Weekend deck building

Each weekend, Terry Davidson has been donating a day supervising the construction of the deck around the former Ross Island boat house at the top of the hill at Swallowtail. A few volunteers including Ken Ingersoll, Bryant Eaton, Mike Stymest and Lloyd MacFarlane have been helping. Last Sunday, Terry sculpted the cedar deck around the rock outcropping and two additional piers were dug to have the deck extend out along the driveway and make access easier from both sides of the building.

There have been lots of questions from tourists about what we are doing and hopefully we will be able to get some signage, including how to find the lighthouse by road. Many summer residents have been returning this week and have also commented on the work being done.

Let us know if you want to help. We don't always advertise what we are doing but we can let you know what needs to be done and how you can join in.

Fundraising this summer

The summer is fast approaching and while we will have quite a bit done on two of the buildings, we need to get the word out about the project and also bring in more funding to start working on the boathouse and keepers house. While the labour has been free so far with over 290 hours donated, the building materials have been costly as anyone knows who has done any renovating or building.

We are planning a number of fund raisers to help replenish our bank account and more will no doubt emerge. On Saturday, May 16 we will be cleaning the ditches in North Head. The Village of Grand Manan supports this effort financially and gets clean ditches in return.

On Father's Day, June 21, we will be having a BBQ at the Anchorage Provincial Park. In addition, we are requesting that people bring their instruments and an impromptu jam session will hopefully emerge.

On July 1, we will have our annual official flag raising with the RCMP presiding in red serge.

On July 12, we are having a Hug Swallowtail light house event, with cold drinks and food available. Swallowtail will have turned 149 by then. The official lighting for the first time occurred on July 7, 1860.

We don't have dates for the next two but will occur in the summer, including a high tea at Whale Cove Cottages and a musical extravaganza at the Romig's barn off the Thoroughfare Road. The Romig's barn has a long reputation on Grand Manan with barn dances.

In September, a group of Rotarians from Florida will be coming to help work on the keepers house and boat house.

Any other fund raising efforts are greatly appreciated and we will be happy to advertise and participate in them. We we also have our Swallowtail boxes at a number of locations for individuals to contribute. Tax receipts are available for any monetary donation. We can also issue tax receipts for the fair market value of any material donated.

Should there be any changes in dates, we will strive to let everyone know.

Deck Party

The deck is taking shape around the former Ross Island Boat House. Some of the under structure was built on May 3 thanks to the supervision of a carpenter from the island, Terry Davidson. It will be mostly a continuing weekend project as people volunteer their time on their days off.

Once the deck is completed, it will make it easier to paint the building. We are also considering replacing a couple of the windows with windows that were removed from the keepers house to increase the view from inside the building.

The views are spectacular and the deck will wrap around three sides of the old boat house. I'm sure it will be well used and a place people will add to their favourite spots.

We plan to have the former boat house as a greeting centre for visitors, complete with old photographs of the light station and other interpretative information. For those who are unable to go out on the peninsula, it will be a great alternative.