Hudson-Athens Lighthouse volunteers drive out the darkness

An underwater cable that supplied electricity to the lighthouse since the 1940s, powering not only the holiday lights, but also video equipment, interior lights and other systems necessary for tours, malfunctioned in September.

The broken cable threatened a long-standing tradition in Columbia and Greene counties of switching on the historic landmark’s holiday lights the first Saturday of December, which coincides with Winter Walk in Hudson, an annual event attended by thousands of people each year. The lights have been provided each year with ongoing financial assistance from the Bank of Greene County.

Volunteers of the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society worked quickly to come up with a solution. In the meantime, a generator was hooked up to the lighthouse so the society could still host its October tours. Electricians Sonny Brignull and Scott Davis, members of the nearby Hudson Power Boat Association, installed the generator.

“People are under the impression that the federal government and Coast Guard are responsible for maintaining the lighthouse,” said Carol Gans, president of the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society. “The truth is that HALPS is responsible for everything other than the navigation beacon.”

Replacing the entire cable was ruled out as too cost-prohibitive, volunteers said. A solar array was found to be the only viable option to provide year-round energy requirements.

Volunteers sought advice from David Borton, a retired Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute associate professor of electrical engineering and designer of the first and only U.S. Coast Guard-approved 100% solar-powered boat, the Solaris, and Mike Stengle, an electrical engineer who is cofounder of one of the first solar PV system installers in the state, before designing a solar array and purchasing solar panels and batteries for the lighthouse.

“This [the solar array] was to be a basic, temporary solution to power the winter lights, and will be evaluated in the spring for future upgrades,” according to a statement from the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society.

By Nov. 17, component parts had arrived; a panel mounting system was designed and fabricated by the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society volunteers; and the volunteers and electricians were available.

So, armed with a little modern ingenuity and a can-do attitude, six volunteers, including the two electricians who worked on the generator, and electrical engineer Peter Rowland, set out on the river from the Athens Boat Launch to the lighthouse on Nov. 22 to install the equipment. And on Nov. 23, the holiday lights were turned on for the first time.

This year’s light display is reduced from that of prior years, but the lights are shining a little brighter to the volunteers who worked extra hard to make the holiday tradition happen.

“We installed fewer lights this year as, frankly, with the rapid approach of winter, we didn’t know if we could get the project done or how many lights the system would support,” longtime Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society member Joe Kenneally said. Kenneally, with Bill Palmer and Van Calhoun, were appointed to a committee to help find a solution to the cable’s loss. “We can’t go out in mid-winter and fix it. A minimalist approach seemed best to assure there would be lights all season.”

“Without the commitment of the volunteers and the folks from Hudson Power Boat Association, it would not have happened,” Kenneally said.

The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society operates the lighthouse entirely by grant funding and donations. The purchase of the generator and the purchase and installation of the solar power system were unanticipated expenses, according to the society.

“The combined cost of the generator and solar system was significantly less than originally anticipated,” Gans said. “This is due entirely to our volunteer consultants, “experts” from Hudson Power Boat along with our dedicated volunteers putting in many hours and bringing this project from an idea to completion.”

Gans estimates nearly 750 volunteer hours were involved in switching the holiday lights back on.

“You can’t put a monetary value on that. We have filed two grant applications to hopefully cover most of the cost of materials involved.”

Anyone interested in helping the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society and their mission to preserve one of the remaining Hudson River lighthouses can mail a donation to HALPS, P.O. Box 145, Athens, N.Y. 12015.

To reach reporter Amanda Purcell, call 518-828-1616 ext. 2500, or send an email to apurcell@thedailymail.net, or tweet to @amandajpurcell.