumor would be floated out there early and it would usually be confirmed by one of the "Wackos" who would hear something from their "cousin's-best friend's-girlfriend's-brother's-dentist"...either that or it would pop up early on lighthousedepot.com.

I wonder what it could be...

Anyone have any guesses...?

MAybe that's the thing...maybe nobody knows because there isn't one. Maybe it's not a HL per se this year, but something different. Of equal collectable value, but not an expenisive-to-make-for-free HL.

_greg the conspiracy theorist

Read my lips...

So when there are no good rumors, what has kept us from guessing?

Hints?

1. There's a relationship between the two beyond the fact that they are both lighthouses.

2. You'll need to be at least 75 to have seen one of them.

3. Belonging to a club might get you a closer look at the other one.

[You should know my hints by now: Obfuscate and keep them guessing.]

Work together as a team. No prizes other than glory. Once you've received your letter, you can no longer guess or provide hints.

I'll bet they are near water! John, just owning a 'club' might help get you closer, also...

Might get you 'roughly' closer anyway.

Very interesting...

Bob

Are we allowed to guess? With the clues I would guess one is on or near a golf course. I'm thinking maybe they are located in CA.

So here's my guess:

Society redemption piece: Point Sur
Society membership piece: Point Arguello or Piedras Blancas

I would say that the one on the golf course is the Hilton Head Rear Range lighthouse.

Don't know which light this one could be, but based on the clue I would think it must be no longer standing? Destroyed 75+ years ago?

.... in my case that's any golf course with a water hazard..... the club gets me closer to water

I agree that the one you need a club for is Hilton Head Rear Range lighthouse .
I have been after Bill for years for this one.
The big question. Will it have the eagle nest with it like the real one?

The other one that you would have to be over 75 to have seen it would be the first Amelia island Lighthouse

My guess is the De Tour Lighthouse and the De Tour Reef Lighthouse. One was located in De Tour, Michigan and the other is located on top of a reef off shore near De Tour. If you belong to their perservation group you might get out to the reef light. The land light torn down.

2beacons

My guess is Cape Henlopen De. It was destroyed back in 1926 and since Harbour Lights is re-doing a lot of its former lights it would be a good guess. Just my thoughts. Hal

How about Point Arquello, it's been gone about 70 years, and to keep it close, San Luis Obispo?

For those who had already pre-paid for membership for 2005-2006, your letter was mailed Friday.

For those who are members for 2004-2005, but have not yet re-upped for the next membership year, your letter will be sent to you tomorrow.

Both letters go First Class Mail.

The Lighthouse Legacy is expected to mail bulk rate next week. This will have photos of the Society Gift, Society Exclusive, and the In-Store Event Exclusive, 14 Foot Bank DE.

WOW! All you guys have great guesses, does that mean you are all 75+....just kidding

No Kat,

Just 63 years old. But sometimes I feel 101.

bobo

Boy, if some of the letters were mailed on Friday, I wonder how quickly some of our forum friends will get them...

Has anyone been so lucky...? Who will be the first person to get the lucky mail...and, will that person "spill the beans"?

(Me...I only pay year-to-year so that means that my letter was mailed yesterday from California...and I'm in Connecticut, so I still have a few days to wait.)

Oh the suspense !! It will be interesting to see what changes are being made.

We got our letter today. Don't want to spill the beans though. Interesting changes in some ways. Some are disappointing though.

Tom

Oh man, I know, but cannot tell! All I can say is, it's good. Really good. And a creative idea, too.

I won't spill about the other changes...or even give any vague hints. But I think I might join this year, finally.

Anyone want to add to the "Make Greg a HLCS Member Fund"?

Tom,

Now you've got me really curious! Go ahead and spill the beans.

Greg,

Know what SOL means?

bobo

Nice of all the folks so far to keep the beans...

...but I can give you the official news:

Harbour Lights Collectors Society 2005-2006

• Gift Lighthouse: Hilton Head Front Range (Lost Lighthouse)
• Member Redemption Piece: Hilton Head Rear Range (with Eagle's Nest) $85
• Member Dues $39 Same as last year

As in the past, the gift piece will be mailed directly (after June 1) and the redemption piece will be ordered through a dealer (available after June 1 also).

We're saying goodbye to the cloisonne pin, the Mark Sherman print, and the available Society Ornament.

The quarterly Lighthouse Legacy will be available only online in an HTML format. The last printed issue of the Lighthouse Legacy should be mailed in the next 10 days.

You should be able to renew or join online within a week.

I am not sure how the northerns feel
But I think the Hilton Head Rear and front Range is an excellent choice and will be a big hit here in the south and also with the mid Atlantic collectors.

I will not miss the cloisonne pin and the Mark Sherman print. I did like the ornament but didn't like it being society piece of the year before. I would rather have a matching ornament with this years society piece. If not a matching ornament a matching society, LLOM would have been nice.

I feel like Harbour Lights came up with a good compromise to keep the Society going, while most collectable lines are dropping their Societies all together..

