Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse Ceremony
The 22nd Annual Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse Ceremony will commence on Sunday, May 28, 2017 at 2 p.m. at the Memorial Lighthouse on the corner of Edwards and Trinity Streets. The ceremony honors those who have been lost or buried at sea, and whose names are engraved at the site. The program begins with bagpipe music by Matthew Marshall, followed by the flag ceremony and pledge of allegiance led by McKinleyville Boy Scout Troop 99 and the Girl Scouts Redwood Service Unit. Dana Hope, Trinidad Civic Club President, will preside over the ceremony and welcome guests. The Reverend Nancy Streufert from Saints Martha and Mary Episcopal Mission in Trinidad, will give the invocation and Vocalist Dee Hemingway will sing "We'll Meet Again". Special Guest, U.S. Coast Guard Chief Ryan Finch will address the audience and a poem by Alice Meynell titled "The Visiting Sea" will be read. Trinidad City Councilman Steve Ladwig will ring the historic 1898 bronze fog bell. Recording Secretary Janine Volkmar will read the 238 names engraved on the memorial wall, followed by a USCG helicopter flyover. Saxophonist Matthew Brogdon will play "Taps" to close the ceremony. The program is approximately 35 minutes in length. Wreaths created by the Trinidad Civic Club Wreath Committee with flowers compliments of Sun Valley Floral Farms. Sound by Nikki and Robert Mayer of Crazed Music Company. Programs by Jason Richie. Photography by Jackie Tidwell. There is no seating at the site. Comfortable shoes are recommended. Access ways are very uneven. The ceremony takes place rain or shine. The Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse was built by the Trinidad Civic Club as an exact replica of the Trinidad Head Lighthouse and was dedicated at its present location on June 26th, 1949. The land on which it sits was donated by the Earl Hallmark family to house the Fourth Order Fresnel oil lantern, the last coal-oil burning revolving light retired from use on the Pacific Coast. It had been previously housed in the Trinidad Head Lighthouse since 1871. The United States Coast Guard placed the lens in the Memorial Lighthouse when an electric lens was installed in the original Lighthouse in 1947. The 1942 Fifth Order Fresnel Electric lens has been on permanent loan to the Trinidad Museum since 2013, when an LED lens was installed at the Trinidad Head Lighthouse. This lens is observable 20 miles out to sea. The 4,000 pound bronze fog bell was also placed at the Memorial Lighthouse site in 1949, previously it too had been located on Trinidad Head since 1898. This occurred when the fog warning system on Trinidad Head became automated. For information on the event, call Trinidad Town Hall (707) 677-0223 or go to the Trinidad Civic Club Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Trinidadcacivicclub
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