By Pam Johnson, Courier Senior Staff Writer:
Joe
Nugent hopes this island “Open House” will help sell more people on the idea of
joining the Faulkner’s Light Brigade as staunch supporters of the town’s
historic lighthouse and its unique island home.
“It’s
not a fundraiser,” says Joe of the upcoming Faulkner’s Island Open House; Sept.
6, 7 and Sept. 13, 14 (weather permitting). “It’s a way of getting people
involved and interested in becoming members. We want to spread the word…this
island is a treasure.”
A Guilford resident for 35
years, Joe and his wife, Barbara, live just a few minutes from the town marina,
which will be the base for a water ferry taking Open House guests to
Faulkner’s. The two weekends are the only time guests can visit the island,
off-limits year-round, explains Joe, Open House chairman.
Joe
strongly recommends people lock-in ferry round-trip reservations in advance
($37.50 per person) by visiting barry@soundnavigation.com. One or two
non-reservation ferry runs are also expected to be offered each day. During
Open House weekends, boat owners can anchor near the island (west side) and
catch a water taxi to the landing ($2 per person).
“If
you’re adventurous, you can bring your canoe or kayak and land on the island.
It’s about 3 1/2 miles out,” adds Joe.
If
past attendance is any indication, most guests will likely to get to the island
by water ferry from the town marina. Joe added the service when he first took
on the job of Open House chairperson three years ago.
“One
thing I insisted on was to get land-locked people who don’t have a boat onto
the island. A lot of people come to the dock and look out there and say, ‘What
is that place?’ Once they get out there and see the work that still has to be
done, they may want to get involved. We need members.”
Another
aspect Joe’s insisted on is allowing visitors inside the lighthouse.
“I
think it’s important that they actually can go inside, as long as they’re able
and willing to climb 55 steps and eight rungs of a ladder.”
The
ability to safely enter the lighthouse and traverse other renovated areas of
the island are due in large part to contributions and projects of the
all-volunteer Faulkner’s Light Brigade–and there’s still plenty of work to be
done. Joe hopes many Open House guests will visit the Light Brigade tent and
sign up as new members.
Joe’s
certainly signed up for more than one good cause. He’s served as chairman of
the Guilford Water Pollution Commission for many years, as well as a
long-standing member (and scholarship chairman) of the Guilford Volunteer Fire
Department. He’s also a member of the Guilford Preservation Alliance and
Whitfield South Neighborhood Association. Joe joined the Faulkner’s Light
Brigade four years ago, shortly after completing his duties with the Town
Center South Committee.
Joe’s
also a firm believer in the importance of another good cause: donating blood.
Eighteen years ago, he instituted quarterly blood drives for the Red Cross at
his former workplace with the state Metro-District (Hartford).
“I
still go back four times a year to volunteer,” says Joe, who retired a few
years ago.
When
he’s not volunteering, Joe works the growing season at Van Wilgen’s in
Branford, where he also initiated a company blood drive. Both Joe and Barbara
share an interest in gardening and in birds. Shortly after moving to their home
on the fringe of a salt marsh, the couple erected one of the area’s first
osprey stands. Birds are a big part of Faulkner’s Island, too.
Situated
along the Atlantic flyway, Faulkner’s Island is owned by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and operated by the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife
Refuge. Its home to a valued population of endangered roseate terns and common
terns, which migrate here in early spring and leave in August.
The
island’s terns are not only protected, but notoriously territorial. Luckily for
Open House guests, by this time of year, “…most of the terns will be gone,” Joe
says.
The
main feature of the island is its historic lighthouse, built in 1802. The light
is the second-oldest tower in the state and the only still operating from an
island. It’s now run on an automated system overseen by the U.S. Coast
Guard.
When
the Faulkner’s Light Brigade formed in 1991, as a commission of the Guilford
Preservation Alliance, its mission was to find the ways and means to save the
then-crumbling lighthouse. With the tower subsequently saved, the Brigade’s
moved on to other tasks, explains Joe.
“The
mission statement of the Faulkner’s Light Brigade has changed slightly. It’s
grown to incorporate not just the lighthouse building, but all of the
structures on the island, as well as working with the wildlife refuge.”
The
Open House event represents the strong ties Faulkner’s Light Brigade has formed
with the refuge, headquartered in Westbrook. Refuge Manager Rick Potvin said
the island preserve wouldn’t be the same without the support of the Brigade.
“The
amount of work the Faulkner’s Light Brigade does to protect the cultural and
natural heritage of the island is amazing. It’s truly been an effort not only
to conserve and protect the lighthouse, but the island itself,” says Potvin,
who will be on-island with Joe and company during Open House weekends.
Also
on-island will be members of the U.S. Coast Guard, with a vessel moored on
site. Coast Guard members will give visitors overviews of the lighthouse’s
maritime service history, as will docents with Faulkner’s Light Brigade. Members of the wildlife refuge will share
information about the islands birdlife and other wildlife.
Joe
says his years of working with a state government agency have shown him how
difficult it is for other government agencies, such as the wildlife refuge, to
rely on consistent funding for needs.
“It’s
important to do this because it gets people involved. The days of government
grants are over.”
Faulkner’s
Light Brigade Open House 2008 take place Saturday and Sunday, Sept 6, 7, 13,
and 14, on Faulkner’s Island, Guilford (weather permitting). For more
information, visit http://lighthouse.cc/flb.
Pictured: Joe Nugent lives just a few minutes from the town marina,
the launch site from which a water ferry will carry passengers to Faulkner’s Island during Open House weekends in early September. Joe
is in his third year of chairing the event for the all-volunteer Faulkner’s
Light Brigade.
Photo
by Pam Johnson