Inside Michigan’s Historic Lighthouses: Pointe Aux Barques Revealed
Episode 171 • 2nd August 2024 • Total Michigan • Cliff Duvernois
00:00:00 00:32:06

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Have you ever wondered about being a lighthouse keeper? Let's find out! Today we talk with Larry Becker and Mimi Herrington from the Pointe aux Barques Maritime Museum.

They discuss the history, restoration efforts, and community involvement in maintaining the lighthouse and the life-saving station in Port Hope, Michigan. The episode also highlights the challenges and triumphs related to preserving the lighthouse and the establishment of the Life Saving Station, emphasizing their roles in maritime history.

Links:

Website: https://pointeauxbarqueslighthouse.org/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pointeauxbarques

Subscribe to our Email Newsletter: https://totalmichigan.com/join/

Find us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/totalmichigan

Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@totalmichigan

Show Notes:

00:00 The Great Fire Near the Life Saving Station

01:04 Meet the Pointe Aux Barques Maritime Museum Team

01:27 History of the Pointe Aux Barques Lighthouse

02:23 Life Saving Station and Its Restoration

02:41 Mimi's Journey Back to Michigan

03:37 Larry's Involvement with the Lighthouse

04:43 The Early Days of the Lighthouse

10:16 The U.S. Life Saving Service

14:08 Restoration Efforts and Historical Insights

15:35 A Glimpse into the Past

16:29 Sponsor Break and What's Next

17:02 Welcome Back to Total Michigan

17:08 The Pointe Aux Barques Maritime Museum

17:25 Maintaining the Lighthouse

17:46 The Keepers Program

18:37 Collaborative Efforts with the County

20:04 The Assistant Keeper Program

22:13 Membership and Volunteer Programs

25:53 The Annual Festival

27:21 Restoration Efforts

29:57 Connecting with the Museum

31:55 Conclusion and Farewell

Transcripts

Mimi Herrington:

The fire came within about a hundred yards of the

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back of the Life Saving Station.

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It was, it was really, really dangerous.

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Very dangerous and very tense times.

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And they, they probably worked

for well over 24 hours just

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trying to keep the fire at bay,

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Cliff Duvernois (2): Hello everyone and

welcome back to Total Michigan where

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we interview ordinary Michiganders

doing some pretty extraordinary things.

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I'm your host Cliff DuVernois.

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So probably one of the most scenic,

one of the most beautiful roads to

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follow in Michigan would be M 25.

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And the circles around the thumb and

as you're driving down these miles

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of road, there's all kinds of really

just beautiful beaches that dot the

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landscape, as well as all these great

little towns to stop in and restaurants

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and just some of the nicest people

that you could ever hope to meet.

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So I was taking this trek

myself a handful of days ago.

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And I came across one of

Michigan's hidden treasures.

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It's a little off the beaten path there.

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But it's a lighthouse

located in Port Hope.

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And, uh, when I stopped in and I

said, Hey, let's talk about this.

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They were more than happy to open up

their doors and let us in, which is great.

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talking to the organization about

that today, we've got Mimi Herrington.

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President of the Pointe Aux

Barques Maritime Museum.

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Mimi, how are you?

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Mimi Herrington: Fine, thank you.

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Cliff Duvernois (2): And we got

Lighthouse Larry , director at the

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Pointe aux Barques Maritime Museum.

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Larry, how are you?

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Larry Becker: I'm doing great.

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Beautiful day.

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Cliff Duvernois (2): So why don't

you tell us what is the Pointe

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aux Barques Maritime Museum

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Mimi Herrington: It started

out as the lighthouse.

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Because the life saving station,

which was also here, was moved

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off site for a long time.

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But From about the late 1950s on, it, the

whole area became called Lighthouse Park.

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And it was a county park after

the federal government gave

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all this land to Huron County.

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So the lighthouse was here.

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It sat empty for probably several decades.

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Until the early 2000s when a group

of people got together and wanted to

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maintain and restore the lighthouse

and the lighthouse keeper's house.

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The Lighthouse Keepers House got

turned into a museum and was open

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to the public starting around 2002.

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But it's always been a wonderful

place for people to come.

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It's a there's a lot of land.

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There's a playground.

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So people come and picnic and just walk

around and enjoy the beautiful view.

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But then, over the last, over 20

years, there's now been the Lighthouse,

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the Lighthouse Museum to, to visit.

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And then in 2017, um, the life

saving station was moved back here.

