|
New London's US Custom House opened in December, 1835 -- 187 years ago.
Photo, top: Alice Houston & family (the Martins from Colorado) in the lens inside the Harbor Lighthouse lantern room last week. Bill Martin.
| |
|
tonight - Sunday,November 27, 6-9 PM
It's the last Open Mic of the year
Open Mic at the Museum
Open Mic meets from 6-9 PM on the last Sunday of the month at the beautiful Custom House Maritime Museum. Co-hosted by Kenny "Doc" Frazier and Christina Corcoran, our monthly open mic welcomes music, poetry, prose, stand-up or just say what is on your mind. Open to all ages and abilities for fun and camaraderie!
Photo: Open Mic.
| |
|
What's Up at the
Custom House
November 27, 2022
Become a member sign up online.
The museum is open from 10 AM to 5 PM on Wed. & Sat., and from 1 to 5 PM, Thurs., Fri. Photo, above: new holiday ornaments in the SHOP.
Save the date: Thursday, December 15, 4--5 PM - 2022. WINTER CELEBRATION.
Join us to toast both the season and look forward to the year ahead. It’s an in-person party at the Custom House. All are welcome. It's FREE. There’s a lot to celebrate!
Save the date: Sunday, December 18 from 11--5. STUDENT ART SHOW - OPEN HOUSE.
Art from Harbor, Winthrop, and Nathan Hale third grade students in the Local History & Landmarks program. Refreshments! It's FREE. Meet the kids & learn more about the program!
SHOP at the MUSEUM
Today, November 27, is Museum Store Sunday
20% OFF TODAY in the SHOP!
NLMS members always receive and additional 10% discount = 30% today, only!
When you purchase a gift from the museum store, you help to sustain the museum’s service to the community and the public.
Please be a Patron today -- on Museum Store Sunday -- and all year round.
Through December, for every $50 spent in the Shop, you will receive
one dark chocolate sardine!
We thank all our sponsors - ARPA - Bodenwein Foundation - Astor Place - Chelsea Groton Foundation - Community Foundation of Eastern CT - CT Humanities - CT Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts - Eleven+ - Frank Loomis Palmer Fund - Maco Family Fund - New London Cultural District - Robinson+Cole - State of CT - SVOG U.S. Small Business Administration - Veolia / NL Water Authority.
| |
|
2022 the Year of the Lighthouse
The Year of the Lighthouse has been a success, with tours to Race, Ledge, Harbor & Little Gull - a film premiere - a puppet play - we even washed the lighthouse!
Here are some staggering statistics:
-
New London Harbor Light: We completed landscaping at Harbor Light this summer with a $60,000 state Good-to-Great grant; 101 people toured the lighthouse - of these 32 were NL students + family funded by Veolia/NL Water Authority $5 tickets. A bench was donated in memory of Marie Elena Noawk. We washed Harbor Light in September, with a Go-Fund-Me campaign. A $10,000 donation from Louise Novitch will allow NLMS to finish the entrance gate.
-
Race Rock: Architecture firm Modern Ruins released their final building assessment/preservation plan in June; July had a film premiere of The History of Race Rock, sponsored by the Henry Ferguson Museum with 300 attending on Fishers Island - we've raised $15,000 in donations so far. Eighteen visitors toured inside Race Rock Lighthouse. NLMS received $100,000 for preservation repairs from the Ludwick Family Foundation.
-
New London Ledge Light: Ledge Light Foundation, which has overseen repairs since 1987, received $100,000 from the state Port Authority. NLMS brought 256 people to visit inside the lighthouse - among these 51 were NL students + family with $5 tickets funded by Veolia/NL Water Authority. Cracks appeared which may indicate structural decay; in November, NL Maritime Society launched a Go-Fund-Me campaign to raise $10,000 for an architectural assessment/restoration plan from Modern Ruins for Ledge Lighthouse.
- NLMS and 100 friends toasted Inn owner Alwyn Christie and former City Development Director Ned Hammond at a fundraiser at NL’s Lighthouse Inn in September.
- NLMS brought Arm-of-the-Sea Theater’s lighthouse puppet play Keep That Lamp Trimmed N’ Burning to Hygienic Park for a free family performance in September as part of the CT Maritime Heritage Festival, with a grant from the NL Cultural District.
Photo, above: Race Rock Lighthouse. Hallsi Rose.
| |
|
Saturdays & Sundays at 11 & 11:45 or by appointment
Visit Inside New London Harbor Lighthouse!
