About
Hi! I’m Cathy Taylor (Craighill Keeper), president and founder of Historical Place Preservation, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and avid blogger. I started blogging baseball (in addition to being a lighthouse and historic architecture buff, I’m also a huge baseball fan) a couple years ago. While planning projects on the Craighill Channel Lower Range Front light and making mental lists of supplies to bring, articles to write for the newsletter, and every other swirling responsibility in my head, one of my top priorities was finding a way to keep the organization’s members and interested people aware of what was going on. Even though the lighthouse may not look like any progress has taken place and the website has sat idle, behind the scenes have carried on. Well, I began thinking of how lighthouse keepers kept logs of every task they carried out on the lighthouse they were responsible for, and thus the Craighill Keeper’s (b)Log was born! Not only will I use this Keeper’s Log as a way to keep those interested informed of activities with the lighthouse, but also as a tool to keep myself organized. Posts may range from my thoughts, excitement over goals achieved, frustrations, and fears to posts filled with lists of items to bring out on the next trip.
I wrestled with what style to write the Keeper’s Log in. Stuffy corporate fact-filled? Nah, lighthouses are as magnetic as they are because of the emotions they stir. Therefore, I will just be *me*. I didn’t take this project on as a business venture, but as a project of passion anyway. If I wrote in stuffy corporate prose, the posts wouldn’t reflect the strong emotional ties to our little beacon in the bay and I’d probably bore myself writing in addition to readers in the process!
My history with lighthouses goes way back. I always felt connected to them in some way that only other lighthouse lovers understand. I paddled myself over a mile across the Tampa Bay shipping channel in a kayak several times so I could spend time sitting on Egmont Key staring at the lighthouse and imagining the keepers who weathered hurricanes tethered to the tower in a small boat. If only there was a way to go back in time and relive that life. Acquiring this lighthouse is that dream come true, including all the hard work that goes along with the life of a lighthouse keeper (especially considering we didn’t acquire it in newly built condition). I have a lot of experience restoring historic structures and am augmenting that hands-on experience with completing the Historic Preservation Certificate Program at Goucher College in order to insure our organization is the best steward possible for this light.
I also take tons of photos and will post them within the Log.
What I am not? I am not an expert at running a nonprofit, so please bear with me as I learn the ropes. I do have a corporate background, but not in the nonprofit sector. So as I work to fill our board with lighthouse experienced folks and get more volunteers to help with the newsletter and organization, things may seem rather slow-going. Please be assured that failure is not an option and the lighthouse and members will be rewarded for hanging in there with us!
So please stay tuned to the Keeper’s Log for progress! [Contact Info]
