I have always wanted to start a lighthouse club for the (NYC) tri-state area called Tri-State Lighthousers. The club would be mostly oriented around visiting lighthouses, but of course there would be help with perserving area lighthouses.

I'm thinking three or four annual meetings, rotating amongst the three area states (NY, NJ, and CT), with the club's scope reaching out across the enteirety of CT and NJ, the whole of LI, and the Hudson and NYC area lights. Any more than that you're out of the Tri-State region or on the Great Lakes. Maybe a big trip attached to one of the meetings going somewhere far, a few local trips, and eventually, maybe a road rally of some sort. Oh yeah, and all events will coincide with national holiday weekends so I can actually GO to these events. I'm tired of all the good trips being while I'm at school.

I'm curious though...what do you have to do to come about starting a LH club? Obviously, you can't just start a club. And now that I think about it, I'm not even sure if I can be on the Board of Directors legally. Anyone know?

Any ideas, or if you even think there would be interest, are welcome.

Greg,

First thing to consider, IMO, is overlap. In the area you want to cover you have the NJ Lighthouse Society, the Long Island Chapter of the USLHS and NELL. All have strong membership bases and are active groups.

Going about forming a club is not as difficult as one would think. It helps to have at least a handful of people with similar ideas as a core, founding group. From there it is figure out when and where to have an initial meeting and how to get the word out.

Have an agenda ready for that meeting, with topics you want to cover. Be sure to include plenty of social time so folks get a chance to meet each other. If you want to really get a jump on things you can have a rough set of bylaws to share.

This is the simple version of how to start. The most important thing is that you get some others who share your interest and are willing to help start things rolling.

Greg,

Dave makes some great points- especially the overlap one.

I like the idea you have in theory. I'm just not sure it would fly in practice, though. I think maybe that the area you are envisioning is actually a bit too large. The distances are one thing- but the actual driving time is another.

I'd like to see a group similar to the NJLHS and LICUSLHS formed to deal with just Connecticut. That's a need that hasn't been addressed- except by NELL and they cover a much larger area with no specific group for just CT. (NELL does a great job but it entails covering a very large geographical area as well)

The NJLHS and LI Chapter of the USLHS have a well established base and meet the needs in both areas well.

As for the specifics- Dave has some good thoughts there also. I'd say as for the legality of you being on the board would be decided by the by-laws of the organization. You might not be able to serve in some positions because of legal restrictions- finances, etc but see no reason why you could't be a founding member of the board if the by-laws were written correctly.

Dennis

Greg,
another option is to start an imformal group of lighthouse friends. A small group can sometimes work well especially with hard to reach lighthouses.
I have done this several times now. The first trip was to Caryforts Reef Lighthouse. This lighthouse is off the Florida Keys and at the time I did not own a boat. I sent out a few emails and check the price to rent a boat. My group split the cost of the boat and set a date the day after a regular lighthouse meeting of the Florida Lighthouse Association. The great part of doing this was no bylaws to set up and no dues to collect and it is easier to get a few people to agree to a date.
Don't get me wrong a formal organization has it's benefits. That's how I met the people I invite to the informal group. The formal group is good at raising funds also, which is important to save our lighthouses.
Good luck with group.

You know, I like the informal idea. Just a small group of good friends instead of a larger gathering. As you said, Eric, it gives you the ability to get more places, as you aren't trying to bring 70 people with you, just 10-15. My idea of the group was to be more trip-oriented, which is why I used "Lighthousers" in the group name.

Of course, we can still help with preservation, just on a smaller scale, and in a different way. Instead of having a single bank account for the group, each person could just write a cheque from their personal account for any donations. Think of it this way: you were going to give that money to the group to donate anyway, this is just eliminating that "middleman".

We could more easily get together in a restaurant or at someone's house this way. You don't have to rent out a big hall or tent, thus reducing fees. To pay for a trip or some group expense that can only be paid for with one cheque or credit card, everyone could just write their cheques to one person, who would then pay that expense from their account.

I think it could work. I'm going to write up a little plan on my computer and post it. In the meantime, are there people from NJ, NY (not sure where the borders for NY would be, seeing as it is so big, but for now don't worry about that), or CT, who are interested in a group like this?