Participants may enjoy these one-hour interactive programs individually or as a three-part series. They are suitable for 6th grade students through high school as well as adult life-long learners. Younger participants are welcome if accompanied by an adult.
JUNE 14, 2025
TIME: 10:00-11:00a | LOCATION: St. Joseph/Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library
TOPIC: Does it count as a lighthouse?
Participants “vote” if a structure “should count” as a lighthouse while learning how experts define the difference between lights, harbor lights, lighthouses, light stations, beacons, active aids to navigation, and private aids to navigation. And let’s not forget about historic ruins! Spoiler alert: In the end, participants are challenged to begin a list counting the number of lighthouses they have visited.
JULY 12, 2025
TIME: 10:00-11:00a | LOCATION: Box Factory for the Arts
TOPIC: Lighthouse Architecture
While Europe may have their castles, we have our lighthouses! See dozens of beautiful lighthouse photos and connect the language of lighthouses to their unique architecture and various components. Audience volunteers are given lighthouse “part” definitions which are then matched to the screen diagrams in a lively large group format. We will also discuss clever ways historic lighthouse parts work together to keep our lights lit atop their towers.
AUGUST 9, 2025
TIME: 10:00-11:00a | LOCATION: Shadowland on Silver Beach
TOPIC: Lighthouse Navigation
Oils, lamps, lenses, characteristics, daymarks, and catwalks…What are all these things and how did yesterday’s keepers use them to help vessels navigate? (And do it without electricity!) The amazing innovation of range lights, including the pair on the St Joseph North Pier, will be explored. The presentation includes a “dark and stormy night” simulation (no danger involved) where participants identify “their boat’s” location using only lighthouse beacons.
PRESENTER BIO: An avid lighthouse enthusiast for over two decades, Marie A. Blunt has seen over 500 lighthouses across the US and Canada. She travels with her photographer husband, Allan, incorporating his vibrant pictures into her presentations and publications. Among other hobbies Marie provides lighthouse programs through the United States Lighthouse Society Speakers Bureau featuring intriguing history, lively audience participation and a wee bit of wit. She is the author of The Lighthouse Primer and Lighthouses of Port Washington and has contributed several articles to the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s Keeper's Log. She serves as a volunteer docent at the St Joseph North Pier Inner Lighthouse. The Blunts live in Indiana, regrettably a state with only half a dozen lighthouses.
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