Just received a call from one of the owners of this magnificent lighthouse inviting us to the official relighting to be held August 7th. This was to have happened Memorial Day weekend but "It's a long story, we had to do most of the work ourselves" was the reply to my question on the date. Hopefully I'll be able to go up and document this historic event!

Windmill Point, along with most other lighthouses on the lake, has been dark for many years. The lights were placed in nearby skeletal towers. Recently the Coast Guard determined that some of these towers had been sufficiently maintained by the private owners to allow the lights to return to their rightful place. Even during their tenure in the skeletal towers, the maintenance of these towers was left mainly to the lighthouse owners. Often we seem skepical when lighthouses are transferred into the hands of private citizens. Obviously in this case and undoubtedly many others, the owners have taken great pains to ensure that their lighthouses are preserved.

"Sometime next month" is the projected date for the relighting of Isle La Motte Lighthouse, also owned by the same family.

You can read more about Windmill Point Lighthouse here:

http://www.lighthouse.cc/windmillpoint/index.html

I.O. and I visited this light and saw most of the others on Lake Champlain 2 years ago. For those newer members of the forums who are interested in reading of our adventures the following links tell the story. Sorry, the pictures are gone.

http://www.lighthousekeepers.com/cgi-bin/forumscgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f =15;t=000193

http://www.lighthousekeepers.com/cgi-bin/forumscgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f =15;t=000202

http://www.lighthousekeepers.com/cgi-bin/forumscgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f =15;t=000208

http://www.lighthousekeepers.com/cgi-bin/forumscgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f =15;t=000210

Very nice they invited you, Sue. We will expect a full report and pictures of the happenings. Don't forget to take plenty of batteries and extra disks.

Dave

Last evening at 8:33pm on August 7, 2002 (National Lighthouse Day) the light shown again in the Windmill Point Lighthouse after an absence of 71 years!

TV Channel 3 out of Burlington was there most of the day capturing the event which was the TOP STORY on their evening newscast. They showed a shot of "Lucky" climbing up into the lantern room saying "Today makes me feel like a new man." Made you smile/made you cry. He was just so excited that his dream of restoring the light had finally come true.

In addition the story made the FRONT PAGE of the Burlington Free Press:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/news/thursday/2000h.htm

I'll give a better report and include some photos a bit later. It was just so great that someone we had met just once was thoughful enough to have invited I.O. and I to attend the relighting ceremony! (Now all I have to do is get us invited back to the next one at Isle La Motte scheduled for September!)

We left home on Wednesday, August 7th at 10am. Only 20 minutes into our trip I.O. managed to hit a dog! Fortunately his squeal may have been worse than his injury as I spotted him running down the side of the road after the mishap. We were already in the middle of nowhere so we didn’t stop as there weren’t any houses around.

After this auspicious start things calmed down. We took a different route up to Plattsburgh this trip and started getting hungry for lunch just past the Ft. Drum Army base. We passed up the “Hoot ‘N Toot” in favor of the “Golden Unicorn”. This was a good choice. Besides good food and service, this place was the Lighthouse Depot of Unicorns. They seemed to be everywhere including a wind chime that dangled down from the entry to the restroom area. After a bit the place starting filling up with soldiers so when we got home I asked my son if he’d gone there. His answer was, “Everybody goes there”!

We arrived in Plattsburgh around 3:15pm and got a room in the same motel we’d stayed in two years previously and had an early dinner at the same nearby restaurant. Neither seemed to be as good as we’d remembered and the prices had gone up quite a bit.

After dinner we headed north on Rt.87 then east to Rouses Point. As we crossed the bridge to the Alburg Peninsula we were rewarded with a beautiful rainbow. When we arrived at the drive to the lighthouse it was apparent that this was going to be quite the show. We were directed to drive right down to the lighthouse if we wanted. After parking we were warmly welcomed by Claire Clark, wife of the owner. I circled the lighthouse snapping a few photos. This was at 6:45pm. Here’s one:

http://a9.cpimg.com/image/AB/81/12169899-c205-028001E0-.jpg

We spoke with some of the others who’d arrived and after a while I spotted Lucky and Rob Clark, the father and son team who have owned and maintained the lighthouse and grounds. They were in the process of being interviewed by the Burlington, Vt. TV channel who had been there most of the day and stayed to record the entire ceremony.

http://a5.cpimg.com/image/93/80/12169875-b043-01E00280-.jpg

The light that had been on top of the skeletal tower since 1931 had been removed and the new light installed in the lantern room:

http://a1.cpimg.com/image/E9/83/12169961-3dac-02000142-.jpg

Prior to the start of the ceremony I chatted with Art Cohn, the director of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes, Vt. which we had visited two years ago. I also had a chance to talk with CWO Dave Waldrip, Lighthouse Manager of the 1st District who’d come from Boston to take part in the relighting.

http://a4.cpimg.com/image/AE/92/12170414-c5e5-028001E0-.jpg

At 7:45pm Mr. Cohn welcomed those assembled and the ceremony was under way.

http://a9.cpimg.com/image/9F/91/12170399-4999-028001E0-.jpg

Over 100 people were on hand.

http://a0.cpimg.com/image/92/88/12170130-1f7f-028001E0-.jpg

(cont'd)

Following Mr. Cohn were CWO Waldrip and Mr. Eric Gilbertson, who is the Vermont
Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer. A letter was then read from U.S. Senator
Patrick Leahy who could not attend. (Lucky later remarked, “When we light Isle La
Motte, we’re gonna invite Bush!”)

