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.

Helicopter makes use of flag

The crew hired to cleanup the lead paint contamination at Swallowtail had their equipment helicoptered back onto the peninsula today after breaking off their work during the winter months. They have another month left and when finished will have spent four months cleaning the soil where the original keepers house stood and around the base of the lighthouse.

On Saturday as part of our Earth Day work party, the flag pole and flag were re-hoisted. The red and white Canadian flag seems to finish the scenic vista and was invaluable to the helicopter pilot today as the wind shifted during the many trips bringing equipment from the pick up site at Hole-in-the-Wall Park to Swallowtail.

Work Party Success

On Saturday, April 25, about one year since we organized the first cleanup at Swallowtail, 30 people participated in projects at the upper section of the Swallowtail light station. This is the most accessible part of the light station and has parking, a pump house, and a shed which was originally part of the Fish Fluke Point light house and was used as a boat house (we frequently refer to it as the Ross Island boat house). The group successfully shingled the pump house and half of the old boat house/shed. The shed had both cedar and asphalt shingles which made stripping the roof more time consuming because of all the nails. Despite the fact that the roof had been leaking for quite some time, there was very little rot and that was easily fixed. The shed was also scraped and readied to be painted. The grounds were cleaned up around the buildings.

In addition, concrete footings for a new observation deck were dug, pinned and poured. This deck will wrap around the old boat house and provide a wonderful view of the light house and peninsula.

Part of the trail that originally ran from the stairs that lead down to the light house to Pettes Cove was cleared of fallen trees and undergrowth and is now open for use. This section can be accessed from along the road leading to the light house or at the head of the stairs and walking back toward Pettes Cove. There are some marvelous views of Pettes Cove and Net Point.

Lunch was provided by members of Swallowtail Keepers Society and included hot dogs, egg salad sandwiches and curried chicken pitas.

We hope to have more work parties throughout the spring, summer and fall. Work will begin on the deck shortly. The last half of the roof will be shingled soon. Then there is painting, painting and more painting. Fixing some of the windows. The Canada Day flag raising. Working on the southern wall of the boat house. Making the keepers house watertight. Replacing the roof on both the boat house and keepers house.....

Anyone who wishes to help physically or by donating material or by donating money can contact any of the Swallowtail keepers.

Grand Manan follows me across the country

I had to spend 10 days in Calgary recently under less than ideal circumstances. As I was going through some old calendars as part of papers I was sorting, I found a photo of Fish Fluke Point light house, also known as Grand Harbour light house. This building has been abandoned since the early 1960s and still refuses to fall down, although one wonders how long it can remain standing. At one point it was designated as Canada's most endangered light house but still continues to collapse. When you think of how many images could make it on a calendar, it becomes obvious that Grand Manan is a special place in Canada and I certainly had a rush of nostalgia.

The old boat house from this light house was moved in the 1960s to Swallowtail and now sits at the top of the hill. Most people now think the building is a garage, which essentially is what it was used as by the former light keeper Grimmer Ingersoll, who with his brother, towed the boat house to its present location.

I always find it sad to see our "built" history disappear. Soon the only reminder of this light house will be photographs. Hopefully, the Swallowtail light station will be a better example of a community that is trying to preserve some of its history beyond the occasional photograph.

Moving the bell off the point

The fog bell at Swallowtail was first installed at the very tip of the rocky penninsula in 1915. In 1916 a new wooden building was built beside the bell, the bell house, and the bell was mechanized. I suspect that because of the distance from the light tower itself and the necessity to ring the bell in response to passing vessels, it was decided to move the fogbell and building to the base of the light house on the northern side, which was also closer to the light keeper's house. All that remains on the point are some rusted steel girders and crumbling concrete. People often ask if the light house sat on the point when they see the old girders but the light tower is in its original location.

When an automated fog alarm was installed there was no need for the fog bell and it was taken off the peninsula using brute force and a bit of ingenuity, sometime after the arrival of the "Grand Manan" ferry which started its run in 1965 and still operates as our additional summer ferry.

The three photos showing the men dragging the fog bell were posted to the Facebook page "Grand Manan Old Photos 2" by Elliot Shepherd. The photo of the bell house, bell and mechanism was taken by Elmer Wilcox in 1958. The bell now sits behind the Grand Manan Museum beside the Deep Cove School. It is possible that in the future the Museum may be willing to have the bell returned to Swallowtail as part of our restoration of the light station.

According to Laurel Ingersoll Hinsdale, some of the men moving the bell are her father Grimmer Ingersoll, Allison Naves, Kenny Thomas, Frasier Shepherd and Bill Bass.

Laurel also recounts that the bell was rung by being struck by a huge hammer run by an engine inside the bell house. There is a crack and flattened area on the bell from this. When it was no longer used in this way, you could manually raise the hammer and drop it to make the bell ring. This used to be done when the ferry passed, and the ferry would answer back. The bell was rung each time the "Grand Manan" III went by, but was stopped when the "Grand Manan" came on. Laurel remembers ringing it for fun to the "Grand Manan", and the thrill when the ferry answered back!