Lighthouse opens, hosts curious explorers

More activities, events planned during the season.

We opened the lighthouse this year with a big splash as thirty students from Blyth Academy descended upon Porphyry Island Lightstation. The water was cool but that didn’t dampen their sprit or enthusiasm for this travelling band of explorers.

The group had come to investigate further the transportation history of the region as part of their studies and were greeted with some spectacular historic sites of Northwestern Ontario.

The Icebreaker Alexander Henry glided across Thunder Bay as the group watched history in the making. With the resurrection of some of Thunder Bay’s nautical history, we are now able to share a broader story of the Canadian Coast Guard and its link to lighthouses in the region.

Porphyry Lighthouse situated on the east side of Black Bay hosted the school group with activities surrounding our history, natural history, and accompanied by the beautiful panoramic views of the islands, and mainland.

The Gordon Graham Gallery features work from last year’s Artists in Residence; Lois Nuttall and Gayle Buzzi. The mini-museum offered lots to see and do with a demonstration of the portable fog alarm frightening some of the students as the noise was unexpected.

Nature walks took place to the black sands beach to explore the actions of volcanic activity from millions of years ago. Also great interest was taken to explore the arctic disjunct plants on the point. These plants are happily surrounded by the cool weather that Superior brings our way.

Blyth Acadamy Students flips into the cool lake.

This season the lighthouse group is looking forward to hosting many more activities and events with five Artist in Residence, two community celebrations, and six group activities from scuba diving to a sailing regatta.

After a couple of hundred hours of volunteer help in June both Trowbridge Lightstation (situated at the feet of the Giant) and Porphyry have had some beautification to the landscape and buildings.

With the 150th Canada Celebrations well underway, Porphyry and the No.10 Light will be part of the celebrations too, with a date set in August for the Great Trail network (TransCanada Trail) next month.

Next week we will introduce you to; our summer students and share with you reflections from our first resident artist from California as he works to capture the beauty of our area onto canvas.

Paul Morralee is Managing Director for the Canadian Lighthouses of Lake Superior Inc. established to preserve, protect and promote Lake Superior lighthouses. He’ll be sharing stories throughout the summer.