In case you haven’t noticed, the lighthouse preservation movement is cycling through the Big 3-0. Last year, the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association celebrated it 30th anniversary; this year, the United States Lighthouse Society does the same. The American Lighthouse Council recognized both milestone events by honoring the organizations with the movement’s top national honor, the H. Ross Holland Award, at events in 2013 and 2014.

Where has the time gone? Those of us who have been in this for the long haul think that, surely, this can’t mean we’re getting old(er)!

At any event, there has been a lot of progress in saving lighthouses but precious little in documenting our own history. Back issues of such outstanding publications as the The Keeper’s Log, Lighthouse Digest and The Beacon help, but you have to hunt.

So you just might want to make sure you get a copy of the upcoming quarterly Keeper’s Log, the US Lighthouse Society’s publication. Instead of a banquet or similar event, the Society put its effort into a 30th anniversary edition that supplements the usual lighthouse articles with a history of the Society and what could be the first stab at a history of the overall lighthouse preservation movement — a listing of “30 Beacons of Light,” people or things that have had major impacts on the movement over the past three decades.

Better, the Society hopes those who read it will send along their own recollections, insights and comments for this embryonic documentation effort. The whole thing’s at the printer’s now, so look for it once the polar vortex settles onto the coasts once more. Here’s to the preservation movement that keeps the lights shining!