Our lighthouse recently lost a great and loyal friend and supporter, William “Billy” Rands. Billy has always made sure we had support when needed it for a variety of capital restoration projects he helped finance and he was always encouraging and positive about our project. We will miss him deeply as he really believed in what we were doing, even when it started just by painting the exterior widows. Now over 30 years later the fog signal building is rebuilt as a museum with exhibits of the maritime history of Harbor Beach, we are completely solar powered, we have an exact operating replica of the original Fresnel Lens shining brightly, while the original now sits in a curated space in the nearby Grice House Museum, and the entire lighthouse structure has been recoated in long lasting epoxy based paint which will keep it beautiful for decades. Billy was there every step of the way and the completely restored lighthouse is a legacy of his generosity of resources and positive spirit which will stand for decades to come. Your memorial gift will help us keep it that way!

Click here to make a donation in Billy’s name.

After two generations of restoration, our Harbor Beach Lighthouse stands proud! The Society has spent 37 years restoring our lighthouse. The list of projects includes many that were capital intensive, including the Fresnel lens installation and rebuilding the Fog Signal Building. In all cases, besides any specific technical expertise we couldn?t source internally, everything we?ve done has been with volunteer labor that not only saved us money we didn?t need to raise, but we believe the work was superior just because we enjoy a wealth of talent available to us in the area who rally around our local team leaders when needed. It has been a joy for all of us to honor your donations by doing the very best work we can while keeping our costs as low as possible, all while adhering to the best practices of lighthouse restoration.

? Click here to download the document.

2019 marks the transition from a final annual capital request for restoration. After this one big push, we can all take a breath, and rejoice that now our Lighthouse will not need major structural capital for ten to twenty years! The next phase will focus on programming the museum displays in the new Fog Shed, which will not be capital intensive, and solidifying the tour and group visit program which will provide us with a yearly income. Also, after all this effort we must think about strengthening the endowment, which involves ongoing gifts and remembering the Lighthouse in our wills so it can be shining the light for generations to come.

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