Invitation to Long Island Sound Lighthouse Conference

All area lighthouse stewards and stakeholders are invited to attend the second annual Long Island Sound Lighthouse Conference on Monday and Tuesday, April 24 and 25, 2017, presented by the New London Maritime Society in New London, Connecticut. 

Lighthouse fanciers and preservationists number in the tens of thousands in the U.S., and they're eager to share information, network, and learn more. 

Registration is $125 and is available online, 24/7, at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2913940 or call 860-447-8700, and someone will get back to you.

On Monday, attendees spend the day sharing information, learning best practices and planning for the season ahead. A major focus is on lighthouse lenses, including technical, cultural, and historical aspects. Moderated by Elinor DeWire, presenters include Fresnel lens experts Chad Kaiser and Dan Spinella, historians Jeremy D'Entremont and Bob Muller, representatives of the USCG, and Nick Korstad the owner of three lighthouses (one of which is a B&B). 

Living history artist Joseph Smith will portray Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788-1827), the inventor of the Fresnel lens. Dinner is at the United States Coast Guard Academy Officers Club. Pam Setchell, known as 'the woman who saved Huntington Light', presents 'Rock & Roll Light' - about producing the annual Huntington Lighthouse Musicfest, the ONLY Music Festival in the WORLD held on top of a working lighthouse in the middle of the water!     
 
On Tuesday morning, explore downtown New London, beginning with coffee at the Custom House Maritime Museum, where you may view two new photography exhibitions: 'Stars & Lights: LIS', by David Zapatka, and 'Lighthouses, Tall Ships, and Submarines: Maritime Photos from The Day's Photojournalists'. 

At noon, board Cross Sound Ferry for a two-hour+ tour to view many of eastern Long Island Sound's lighthouses. This trip offers the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear stories and narration by a team of noted lighthouse authorities: Jeremy D'Entremont, Bob Muller, Elinor DeWire, and Cross Sound's own Ted Webb, among them. This tour is generously sponsored by Cross Sound Ferry and is a fund-raiser for New London Maritime Society. Tuesday's activities may be booked separately for$35 at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2914005. 

Monday's conference takes place at the New London Holiday Inn, 35 Governor Winthrop Boulevard, New London, CT, 06320, 860-443-7000. Daytime activities begin at 9 AM and end at 5 PM. 
Monday's coffee, lunch, and dinner are included with your registration.

Attendees may book discounted overnight accommodations at the Holiday Inn through April 7 (use code NLM), or nearby at 'The Big House' B&B, 17 Granite Street, New London, CT, 06320, 800-439-0464. 

Dinner Monday evening is at the USCG Academy Officer's Club, 15 Mohegan Avenue, New London, CT, 06320, 860-701-6773. 6:30 PM.

Tuesday's coffee is at the Custom House Maritime Museum, 150 Bank Street, New London, CT, 06320, 860-447-2501. 8:30to 11 AM.

The LIS Lighthouse tour leaves from Cross Sound Ferry, 2 Ferry Street, New London, CT 06320. 12 to 2 PM.

Jeremy D'Entremont has been called the leading expert on New England's historic lighthouses. He is the author or co-author of more than ten books. The historian for the American Lighthouse Foundation and the founder of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, Jeremy has appeared on the History Channel, the Travel Channel, Public Television, and National Public Radio speaking about lighthouses and other subjects.

Elinor DeWire is an author, educator, and Education Chair of the U.S. Lighthouse Society. Elinor, who recently moved back to Connecticut from the Washington, has published seventeen books and numerous articles about lighthouses and related maritime topics.

Chad Kaiser has been the General Manager of the New Dungeness Light Station Association, in Sequim, Washington, since 2011. Chad has been involved with dozens of lighthouse preservation projects including consulting on lighthouse restorations along with transportation and conservation of lighthouse lenses.

Nick Korstad is the executive director of Borden Flats Lighthouse, in Fall River, Massachusetts, which he runs as a Bed & Breakfast. Nick also owns two other lights: Stratford Shoal in Long Island Sound, and Michigan's 

Bob Muller lives on Long Island and is the author of Long Island's Lighthouses: Past and Present, an in-depth history tour of Long Island's lighthouses and lightships, including archival photos and lots of human interest stories - awarded the US Lighthouse Society's annual President's Award in 2005. Bob also writes LongIslandLighthouses.com.

Joseph Smith, the recipient of a 2016 Staten Island Arts Fund Grant, will present an original living history portrayal of Augustin Fresnel, 1788-1827, the French inventor of the Fresnel lens. Based on his revolutionary theory of light behaving like a wave rather than as particles, Augustin developed the multiple glass prism shapes that made up a lens able to capture 85% of the light emitted by the light source, & project a light beam in a lighthouse over 25 MILES.

Pam Setchell, of Huntington, New York, known as 'The Woman who Saved Huntington's Lighthouse', is president of the Huntington Lighthouse Preservation Society. So far the group has raised $730,000towards estimated repair costs of $871,000.

Dan Spinella is a Fresnel lens designer and preservationist based in Celebration. Florida. Dan's firm Artworks Florida Artworks Florida manufactures reproduction lenses, available in acrylic or glass.

Ted Webb is past president of the East End Seaport Museum, in Greenport Village, New York, which rebuilt and owns Long Beach Bar (Bug) Lighthouse. Ted is the narrator of East End Seaport Museum's popular six-hour lighthouse cruises and of Cross Sound Ferry's special cruises out of New London.