Those interested in some of the history of this project can simply expand the "display topics" selection in this forum to "show all" and you can browse thru the old threads.

In a nutshell, BobM made a suggestion somewhere that it would be cool to have a HL made exclusively for CF members. People began discussing the idea and behind the scenes a committee was established to look into things.

Once HL said they would do a piece, nominations were taken from forum members. Members did not get to vote on the specific light to be made because of the need to (a) get HLs concurrence on the light to be produced (b) choosing a light that could be done in the size that we wanted and look good and, (c) a light that could be produced at a price we could afford. Using these criteria we did choose from the lights proposed by the members.

Doing this once a year really isn't practical for a volunteer group. Lots of issues involved, available time being a significant one. Every couple of years is more along what could be done practically. A major issue has been, in all honesty, that CF members accounted for probably only about 60-70% of sales. Mentions in the Legacy and in a Lighthouse Depot mailing are really what sold the rest. Not that this is a bad thing, but it would shape how we approach things in future efforts. I do believe that the ELL is one of the nicest lights in recent history - lots of detail and innovations on a piece with an ideal footprint (IMHO). I think Harry did a magnificent job adding touches to our piece and that we all really appreciate that. Those that don't have one in their collection really missed out on a wonderful HL.

The chore that must now be tackled is sharing some of the proceeds with preservation projects. I will make a separate post about how we are going to approach that, please DO NOT post any suggestions in this thread.

Thanks for the compliments. We wouldn't have done this if we didn't feel it was a worthwhile project. BTW, Loon, using emoticons is not the way to "butter me up" - if I had my way, they would all be banned from the CF (yes, Sue, even the beer ones).