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And it's not in the spot where

it was, um, and I can tell you a

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little bit more about that, but it's

back, and we're trying to get it

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restored and open to the public also.

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So we have the lighthouse the whole

lighthouse establishment, and then

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the life saving service building.

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Cliff Duvernois (2): And Mimi so

why don't you tell us a little

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bit about where are you from.

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Where did you grow up?

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Mimi Herrington: I grew up in Bad Axe.

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Graduated from Bad Axe High School.

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And then I went away for She's over 25

years or so, just working elsewhere.

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And then, uh, in 2003, I moved back

to take a job at the Bad Axe library.

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And I've been back ever since.

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And I'm really glad that I'm out of the

rat race and enjoying where I grew up.

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Now did you move out of state?

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Yes, I was mostly in Chicago.

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Oh.

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Ok.

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That must of been quite a switch

coming back from Chicago to Bad Axe

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But I'm used to Bad Axe and Port Austin.

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So it was always, I came

back a lot to visit.

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And so it was definitely coming home, you

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know.

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Cliff Duvernois (2): Yeah I have a theory

about that in that you know cause I lived

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outside of the state for a number of years

and I never understood California Crazy.

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But I understand Michigan Crazy.

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So when I moved back here it was very easy

to slide right back into that routine.

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So I definitely understand

where you're coming from.

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Larry, why don't you tell

us where are you from?

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Where did you grow up?

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Larry Becker: I grew up in a little

town on Anchor Bay called Fairhaven.

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We live in New Baltimore now,

which is just down the road.

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So I didn't move very far over the years.

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Got involved with the lighthouse

here back in:

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needed help painting the inside.

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So I volunteered for that,

and I've been here ever since.

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Mimi Herrington: Oh, 2003, right?

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Larry Becker: 2003.

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Oh,

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Cliff Duvernois (2): So back in

:

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involved with the lighthouse?

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Because I know you said

you agreed to paint it.

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But what was it that made you

say, I want to be a part of this?

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Larry Becker: Oh, just the beauty up here.

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The people are so nice.

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It was, it was like a little

family taking care of this.

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We were all just working

together to make this work.

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And bring people into the, into the area.

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And it's been amazing.

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I've met people from all over

the world, not just, Michigan.

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They come from all 50 states.

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They come from all different countries.

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it's been great.

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Cliff Duvernois (2): When was

the lighthouse established here?

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Larry Becker: 18, 1857, 1857.

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Yep.

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The first lighthouse

was placed here in:

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And it was lit in 1848.

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Um, it was a smaller lighthouse.

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And they just made it out of

materials that they found.

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up here.

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I think by the time they got

up here they were low on cash.

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It was built very poorly, and falling

apart, within seven, eight years.

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And they realized they

had to take it down.

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In fact, the last keeper that was

there was written up a couple of

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times for not having the light lit.

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And his explanation was I'm not

going to risk my life going up there.

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if it isn't needed.

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So, they realized then that

they had to do something.

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And they built the 1857

light in nine months.

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months Yeah, they had a crew up here.

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They brought All this brick, there's

actually two walls to the lighthouse.

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When you look at it, you can vision

that there's an inside wall also.

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And all that brick was

brought in from Milwaukee.

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And they had to row out, fill up the

rowboat with brick, and row back in.

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So it was a job.

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Cliff Duvernois (2): So they brought

the brick up on a boat, I assume,

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or a ship, and

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just anchored it off.

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And then they, oh my goodness,

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Mimi Herrington: There were, there

probably weren't, there might have been

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one or two roads at that time in 1857.

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This was just covered with trees.

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And it was not at all settled.

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You had to go by boat.

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Cliff Duvernois (2): I

didn't even think about that.

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Yes, because that's why that's maritime.

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It's the only way you could really

move stuff around at that time.

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Yes.

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Yes.

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And you made a comment too, about

the first lighthouse only lasts

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them for seven or eight years.

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I think it's really easy to forget

that these lighthouses take a pounding,

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Larry Becker: Well, we had

a major storm here in:

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It took down 12 vessels throughout

the Great Lakes eight of them

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right here in Lake Huron.

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You And a number of ships were grounded.

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The keeper wrote in the logbook

that it was the only time that

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he felt the tower shaking.

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And it was shaking so violently

that the wick was just falling

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back down into the lantern.

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Right.

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So he, an assistant, and his son stayed

up there for three days during that

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storm just trying to keep the light lit.