I will miss the hard copy of the legacy but I am glad they are doing a HTML version instead of going with a PDF format.. Better quality at faster uploads time..

The choice of the Society pieces being the front and rear range lights at Hilton Head and that one is gone and the other still standing is like last years Society pieces, which I like, also..

Well Folks,

The following are going to be great:

Gift Lighthouse: Hilton Head Front Range (Lost Lighthouse)
Member Redemption Piece: Hilton Head Rear Range (with Eagle's Nest) $85
Member Dues: $39

The loss of the cloisonne pin and the Mark Sherman print does not disappoint me in the least.

The Society Ornament will be missed tremendously, but I can live without it.

The greatest loss and disappointment will be the lack of the hard copy of the quarterly Lighthouse Legacy. That's a shame. No sense in my saving them anymore.

bobo

I for one will miss the cloisonne pin, the Mark Sherman print and the Society Ornament. But like the rest of the group, so far, I can live without them.

The loss of the hard copy of the Legacy is a disappointment, although the computer version if well done will help to alleviate the pain.

When the internet version was offered a while back we should have seen the writing on the wall.

I'm glad we didn't lose the gift and the aredemption piece. I think the choice of the gift and redemption piece is great and look forward to having both in my collection.

My dues are paid up until 2006 so I'm all set in that area

Bert

Got my letter today and am happy about the Society Piece and the free Society Piece. I really don't care about the print and who knows where the pins are but I WILL MISS THE SOCIETY ORNAMENT the most followed by the hard copy news letter. Talked to Kathy today at HL and she said many have called and expressed their feelings on the loss of the Society Ornament. I sure hope that HL will reconsider bring back the ornament. Call and express your feelings on the ornament if you want them to keep it. It might help.

Rich,

I reaally like your idea of contacting HL about the ornaments. I sent an email telling them how I feel. I'm sure that if every member of the forusm sent an email, they just might reconsider. I explained that the ornaments were never free and that I as an individual would be willing to pay $20. to get one.

There email address is:

harbourlights@harbourlights.com

Bert

I think there are numerous Harbour Lights Collector Society members who do NOT have a computer and/or are not computer literate who will now not be able to get the newsletter. Don't tell me that everyone has a computer. I wish they did. It would make communcating with club members much easier. But reality is that many people do NOT have access to computers.

I will miss the pin.

I won't miss the print, Although I do like them and think the quality is good, the fact of the matter is I don't have a single one of them displayed, Won't miss the pin. As far as the online news letter, those who are in clubs could probably have a fellow club member print a few out and distribute them at meetings.

I've never done anything with the pins. I only have one print framed and that is the Mark Sherman print of Rose Island the reunion attendees received in 1998. Society ornament? Is there any difference between a regular Christmas ornie and the Society ornie other than you are only allowed one per customer and must have the order form to get it?

At one time the Society ornie was considered more collectible because allegedly there were fewer of them. Has anyone seen any price difference, society ornie vs. regular ornie, on the secondary market or else where?

Elimination of the Society ornie saves Harbour Lights a lot of paperwork and eliminates the need to make an additional ornie each year. Apparently, they may be trying to streamline their operation and eliminating extra paperwork and offering some other than the Society ornie that may be more profitable in the long run.

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

I think the changes have now brought me to the decision that I will no longer join the society every year. I will join again this year only because the lighthouses are from a part of the country I collect, I see no other reason than that to join. What are you now getting for your $39.00, just the society gift, which is no longer a gift because it is the only tangible thing you are now get. I kept renewing every year to keep my pin and print collection going, now they are no more. I also wanted a complete collection of the "Legacy", now it will just sit on the web with no value to owning hard copies of them as everyone can now have a complete collection with no work at all. In short there is no longer a reason to have a complete society collection. Join the years you like the lighthouses that are part of the society and don't join the years you don't. Who loses here, in the end Harbour Lights because now I am spending and collecting less.

You're right, Mr. "D".

I hadn't quite thought about it that way until your post. You're right again. We pay for a Society Membership to access special priviledges that come with being a member. Now those priviledges are being reduced to paying $39 for a free lighthouse, and the right to pay full price for another.

Lord knows how many Society Members there might be. We do know that the Society gift is the largest edition (in numbers) that is offered each year. With such large amounts of one particular light being made, how will it ever increase in value. I know, we are not in the business of reselling our pieces if we are pure collectors at heart. Yes, we love our little treasures that have cost us many thousands of dollars through our years, but it would be nice to know that you would be able to recover at least part of your investment if the need came along.

Great post and insight, Mr. "D". Welcome to the Collector Forums!

Bob

Bob,

I'm in agreement with you and Mr Dudley.

I won't miss the print or the pin- they were nice to ahve and were reasons to be a member of the Society every year.

I will miss the hard copy of the Legacy the most- I don't particularrly like to have to read something at the computer or print it out to read it elsewhere- I'm just old-fashioned about that. I like to collect the Legacy and have all of them in the binders- of course I almost never look at them after I first read them- but I want them anyway.

