Friends of Seguin Island Light Station ( FOSILS) are pleased to announce the long awaited return of the original 1857 Naylor/Sheffield fog signal bell to Seguin Island on Thursday, September 4 sometime between the hours of 7 and 9 a.m. at Popham Beach State Park parking lot in Phippsburg.

Back in the '60s the United States Coast Guard began experimenting with electric fog-horns that could be turned on by electronic sensors, thereby making traditional bells ob-solete. After the automated fog horns were installed, the USCG had many bells removed from light stations up and down the coast before thieves or vandals could get to them.

Unfortunately the USCG kept no paper trail of the recovered bells. Thanks to the efforts of FOSILS’s president, Ken Young and many others, the original bell was found mounted behind the Coast Guard lifeboat station in nearby Boothbay Harbor. Fortunately, the USCG was quite agreeable to returning the bell and now the bell is on a 99-year loan to FOSILS.

Last fall, FOSILS’s board member and captain, Ethan DeBery, arranged for Herbie Free-man to transport the bell to his yard in the first phase of getting it returned to the island. Jim Bennett created a new steel cradle from which the 1,200-pound bell will be suspended and a new cement pad was pored for it to rest on. Many thanks to Paul Coulombe who generously provided the funds for a helicopter to bring the bell safely from Popham to the top of the island on the north side of the keeper’s quarters. For many of us this will be an exciting event and the culmination of a three year effort.

Keep the light shining...and the bell ringing…..