European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 28, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                1agazine Nathan waste Tram standing and Davit St plan Canter am keepers of the port and head Lighthouse. For their families maintaining Home on Atrip of Rock la flaunting. Lighthouse keepers Are going ashore for Good by Roger Cohn new York times Here Are certain things about being a Lighthouse keeper that Henry Sieg. A coast guard Petty officer definitely win it miss gelling out or bed on cold Stormy nights to switch an the foghorn rising at Dawn and climbing the Lighthouse Tower to Check the Harbor buoys bundling his children into neoprene survival suits in mid january for an icy boat ride Back to Shore. I be got to Tell my wife to remind mail those things when we re getting ready to leave Hare and i feel like  Sake Sieg who along with his wife Jeanne and their children is scheduled to move irom their Home on Burnt Island Maine this month that will be a sad Day Tor me. We re really losing something Here it s More than a Home for us. It s a Way of  As a Cost saving measure the coast guard is replacing its Lighthouse personnel with computerized equipment thai will control signals from Central on Shore locations. Al of America s 11 remaining lighthouses with on site Small. Eight of which Are along the Maine coast will be automated by fall of 1989, the Federal government is looking for other uses Lor tha lighthouses and the attached keeper s quarters from maritime museums to cd and breakfast inns. But while the buildings May be preserved the tradition of the Lighthouse keeper and his family will soon be relegated to a place in nautical folklore. It s a whole tradition that s passing said Ken Black a retired coast guard officer who operated a Lighthouse museum in Rockland Maine. The tight is Stilt going to Light the longhorn is Sliff going to sound like a foghorn. But there Aren t going to to any people living there and that Means you will have lost the Romance of the Lighthouse the idea of tha Lighthouse As a Home. The Lighthouse is really a Symbol of Security and reliability. In a Way it s the perfect  for the sings and the other coast guard families who will be reassigned during the next 14 months living in dwellings attached to lighthouses has not always been Pericl but it has certainly been unusual. For some families Lighthouse duty has meant a Chance to live along the most Scenic parts of the nation s coastline in a picture postcard Cape cod House with a Lighthouse towering above the roof Tina Wasserstrom recalled that her family was living in an itty bitty apartment near Portland Maine two years ago when her husband Nathan a coast guard Petty officer waa Olf Arad the Post of assistant keeper at Hie Portland head Lighthouse at Cape Elizabeth. He called me one Day and said Hovd you like to live in a Lighthouse " mrs. Was Sarstrom said. I really did t know what to think. But then i came out Here and saw How Beautiful in All was and i thought Well Well never have another Chance to live in a place As wonderful As this " not that life Lor a Lighthouse keeping family is without major inconveniences. The foghorn can drone on Tor Days especially along the Loggy Maine coast causing loss sleep and generally driving inhabit lands to distraction. And the schedule is restrictive keepers must beat their stations irom Sundown to Sunrise permitted to leave their posts Only in Good weather and for a maximum for four hours during the Day. We Haven t been out at night in five years Sieg said. I feel like a Vampire in reverse Al some of the More Remote Island lighthouses just going to town to pick up the mail or a gallon of milk can be a trying experience. From Burnt Island near Boothbay Harbor the sings must take a 20-Minufo trip in an open wooden boat to reach the nearest Village in Winter a coast guard ship Breaks a path through the ice so they can make it to Shore. And when they return to the Island with two weeks Worth of groceries the sings sometimes have to Wail More than an hour for the tide to come in before they can safely land on the Island s Rocky Beach. You have to be the Type of person who s basically Selt Suft Clent mrs. Sieg said. This kind of life would not agree with  it clearly has agreed with Iho blogs who in 1983 moved into the while clapboard Cape cod House that is framed by Spruce and Tir Trees and is connected to the Lighthouse by an enclosed 50-loot Walkway. Thoy Are the sole residents of the seven acre Island along with their two children. Henry jr., who is 2 years old and Erica 3 months. Both were born on the Mainland alter mrs. Sieg endured the trip ashore while in labor. From the outside the two Story three bedroom House appears much Asil must have when it was built for the first keeper in 1821. Except Lor the Gas barbeque Grill on the front porch and Henry or s wading Pool on the Lawn. Inside the original hand Hen Pine doors and Stone fireplace remain intact Wilh such additions As a coast guard issued microwave oven and a Var. The Var Haboon indispensable for the sings especially during Winter storms that can keep them stranded Lor As Long As a week. Lighthouse keepers have to be very easily amused Sieg said. If you weren to you d go crazy out  Al the Portland head Lighthouse the keepers face a tar different problem. They must contend with a daily invasion of tourists who Slop at Cape Elizabeth to Visil one of the nation s earliest lighthouses commissioned by George Washington and Buill in 1791, at times it s a Little like living in a fishbowl mrs. Wasserstrom said. People see the Lighthouse and think  at looks and they la walk right in the front door while we re eating breakfast. Thoy Don t seem to realize this is our  the Wasserstrom live in a 102-year-old duplex dwelling attached to 1he Lighthouse which they share with the family of Petty officer Davis Simpson the Chiel keeper at Portland head. For both families the challenges of maintaining a Home on an exposed strip of Rock on the new England coast can be daunting. Weekly washings cannot keep the windows clean of Salt from the Ocean s Spray mrs. Was Sarstrom said and her antique Pewter lamps have been badly tarnished by the Salt air. Citizens groups in Maine and other areas of the country have ought unsuccessfully against the coast guard s automation plans arguing that keepers Are caretakers not Only of the lighthouses but also of a coastal tradition. Coast guard Ollie als while expressing sympathy have cited savings of More than $25 million since the automation of the nation s 445 lighthouses began in 1963. Tjw Portland head Lighthouse to rata daily invasion of visitors Olio Are attracted by its romantic appearance. The stars and stripes Page 13