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Oh my goodness.

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Yeah.

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Wow.

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So At the end of the storm he wrote

that there was three feet of ice

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all the way up to the first window

on the other side of the tower.

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So that

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Cliff Duvernois (2): to be made of

sterner stuff to be a lighthouse keeper.

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Yes.

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Yes.

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And so the lighthouse is, is active.

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And, and I know over the years it's,

it's gone through, you know, changes like

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you were talking about the wick before.

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And then eventually got

wired for electricity.

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At what point in time did, you said

that the lighthouse sat abandoned

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Larry Becker: The Coast Guard

maintained the light in there.

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There was a gentleman that

took care of all three lights.

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And he would make sure that the

bulbs were in working order.

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If it went out, he would change them.

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But, as far as people living there,

yes, it was basically abandoned.

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Mimi Herrington: After 19, I think 1939.

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was the last year that

there was a keeper here.

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Cliff Duvernois (2): Right.

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Ok, because that's when

automation came in.

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Right.

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when you were telling me before in

the museum is even the lights switched

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Larry Becker: Right.

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In 1969, they took the Fresnel lens

out that we have on display in there.

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And they put up two aerial beacons.

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And they had a thousand

watt light bulb in each one.

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But they ran continuously all

during the day, during the

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night, 365 days out of the year.

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we have, an LED system in there

that has a light sensor on it.

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The sun goes down, it comes on.

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And very low maintenance, very low.

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Mimi Herrington: the Coast Guard

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Larry Becker: the Coast Guard

still maintains that light.

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They still recently they've

just, uh, called here and asked,

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Cliff Duvernois (2): asked.

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It's cheaper

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Larry Becker: and Yeah.

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um, They're great guys over there.

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And say, you know, I've got to do

a shout out to them because, they

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are real, real friendly and, just

want to know everything going okay.

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Yep.

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Okay.

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Cliff Duvernois (2): And you made

a comment about how there was

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a family keeping the place up?

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Did I understand that correctly?

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So when did that family get

involved and start working?

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Mimi Herrington: Well that was the

first keeper was a man named Peter

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Shook, and his wife was Catherine.

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And they had eight children.

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We think the oldest might have still been

down in Port Huron working on their farm.

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But, so they had seven kids up here.

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And, they started in 1848,

and I believe the next year.

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Larry Becker: a

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Mimi Herrington: Peter was in a

boat with a couple other people

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and the boat capsized or something.

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They were all lost.

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I don't think the bodies were never found.

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So Catherine was left here with

seven kids to run the lighthouse.

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And she did it for about

two or three years.

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Larry Becker: She did it that

season and then two more.

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Mimi Herrington: so she had the, uh,

the older kids probably had to help her.

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But they had to carry the oil up

the tower and keep the wicks lit.

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She ran it for, so she was, she was

the Michigan's first female keeper.

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the second keeper of this lighthouse.

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Cliff Duvernois (2): And so as we're

talking about, you know, the lighthouse

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throughout the years, and at some point in

time, the Life Saving Station showed up.

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So talk to us, what is

a life saving station?

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it's pretty obvious, but what is it?

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Mimi Herrington: the U.

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S.

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Lifesaving Service operated from

about the early:

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And during that year, the U.

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S.

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Revenue Cutter Service and the U.

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S.

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Lifesaving Service were

merged to form the U.

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S.

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Coast Guard.

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So the Life Saving Service is

the precursor of the Coast Guard.

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And basically, men got in very small

boats, in very rough weather, horrible

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conditions usually, and they rowed

out to ships that were in distress,

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ships that were sinking or whatever.

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And they would take the

crew and passengers off

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those ships and row back in.

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And if they had to make four

or five trips, they made

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them, and they saved people.

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So, the U.

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S.

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Life Saving Service saved hundreds of

thousands of people and, saved tens

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of millions of dollars worth of cargo.

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it, it's sort of a lost piece of history.

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And most people don't even,

haven't even heard of the U.

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S.

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Life Saving Service.

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But they just did heroic, heroic

things, saving people and cargo.

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the Life Saving Service got pretty

established on the east and west coast,

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by the early 1870s, it was realized that

there was an awful lot of loss of life

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and cargo happening on the Great Lakes.

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the Life Saving Service, asked Congress

for a couple hundred thousand dollars to

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expand the service into the Great Lakes.

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the Life Saving Station that was here, it

was, uh, built in:

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life saving stations on the Great Lakes.

