Light Hearted podcast

#Jeremy D'Entremont, U.S. Lighthouse Society #Jeremy D'Entremont #U.S. Lighthouse Society #Society #Travel #Special Editions

27:28

Chris Nowinski is a former football player at Harvard University and professional wrestler with WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment. After enduring a career-ending head injury, Chris has dedicated his professional life to serving patients and families affected by brain trauma, particularly Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that develops after repeated head injuries. Jay and Chris discuss the state of head injuries in American athletics, the difference between advocating for head safety at youth and professional levels, Chris’ newest research, and much more. Episode Chapters (00:00) Intro (00:50) changes in the culture around concussions in the past two decades (02:39) padded helmet technology (03:55) concussion reporting in the NFL (10:35) Chris’ career path and concussion history (14:52) connecting with activists who haven’t themselves suffered a traumatic brain injury (17:42) SHAAKE - a new sign to identify concussions (20:53) Unions can help players advocate for safety policies (23:10) final thoughts and goodbye For video episodes, watch on www.youtube.com/@therudermanfamilyfoundation Stay in touch: X: @JayRuderman | @RudermanFdn LinkedIn: Jay Ruderman | Ruderman Family Foundation Instagram: All About Change Podcast | Ruderman Family Foundation To learn more about the podcast, visit https://allaboutchangepodcast.com/…

Light Hearted

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The official podcast of the U.S. Lighthouse Society

303 episodes

Light Hearted

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updated 5 days ago

Series home•Feed

The official podcast of the U.S. Lighthouse Society

303 episodes

#Jeremy D'Entremont, U.S. Lighthouse Society #Jeremy D'Entremont #U.S. Lighthouse Society #Society #Travel #Special Editions

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Light Hearted

1
Light Hearted ep 310 – Barcelona Lighthouse, New York 40:20

5 days ago40:20

40:20

Barcelona Light Station, photo by Mike and Carol McKinney In 1828, Congress appropriated five thousand dollars to construct a lighthouse in Barcelona Harbor on Lake Erie in New York. The harbor had just been designated an official port of entry when the lighthouse was built. In the early 1800s, lumber, salt, flour, and fish were shipped to and from the port. The lighthouse is a conical stone tower, 40 feet tall. It’s believed to be the very first natural gas-powered lighthouse in the world. Barcelona Lighthouse is undergoing a major restoration (New York State Parks) Marla Bingham-Melcher The light was discontinued as an aid to navigation in 1859, and the property was transferred to New York State Parks in 2007. There’s a museum in the keeper’s house, and currently there’s a major project in progress that includes the rehabilitation of the lighthouse tower. Our guest is Marla Bingham-Melcher, the manager of the five state parks in Chautauqua County, including Barcelona Lighthouse. This episode is co-hosted by Averie Shaughnessy-Comfort, executive director of Lake Erie Lights of Pennsylvania.…

Light Hearted

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Light Hearted Lite #16 – Fred Mikkelsen, Coast Guard keeper at Conimicut, RI 28:07

12 days ago28:07

28:07

Fred Mikkelsen This is an edited version of an interview first heard in episode 43 in January 2020. Conimicut Lighthouse is a cast-iron caisson structure built in 1883 to mark a dangerous shoal at the mouth of the Providence River. 18-year-old Coast Guardsman Frederick Mikkelsen was assigned to the station in 1958. One of his most memorable experiences in his three years at the lighthouse was a 1960 hurricane. Shortly after Fred Mikkelsen left, Conimicut became one of the last lighthouses in the nation to be converted to electricity. The light was automated and the resident keepers were reassigned in 1963. The lighthouse is owned today by the City of Warwick, RI, and it has recently been restored. Conimicut Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont…

Light Hearted

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Light Hearted ep 309 – East Brother Light Station and the history of Richmond, CA, with Desiree Heveroh 1:03:14

19 days ago1:03:14

1:03:14

Desiree Heveroh at East Brother Light Station in Richmond, California Desiree Heveroh describes herself a steward and keeper of the history of the city of Richmond, California, located in the San Francisco Bay Area’s East Bay region. She was a longtime board member of the East Brother Light Station, which is situated on an island in the strait that separates San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. East Brother is open to the public as a B&B inn, and Desiree actually lived in the lighthouse for 14 months during the COVID pandemic. She’s also the shipkeeper for the historic SS Red Oak Victory Ship in Richmond. Desiree has a new book out, co-written with Victoria Stuhr. The book is simply titled Richmond . It’s one of Arcadia Publishing’s “Past and Present” series, which offers a special view of American life by placing historical images side-by-side with contemporary photographs. Jen Lewis, fundraising and outreach manager at the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse in northern California, co-hosts this episode.…

