From the Lens Room

It seems impossible that another year has gone by, but I have been in Weston, FL for the past couple of days for our yearly Florida Attractions Association conference. […]

Good news from Tallahassee. This week the state legislature passed the lighthouse license plate bill. It just needs to be signed by Governor Crist and we will all be sporting this new plate on our vehicles. An outstanding job by the volunteers of the Florida Lighthouse Association, and remember, all of the money from its sale goes to lighthouse preservation here in the state. Oddly enough, an employee of ours came running in today and [...]

I was recently in Tallahassee for the FLA board meeting and member’s meeting the following day. Of note was the progress of the proposed Florida Lighthouse license plate currently in committee in the state legislature. It was championed by our own Representative William L. “Bill” Proctor and with the support Senator Mike Fesano, Rep. Matt Hudson and many others in the legislature, has been passing with flying colors. One reason it has not met with [...]

I recently attended a two-day strategic planning retreat for the Florida Attractions Association. It was held at the Future Farmers of America Leadership Training Center on Lake Hatchineha, Florida, just southwest of Orlando. This site is rented by many companies for staff training and really showcases some of the natural beauty of Florida. The planning session was facilitated by a very competent Disney staff person specializing in organizational development. We got so much accomplished in [...]

A few weeks ago we performed quarterly maintenance on the rotation mechanism. Accompanying our team was a new volunteer at the lighthouse, Dave Reed, who just happens to be the great-grandson of Head Keeper William A. Harn. Dave Reed gets to put his hands on some of the same equipment his great-grandfather took care of 120 years ago. […]

A couple of weeks ago I got to attend a deputy directors roundtable discussion in Baltimore. It was held at the Engineer’s Club which is located in the old Garrett-Jacobs Mansion, just off Mount Vernon Square, location of Baltimore’s own Washington Monument. I have to say that while I like to occasionally visit big cities, I usually don’t like them. Baltimore changed all that. Inner Harbor, Baltimore […]

Last week I went to Lakeland, FL. for another Florida Attractions Association board meeting. It was held at the Florida Air Museum. The meeting went well and was shortened somewhat when our hosts informed us there would be airplane rides when we got done. But this was not any ordinary old airplane. This was a ride in a beautifully restored 1941 Stearman Trainer. This is the same plane that our dads trained in as cadets [...]

Many of you ask about Simon. I thought I would bring you up to date on his activities. For those of you who don’t know Simon, he lived here right behind the lighthouse tower but spent most of his days (and nights) on the premises. Guests would frequently stop to pet him and at times would report a “dead cat in the ferns” since he would sleep among the green plants on his back with [...]

Got up Wednesday and headed down to Kennedy Space Center with my wife and daughter for the shuttle launch. Steve Geis, Operations Director at the center, had invited some members of the Florida Attractions Association down for VIP viewing. This was an opportunity that I didn’t want to miss since there are only a few more launches prior to retiring the shuttle program. The security guard at the first checkpoint waved us through to the [...]