The microphone was then turned over to Lucky Clark who recounted the story of his acquisition of the Windmill Point Lighthouse. In 1963 he and his new wife took a ride to see the remains of the trestle bridge from the days that the Rutland RR ran from Burlington through the Islands and the peninsula to New York. (They’re still there, we saw them from the bridge earlier.) His Dad said, “Why don’t you take Claire to see the
lighthouse too?” When they arrived at the lighthouse the current owners asked if they were the party who wanted to buy it. They weren’t, but they did!

http://a2.cpimg.com/image/C6/8A/12170182-8d1b-028001E0-.jpg

Son Rob Clark then spoke and told of the efforts involved in getting Windmill Point relit
and how soon 4 other lighthouses on Lake Champlain would also shine again.

http://a9.cpimg.com/image/69/87/12170089-88c8-028001E0-.jpg

Next up was BMCS James Steudle out of Burlington who spoke of his relationship with
Lucky and Rob over the years, humorously recounting several episodes when they had
not seen eye to eye over the operation of the lightstation.

http://a7.cpimg.com/image/93/91/12170387-3681-028001E0-.jpg

It seems that once when the light was in trouble, Lucky couldn’t wait for the Coast Guard to arrive and climbed the tower himself. When someone did show up and yelled at him for being up there he said something like, “Well I’ll be right down as soon as I’m done fixing your gol darn light!”

At this time Lucky was presented with a plaque from the Coast Guard in recognition of his preservation efforts and his perseverance in getting the light back into Windmill Point
Lighthouse. This had been a dream of his for many years. He was also presented with the light that was removed from the skeletal tower.

http://a2.cpimg.com/image/84/90/12170372-2a38-028001E0-.jpg

By now the sun was setting behind both the lightless skeletal tower

http://a2.cpimg.com/image/F2/94/12170482-67e1-016C0200-.jpg

And the lighthouse.

http://a7.cpimg.com/image/E3/93/12170467-1881-02000151-.jpg

The ceremony concluded with a countdown by those assembled and at 8:33pm on National Lighthouse Day Windmill Point Lighthouse shown again after 71 years!

http://a0.cpimg.com/image/B2/A2/12170930-33cb-028001E0-.jpg

Now the light was on, really. I hard a hard time capturing it as it flashed rather quickly.
Not being very dark yet it was hard to see at first and there were lots of folks up in the
lantern room and outside on the deck. When we finally left and returned to Rouses Point
we could see the light quite clearly. I had asked one of the many, many Coasties who was there about the light. If I got it correctly he stated that it was a 1.15 amp prototype bulb that he and another fellow had come up with that was
visible for 7 miles. He said that it was brighter than the light that had been in the steel
tower and that the same light was going to be installed in the Isle La Motte Lighthouse.

There are a few additional photos here:

http://members6.clubphoto.com/susan529192/878514/owner-7cb8.phtml

Great adventure, Sue. Thanks also for sharing the pics and helping us "be there" with you.

Maybe the motel and restaurant raised their prices because of your positive review your last time there???

Dave

Thanks Sue, I felt like I was there with you.

Sue,

Thanks for your usual superb report. It does make me almost feel like I was there with you.

Dennis

Thanks for taking us along, Sue. I think you've got a lot of envious friends here who would have liked to participate too.

Thanks for the pictures Sue! Really enjoyed your narration along with the photos. Wish We could have been there. I would love to have seen the relighting.

By the way, I think this would make a fine looking light for HL to make. Vermont having only one light represented, I think this one would be a great addition to the LE line. If not the LE line then maybe the LLOM series which seems to be getting some attention of lights that haven't been made as an LE (About 18 so far that I can count).

I would prefer the LE myself!

Bert

Sue have you thought about putting together a booklet on the History of the Lights of Lake Champlain? You've got photos, you probably have already done a lot of research.

Could put a few bucks in the 'lighthousing' fund.

Sue, thanks for the great tour. I'd like to be your first customer when you write your book! Terry

Thanks for the report Sue. Lucky and Rob have certainly acheived the first part of their dream.
I can remember like it was yesterday meeting them while standing on line to climb Montauk.
I definitely will have to make a trip soon to visit them and see their accomplishments.
Bob

Thanks for the great job on reporting and pictures Sue! What a unique lighthouse. I agree it would make a great figurine! Love that stonework on the tower!

The booklet on these lighthouses has already been written!

It is called "Lake Champlain Lighthouses" and was written by George Clifford and illustrated by Sid Couchy both local residents. If anyone is interested in obtaining a copy call the Clinton County (NY) Historical Association on 518-561-0340. I paid $4.95 plus tax and shipping in 2000 which amounted to $7.30.

Bringing to the top for the Clark's.