Light Hearted

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Light Hearted Lite #15 – Shona Riddell, author of “Guiding Lights,” and the USLHS’s upcoming virtual event 37:19

26 days ago37:19

37:19

Pencarrow Lighthouse (1859) was the first permanent lighthouse in New Zealand. Mary Jane Bennett – the first official lighthouse keeper in New Zealand, and the only woman to ever hold the role – is profiled in “Guiding Lights.” This is another episode of Light Hearted Lite, the series where we revisit interviews from the past six years of Light Hearted . First is a chat about an upcoming virtual conference the U.S. Lighthouse Society will be hosting in March. The conference will celebrate the 25 th anniversary of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 and will feature a broad spectrum of presenters. Joining us for this discussion are Henry Gonzalez, president of the U.S. Lighthouse Society, and Kathy Fleming, vice president. Shona Riddell Author Shona Riddell was interviewed in episode 82 back in September 2020. Shona lives in Wellington, New Zealand, and her 2020 book, Guiding Lights: The Extraordinary Lives of Lighthouse Women , shares the stories of lighthouse women from around the world and through the centuries, including heroic female keepers, isolated families, and dedicated caretakers. This is an edited version of the 2020 conversation.…

Light Hearted

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Light Hearted ep 308: Alex Dias, Pomham Rocks, Rhode Island 54:11

5 weeks ago54:11

54:11

Pomham Rocks Lighthouse, photo by Gary Point Pomham Rocks Lighthouse is at the northern end of Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, offshore from the community of Riverside. Alex Dias joined the Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse (a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation) in 2012, but his fascination with lighthouses dates back to 2005 when he was in the 5th grade. He’s been involved with virtually every aspect of the group, including the development of the museum inside the keeper’s quarters, the ongoing restoration of the building inside and out, and helping to facilitate public tours. Alex has a captain’s license and brings many guests out to the lighthouse, in addition to serving as a tour guide himself. Alex Dias Alex became the chairman of the Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse earlier this year, and he’s on the board of directors of the American Lighthouse Foundation. He received a Len Hadley Volunteerism Award from the foundation in 2017. His brother, Adam, is also a volunteer and currently serves as the treasurer of Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse. Adam received the Len Hadley Volunteerism Award in 2023. Judianne Point co-hosts this episode. Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse volunteers during the installation of Pomham’s fourth-order Fresnel lens in the lighthouse museum in September 2021. Alex and Adam Dias are behind the lens. Co-host Judianne Point is second from right. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.…

Light Hearted

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Light Hearted Lite #14 – Jim Pope, keeper at Whaleback, Maine 23:14

6 weeks ago23:14

23:14

This is a re-edited version of an interview that was first heard on “Light Hearted” in 2019. Jim Pope was a keeper at rugged Whaleback Lighthouse in Maine from 1960 to ’62, and the light was automated and de-staffed a short time later. Whaleback is a ledge on the northeast side of the entrance to the Piscataqua River, on the approach to the harbor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The 70-foot granite lighthouse tower was built in 1872. The keepers lived inside the tower itself. Whaleback Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont Jim Pope was born in Scarborough, Maine, in 1938. After graduation from Traip Academy in Kittery he began a lifelong career on the water. After his time in the Coast Guard, he worked as a tugboat captain for Moran Towing for more than 25 years. He lived for many years in Eliot, Maine, near Kittery, and was fondly known as the Pope of Elliot.…

Light Hearted

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Light Hearted ep 307 – Peter Halil, UK lighthouse keeper, part 2 of 2 49:27

