By Bill Wolcott<br><a href="mailto:bill.wolcott@lockportjournal.com">E-mail Bill</a>
SOMERSET — With about 200 registered friends, several volunteers and 3,000 annual visitors, the Lighthouse at Thirty-Mile Point is improving with age.
The Friends of Thirty-Mile Point Lighthouse will hold its annual Christmas at the Lighthouse Celebration from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 11 in Golden Hill State Park, 9691 Lower Lake Road.
Events include a chicken barbecue by the Barker Lions Club, a basket auction, bake sale, souvenir sale and tours of the historic lighthouse. Tim Horton's chili, hot dogs, cider, doughnuts and coffee are available. Admission is free.
“People are interested in lighthouses, lately,” said Renee Campbell, the park supervisor. “We get people from all over, Zimbabwe, Germany ... ”
Campbell began working at the park 10 years ago and became a member of Friends of the Lighthouse. “When I started, I was doing restoration work, scraping paint, and I fell in love with it,” she said. “They took so much care with what they did. The lighthouse has so much history. It acts like a symbol for me. It’s been through so many hard times.”
Thirty-Mile Point is 30 miles east of the mouth of the Niagara River on Lake Ontario between Olcott and Point Breeze. It was built in 1875 to mark a sandbar and shoal located offshore. Several vessels have been lost near the point, including one of the French explorer LaSalle’s boats, which sank in 1678.
“There is so much history at the lighthouse,” said Adrienne LaRocco, who was introduced to the park’s centerpiece by her grandparents, Morris and Winifred Smith. “I would come to the park with them. History is important to all of us.” Morris Smith, a World War II veteran, would lecture at Barker High School on history. He died in 2008 at 86.
The second floor of the lighthouse keepers’ home has been restored into a three-bedroom suite, suitable for six people. It can be rented for $250 a night, with a two-night minimum or $1,450 for seven days. The suite has three queen-size beds, a sitting room with fire place, a fully-furnished kitchen. Most groups of six stay for two nights.
For reservations, go to ReserveAmerica.com
Ten different couples, who wear red caps, lead tours of the grounds. This week, the volunteers are Maureen and Graham Salter of Ransomville
There are 50 campsites, as well as historic adjacent buildings in the park, but the lighthouse is the centerpiece.
Contact reporter Bill Wolcott at 439-9222, ext. 6246.