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Um, We actually have the doc, the contract

where Fremont of Evanston, Illinois was

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hired by the government to build eight

different life saving stations on Lakes

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Huron, Michigan, and Ontario in, in 1876.

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a boat arrived with actually

pre cut pieces of wood.

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And the guys constructed the

life saving station in 17 days.

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It's like Lincoln Logs.

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Yeah, yeah, like Lincoln

Logs, a kit of parts, yeah.

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But, an incredible design.

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It's just, it's a beautiful building.

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the, it's an 1875 type that we have.

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they went into operation

in September of:

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And they operated until 1937, when

the Coast Guard closed the, station.

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It sat about 300 yards down the shore.

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And so it was a totally separate entity

from the lighthouse establishment, but

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they, the, the two groups collaborated.

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They'd have dinner together sometimes.

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When the men had to take a surf boat off

site to a wreck site, often the lighthouse

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keeper would lend them his horses.

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So that the horses could pull the boat.

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there was collaboration.

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But they, they had different functions.

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Cliff Duvernois (2): can imagine too that

just sharing the same piece of property.

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As well.

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I mean, you would have to have

some, hey, let's get along,

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let's, let's work together

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Mimi Herrington: of thing.

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Yeah.

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Absolutely.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, a real good example of collaboration

was, there was a fire in:

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called the Great Fire, in the Thumb.

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And it kinda killed about

200, about 250 people.

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It just actually, absolutely

flattened parts of the Thumb.

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Some parts were untouched.

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Over here, the fire

was really, really bad.

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And, the log books, both the Lighthouse

Keepers log book and the Life Saving

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Station log book recount what happened.

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And they were, they were just

scurrying to, to wet the roofs.

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they, the powder that they used

to shoot the Lyle gun that they

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had, which is a rescue equipment.

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They put that in a boat and put it out

in the water so it wouldn't explode.

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Yeah.

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And they had barrels of water sitting

on the roofs of the lighthouse

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and the life saving station.

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The fire came within about a hundred yards

of the back of the Life Saving Station.

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It was, it was really, really dangerous.

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Very dangerous and very tense times.

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And they, they probably worked for well

over 24 hours just trying to keep the fire

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at bay, and they, they worked together.

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Cliff Duvernois (2): We talked about

how Larry got involved with all this.

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How did you get involved?

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Because you said you came up here

and took a job at the library?

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Mm hmm.

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Yeah, so how did you get involved

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Mimi Herrington: get involved?

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I've been coming to the lighthouse park

since I was a little kid for picnics.

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And always enjoyed walking

around the the buildings.

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And then when the museum was

open going through the museum.

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Probably a few years after

we moved back, we just, my

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husband decided to get involved.

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And then I got involved too and helped.

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That's how Larry and I met, helping with

the festival that we have every year.

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And then once the life saving

station got moved back here, uh, we

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were just driving out here one day.

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And, you know, we just looked at

the building and said, geez, we

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gotta get that thing restored.

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You know, so we got more actively

involved again a few years ago.

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And have been working on.

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moving toward restoration

of the Life Saving Station.

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Cliff Duvernois (2): So what

is it about the history?

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That's that you just love?

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Larry Becker: It's just, want

to say romantic, in a way.

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there's so many stories of, Of

course they had their tragedies.

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But they also had their triumphs.

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And I find that a lot of

it was trial and error.

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we look at, we can look so

much stuff up on our phone now.

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What did they do back then when

they wanted to figure something out?

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You know, they had to use their brain.

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They had to trial and error.

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it's just amazing the things

that they came up with.

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And how they've worked their daily lives.

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Cliff Duvernois (2): you know,

you talk about the fact that they

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didn't have like roads back then.

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Pretty much it was boats

bringing stuff up, ships.

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They really had to be

excellent problem solvers.

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Mimi Herrington: In the Keeper's

Quarters of the life saving station,

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the Keeper's Quarters was just a

separate building where the Keeper could

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have his own family and have privacy.

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We had to take a lot of the plaster

off because it was all moldy.

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And, um, we found, once it was down to

the lath, we found that, An old picket

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fence, the kind of, with the little

sharp edge, that was used as a stud.

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they did not waste anything.

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Tons Tons of boards behind the

plasters, all reused boards.

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the, the lath, a lot of the lath in the

Keeper's Quarters came from, a ship that

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had, you know, sunk or became a wreck.

