Grace,

If the worst comes, I can always arrange to get them for you here at Candle Nook [in Wichita]. The owners are my friends, so I could inspect the pieces for you to make sure that they are flawless. They ship. Of course, there's also Lighthouse Depot in Wells, ME, who has also unfailingly treated me well, although I have had to return damaged product on a couple of occasions. Lighthouse Gallery, in NC, has also been reliable and attentive. I can scarcely believe, however, that HL would allow Houston [of all places] to go without an outlet for their product. We HAVE lost three of the original four outlets in Wichita, but two of those were due to closures because of retiring owners. The other one was simply ineptitude in running a business. But, at Candle Nook, Glenda and Laurence Webster are on top of their product and staff, and have a good rapport with their HL representatives. My suggestion to you is to nail down your dealer there, get genuinely acquainted with her/him, stop in regularly so that she/he/they get familiar with you, and stop in to chat from time to time even when you don't purchase a light. Occasionally purchase something else, too. Retail owners just love regular customers. Glenda and Laurence are absolutely assured that at least three of the four regularly scheduled HL pieces will be claimed by faithful customers. They also know that they can call on ME at any time to assist them in helping a customer with lighthouse needs, so that's an offer you might make to your dealer, too. Give them a phone number and make yourself reaily available for lighthouse questions and "counselling" for their promising customers. This helps to make them more aware of their product, the potential demand for it, and gives them a way better to develop the line. Whenever we have an event, here, I bring around 100 especially baked cookies, produce wall-sized enlargements of the older HL brochures so that customers have a sense of history for the line, and also provide a few "door prizes," such as books on lighthouses, etc. [Barnes & Noble and Borders always seem to have a few lighthouse books on sale, which makes for an enjoyable, inexpensive door prize.] It also doesn't hurt to take the store owners a pleasant little treat from time to time, like cookies, etc., just to show them that they are truly appreciated, which, in fact, they are.

Back to the subject of HL pieces.... I do hope that there aren't plans to put forth "Four Seasons" versions for all the lights, as is sort of implied by the "winter version" of Portland Head! I am hoping, on the other hand, that there is some movement toward putting out GLOW versions of some of the rather obvious lights that they have unaccountably ignored, such as North Head and Admiralty Head, WA, which both badly need a revised edition, etc. Their revised Mackinac still still has major problems, too. The gabled end of the keepers' dwelling, by the tower, is lacking a recessed portion in the wall, and the tower is placed against the very edge of the corner of the building instead of being set into it. If you study the HL GLOW version of the light, you'll discover that there is absolutely no way to enter the tower! There's NO provision for a door anywhere. The chimney is mis-positioned, too. We did need least one more Portland Head, because their second, revised edition had the dormers placed one story too high! But we don't need three more seasons worth of it.

Danny