Transfer Ceremony Conducted on May 1, 2004

A ceremony was held at the Annapolis City Dock on May 1, 2004, authorizing the transfer of the Thomas Point Shoal lighthouse to our partnership. Dignitaries included the Honorable Gale Norton, the Secretary of the Interior; Rear Admiral Sally Brice-O'Hara, the Commander of the U.S. Coast Guard's Fifth District; Ms. Barbara Shelton, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator of the General Services Administration; and U.S. Representative Benjamin Cardin, of Maryland's 3rd District. The partners were represented by Annapolis Mayor Ellen Moyer; Wayne Wheeler, the President of the U.S. Lighthouse Society; Buck Buchanan, Chairman of the Annapolis Maritime Museum; and Ginger Ellis, Environmental Planning Administrator for Anne Arundel County's Office of Environmental & Cultural Resources.

Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton signs the transfer document as Mayor Ellen Moyer and Rear Admiral Sally Brice-O'Hara look on. Photo by Candace Clifford.

The transfer ceremony was held as part of the opening festivities for the weekend-long Maryland Maritime Heritage Festival. Mr. Wheeler presented the U.S. Lighthouse Society's President's Award to Henry Gonzalez, the President of the Chesapeake Chapter of the society, along with a check for $10,000 for the lighthouse. The partnership also received a check for $10,000 from its first corporate sponsor, the Injured Worker's Insurance Fund (IWIF) of Towson, Maryland, and a check for $1000 from the Beacons of the Bay lighthouse collectible club. Attendees at the ceremony included two grandchildren of a lighthouse keeper from the early 1900s which we located and invited.

After the transfer ceremony, the dignitaries were taken to see the lighthouse on a 41 foot Coast Guard boat. The Annapolis Maritime Museum and the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society shared side-by-side booths at the Festival, and met many new enthusiasts of the lighthouse.

Members of the partners' preservation team were on the lighthouse on April 29th and 30th doing a through assessment and refining their preservation plans. The first step will be the replacement of the storage platform (located between the cottage house and the waterline) that was destroyed by Hurricane Isabel last fall. This platform is necessary for the safe and effective transfer of personnel and equipment to/from the lighthouse. The partners are working with the Coast Guard on this effort.

For more pictures of the festivities, please go to our Photo section. And stay tuned to our progress!