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And about three thousand pieces of

lath were floating in onto shore.

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He's, the keeper sent the

surfman down to collect it.

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And he said if the owner doesn't come

for it we're going to use it for this

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one room we're going to be redoing.

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I mean they, they just,

they did not waste anything.

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Cliff Duvernois (2):

goodness, that's so clever.

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For our audience, we're gonna take a

quick break and thank our sponsors.

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And when we come back, we're gonna

talk a lot more about the Pointe aux

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Barques and the lighthouse and what

you can expect when you come here.

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We'll see you after the break.

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to

Total Michigan, where we interview

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ordinary Michiganders doing some

pretty extraordinary things.

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I'm your host Cliff DuVernois.

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Today, I'm talking with Mimi,

as well as Larry from the Pointe

379

:

Aux Barques Maritime Museum.

380

:

Before the break, we were talking about

the history of Of the lighthouse how the

381

:

lights life saving station came to be

here precursor to the coast guard which

382

:

I find that to be absolutely fascinating.

383

:

What I'd like to do is I want

to spend a little bit of time

384

:

talking about first the upkeep.

385

:

Because these places are just gorgeous.

386

:

They're absolutely gorgeous.

387

:

And I know they just don't stay

that way I mean we're talking about

388

:

before we were talking about love and

passion for what it is that you do.

389

:

Talk to us about what it takes to

maintain these places keep them open so

390

:

people can come in and enjoy enjoy them.

391

:

Larry Becker: Fortunately, the

last couple of years, we've got

392

:

a keepers program that we set up.

393

:

And, people can come up

and play lighthouse keeper.

394

:

They stay in the assistant keeper's

house, which is right across

395

:

the yard from the lighthouse.

396

:

And they help out doing odds and ends.

397

:

So it's not just one person.

398

:

There's a lot of people

that have been involved.

399

:

They come up here, they want to do

gardening, they want to do some painting,

400

:

they want to do, learn the history

and, and enjoy themselves at times.

401

:

But, their idea is to help keep

this place going and looking good.

402

:

And fortunately we've had really

good participants in that program.

403

:

Thank you.

404

:

And we've been able to

keep things looking good.

405

:

We

406

:

Mimi Herrington: We also

have a, um, a collaborative

407

:

relationship with the county.

408

:

the Huron County Road Commission,

believe it or not, runs about seven,

409

:

six, six or seven county parks.

410

:

And

411

:

Larry Becker: Five parks.

412

:

where you can camp And

a couple of day parks.

413

:

Mimi Herrington: parks.

414

:

And they, they run those parks.

415

:

Right.

416

:

all of this area is owned by Huron County.

417

:

The road commission has authority

over it, and then our group works

418

:

with the road commission to maintain

the lighthouse, and then also work on

419

:

restoration of the life saving station.

420

:

for example, I can't remember the

last time the tower got painted.

421

:

But the road commission took care of that,

I think, and then we slowly paid them.

422

:

We had to pay them back.

423

:

Because we're raising revenue

by, selling tickets to the

424

:

museum and that sort of thing.

425

:

Um, so.

426

:

we have this collaborative relationship

where sometimes they'll take care of

427

:

an issue, and then we help pay for it.

428

:

or outright, we, our group replaced all

the windows in the, uh, the Assistant

429

:

Keeper's house was built in 1908.

430

:

And the original windows were in there,

and when we started the Keeper program,

431

:

we got some reports of some pretty rattly

windows at night when the wind came up.

432

:

our group replaced all the

windows a couple years ago.

433

:

we were always in discussion with the road

commission as to things we'd like to do.

434

:

for example, we had a fundraiser to paint

the top of the tower that bright red.

435

:

Um, and, we got, we almost paid

for it totally out of donations.

436

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): So now I'm intrigued

about this assistant keeper program.

437

:

Talk to us a little a little bit

more of that I mean, it sounds

438

:

like you actually get to stay here.

439

:

Is it for like a week?

440

:

Is it a month?

441

:

Is it a summer?

442

:

How does that work?

443

:

Larry Becker: Well, we've got it set

up for a week at a time right now.

444

:

Some people have come

back following years.

445

:

We've had just last week, it

was their third time up here.

446

:

Um, yeah, so we'll try to

keep it to a week so that more

447

:

people can be, can enjoy this.

448

:

Mimi Herrington: Yeah, as of October

1, materials will be available on

449

:

our website for the 2025 season.

450

:

Right.

