South Fox Island Lighthouse: About Us

FOX ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE ASSOCIATION

About Us

The Fox Island Lighthouse Association (FILA) is a non-profit organization (501-c-3) founded in 2004 by Sandy Bradshaw of Suttons Bay and John McKinney of Traverse City. Their goal was to rekindle the failed or dormant efforts of former groups for rescuing the South Fox Island light station, which had been abandoned in 1959 and has been threatened by gradual decay ever since.

The hard core of our association

	John McKinney Traverse City, MI. Former Seagrant Agent with the Michigan State University, co-founder of the Grand Traverse Bay Watershed Initiative (now Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay) and the Maritime Heritage Alliance; expert in just about anything concerning Great Lakes ecology.

	Sandy Bradshaw Suttons Bay, Leelanau County, MI. Writer and feature journalist, specializing in the history of the Great lakes, environmental topics and all matters maritime. Experienced public relations manager. Member of the Maritime Heritage Alliance.

	John Nelson Northport, Leelanau County, MI. US Naval Academy graduate, Master of Science in Education (U of M), chairman of the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council and the Coalition for Sensible Growth, Baykeeper for the Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay.

	Phil von Voigtlander Northport, Leelanau County, MI. PhD, retired pharmaceutical research director, avid sailor of the Great Lakes. Former chair, now vice chair of the Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay, designer and skipper of the Baykeeper tug boat.

	Greg Reisig Elk Rapids, Antrim County, MI. Editor, co-author of several watershed handbooks, former board member of the Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay and the GT Regional Land Conservancy, board member of the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council.

	Hans Joerg Rothenberger Walenstadt, Switzerland. Oral surgeon, physicist, electronics and computer buff. Walking data backup memory and Webmaster of the FILA Web site. Seasoned skipper and restorer of an old gaff cutter in the Aegean Sea.

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Mission Statement

The Fox Island Lighthouse Association, Inc. is organized exclusively for scientific, educational and charitable purposes. The purposes of the Fox Island Lighthouse Association, Inc. include preserving and protecting the historic character and landscape of the South Fox Island Light Station [...]; protecting the natural environment of the light station property; the future use of the light station property for education programs of island and maritime history and culture, arts and the study of the ecology of the island of the Great Lakes for the benefit of its membership and the general public; promoting historic preservation, land protection and stewardship on the South Fox Island. The Fox Island Lighthouse Association, Inc.'s purpose also includes broader activities related to historic preservation, cultural promotion and preservation, environmental education, natural resources conservation, scholarship, environmental policy and scientific research in and around the Great Lakes. The Fox Island Lighthouse Association, Inc. seeks active participation in all of these efforts from people of all ages, backgrounds and lifestyles.

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The Legalese Small Print

The Fox Island Lighthouse Association (FILA) aims at including only correct and current information. Although we make every effort to keep this information accurate, we cannot guarantee it. We disclaim any liability for the use of this site or any site it links to.

Neither FILA nor any other party involved in producing or publishing this Web site or any Web site it links to, shall be made accountable in any way whatsoever for any direct, circumstantial, consequential, indirect or punitive damage resulting from your access, use or inability to use this Web site or any Web site it links to.

The FILA Web pages may contain forward-looking information, such as oncoming events. Such information may be subject to various uncertainties. Therefore actual results may differ from the presentation on this site.

We have placed all links to external Web sites in good faith. Although we check most of them periodically, links can become dead when sites are removed or when servers are temporarily down. We try to provide links to sites with useful content, however, we cannot be responsible for any dissatisfaction on the part of the user, let alone changes made to those Web sites that are not controlled by us.

Unless stated otherwise, the copyright of the texts and photos on this site is owned by FILA. The FILA Web site and the information contained are for informational purposes only. Requests for permission to reproduce any information contained on this Web site have to be sent to .

Please help maintain the quality of this site by . Your comments will always be welcome.

Latest update March 17, 2006