It takes a dedicated lighthouse enthusiast to get up at 4 am and drive 3 hours to Campobello island just see a lighthouse but this day was a little different. September 30th was Lighthouse Day in New Brunswick and the Friends of Head Harbour Lightstation were holding their first annual Lighthouse Day Fundraiser/Celebration.
To get to the famous lighthouse you have to travel through Maine for an hour to get to Campobello Island. A ferry does run from Deer Island to Campobello but only during the summer months. For the rest of the year locals and tourists alike have to travel through the US to get to this isolated part of New Brunswick. The light is located at the very end of route 774 on a small rocky island just offshore. To access the lighthouse you start at the large parking area at the headland. In total you have to scramble up and down three rickety old red metal ladders and numerous slippery rocks covered with algae and rockweed before you can actually reach the lighthouse.

Head Harbour is the oldest New Brunswick lighthouse having been built in 1829. The most prominent feature on the lighthouse is the red St. George Cross daymark that has been on the light from its earliest days. The lighthouse itself was de-staffed and automated by the Coast Guard in 1986. This lightstation is one of the few that still has its lightkeeper's residence and other outbuildings still intact and standing. Most lighthouses in the province, once de-commissioned, have had their outbuildings either sold or dismantled.
Despite a lack of signs and promotion several thousand people a year do manage to find and visit this picturesque lightstation. The former provincial government did start to make some improvements on the headland area last year such as expanding the parking area, putting crushed rock on the paths, installed a washroom and putting in garbage cans but when the new government came into power the development stopped. Unfortunately development has been at a standstill ever since. It's a real shame; the untapped tourism potential here is huge. Developing the Lightstation would only complement the other famous attraction on Campobello; former US president Franklin Delanore Roosevelt's summer "cottage".

It was earlier this year when Larry Wilson, Regional Director for the Coast Guard in Halifax, presented his proposal for the future development of the lightstation to the citizens of Campobello. His proposal, made in early July, included a marine mammal rescue centre, a lighthouse interpretive centre and other aesthetic improvements to the area including two footbridges that would allow access during the high tide. He felt the development would greatly enhance the tourism potential for the community as a whole without hurting the fishing industry. He even helped them get a business plan together with the help of Gardner Pinfold Consulting ltd. It was after that first meeting that a group of concerned local residents formed the non-profit group, "Friends of Head Harbour Lightstation" to raise money and awareness for the future development of the lightstation and surrounding area.

They chose September 30th, Lighthouse Day in Nova Scotia, as the day they would go public and start the process of preserving, protecting and promoting one of the most scenic and historic lighthouses in the province.
The last day of September turned out to be a great day, sunny with a high approaching 20 Celsius along with a strong steady southwest wind. The festivities did not start till noon but we arrived early to allow ourselves the chance to walk out to the light and to get some upclose pictures to document the lightstation's current condition. You can only access the lighthouse at low tide which was at 7:15 am that day. It's important to check the tide predictions before you head out there or else face getting stranded for up to 6 hours by the 6-14 metres tides. It can move in surprisingly quick, we watched in amazement as the tide came up through the channel between the headland and the middle islet, you could actually see the water inching up the rocky beach till it covered it completely in less than half an hour. The water soon rushed in even faster through the channel aided by a very strong current and strong southwesterly winds. You generally have up to 3 hours before and after the low tide to make it back to the mainland. But this all depends on how height of the the land bridges, the time of the year, cycle of the moon, etc. If you do get trapped out there you have around 6 hours to wait for the next low tide, or you might be lucky enough to get rescued by a kind-hearted fisherman. The old rickety red steel ladders that takes you down to the land bridge and up the first island have seen better days. Caution is advised climbing down or up these ladders. There is one wooden bridge in excellent condition crossing a "crack" that runs through the middle island. The overall condition of the light and its outbuildings is generally good with the exception being the boathouse, which needs to be shored up with new timbers to replace the rotten ones. The steel rails that once guided boats up into the boathouse are rusty and have been moved off their original foundation by the strong tides and currents. Some boards on the walkway decking need to be fixed as well as a few boards at other places around the light. Other than that the exteriors of all the buildings just need to be scraped and painted. Many of the windows have been boarded up in the past to protect the glass from the elements.

The Head Harbour festivities started at noon with the Black Socks Band String Band kicking off the day's events. The Black Socks are made up of local musicians from Maine with Gene Nichols acting as bandleader. Mr. Nichols is a music professor at UMM in Machais. Later in the afternoon fiddler John Viselli joined in and entertained the appreciative crowd with a few reels. A raffle and barbecue were also held to raise some money for the lighthouse project. Kudos goes to Mrs. Diane Baldwin for the really delicious and detailed cake featuring the Head Harbour lightstation. On it she wrote, "Let's celebrate our light and keep it shining!" For a finale a parade of boats led by the Coast Guard vessel "Partridge Island", from Saint John, led a flotilla of 10 or so fishing boats by the lighthouse from Head Harbour. As a salute to the lighthouse bagpiper Shane Ausprey played on the headland as the flotilla of boats sailed by. The "Partridge Island" started the parade by blowing it's loud air horn as it left the harbour; they had the fire hose going as a salute to the lightstation as it pitched back and forth in the swells kicked up by the strong wind.
All in all it was a great day with estimates of up to 300 people in attendance at the celebration. At least $2,000 has been raised to go towards the proposed development project. The lighthouse celebration and fundraiser was a great first step by anyone's account. More fundraiser's are planned for the future.
The Lighthouse Alternative Use Plan incorporates two main uses for Head Harbour:

• A Lighthouse Museum/Interpretive Centre
• A Whale Rescue Centre