451

:

And then people send

in their applications.

452

:

And then we, Marilyn and I, Larry's

wife Marilyn and I review them.

453

:

then, in most cases, we accept

the, the, the applicants.

454

:

And they, they pick the

week they'd like to come.

455

:

And last year, by Christmas, we

had, I think the program was filled.

456

:

And so, once the word was out,

we had to turn people away.

457

:

It's very popular.

458

:

I think there are maybe, I don't

know, 8 or 10 lighthouses or

459

:

somewhere around that number in the

state that have a keeper program.

460

:

and it goes from you bring your

own RV to, people getting to stay

461

:

in the assistant keeper's house,

which has been all restored.

462

:

and it's, it's a lovely house.

463

:

So they arrive on Tuesday and then

they leave the following Monday.

464

:

And they, they do all the things

that Larry was describing.

465

:

And they also act as docents

in the museum and show people

466

:

around the various exhibits.

467

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): That is so cool.

468

:

Does it cost something for this?

469

:

Mimi Herrington: $150 per

person for the whole week.

470

:

Larry Becker: for the whole week.

471

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): Okay, so

first off, I keep thinking about

472

:

these like dude ranches out west.

473

:

Where you get to go and

pay and get to be a cowboy.

474

:

But you get to come here

and be a light keeper.

475

:

And And $150 is a bargain.

476

:

Mimi Herrington: Does that include

477

:

Larry Becker: week.

478

:

No, No.

479

:

They bring their own food.

480

:

Okay.

481

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): They

cook their own meals.

482

:

Yeah.

483

:

Larry Becker: Yeah.

484

:

We don't leave chocolate on the pillow.

485

:

Mimi Herrington: Right.

486

:

In fact, they have to bring

their own pillowcases.

487

:

Yeah.

488

:

Larry Becker: they have to

bring their own pillowcases.

489

:

Mimi Herrington: pillowcases.

490

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): Well, you're

going to do that anyways, if you

491

:

go, glamping or, you know, camping

or whatever it is, you're going

492

:

to bring all that stuff anyway.

493

:

So, oh, that's fascinating.

494

:

And so I know you got the

assistant keeper program.

495

:

And I know that you have, cause the

Pointe Aux Barques Maritime Museum,

496

:

you actually have, like a collective,

a group of people, 80 something people

497

:

that are part of like membership,

whatever it is, talk, what is that?

498

:

what does that consist of?

499

:

Larry Becker: we have probably

close to 100, members.

500

:

And there's probably, what,

20, 20 that are, active.

501

:

You know, They come here

when we have tower climbs.

502

:

They come when we have the festival.

503

:

And the tower climb is what?

504

:

Tower climb is when we can open the tower.

505

:

And we have it scheduled so that

it's all the holiday weekends, our

506

:

festival week, and two weeks after that

they have a b, c days down in Port.

507

:

Hope they draw a big crowd.

508

:

And it's worth us to open the tower Sure.

509

:

And get volunteers.

510

:

We need, probably around,

12 volunteers for the day.

511

:

AF morning shift, afternoon shift.

512

:

And we get those people.

513

:

they enjoy coming and maintain,

doing the tower climbing.

514

:

We have to do It safely.

515

:

why somebody has to be at the

top, somebody at the bottom.

516

:

And then we take six up at a time.

517

:

They come down before the next six go up.

518

:

And, 4th of July weekend, we did

just over 300 people through there.

519

:

it becomes a It's a real thing.

520

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): It does.

521

:

Larry Becker: You need

organization to do it.

522

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): Yes.

523

:

And speaking of which, so for the

member program that we were talking

524

:

about earlier, is that purely donation?

525

:

Is there a fee involved with that?

526

:

What do the members have to do?

527

:

Larry Becker: Yes.

528

:

can they do?

529

:

They, it's $25 for, a membership.

530

:

If you're going to have husband

and wife and have dual voting

531

:

rights, you have to put in $50.

532

:

It costs $50.

533

:

when we have membership meetings, a

lot of times we have to get, proxies.

534

:

But because people are spread

out all over, so they can't

535

:

really make it up here.

536

:

But, we get quite a few

of the proxies back in.

537

:

And then we can vote on various things

like, who's going to be president next.

538

:

Mimi Herrington: to be

539

:

next.

540

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): And then

part of the funds, goes, it goes

541

:

through for fundraising or, you

know, you've got a list of people

542

:

now that you can, you can contact.

