Got an email from Terry Kemp of the Cape St. George Lighthouse Ass. Thought that I would post it here for all to see.


11/29/2008
We had a great first Preview Day, with more than 400 people climbing the lighthouse. Everybody loved it! We will be open again tomorrow, from 1
p.m. to 4 p.m.

We had a visit today from WCTV Channel 6 in Tallahassee, who aired a segment on their post-football newscast this evening. If you are in their viewing area, watch for it on the 11 p.m. news tonight or the morning news tomorrow.

The long shot of this message is this: CBS News in New York dispatched the WCTV crew to cover our opening (WCTV is a CBS affiliate). There is a SLIGHT possibility that our story will be on CBS National News tomorrow (Sunday, November 30) at 6:30 p.m. With all the football games, and the unknown occurrence of a more important story, I think our chances are slim. However, we will be watching, just in case ...

Thanks to all of you for making it possible,
Terry

Another email today: 11/30/2008

Here is the link to the news story that was on WCTV in Tallahassee last
night. If you can't open the link, go to the station's website at
www.wctv.tv, scroll through the headlines to "More Headlines," and keep
scrolling until you come to the lighthouse story.

http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/35266619.html


Hope you enjoy it!

Terry

I talked to Dennis yesterday. He said people waited in line even when it started to rain. Admission was free Saturday and Sunday, but as I guessed the gift shop did well.

Members of the Florida Lighthouse Association and the Cape St. George Association can always climb for free.

It is still hard to believe how fast this project went. Not many would have beliefed it was possible the first 6 months after the tower fell.

If your looking for some place to go this weekend and are able to travel to St. George Island, FL come to the Cape St. George Lighthouse Dedication Ceremony tomarrow April 4, at 10:00 am.

A hightlight of the ceremony will be the keynote address by lighthouse historian Neil Hurley. He is a former Commander in the U.S. Coast Guard, he is the historian for the Florida Lighthouse Association, and he has written four books about Florida lighthouses.

The morning cermony will be a festive but elegant event, and the afternoon will be time to have fun! There will be a fundraiser for the Keeper's House Museum with with Jim Wolfram's delicious barbecued chicken, music by Sax Man Karl Dappen as well as the Tallahassee band Eclectic Acoustic. A Silent Auction will be held in conjunction with the dedication, with some wonderful artwork, jewelry and a beautiful quilt by Barb Durrett.

The lighthouse will be closed the morning of April 4, but will be open for climbing at no charge after the ceremony.


A personal note:
This is an event that I have had on my calendar for quite some time and have been looking forward to attending. However due to health reasons and the 6 hr oneway drive I will not be able attend. So I am hopeing that someone will report how things went and show us some pictures of the event.

I just got back from the dedeciation. The weather was great. Neil gave a good speech as always. All the volunteers and donaters were thanked, as well as the 3 state government agencies, the county government, businesses that donated time or goods and of course the Florida Lighthouse Association that helped the group in the begining and donated funds for the salvage operation when the majority of people thought it was a waste of time. The coast guard did a fly by over the lighthouse, their was music, good food and a silent auction to raise funds for the replica keepers house. I got a new T-shirt showing lighthouses from the panhandle.
I will try to post pictures tomorrow, including a special picture for this group.

Thanks for the update, Eric, looking forward to the pictures. Sue and I enjoyed our visit there last year to see all of the progress in not just restoring the lighthouse but rebuilding the lighthouse. It now has a special home that can't be missed if you head to the island..

Thanks for the update Eric. I too am looking forward to the pictures. You don't know how bad I wanted to be there. But just couldn't.

Appreciate the update. We're anxious to see the photos, Eric. We were there a few months ago and featured St. George LH in our club newsletter. The area is beautiful and they have done an awesome job.

This is well worth the stop for anyone going through this part of Florida.

Judy & Bill

SURPRISE!!! look at the picture above and read the second line. Thanks for helping rebuild Cape St. George Lighthouse. (I have other pictures of the dedication, but had not posted images lately and boy did I have problems.) MEANWHILE pat yourselves on the back, the WACKO donation was one of many that helped the matching money requirement. Also those who chipped bricks take a bow (lots of people clapped for you Saturday)

Thanks Eric, it makes one feel just a little bit warm and fuzzy seeing your stair picture. I hope to walk up those stairs before too long, since it wasn't done when we were there last year. We found a real nice new hotel near St. Marks last year to stay nearby in just down the road. We always visit St. Marks when we drive through Florida, just love the wildlife surrounding it..

Check out the coverage aired on WJHG TV from Panama City.

http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/42478427.html#