Lobster Roll Dinner and Music

Although the day began with thick fog and the Sail Past to celebrate Swallowtail Light's 150th anniversary had to be cancelled, the lobster roll dinner and music went ahead without a hitch on July 10. This is an annual fund raiser for Swallowtail Keepers Society and had added importance this summer with the 150th Anniversary of the lighting of Swallowtail Light for the first time. We moved to a larger venue this year, the Grand Manan Curling Club, and were rewarded with increased attendance and were completely sold out.

This event would not be possible without the efforts of many people and the donation of all the food. Laura Buckley (Inn at Whale Cove Cottages) arranges the food component and her amazing crew are making the lobster rolls and tossing the salad as the plates are taken to the tables. This year strawberry shortcake was chosen for the dessert and the cream was being whipped as the desserts were going out.

Lobster rolls being prepared for the dinner

Many, many thanks to the kitchen crew - Laura Buckley, Fredonna Dean, Megan, Emmy, and Jana Greenlaw (who also shelled all the lobsters), and Laura's guests from Whale Cove Cottages, the Trotz family (Frank, Sarah, Anna and Susan) who volunteered to help on their vacation. Swallowtail Keeper Society members also helped with setting up the tables, selling tickets, serving and bussing the tables: Theresa and Lloyd MacFarland, Kevin Sampson, Sharon and Claude Ingalls, Pam Charters, Sue Stymest, Kirk Cheney, Linda L'Aventure, Laurie Murison and summer student Robyn Guptill.

Lobster rolls going out of the kitchen

The lobster was all donated, over 220 lbs of live lobster from three lobster fishermen, Neil Morse, Glenn Foster (whose great-uncle was one of the lightkeepers at Swallowtail and his great-aunt Elodie tragically died while lighting the flame for the light in 1936) and an anonymous donor. The salad greens were donated by Walter Wilson, the rolls by Dale and Betty Russell (Save Easy), Ce Bowdoin made all the biscuits for the strawberry shortcake and the strawberries were provided by Marilyn and Peter Cronk, Nora and Ed Parker (Compass Rose B&B), Mike and Joanne Ingalls, Linda L'Aventure and Brenda McLaughlin (McLaughlin's Inn). Whipping cream was donated by Nora and Ed Parker, Laura Buckley and an anonymous donor. Laura also provided many sundries.

Pam Charters arranged the musical line-up with Dinah Romig acting as emcee as well as performing. Dinah spent summers growing up on Grand Manan with her family in their summer home in Grand Harbour. She is a member of the Cape Cod Fiddlers. John McDonald, Kate Richardson, and Halie Bass also performed. Before the Mast were non-stop energy and would have sung all night. In fact they did, continuing the evening of music at the Grand Manan summer home of one of the members. For more information about the a cappella group dedicated to preserving and promoting songs of the sea, check out their website: http://www.beforethemastseashanties.com/

Before the Mast performing

A slide show of images of Swallowtail was shown throughout the event and included historic and modern images as well as the work that has been done in the last two years on the buildings. The money raised will be used to restore the keepers buildings at Swallowtail.

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.



Ditch Cleanup

May Day, Saturday, May 1, saw 12 eager people busy cleaning the ditches in North Head. Two people who were going to be away had actually taken it upon themselves to clean a section before the May Day cleanup. This is becoming an annual event. After last year's thorough cleaning, the ditches were in much better shape and perhaps people aren't throwing as much stuff out their windows, heeding the mayor's advice to Keep Grand Manan Litter Free.

While one member was climbing down into a ditch to get some trash, the owner of the house beside the ditch asked him what he was doing. He explained and was asked to come in the house. The owner gave him a significant donation which more than doubled the money raised picking up the litter! All monies will go towards the 150th anniversary celebrations in early July.

Village of Grand Manan Historic Places Registry

A grant from the New Brunswick provincial government allowed the Grand Manan Historical Society to begin the Village of Grand Manan Historic Places Registry. Twenty-four places have been added and can be viewed on the http://www.historicplaces.ca/ website. A search of the Canadian Register of Historic Places for Grand Manan, NB will bring up everything that is listed for Grand Manan, including the Swallowtail light keepers house and boathouse. Also three light towers (Swallowtail, Gannet Rock and Machias Seal Island) and another keepers house (the house attached to the Gannet Rock lighthouse) have been listed as Recognized Federal Historic Buildings, a precursor for the Federal Historic Lighthouse Bill. The brick government building in North Head, known for the Post Office, is also a Recognized Federal Historic Building. The final listing is the National Historic Site in Seal Cove, encompassing the herring smoke houses and seawall.