7 weeks ago49:27

49:27

Peter Halil and his wife, Isla This is part two of a two-part interview. Peter Halil was a lighthouse keeper in the UK from 1974 to 1997, and he was among the last traditional lighthouse keepers there before all the lights were automated. Peter Halil was keeper at South Stack Light Station in Wales 1980-83. USLHS archives. He also shot video at as many lighthouses as possible before they were automated. His videos sometimes include footage of the keepers at work, and, when possible, interviews with keepers. He’s posted the videos on his YouTube channel, which you can access at youtube.com/@PeterHalil . The U.S. Lighthouse Society thanks Peter for being a lighthouse for all of us who strive to preserve maritime history. St. Catherines in Wales is one of the places where Peter Halil served as keeper (1976-80). USLHS photo by Joyce Dixon.…

Light Hearted

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Light Hearted Lite #13 – Rob Benchley, Sankaty Head (Nantucket, MA) 18:48

8 weeks ago18:48

18:48

Rob Benchley at Sankaty Head Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont This is re-edited version of an interview with Rob Benchley first heard in episode 81 in September 2020. Rob is the volunteer modern day keeper of Sankaty Head Lighthouse in the Sconset village on Nantucket in Massachusetts. He’s also an accomplished photojournalist who has been the staff photographer for three island newspapers, and his photography has been featured in the New York Times and the Boston Globe . Rob was one of the first people on the scene when Great Point Lighthouse on Nantucket was toppled by a storm in March 1984. He has written or co-written several books including Keeping the Light , about the historic move of Sankaty Head Lighthouse back from the edge of an eroding bluff in 2007. Rob and his wife Carol, a retired Nantucket school teacher, live in a house they built together in ‘Sconset.…

Light Hearted

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Light Hearted ep 306 – UK lighthouse keeper and chronicler Peter Halil; “Be a Lighthouse” 1:02:01

9 weeks ago1:02:01

1:02:01

Peter Halil There are two segments in this episode. The first guest, Peter Halil, was a lighthouse keeper in the UK from 1974 to 1997. He was among the country’s final traditional lighthouse keepers before all the lights were automated. He was stationed at some well known light stations in England and Wales, including South Bishop, Dungeness, St. Catherines, Bishop Rock, the Lizard, and others. Peter interviewed Prince Phillip (master of Trinity House, the UK lighthouse service) in 1995 During his final years as a keeper, he visited as many lighthouses as possible before they were automated. He shot video at the lighthouses including walk-throughs, footage of the keepers at work, and, when possible, interviews with keepers. In recent years he’s gone back and edited the videos and posted them on his YouTube channel, which you can access at youtube.com/@PeterHalil . This is part one of a two part interview. Candice Simeoni The guest for our special “Be a Lighthouse” segment is Candice Simeoni, who is a police officer in the southern Maine community of Kennebunk. Candice runs the Golden Ornament Project, which benefits local senior citizens in the holiday season. She is also known as the Sugar Angel, for reasons that are explained in the interview.…

Light Hearted

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Light Hearted Lite #12 – Karen Zacharuk, keeper at Cape Beale, BC 23:57

10 weeks ago23:57

23:57

With the world’s longest coastline and more lakes than the rest of the world combined, Canada is also home to more than 750 lighthouses. In spite of automation, there continue to be 49 staffed lighthouses operated by the Government of Canada. Aerial view of Cape Beale, BC (Courtesy of Karen Zacharuk) The light station at Cape Beale is one of the 25 stations that remain staffed on the coast of British Columbia. A resident keeper still maintains the navigation equipment and buildings, monitors the weather and sea conditions, and watches for emergency situations. For more than 15 years, the keeper has been Karen Zacharuk. This is an edited version of an interview first heard on this podcast in July 2020. Karen Zacharuk and companion at Cape Beale (Courtesy of Karen Zacharuk)…

Light Hearted

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Light Hearted ep 305 – Jake Heffernan, Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse, Wisconsin 44:00

11 weeks ago44:00

44:00

In 1836, rumors of gold in a muddy river on the west shore of Lake Michigan near modern day Green Bay, Wisconsin, spurred the creation of what would become the City of Kewaunee. The arrival of a railroad in the late 1800s led to increased shipping in the area, and in 1880-81 two long piers were built at the entrance to the harbor. In the years that followed there were a number of reconfigurations of the piers and lighthouses in the harbor. Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse, Wisonsin. (Friends of the Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse) Jake Heffernan (Friends of the Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse) In late 1930, a car ferry collided with the south pier and badly damaged a small lighthouse tower that stood adjacent to a fog signal building. The damaged pier was repaired and a square brick lighthouse tower was added on the roof of the fog signal building, giving the lighthouse the appearance it has now. The City of Kewaunee was granted ownership of the lighthouse in 2011. Thanks to the assistance of the nonprofit Friends of the Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse, much restoration has been carried out in the past decade. The guest in this episode, Jake Heffernan, is the acting president and historian for the Friends of the Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse.…

