NLMS's 2022 Year of the Lighthouse was dedicated to relaunching preservation efforts at the three historic beacons NLMS owns following a two-year disruption due to COVID.

• In August, a crowd-funding campaign enabled us to wash NL Harbor lighthouse (1801). Thanks to a Good to Great grant from the state of CT, landscaping at NL Harbor Light is now almost complete! On Sunday we will announce a donation which will allow us to finish the work.

• The conditions assessment & preservation plan for Race Rock Light (1878) was completed. In July, the Henry L. Ferguson Museum on Fishers Island held a film premiere for The History of Race Rock Lighthouse at which NLMS launched a Race Rock Preservation Campaign. Three hundred people attended. We will announce the results of that effort, and receipt of a major grant, on Sunday.

• At the Annual Meeting we also will launch a Go Fund Me crowd-funded campaign to commission a similar assessment & plan for NL Ledge Lighthouse (1909). There was serious structural failure at the light over the past year, and we need a holistic evaluation to guide 2023's repairs. The Ledge Light Foundation received $100,000 from the State Port Authority and recently brought in engineers to assess the situation.

A 2nd goal for our Year of the Lighthouse was to make these historic sites accessible to our local community. Thanks to a Veolia - NL Water Authority grant we did!.

• We gave two sold-out tours to Race Rock Lighthouse;

• 98 people climbed the 116 steps to the lantern room at NL Harbor Light -- 32 with $5 (or free) sponsored tickets for NL schoolchildren and their families;

• 256 visited inside NL Ledge Lighthouse -- 51 with $5 sponsored tickets.

• For the first time, and in partnership with the Little Gull Foundation, we brought 54 people out to explore Little Gull Light.

As a finale, and with support from the New London Cultural District, we brought a marvelous lighthouse puppet show to the Hygienic Art Park. It was presented without charge in conjunction with the CT Maritime Heritage Festival. The performance marked the conclusion of an exhausting, but very successful lighthouse summer!

We have other achievements to celebrate from 2022:

• NLMS's Frank L. McGuire Library posted two new online exhibitions: Justice Delayed: The Seizure of the Brig Patty, and New London to New York by Night Boat: Ellery Thompson Recalls the Golden Age of Steamboats on Long Island Sound;

• Jibboom Club #1 was back with free monthly in-person meetings, sponsored by the Maco Family Fund;

• we've started the 14th year of our Local-History & Landmarks program in the NL Public Schools; the program is entirely grant and donor funded;

• monthly Open Mic at the Museum gatherings are bringing in new audiences;

• we lost our 189-year-old flagpole and the NL HarborCam in a storm, but crowd funding allowed us to replace the camera with one that pans and zooms. Since July 2019, the NL HarborCam has had 3.2 million views.

What's ahead? We'll discuss plans for the Society's 40th Anniversary with the membership on Sunday.

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In 1983 the New London Maritime Society was formed by citizens who stopped an impending federal sale to keep NL's US Custom House intact and accessible. Today, we run a local maritime history museum, provide a free education program in NL Public Schools, and preserve the custom house and three area lighthouses.

The Custom House Maritime Museum / New London Maritime Society is a 501(c)3 charitable organization.

We believe in diversity and social justice, as well as strive to be a place where the entire community can learn from our shared history in order to build a more just and compassionate future.

The Mission of the New London Maritime Society (NLMS) is to protect and preserve New London's U.S. Custom House, three area lighthouses, and Long Island Sound, and to promote, interpret, and celebrate the rich maritime life & history of the port of New London and the surrounding region through museum exhibitions, educational programs, and preservation initiatives.

CUSTOM HOUSE MARITIME MUSEUM 150 Bank St., New London, CT 06320 860 447 2501

nlmaritimesociety.org

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