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Still Tending the Lights

By Bob Trapani, Jr. January 10, 2023

EM1 Chase Miller
EM1 Chase Miller of USCG ANT Southwest Harbor inspects the light at Dyce Head in Castine.
(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)

U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse technicians are not considered lighthouse keepers, though they keep a good light. They do not reside at a lighthouse yet they retrace the keeper’s every step. It is said that history closed the book on lighthouse keepers, though human hands are still needed today. And yes, history is still quietly being made by light and sound – and service.

Libby Island
The tradition continues…U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse technicians still tend to the lights. Shown here (L to R) BM1 Greg Sullivan, EMC Mike Giacalone and EMC Max Ringstad of USCG Aids to Navigation Team Southwest Harbor at Libby Island Lighthouse.
(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)

That said, time’s forward march is endless, and thus progression is demanded of each era. In a far off day to come, this progression may ultimately douse the lights. Only then will the brother/sisterhood of lighthouse keepers and lighthouse technicians finally hold hands together in the annals of history.

Then and now, these amazing teams have shared the same passion and dedication for keeping the lights shining. They have sent out a string of unbroken gleams across the darkened deep for hundreds of years. When all is said and done, history will reveal in its fullest that the mariner and all those who traversed the sea during these many changing epochs were forever indebted to this noble work regardless of its method. For it will always be about sending out the light!

From the lighthouse keeper to the lighthouse technician, the essence of keeping a good light remains, as does the unfailing service to the mariner. Lubec Channel Light then and now. (Bob Trapani, Jr. photos)

United States Coast Guard

Bob Trapani, Jr.

Beacons of Wonderment by Bob Trapani, Jr.

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