543

:

And you said there's like maybe 20 active.

544

:

So those are people that

actually come here, help out

545

:

Larry Becker: Yes.

546

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): whether

it's, the grass or, whatever

547

:

projects need to be done.

548

:

Mimi Herrington: We've got a

work day in the spring, in May

549

:

usually, to get the whole place

cleaned and ready for the season.

550

:

Then in early October we have our

shutdown day, where we have to, all

551

:

the interpretive displays that are

outside, those go inside, getting

552

:

everything closed up and buttoned up.

553

:

So we need, and then we need a lot of

volunteers, especially for the festival.

554

:

And then the tower climbs.

555

:

and luckily we get people

to to show up and help.

556

:

We also, are having, we're starting

our third year of having all the

557

:

Huron County sixth graders, both

public schools and rural schools.

558

:

we actually have five rural

schools still in Huron County.

559

:

They all come to visit the lighthouse

and the life saving station.

560

:

we're trying to expose every kid, you

know, every once you're in sixth grade,

561

:

you're going to be able to come to the

lighthouse and go to the nature center.

562

:

We found that, close to 70 percent

of the kids in this county have

563

:

never been out to Lighthouse Park.

564

:

it's a really good awareness program

we need volunteers for that too.

565

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): One of the things

that you mentioned before about, like,

566

:

the tower climb, was that, you know, you

opened it for weekends or whatever it is.

567

:

And it's my understanding

there's a festival.

568

:

Yeah.

569

:

That's coming up here,

570

:

Larry Becker: Yes,

571

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): super

572

:

Larry Becker: A week from

this Saturday, August

573

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): August 3rd.

574

:

August 3rd, okay.

575

:

and what is that?

576

:

Larry Becker: We celebrate the heritage

of the Lighthouse, the Lifesaving Station.

577

:

And, we have, this year we have

about 12 vendors that are coming in.

578

:

We, invite a food truck.

579

:

my favorite is right down at the end

of the ramp, entering the lighthouse,

580

:

is the ice cream from Port Hope.

581

:

The Chill Zone brings up their little,

truck and They serve ice cream.

582

:

And, they also have hot dogs and pretzels.

583

:

It's a fun day.

584

:

We have music on the stage all day.

585

:

We have two different bands that come up.

586

:

And they'll perform during the day and

keep things lively, keep people moving.

587

:

It's just a real fun day.

588

:

This year we're having a raffle.

589

:

We have a beautiful, not afghan,

590

:

Mimi Herrington: quilt.

591

:

Larry Becker: quilt

that was donated to us.

592

:

And we're raffling that off, And

then throughout the day we're

593

:

going to have 50 50 drawings.

594

:

Mimi Herrington: And the tower

will be open to be open the life

595

:

saving station will be open to tour.

596

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): Nice.

597

:

Nice.

598

:

And now is that something that people

just show up and can take advantage of?

599

:

Okay, perfect.

600

:

Wonderful.

601

:

Okay.

602

:

Mimi Herrington: 10 till about 4.4:30ll

603

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): All right, perfect.

604

:

And uh, so the next question I got

for you is that because I know like

605

:

we were talking a little bit before.

606

:

And I want to go back and kind of

hit on this is, the restoration of,

607

:

the buildings that were going on.

608

:

You talk about the life saving

station, whatever it is.

609

:

This is actually something that

you're working with the state

610

:

on to restore the building.

611

:

So talk to us about a little bit

about that process and how that works.

612

:

Mimi Herrington: The Life Saving

Station was moved off site in:

613

:

And it went to Huron City just

down the road, where it was

614

:

opened as a museum and operated

probably until about the late 90s.

615

:

So it hasn't really gotten any bigger.

616

:

You know, strong maintenance in

probably the last 20 or 30 years.

617

:

So it was moved back here in 2017.

618

:

And it's been sitting at both

buildings, the Keepers Quarters and

619

:

the Station House, have new roofs.

620

:

But that's basically all

that's been done to them.

621

:

So over the last three, it's hard

to believe it took three years

622

:

for us to complete, what's called

a Historic Structure Report.

623

:

And you really need, in the preservation

world, you need that kind of a report to

624

:

then go look for funding for restoration.

625

:

The state looked at three different drafts

of the report and gave us comments, and

626

:

we incorporated their comments, and, uh,

they signed off on the report in June.

627

:

So now we're starting to look into uh,

possible funding sources from either

628

:

the state or private foundations.

