July 7, Flag Raising and Bell Ringing

With spectacular weather, a group of nearly 100 people walked out to the keepers house at Swallow Tail on July 7th, the 152nd anniversary of the light house first being lit.  Two RCMP officers were present, along with the Honourable Rick Doucet, the MLA for the area and Kirk Cheney representing the Village of Grand Manan who have been very supportive of the restoration efforts at the Swallow Tail light station and are in the process of reconsolidating the light station with the acquisition of the light tower in the near future. 



RCMP officers breaking flag at annual flag raising

 After a brief welcoming, Wayne Clifford, John Peacock, MJ Edwards, Millie and Alexandre Banks played an impromptu piece on the bronze fog bell, returned to the property in November 2011.  The new deck around the bell acted as a natural stage for the event.  Members of Before the Mast (http://www.beforethemastseashanties.com/) continued with two songs before everyone was given a chance to play the bell if they wished.

The Lahey Family was represented to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of 22 years of service by George Lahey as light keeper .  The Dalzell family regrettably could not make the event which also marked the 100th anniversary of the retiring of George Dalzell as light keeper after 19 years of service.

Before the Mast helping celebrate the Swallow Tail light station anniversary

The descendants of the late light keeper, George Lahey, ringing the fog bell

Despite damage from many years of use and also being moved several times, the bell sounded wonderful and could be heard beyond the peninsula.  Listen to three different strikes of the bell here: http://www.freesound.org/people/bob.burgess/sounds/160882/

Happy Birthday Swallowtail - 150th anniversary

Swallowtail’s birthday July 7 started out with fog which is so typical for Grand Manan and one of the reasons the lighthouse was constructed. The fog was so thick that the fog horn had been active all night and the lighthouse was shrouded in fog. However, with sun in the forecast, the fog lifted around the lighthouse and on the Swallowtail peninsula as people headed out for the official flag raising and salute to this grand old lady who has seen so many storms and stood the task of defending the coastline for mariners. It was estimated that over 100 people either made the trek out to the lighthouse or remained at the top of the hill.

Burton Small, strong supporter of Swallowtail and instrumental in organizing the Seminole Florida Rotarian working visit in September 2009 when they helped paint the keepers buildings at Swallowtail

Although we had wanted to be able to give tours of the inside of the lighthouse, Canadian Coast Guard regulations prevented this from happening. People had to be content with walking around the structure with its now peeling paint and crumbling stone foundation, exposed after the soil remediation project to remove the lead paint that had accumulated in the soil after years of scraping and painting the lighthouse and keepers house. Despite the lack of maintenance by the Canadian Coast Guard - the Grand Manan Rotary Club raised the money to have the lighthouse painted in 2004 - the tower is still strong but will need work soon.

Theresa MacFarland and RCMP Constable St. Laurent.

Members of Fishermen's Friends preparing to sing O Canada

At the appointed hour (2 p.m.) members of the Grand Manan Choir, Fishermen's Friends, sang O Canada and the flag was broken by the RCMP Constable St. Laurent. The Honourable Fisheries Minister, Rick Doucet, and member of the legislature for Charlotte-The Isles which includes Grand Manan, and the Honourable Minister of Wellness, Culture and Sports, Hédard Albert represented the province. The Honourable Mayor Dennis Greene represented the Village of Grand Manan. Theresa MacFarland represented Swallowtail Keepers Society.

Crowd gathered for the breaking of the Canadian Flag at Swallowtail

The flag pole had been relocated to the boat house where it had been located when the keepers house was built in 1958, prior to the construction of the concrete and iron stand on a rocky knoll by light keeper Grimmer Ingersoll. Unfortunately, time had taken its toll on the ironworks and it had corroded to a point that it would no longer hold a flag pole upright and had broken off during the winter. The boat house location for the flag pole had been discovered in an old photograph and it was felt that this would be a good alternative. It also suddenly made sense why there was a cleat on the boat house - to tie off the lines on the flag pole.

Celebrations then moved to the Grand Manan Museum for the official opening of the “150 Views of Grand Manan” a pictorial retrospective of Swallowtail lighthouse. The display is absolutely amazing and was put together by the curator Anneke Gichuru through word of mouth. The display is composed of photographs, drawings, paintings, hooked rugs, china, beach glass art and a quilt made from the maple leaves from the Canadian flags that flew at Swallowtail. As Anneke noted, to find 150 different images of the same building that all invoke a different emotion or mood is highly exceptional. It is no wonder that Swallowtail is the one of the most well known and most reproduced icon for Grand Manan. The Museum offered free admittance for the afternoon and many took the opportunity to wander around and take in the other exhibits.


A wonderful cake, also decorated with an image of Swallowtail was cut and enjoyed by the approximately 65 people who attended the reception. A floral arrangement selected from Swallowtail added to the ambiance in the Elmer Wilcox Room. People were encouraged to reminisce about their memories of the lighthouse and enjoy the display. Marty Klinkenberg wrote about the day in the Telegraph Journal: http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/rss/article/1126430.

The Honourables Rick Doucet and Hédard Albert took the opportunity to announce funding for the restoration and improvement of the keepers buildings. The provincial Built Heritage awarded Swallowtail Keepers Society with up to $30,000 and Regional Development Corporation another $25,000. Swallowtail Keepers Society needs to raise $10,000. http://www.gnb.ca/cnb/news/wcs/2010e1151wc.htm

Honourable Hédard Albert, Theresa MacFarland (Swallowtail Keepers Society), Honourable Rick Doucet



Fundy Community Foundation



After the reception, the Annual General meeting of Swallowtail Keepers Society was held. A review of the last two years in a PowerPoint presentation was given by Kevin Sampson. A new co-vice chair was elected.

I regretfully could not attend but would like to thank everyone for their efforts to make the day a great success.  We would also like to thank the Fundy Community Foundation for their generous donation to make the Anniversary celebrations possible.