By MIKE FORNES
Tribune Staff Writer
MACKINAC ISLAND - An area known for lighthouses is playing host to hundreds of lighthouse enthusiasts this week at Mission Point Resort.

Harbour Lights, makers of an award-winning collection of authentic lighthouse reproductions sold in area shops, is sponsoring the convention of the Harbour Lights Collectors Society on the island Monday through Wednesday. The group is committed to the preservation and restoration of lighthouses worldwide.

Attendees will visit 12 area beacons during their stay with special plans to honor the historic Waugoshance Point Lighthouse, which a local preservation society is seeking to restore. The light, the first Great Lakes beacon to be fitted with a 4th Order Fresnel lens, was built in 1851 at the western entrance to the Straits of Mackinac. Known as "the castle of the lake," the light is the subject of a six-inch high reproduction being introduced by Harbour Lights, of San Diego, Calif. The collectable presents the lighthouse as it stood in its glory one hundred years ago.

There are 20 lighthouses in the Straits of Mackinac area located within 20 miles of the Mackinac Bridge.