Light Hearted

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Light Hearted Lite #11 – Dolly Bicknell’s memories of the Flying Santa to the lighthouses 20:10

12 weeks ago20:10

20:10

Edward Rowe Snow, his daughter Dolly, and his wife Anna-Myrle prepare for a Flying Santa flight in 1964. (Friends of Flying Santa) The Flying Santa tradition traces its origins to a pioneering pilot in Maine named Bill Wincapaw. To show his appreciation to lighthouse keepers and their families, on Christmas Day in 1929 he loaded his plane with a dozen packages and dropped gifts for the lighthouse families in the midcoast area. He soon expanded the flights to more of the Maine coast and to the other New England states. Edward Rowe Snow, a teacher and budding historian in Massachusetts, became interested and took part in the 1936 flights. Edward Rowe Snow kept the Flying Santa tradition alive through 1980, flying over the lighthouses of New England and sometimes traveling as far as the West Coast. The Snow family in 1963. (Friends of Flying Santa) Edward Rowe Snow’s daughter Dolly flew on her first Flying Santa flight when she was less than one year old, and flew yearly for decades after that. This interview is an edited version of the one that was first heard on the podcast in December 2020. Today, the Flying Santa flights are carried out by helicopter by the nonprofit Friends of Flying Santa as a show of gratitude to Coast Guard personnel and their supportive families.…

Light Hearted

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Light Hearted ep 304 – Jonathon Gaare, Fire Island, NY 46:18

13 weeks ago46:18

46:18

Fire Island Light Station, New York. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. Fire Island is one of a chain of barrier islands running along the south shore of Long Island, New York. The first lighthouse on Fire Island was a 74-foot-high stone tower built in 1826. It was considered too short, so the much taller brick lighthouse that still stands was built in 1858. The new tower was fitted with a powerful first-order Fresnel lens. For many years, the flash of the Fire Island Lighthouse was the first sight of land for countless European immigrants coming to America. Fire Island Lighthouse was decommissioned as an aid to navigation on December 31, 1973. The first-order Fresnel lens that was once in service in Fire Island Lighthouse is now displayed in a separate building on the grounds. Jonathon Gaare in 2020, when he interned as a seasonal Park Ranger Interpreter at the Fire Island National Seashore. The Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society was formed in 1982. Four years later, on Memorial Day in 1986, the lighthouse returned to duty as an aid to navigation. Today, visitors can tour the museum in the keeper’s house, with two floors of exhibits. Visitors can also view the old first-order Fresnel lens, which is on display in a separate building. The guest in this episode, Jonathon Gaare, became the executive director of the Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society earlier this year.…

Light Hearted

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Light Hearted Lite #9 – Maine lighthouse keeper Ernie DeRaps 25:41

14 weeks ago25:41

25:41

Ernie DeRaps, a native Mainer, spent several years in the 1950s and ‘60s as a Coast Guard lighthouse keeper at four Maine lighthouses – Monhegan, Fort Point, Heron Neck, and Browns Head. A book written by Ernie and his wife Pauline was published by Foghorn publishing in 2006. Ernie’s half of the book was called Lighthouse Keeping. If you turn the book over and upside down, the other half of the book, by Pauline, or Polly, Fitzgerald DeRaps, was called Light Housekeeping. "Light Hearted" host Jeremy D'Entremont, Ernie DeRaps, and American Lighthouse Foundation Executive Director Bob Trapani Jr. in February 2019. Ernie took up painting at the age of 80 and completed portraits of all of Maine’s lighthouses. He and Pauline were married for 64 years and had six children. Pauline passed away in 2015 and Ernie followed her last year, at the age of 95. Ernie DeRaps at Monhegan Lighthouse in 2007. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. This is an edited version of an interview that was recorded in February 2019. Also taking part in the discussion is Bob Trapani, Jr., executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation.…

Light Hearted

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Light Hearted ep 303 – Amy Frank, Door County Historical Society and Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, WI 44:47

15 weeks ago44:47