I will probably allow my Society Membership to lapse and will probably be able to get a deal on both the "Free" piece and the Redemption piece if I want them by going to ebay and buy them. I have a whole year to get a bargain before I give up and join the society again.

Dennis

Why get rid of the ornament? It was money. HL probably made a profit on it. People were spending extra money for it. Normally, don't you KEEP the things people spend extra money on?

I also think that there would be great response to a $5 premium on your membership for a printed Legacy. I think that there are several people here who would be willing to shell out the extra couple of bucks to keep their printed collection going. And once again, there's money.

The print and pin...were nice, and I am a pin collector, but I think they went because they were the things that were more the "real" freebies, just thrown in. However, this now makes it easier for me as I work on a complete collection of Society items (Gift, Exclusive, Pin, Print, and Ornament from each year.).

As for the exclusive and gift, I might join for them this year. Of any lighthouse "setup", ranges are my favourites. They always seem to have the most unique tower designs. I would love to add these to my collection of them (Current ranges: 1).

I realise why HL cut down. However, I think that they could have kept some items that gave them a profit.

Now, when you go to the real core of it, what you are doing is buying a Harbour Light for $39.

Dump the pin and picture.

Keep the ornament and hard copy.

All those in favor.

All that oppose.

It is unanimous.

No pin and picture. Ornament and hard copy to be reinstated at next issue.
That was simple. Harbour lights should invite us at the next board meeting to make sure things like this doesn’t happen again.

I will especially miss the hard copy of the Legacy. I have kept every one I ever received. Reading future issues on the computer may be convenient but that's about it. I won't bother to print them out.

Another tradition sadly eliminated in a cost-effective business decision.

Bob

I have been in other collector's clubs and have seen them go by the wayside. I collected Old World Christmas ornaments for years, then they moved where they were made from Germany, and the old glass blowers, to China. The line changed drastically and I stopped collecting. The collector's club became free for members with no gifts whatsoever, and finally ceased to exist.

But, we can rise above that and stay connected here as Harbour Lights collectors on this forum if the society membership should in fact cease to exist.

Joyce

Joyce, good point. When you think about it, we have our own HLCS right here on these forums. If we were ever to lose the regular one, we still have the CF to connect and talk to each other.

Greg,

How do you know that for sure? I certainly don't.

bobo

Daniel,

If you get invited to the next Meeting of the Board, could I go with you?

Like they used to say on "Hawaii 5-0" -- 'Get em Dan'l'

bobo

Bob,

How could you of all people get that line wrong-

It was "Get 'em Dan-O"

Dennis

Wasn't the line that Jack Lord used to say...

BOOK 'EM, DAN-O....... ???

You are both correct. Dennis for "Dan-O" and Bright Eyes for "Book". Sorry for the goof ups.

bobo

\'Danno\' played by James MacArthur da-da-da-dah-dah, da-da-da-dah. Said by some Internet critics to be the best theme song of any television program.

"Book 'em Danno, Murder One"

Yeah, if your going to correct somebody you should always amke sure your brain is fully engaged.

I guess it was a tag team effort.

Dennis

Sorry John,

Three mistakes in a three word misquote. I actually have never seen the quote in writing.

But I did have my reasons:

"Dan’l" instead of "Dan’o" (and now "Danno") because I was referring to Daniel's post.

"Get ‘em" instead of "Book ‘em" because I was referring to Daniel being present at the next Board Meeting.

My humble apologies to everyone.

bobo

Anyone know where there's a photo of the Hilton Head Front Range Light? Would kind of like to see what it looks like before I renew my membership. Maybe there's a photo in this letter that's coming???

Mombo,

There is not a photo in the letter.

I'm sure it will be on the website soon- or here on the Forums even sooner.

I failed to find any photos on the web.

Dennis

Here is the Rear Range
Pictures of the Front range may be hard to find.


http://www.bansemer.com/north_carolina_lighthouses/hilton_head_lighthouse.htm

http://www.cr.nps.gov/maritime/light/hiltonrr.htm

Another link...


http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=331

To shorten the long link, this thread was edited by...

While I am somewhat disappointed with the news on society membership, I really am not suprised. The cloisonne pin really has never meant much to me and obviously many others feel the same way. As far as the Mark Sherman prints, they are always very well done and look great, but like Mark Wagner, I have never framed or displayed any of them.

I will miss tremendously the hard copy of the Lighthouse Legacy,and the society ornament even more so since for the last few years the only ornies have been the Fresnel Lenses other than the society ornie. Please, bring back the lighthouse ornies for 2005.

As for renewing my memberhip in the society, I am indifferent. I guess I will probably continue to be a member just because I have always been one. It really doesn't get you anything special anymore.

Things change for the better and the worst every day. The Harbour Lights of old is long gone and we can only make the best of what we have today, and that is really not all that bad is it.

-Todd