FUND INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

Marblehead Lighthouse is the oldest, continuously operational lighthouse on the Great Lakes. It has been featured on a U.S. postage stamp, has appeared on the license plates of Ohio's drivers, and was recently added to the Ohio State Parks system.

In January 1997, Marblehead’s tower and the small plot of land surrounding it were declared surplus federal property by the Coast Guard. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) applied for ownership, as they already owned and took care of the property adjacent to the lighthouse, including a picnic grove, visitor parking and the keeper’s historic house. (At the time, these were part of the East Harbor State Park.) The National Park Service encouraged the General Services Administration to grant ODNR’s request, and in April 1998 a letter arrived informing ODNR that their application had been accepted. One month later, ODNR assumed ownership of the lighthouse, planning to invest up to $1,000,000 to renovate the structure, protect it from shore erosion and provide additional visitor amenities. Under an agreement with ODNR, the U.S. Coast Guard's Aides to Navigation Team in Huron, Ohio, maintains the tower's automated beacon.

On September 1, 2001, TSC Building Restoration started renovations of the lighthouse tower and the adjacent Victorian keeper's quarters. Deteriorated brickwork in the tower was rebuilt and cracks in the tower’s stucco shell were patched. The keeper's dwelling was elevated on jacks so that rotting support columns and beams could be replaced. Siding on the dwelling was replaced, and inside, original oak floors were restored and the kitchen ceiling was rebuilt. The dwelling also received several modern conveniences: lighting, air conditioning, and a wheelchair lift.

Please view "Original" size.

FOUND: I know that my father had several places in mind for his retirement in California. This was one of them. He loved this country up here. The town has grown up quite a bit. I remembered the center of town being a short drive up away from the beaches. That little town has extended itself to the seashore. There are two sections of town along the beaches. Cambria and Cambria Pines. There is a beautiful leave-it-as-she lies park in between the two. This picture is taken from one of the juttys in that parkland. The fields are lovely with wildflowers and native plants.

I spent approximately three weeks out of Utah. The itinerary can be summed up like this: Salt Lake City - Utah Lake - Highway 51 (loneliest in America) through Central Nevada - into California - Mono Lake - Bowdie - Yosemite - Central Valley - Covina (L.A. area), Coast Ranges, Paso Robles, San Simeon & Cambria, Monterey, San Francisco, Northern California Coast - into Oregon, Oregon Coast to Bandon - Oregon Central Valley south - into California - Northeast California - into Nevada at Reno - I-80 across to Salt Lake City.

This leg of the trip was most delightful as it entailed a partial family reunion with four sisters(including in-laws), a brother, a nephew, my daughter, my wife, and I. My sister, Anita rented a very private vacation property below the Hearst Castle along the coast at San Simeon & Piedras Blancas. It was two nights and three days of bliss that I might never had were it not for Anita and Sheila who swung the deal.

By the way. My Dad never retired here. He settled on Santa Barbara, instead. But he would have loved it, I can now say. Hope you all like it, too. Thanks for the memories.

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