Lighthouse marker dedication set for June 30

Program, tours scheduled for 100th anniversary

A new marker will be unveiled this week to note the 100th birthday of the Lorain Lighthouse.

The Lorain Lighthouse Foundation will dedicate the marker at 11 a.m. June 30. The marker will be placed at F Dock on Lorain’s East Pier, also known as the Mile Long Pier, behind the Jackalope Lakeside restaurant, 301 Lakeside Ave.

“We’re eager to get this done due to the fact of so many years we’ve been working on it,” said Frank Sipkovsky, board chairman of the Lorain Lighthouse Foundation.

The lighthouse remains a continuing improvement project of the Lighthouse board and those who donate their money, time and effort, Sipkovsky said.

“We appreciate all the help that we’ve been having to help finish the lighthouse, especially the volunteers who have been giving their time,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of diehard volunteers.”

The ceremony will involve three historical markers.

The Ohio Historical Marker will log the history of the structure and preservation efforts of the 1960s and 1970s.

It will be displayed on the pier.

A plaque from the U.S. Department of the Interior notes the lighthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places. There also will be a new marker from the Lorain County Historical Society.

The national and county markers will be dedicated on shore and later taken to be mounted inside the Lorain Lighthouse.

The ceremony is free and open to the public.

At 7 p.m. June 30, the Lorain Historical Society will host “Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Lorain Lighthouse,” a presentation by Valerie Smith of the Lorain Public Library System.

The evening will include a display of models of Lorain’s five lighthouses. The models were built by Dave Kramer, a Lighthouse Foundation board member.

The foundation will sell a commemorative book with proceeds to benefit its endowment, said Barb Piscopo, the Historical Society’s executive director.

“The lighthouse is truly an iconic landmark in Lorain, probably more so than any other structure or landmark that exists,” she said.

“When people see that lighthouse, they think of Lorain.”

When Lorain residents send gifts to people who have moved away from the city, many of them want items that include images of the lighthouse, Piscopo said. The lighthouse recalls not only the city, but the natural beauty of Lake Erie, she said.

Sipkovsky noted the lighthouse is on the cover of the official Lorain County 2017 Visitors Guide and on the cover of Lake Erie Living magazine’s 2017 Lake Erie Lighthouse Map.

The lighthouse, accessible only by boat, had 436 visitors for its 2016 tours, along with a wedding and guests at the weekly lighthouse Sunset Wine Dinners, Sipkovsky said. Proceeds from the visits help pay for preservation efforts.

This year’s July 1 Fireworks Picnic has long been sold out, said Linda Lumadue, who handles dinner bookings with her husband, Jim, a lighthouse foundation board member.

The lighthouse dinners take up to 18 people and are booked into mid-August; the dinners will run to Sept. 12 this year and there are some open slots.

The June 27 dinner was to include guests celebrating a 95th birthday, a 90th birthday and a 50th anniversary, Lumadue said. There is another wedding scheduled this year at the lighthouse as well, Sipkovsky said, and private party bookings are available, Lumadue said.

Lighthouse tours are scheduled July 1, 2 and 19; Aug. 2, 12 and 26; and Sept. 2.

The ceremony will involve three historical markers.

While it is seen by many, the lighthouse has relatively few visitors.

“It’s amazing how many people call and say they’ve never been to the lighthouse and they’ve lived in Lorain their whole life,” Lumadue said.