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2001
Collectors
Family Reunion:
Friday,
October 5, 2001
Get Your Hooper
Strait! Early risers could pick up their Reunion
Exclusive Hooper Strait lighthouses between 7 and 9:30 AM in the
Keepers' HQ Room on the third level. The miniature Hooper Strait
Lighthouses were passed out during
registration.
The Hooper Strait Reunion Exclusive version differs in
several significant ways from the version Collectors Society members could
order. The reunion version pictures Hooper Strait over the water instead
of at the museum, it has a red roof rather than the teal-blue that appears
on the lighthouse as it now sits at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.
But most significantly, the roof lifts off the Reunion
Exclusive version and the interior is completely 'furnished'.
Breakfast Breakfast
was served in the 'Mess Hall' -- The Harborside Ball Room -- from 7:30 to
9:30 AM. Following breakfast, it was an easy walk from the hotel to
the Inner Harbor location of Seven Foot Knoll lighthouse. Harbor
Cruise Upon registration, attendees were assigned
to either the 'Red Company' or the 'Blue Battalion.' (You selected which group
you were in when you registered.)
 First
it was the Blue Battalion's turn to board their ship docked at the Seven
Foot Knoll Lighthouse at 10:00 AM. Bill Younger hosted the Blue
Crew. The Red Company boarded their ship at the same
dock 30 minutes later. Nancy Younger and Kim Andrews hosted the Red Crew.
Our cruise of the Baltimore Harbor and upper Chesapeake Bay lasted about 6
hours and we were able to spot a number of lighthouses -- some at a
distance, others closer up.
Aboard each ship collectors kept two caricaturists
busy during the whole voyage. Here 'Twiggy' Holmes of California
is immortalized. |
Among the lighthouses seen were Craighill Upper Channel,
front & rear range lights and Craighill Lower Channel, front &
rear range lights, Baltimore Harbor, Fort Carroll, and Sandy Point Shoals.
Mike Kaiser of New York checks
the image of another lighthouse photo on his digital camera.. |
Craighill Upper Channel Front
Range Light. Attendees received a thumbnail version of this
lighthouse at the Reunion. |
Photographers crowded the space next to the rail when a good
shot came into view on one side of the ship or the other. Terry
Esrael of Kentucky is in the foreground. |
Members of the Hoosier
Lighthousing Club gathered on deck for a group photo on
the lighthousing trip to end all. |
A buffet lunch was served aboard
the ships. On the lower level, we played games in between
lighthouse spotting and food. |
Sean Thompson of South Carolina
-- and a retired Coast Guardsman -- took this moving
photo of the US Coast Guard Cutter Eagle as it passed up bound to
the Inner Harbor while our ships were down bound towards Annapolis. |
Sandy Point Shoals is located
just north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge near Annapolis MD. It
marked the turning point for the cruise to return to Baltimore. |
Those
on each ship got to see the same things, of course. But there was
a bit of rivalry to see which ship could steam into home port
first as the cruise ended. While they started second, the Red
Company came into port first. Bill later said Nancy & Kim
offered their Captain a bribe to win the race! |
Following the cruise, we enjoyed a visit to the National
Aquarium where Mark Wagner of Indiana caught this photo of one of the
exhibits:
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What was being featured at
the National Aquarium? Why seahorses, of course! How appropriate
for Harbour Lights' enthusiasts! |
Dinner &
Dancing with Shipmates
 Dinner started at 7 PM and it
was a relaxing time for all. Dinner music and dancing music was
provided by the band Powerhouse. An Italian dinner featured chicken cacciatore
over pasta. And once again on the bread plate: a blue pouch
containing a thumbnail sculpture of the Craighill Lower Channel Front
Range lighthouse.
 Representatives of the independent Harbour
Lights Collectors Clubs were introduced before dinner -- and each got the
chance to say a few words on behalf of their clubs and the lighthouse
project they support -- while Kim held firmly onto the mike.
 Collectors
who frequent the independent online Collector
Forums surprised Kim, Bill and Nancy when they presented Bill with an
original painting of the Eddystone Light by artist Steve Ervin (right).
The painting was commissioned as a gift to the Younger family by 100 of
the on-line collectors.
A father and daughter enjoyed dancing to the Powerhouse band. |
On To Saturday
Photographs by Paul L. Brady
& John Chidester except as noted.
Copyright 2001 Harbour Lights
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