I'm not certain that my journey to wackodom is sterotypical or not, but just for the record, here 'tis:

Being a model ship builder I receive countless catalogs pertaining to the hobby, some peripherally, and the one from The Lighthouse Depot was an annual regular.

I was surprised that a business concern could survive by dealing only in lighthouse ephemera, and was only dimly aware of Harbour Lights. I mean, I thought they were cute, but with the vast sea of lighthouse sculptures in the catalog, after a while they all looked the same.

Several years went by, and then my wife graduated from a gruelling 4 year medical school/6 year surgical residency program. As a small but thoughtful graduation present, I decided to do something which would fill her mind with pleasant memories of quieter and more relaxing times.

We had always treasured our vacations in Door County, Wisconsin, and I thought the gift of a Door County lighthouse on a shelf in her office, with a notebook filled with HL materials, catalogs, and stuff downloaded from the Web pertaining to the lights there, might make her smile during stressful times.

And so I called my local collectible dealer, found out he dealt in HL and had a large inventory, and, in fact, had the Sturgeon Bay Canal Light on his shelf.

That was just what I was looking for, so I made the short trip (4 blocks) to his store, and made the much longer journey ($$$$) to this point.

I started last June (1999), and now here I am, staring at no fewer than 26 Harbour Lights sculptures in my display case and about 22 lighthouse-related books on the shelf.

It took me no time at all to find HL's Web site once I became interested, and found this forum immediately afterwards.

It has been really a gas and I haven't looked back once!

And yes, while my wife is not aware of this forum or the means of ranking its members, she truly knows in her heart that, indeed, I am a wacko.

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Bob Steinbrunn
Nautical Research Guild