I enjoy reading the Forums every day. My husband John always jokes with me and says, "Are you talking with your boyfriend again"?
Seriously though, my love for lighthouses came from my love for travel. I love exploring new areas and it doesn't get much better than seeing beautiful coastlines with the lighthouse as part of the back drop. I also enjoy reading and learning about the historical aspect of a lighthouse.
Without the Forums, I wouldn't have 1/10th the information about what's going on around the country with lighthouses. I count on people posting information about their areas events. This helps me make plans for the coming year for travel. I would have missed some beautiful areas of this country without the help of the forum members.
Secondly, I love all the friendships I've made through the Collector Forums. It is so nice to go to an event and put a face to the name.
When John and I went to our first HL event, it was the 1997 HL Reunion in San Diego. We didn't know one person. We thought about it for a couple of months before we even sent in our registration. What we found out was that it
didn't matter who you knew or what their status was with HL or the AOL online "keeper group". Everyone was so friendly and nice that we couldn't have had a nicer time.
Like many of you have already stated...let's keep this Collector Forum active. I was more than happy to send the $25 to keep the site running. I felt like I came out ahead by receiving one of Gary Martin's signed and numbered prints. I will be happy to donate $25 again for keeping this site open.
Lastly, I appreciate all the work that is put in by John and all the forum directors. Thanks to all forum members for their helpful information, beautiful photography, and answers to the many questions that are posted. This is my favorite place to visit online.
