Day and Night at the Lights

During the day, U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse technicians work and prepare lighthouses to shine bright at night. From a couple of years ago…EM1 Mike Giacalone (now an EMC) of USCG Aids to Navigation Team Southwest Harbor, Maine, is shown servicing the CG-4P lampchanger inside the fourth order Fresnel lens at Fort Point Lighthouse. Bob Trapani, Jr. photo

In the world of lighthouses, the boundary between day and night remains distinct. If the sentinels are to shine during the daily depths of darkness as in the days of lightkeeping yore, time and duty must not slip on either side of these realms.

By day, U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse technicians work and prepare lighthouses to encounter the night and a sea of dangers that it conceals. It is essential that a beacon’s quiver abounds with guiding light rays. These rays must be brilliant, unremitting and able to outlast the night.

So make ready the light and spare no effort. Bring to bear every finely honed skill, every time-taught experience and every ounce of care. For we are keepers of the light! We – Coast Guard lighthouse technicians, hail from a long line of dedicated lighthouse keepers who lit the wicks and kept the flames burning bright without fail before us.

This tradition is long, this tradition is proud. Light! It must shine. Always! Banish the potentiality of any other outcome. The past believes in us, the present counts on us and the future seeks our assurances. Tonight, the lights will be gleaming all because the U.S. Coast Guard keeps shining!

Fort Point Light’s fourth order Fresnel lens aglow as day melds into night. Lighthouses like Fort Point shine bright on a nightly basis thanks to the dedicated efforts of the U.S. Coast Guard. Bob Trapani, Jr. photo

Keeper Arthur Mitchell, and his wife Elizabeth, kept the light burning bright at Fort Point Lighthouse from 1929 to 1952. The lightkeeping couple would no doubt beam with pride knowing that modern day U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse technicians continue to ensure “their” lighthouse is kept watching properly. Maine Lights Today Archives

Fort Point Lighthouse, Stockton Springs…Bob Trapani, Jr. photo

---

---