On September 2nd, a busload of 53 Harbour Lights Reunion Attendees stopped at the Saginaw River Rear Range Lighthouse for a tour. I think this was a very special tour. Not only because this light is rarely opened to the public, but more so because a fantastic group of true lighthouse lovers were able to see her.

The weather was perfect and I saw hundreds of photos snapped. Everyone was able to go through the lighthouse and climb up into the lantern room, which is a little scary as there are sections of handrail missing! I was humbled by the generousity of this group. Even after all of the money spent on the reunion, they bought many items of our SRRRL merchandise and then before they left, made a $100 donation towards our restoration. Please accept a heartfelt thank you from myself and all of the members of the Saginaw River Marine Historical Society.

It was also great to finally put a face to the names I see here in the forums. I wish I would have had more time to talk to more of you, but to Weasel 58 (Eric), Frank Carbone, and especially Ron and MJ Foster it was great pleasure meeting you.

Thank you all again!

-Todd

A big “THANK YOU” to the folks at Saginaw River Rear Range Lighthouse for allowing us the rare opportunity to visit this lighthouse up close and personal. Not only did they wait almost an extra hour for us to arrive, they rolled out the red carpet with cookies and cold drinks (greatly appreciated by the bus group), gave us a grand tour of the lighthouse (loaded with challenges), and set up their exclusive merchandise for us to peruse.

It was nice to finally meet Todd in person. Here is an image MJ took of me (on the left) and Todd in front of the lighthouse.




The bus group quickly gathered for this picture at the beginning of the last dirt road we turned onto near the lighthouse.




The water around the site provided great opportunities to capture reflections of the light.



I wish you the best of luck with the restoration of this lighthouse, Todd & company. I think that this is a very unique lighthouse and is an excellent candidate for a Harbour Lights piece. I loved the story of how the idea of this station was started by a 15-year old boy who witnessed ships running up on the sand bars in the river. He took it upon himself to erect two planks (one 10-foot and one 15-foot) with lanterns on them to guide the ships safely up the river. Maybe $5 from each purchase could be donated to the preservation efforts here (as was done for Rockland Breakwater, ME).

Ron
(CT Keeper)

This one of the nicest surprises of the trip. I think most of us thought the Saginaw River was going to be a "drive-by" 15 minute stop. I really enjoyed the opportunity to see it up close and then get to go inside to see the house and climb the tower. I agree with Ron that it is a beautiful and unique lighthouse. Thank you Todd and the presevervation group for going out of your way to open it up for us.

Yeah I got to agree with Ron and the Doc. Saginaw RR was a nice stop. I was really suprised they let us climb it. I want to thank Todd and his fellow preservationists for getting us in.

This post is long overdue. What a treat it was to visit the Saginaw River Rear Range Light! Todd, thanks for making it possible for us to have such a great visit. I agree with everybody else - we thought this would be a quick hop off the bus, but it turned out to be one of the really delightful highlights of our trip. Everyone in your group was so hospitable - cookies and lemonade were a real "pick me up" after a lot of traveling. I have to admit that I had never heard of this light and I came away wishing that I lived close by so that I could volunteer to help in the restoration. We heard some great stories during the tour. Thanks to you and your group of preservationists for such a wonderful visit and for the fantastic work you are doing!