Important Day in U.S. Coast Guard History—January 28, 2018
Just a reminder to all of our readers, the U.S. Coast Guard received its present name through an act of the U.S. Congress signed into law by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson on January 28, 1915. That Act merged the Revenue Cutter Service with the U.S. Life-Saving Service, and provided the nation with a single maritime service dedicated to saving life at sea and enforcing the nation’s maritime laws.
Welcome to Life Lines the monthly newsletter for our members, and also to any of our fans who are not yet members of the U.S. Life-Saving Service Heritage Association. For those of you reading and have yet to join, please consider doing so. A new year is here and you too can be part of the adventure as the organization publishes our station inventory link and our new venture to create a “Surfmans’ Data Base.” Your membership will get you access to both of these data bases. If you would like to join please go to https://uslife-savingservice.org/join-donate-support/ and let’s get started.
There are now two of us working on Life Lines. A former member has rejoined and is now helping to find breaking news to incorporate into every issue, and we can use more of you to do the same. If you are someone who likes to develop monthly, weekly, or daily blogs and would like to become another assistant of Life Linesplease do so at https://uslife-savingservice.org/contact/ and I will be happy to include you in the process. Assistance is always needed to locate stories that you think would be of interest and pass those on to the other co-editors, and we will include in an upcoming issue.
If you think you would like to be the organizing editor, the process is simple, there is web support, if you can handle a word processing program and know how to clip and paste and attach web links, this may be the volunteer opportunity for you. Your email will be added to the board’s list so that you too will be the first to read stories to select for each Life Lines posting. You can set your own schedule, publish as much as you want and as frequently as you wish. The minimum is at least once a month.
Now onto the news:
1876 Vermillion Point Station, Michigan
Correction to the January Life Lines article it identified the owners of the Vermillion Point Station as the Grand Traverse Conservancy, but it’s actually owned by the Little Traverse Conservancy. Thank you to S.O.S. Vermillion for alerting me to this error. Please continue to follow the activities and to support the efforts at this site. Go to their Facebook site to follow the work that is occurring, or to find out how you can assist with this project. www.facebook.com/SOSVermilion/
Wood Island Life Saving Station, Maine
The Kittery Planning Board voted unanimously to approve all items regarding Wood Island Station’s restoration at their meeting last week!
This is an exceptionally important milestone that confirms the contracts created between the Town of Kittery (owner of Wood Island Station) and Wood Island Life Saving Station Association (the charity working to restore it) from 2016.
Many details were reviewed and compared to Kittery’s Land Use Code. In the end, the proposal to fully restore the historic and rare station and open it to the public as a maritime museum was found to conform with Kittery’s regulations. To find out more information please visit the Wood Island Life Saving Station Association web page. https://woodislandlifesaving.org/restoration/ Also check out this website to see the plan, grant application, and to see the final use proposed. https://www.dropbox.com/s/at2u3w21xazduc5/2017_WoodIslandStation_Photos.pdf?dl=0 The drawings and photos are interesting and show you the process involved in saving the station and the plans for use. Again consider supporting this organization in their efforts. This has been an exciting project to watch evolve.
Cape Hatteras, Kitty Hawk, and Manteo, North Carolina
If you haven’t marked your calendars yet, submitted your leave slip, or cancelled all of your previous plans, the Annual Meeting is already scheduled and being planned for October 2018.
The Annual Conference of the United States Life-Saving Service Heritage Association will be held in the Cape Hatteras-Kitty Hawk-Manteo area of North Carolina from Thursday, October 11 through Saturday, October 13, 2018.
A Breeches Buoy demonstration at the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station is planned, as well as tours of the Wright Brothers National Memorial, Little Kinnakeet Life-Saving Station and Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. We’ll visit the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, Pea Island Cookhouse, Roanoke Island Festival Park, Fort Raleigh and other sites.
Watch the website and future Life Lines for more information. If you are a member you received a notice in your inbox. If you are not a member, please consider joining our group. Be the first to get the news, and we would like to see you in North Carolina and personally welcome you to the organization. Here is the link to sign up as a new member https://uslife-savingservice.org/contact/ so it will be easy for you to join.
If you have a story to submit for the next Life Lines please contact us through our website. https://uslife-savingservice.org/contact/
Also consider joining the Life Lines staff. We are now two and more are welcome to join us. If you wanted to have a role or contribute to the organization this is your opportunity to do so.