Canadian Coast Guard photo of Swallowtail Lighthouse taken in 1990 from www.historicplaces.ca

The push to save Swallowtail was helpful in kick-starting the Village Registry. It is hoped that this funding will continue so more of Grand Manan's historic places can be listed.

Not all Work

I often think of tending a light as being one of work, whether maintenance of the property or the light but because families often lived at these light stations, there was time for entertainment. Norma Neves loaned me this photo of her mother Alma Naves on a seesaw with Doris Moses, taken in 1959. You can see Swallowtail lighthouse in the background. This seesaw would have been in the yard of the old house, just above the new house. The new keepers house was built in 1958 and replaced the original 1860 house which was torn down. A replica of this seesaw would be a great addition to the property. Notice also the bird houses. There were a number of these around the keepers house and lighthouse. Not sure what species they were built for but would be a good question to ask those who lived at Swallowtail. You can also see the chimney that heated the bell house, the small addition on the lighthouse. This building was moved in 1922 from the extreme end of the peninsula to the lighthouse to make ringing the fog bell easier for the keepers, instead of hiking back and forth from the lighthouse to the bell house on the point. anyone who is familiar with the Bay of Fundy can appreciate how much work this would be in our often long stretches of fog, particularly in the summer but can occur year round , as it is today as I write this post.

Norma also had an undated photo of herself on the boardwalk leading from the keepers house to the lighthouse. You can clearly see the detail in the windows that used to grace the lighthouse, removed to reduce maintenance and water leakage. The windows were single pane, 12 over 8. The porch covering the entrance to the lighthouse also no longer exists and when the soil was removed from around the lighthouse to remove lead from years of scrapping and painting the lighthouse, the soil level is significantly lower. There was concern that the lead in the soil was slowly leaching toward the coast and could one day end up in the ocean. The boardwalks no longer exist as well, although they were an original feature when the lighthouse was built in 1860. This extensive system of boardwalks would be a wonderful asset to rebuild, however, because of the wind and winter gales, maintenance of the boardwalks was a challenge with storm damage frequently occurring. They would have to be firmly attached. The style of the railings is similar to the existing railings on the footbridge.

Thanks Norma for the loan of these photos.

Light in the stormy night

We have had a stormy few days with ENE winds battering Swallowtail. Heavy rain and wind (over 90 kilometres/hour or 50 knots) last night knocked out the power for awhile. Swallowtail's light and foghorn are electrically powered and when the power goes off so do the light and foghorn. Backup systems used to be commonplace but transporting diesel fuel for generators by helicopter can be a risky business if anything happened to the bladder containing the fuel. This means that you don't have to look for the light to shine across Pettes Cove from Swallowtail when the lights go out because Swallowtail light goes out as well. And, of course, with no light keepers there is also no one to make sure a back up system kicks in automatically.

The only vessel plying the waters around Swallowtail the last couple of days has been the Grand Manan V ferry and even the ferry was tied up for 20 hours because of heavy seas. The guiding light of Swallowtail certainly isn't as required for navigation as it once was but it is a comfort to see the rotating light in all weather conditions, as long as there is power.

The ferry heading towards Blacks Harbour after being tied up from Thursday, February 25 at 3 PM to 11:30 Friday, February 26 because of stormy conditions. The ferry buried her bow going across Pettes Cove.

Here is a short video of the roiled waters in the Saw Pit February 25.

Fantastic Chocolate Tea

What a great success! Our chocolate tea was impressive from the old fashioned hot chocolate to an incredible assortment of chocolate desserts. The aroma of chocolate greeted everyone who came through the door. The approximately 55 people attending all went away smiling. We also offered $5 and $10 take-away plates of which many were destined for the largely absent male participants.

The eclectic range of the donated items in the jumble table also sold well and we have some remaining for a future event. We also had Swallowtail matted photos donated from a local photographer for future fund-raising.

There are so many people to thank from the North Head Baptist Church for donating their hall and providing some entertainment and decorations, to everyone who made desserts and sandwiches, to those donating items for the jumble table, to those organizing and working the tea, and several people who volunteered to bus tables and do dishes after they finished their plates, and of course, to everyone who came out and enjoyed the afternoon. The money raised will be put toward the 150th celebrations this summer of the first lighting of Swallowtail or Swallow's Tail as it was originally called.

Next year should be bigger and better!