629

:

Anywhere we can, find funding.

630

:

It's probably going to cost a

little over a million dollars

631

:

to restore both buildings.

632

:

And we're currently, awaiting, drawings

and specifications for restoration

633

:

of the exterior of both buildings.

634

:

but we've, we have a big job ahead of us.

635

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): I bet.

636

:

And it also seems like, too, that

the, the state of Michigan itself

637

:

really has a concerted effort.

638

:

to preserve, history.

639

:

To preserve, the buildings.

640

:

And I know that there's like an entire

organization that's just completely

641

:

dedicated to that and helping to

provide tax credits or tax incentives

642

:

for people to restore these old

buildings versus just knocking them

643

:

down and throwing up something new.

644

:

Mimi Herrington: Right.

645

:

And we're, we're going to

be looking at every possible

646

:

source of funding that we can.

647

:

there, there are a lot of, In the life

saving station world, there are so

648

:

many, there were probably somewhere

between 250 or 280 life saving

649

:

stations at the height of the Life

Saving Service of the Coast Guard.

650

:

many, many, many of them are gone.

651

:

we know of one up near Alpena where, in

:

652

:

same style, it was burned down by the DNR.

653

:

I assume they did that because they

didn't want it to be an invitation to

654

:

trespass or what that sort of thing.

655

:

But That's not the way we think now.

656

:

But so many buildings are just gone.

657

:

And so we are, we feel really

lucky to still have such an old

658

:

building, such an early example

659

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): Right.

660

:

Mimi Herrington: Life

Saving Station architecture.

661

:

So we're very excited to get it restored.

662

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): restored.

663

:

Sure.

664

:

and if somebody is listening to this.

665

:

And they want to, connect with you

online, check out your resources, or, even

666

:

better, come here and see this gorgeous

667

:

Mimi Herrington: Yes.

668

:

Where

669

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): what else, where are

all the different ways they can connect?

670

:

Mimi Herrington: Well, we've

got, uh, we have a website.

671

:

It's pointeauxbarqueslighthouse.

672

:

org.

673

:

And we also have a Facebook an

Instagram page, which we try to

674

:

keep, you know, very current.

675

:

If you go to Facebook, just

type in Pointe aux Barques.

676

:

It'll have, uh, the

flyer for the festival.

677

:

And, some gorgeous

photos that people take.

678

:

People are always sending us photos that

they've taken with the Northern Lights in

679

:

the background or, gorgeous winter scenes.

680

:

so we put all that up on

Facebook and Instagram.

681

:

and you can find out what we're

doing if you go social media.

682

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): Okay.

683

:

And then how can they find you?

684

:

If they're out driving around.

685

:

Maybe they're on M25.

686

:

Larry Becker: M25.

687

:

M25, yeah, there's three signs out there.

688

:

One indicates that,

this is point, or point

689

:

Lighthouse County Park.

690

:

Lighthouse County Park.

691

:

And then Pointe Aux Barques Lighthouse.

692

:

And then, historical marker out

there, indicating there's, of course,

693

:

the historical marker back here.

694

:

we find that a lot of people catch

those signs and say, I didn't know

695

:

there was a lighthouse back there.

696

:

the red And they turn down the road

the road and then they see the red top.

697

:

And they come on in.

698

:

Mimi Herrington: In.

699

:

There's also a sign as you're entering

Port Austin, heading north on M 53.

700

:

There's also a sign that tells

you to take a right at the

701

:

Shell Station and go 12 miles

702

:

Larry Becker: so

703

:

Mimi Herrington: the lighthouse.

704

:

Larry Becker: If they're going too use

a GPS to come here, the best thing to do

705

:

is put in, Huron County Lighthouse Park.

706

:

If you put in Pointe Aux Barques,

they'll end up at the tip of the thumb.

707

:

we

708

:

Mimi Herrington: resort called

Pointe Aux Barques a private resort.

709

:

Cliff Duvernois (2): Gotcha.

710

:

Mimi, thank you so much for

taking time to chat with us today.

711

:

Really appreciate it.

712

:

And Lighthouse Larry, thank

you for chatting with us today.

713

:

You're welcome.

714

:

Thank you.

715

:

And for our audience, you can always

roll on over to TotalMichigan.

716

:

com, click on their interview and get

the links that they mentioned above.

717

:

We'll see you next time when we

talk to another Michigander doing

718

:

some pretty extraordinary things.

719

:

We'll see you then.

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