We give tours year-round!
Meet at the lighthouse, then climb 116 steps to the lantern room -- all the while learning the 262-year history of Harbor Light, one of the oldest lights in the country, and the tallest on Long Island Sound. The 1865 4th-order fresnel lens remains in the lantern room. Views at the top are spectacular! Photo: Christina Corcoran.
Tours take 40 minutes. Book a tour for up-to five people: click to sign up online, or email to schedule a tour during the week. Tickets are $35, $30 for NLMS members, $25 youth through age 18. Sign up today!
Photo, above: NLMS trustees inspect the new landscaping.
| |
|
Help us fund a
New London Ledge Lighthouse is an icon of the region. The New London Maritime Society must commission a Preservation Plan for the lighthouse before spring. At $2,222, we're inching up there. Won't you help us preserve this beloved historic landmark?
| |
|
|
Please contribute to our campaign for a Ledge Light Preservation Plan: https://gofund.me/8329f680 We launched the campaign on November 10 -- the lighthouse's 113 anniversary. Already we have raised $2,222. If we can get to $5,000 by next weekend, we can make the 50% down payment to bring the architects out before winter.
Please make a donation to our Go Fund Me campaign.
Photo, above: Two of our favorite Ledge Light fans, Jacqueline Landry and her late husband Bob, who made the large lighthouse models at the Custom House.
| |
|
Keep Up with What's Up
Sign up to receive this weekly email newsletter
| |
|
This week at the Custom House...
Winter's closing in. Right now we're thinking ahead.
We've got to get the architects out to Ledge Lighthouse soon, possibly this week. You might remember, a little less than a year ago we reported there was serious damage to Ledge's foundation. Yet little work was done on the foundation this year -- until November, when engineers went out to take a look. We need a comprehensive assessment of the building. And we need to get a preservation plan underway. If you can, please contribute to our Go-Fund-Me campaign today.
| |
|
At the Annual Meeting the membership voted to update the NLMS by-laws. After 40 years, we needed to make some changes! We formally adopted our revised year-end date: 12.31 (to match recent practices) and mission statement: The Mission of the New London Maritime Society (NLMS) is to protect and preserve New London's U.S. Custom House, three area lighthouses, and Long Island Sound, and to promote, interpret, and celebrate the rich maritime life & history of the port of New London and the surrounding region through museum exhibitions, educational programs, and preservation initiatives. With your support, we're doing it! We also adopted a plan to manage the three properties NLMS has taken on since the by-laws were written in 1982. The new laws state: Each property of the Society shall be managed by an individual Sub-Committee of the board, with a current trustee appointed to head each committee. We invite anyone interested in joining a Sub-committee to contact us at nlmaritimedirector@gmail.com.
As for last week: our apologies. A docent came down with COVID so we were unexpectedly closed on Friday. We're adding a special extra 10% off in the Shop today to make up for it; members receive a 30% discount today, Sunday, November 27, only. In addition, for every $50 spent in the Shop, you receive one dark chocolate sardine!
Meanwhile, the soaker hoses have been taken in. Holiday decorations go up this week. We're looking forward to seeing you at our annual Winter Celebration December 15.
--Susan Tamulevich
| |
|
Did you know, you can rent the museum for your event or Holiday Party? Find our more here!
| |
|
We're online & on facebook!
-
Watch New London HarborCam, our 24/7 eye on the harbor. We've had over 3.3 million viewers! Photo above: NL HarborCam 9.26.22.
Photo: Welcome Denise! -- we're hiring her as collections manager, thanks to a grant from CT Humanities! She'll be working at the Custom House part-time for the next several months. Denise Davies signed the papers today with Alan Lyon, NLMS treasurer.
-
View Online Exhibitions of New London Maritime History from the Custom House Maritime Museum's Frank L. McGuire Library.
-
Facebook the Custom House SHOP for gifts with an extra feel good factor -- when you shop with us your purchases support our exhibitions, & educational programs.
| |
|
Photo: If you're a donor, member, or slightly lapsed member, your NLMS newsletter went into the mail on Tuesday -- watch for it! You also may pick one up downtown at coffeehouses, the public library, & the Custom House!
-
Facebook Race Rock Lighthouse T.A. Scott built this lighthouse in the middle of the Race. Find links to the film & architects' report.
-
We're on Instagram! @nlmaritime But we quit Twitter!
| |
Photo, below: Rowan Martin leaping across the ledge at Harbor Light. | | | | | |
