Bug Light 150th Anniversary Celebration Report

Under blue skies and a picture-perfect day, the Rotary Club of South Portland/Cape Elizabeth in partnership with the City of South Portland celebrated the 150 th birthday of the Portland Breakwater Lighthouse, aka Bug Light. It was an amazing culmination of months of planning. Committee Members were Jenna Martyn-Fisher, Sydney Raftery, Jessica Milton from the City, and Sue Sturtevant, Bill Anderson, Sari Greene, Tom Meyers, Jack Roberts, Jaymie Chamberlin, and Tony Wagner from the Rotary Club. An estimated 3,000 people made their way to Bug Light to enjoy the activities and beauty of the park during the four-hour event.

Jack Roberts and Kathy Crosson dressed as the Keeper and his Wife and greeted visitors at the Lighthouse. Guests were regaled with tales of life on the Breakwater and living in the little house perched precariously on granite ashler. Among the guests were descendants of William Holbrook and Stephen Hubbard, two of the Keepers who served at Bug Light.

Bug Light Park was alive with sights and sounds of festivities. The Ideal Music Band kicked off the day with music, a variety of food trucks served lunch, local poet John Reinhart entertained people of all ages with his poetry written on the spot and he engaged them in writing their own. Well-known lighthouse historian and author, Jeremy D’Entremont provided interesting facts about Bug Light and neighboring lighthouses. Ninety-six-year-old, Howie Wright came from East Boothbay with a special display of photos from the past. He had taken steps in the early seventies to clean and secure the abandoned tower which eventually led to the city purchasing the lighthouse.

The U.S. Coast Guard, stationed in South Portland, also participated in the day, bringing a Trailerable Aids to Navigation Boat (TANB) which was crewed by the South Portland Aids to Navigation Team (ANT.) Kids of all ages were able to go onboard to inspect and admire the boat and gear. The team’s Officer-in-Charge, Senior Boatswain Mate, Kevin Moynahan, was responsible for the Coast Guard involvement in the event. The Coast Guard Auxiliary was also there to teach about water safety.

Other community groups that took part in the special occasion included Nonesuch Books with a tableful of books for sale about lighthouses, Sail Maine with information about sailing classes, a photo display by the Portland Camera Club and First Light Camera Club of Topsham, Park Rangers who taught crafts and showed maps of Casco Bay, the South Portland Public Library with their crafts activity table, Age-Friendly SoPo who spoke to numerous people about disaster readiness on the coast, SoPo Sustainibility and Coastal Resiliance, and SPC-TV interviewed participants and posted a video on their community channel. Sari Greene created and continuously kept updating the website buglight150.org. McAllister Tugboats, with the help of Captain Brian Fournier and Captain Sarah Kaplan who coordinated the time and location of a water cannon salute that passed by the Lighthouse created a surprise that was memorable. The tugboat plowed through the inner harbor and out into the Casco Bay spewing 7,000 gallons of water per minute. What a sight that was!

No celebration is complete without speakers and presentations. Rotarian and event chair, Sue Sturtevant, acted as Master of Ceremonies. Speakers included Commander Erik Heithaus from Coast Guard Sector Northern New England, Howard Wright, Sr., and Natalie West, South Portland City Councilor At-Large who read a letter from a 19th century lighthouse keeper’s wife. State Representative Matthew Beck read an official Sentiment issued by the State House of Representatives and the State Senate. Sue then presented it to Rotarian Jack Roberts who had taken the lead in getting the Club to take over the care of Bug Light in 1988, an effort that has been on-going ever since, thanks to the MOU between the Club and the City that was written by Rotarian Tom Meyers.

In 1988 Bug Light was an abandoned shell with no light and in need of a tremendous amount of love and money. Seed money provided by the SP-CE Rotary Club leveraged close to $70,000. Then the lighthouse was cleaned inside and out, fencing was added and windows replaced and installed. Over the ensuing years the Club has stabilized the concrete base, replaced missing Acanthus leaves on top of the two Corinthian columns and replaced sections of missing acroteria at the top. The crowning piece was the installation in 2002 of a modern 250 mm solar optic lens. The original 6th order Fresnel lens had been removed in 1942 and never replaced. 

Recently Rotarian Tony Wagner worked with F/G Services to have them paint the interior and exterior of Portland Breakwater Lighthouse to ready it for the 150 th anniversary celebration. Tony also wrote a grant to the New England Lighthouse Foundation that awarded $4,150 toward half the cost of the painting. Rotary provided the rest. The culmination of all this effort is the beautiful 150-year-old lighthouse you see today. We celebrate You!