EAST POINT — Harry Harris kept the brass polished and the light clean, and heaven forbid if one of his kids stepped over a dead fly and didn’t pick it up.
For 40 years Harris reigned in P.E.I.’s most easterly lighthouse watching out for storms, sounding the foghorn and keeping the light burning so mariners could find their way home.
A beautiful bench bearing his name was unveiled in tribute here Thursday along with the official opening of the maritime icon as a new and enhanced tourism destination.
The East Point lighthouse, where the sun rises and the tides meet, is a guiding light that was built and turned on the same year Canada became a nation.
“I’m just so amazed with the turnout and can’t believe the support of the community,’’ said Valerie Flannery, chair of the Friends of Elmira, during a ceremony that drew hundreds of people to the most easterly edge of the province.
With a small flotilla of charter and fishing boats and the Cape Spry Canadian Coast Guard cutter as a backdrop, the 143-year-old East Point lighthouse was unveiled to include tourism destination as part of its new duties.
“Tourism is up and up this summer,’’ said Senator Mike Duffy, on behalf of Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea, “And this kind of attraction is what make so many visitors want to visit our Island.”
It was a gorgeous day and the veteran journalist joked with the crowd that the paint was on its way (the lighthouse is primed and ready) and by suggesting that tourism was only going to increase with the onslaught of retiring baby boomers.
“Whether they move back home and choose the Island to retire, it’s going to get even better. Mark my word; in five years you can say Duff said that.”
The upbeat event included fiddle music, a bagpiper and the Friends of Elmira all wearing their identifying vests. The group, also responsible for the restoration of the Elmira train station, took on the East Point lighthouse project when things didn’t look so good.
“Five years go this place was ready to be shut down for good,’’ said Flannery. “But with great volunteer effort we’ve got what we see before us.”
The bench to commemorate the services of keeper Harry Harris drew tears to the eyes of his wife Mary and children in attendance. The family lives right beside the lighthouse and with a yellow box in their lane, are The Guardian’s most easterly subscribers.
“I only wish Harry was here to see it,’’ said his wife about her late husband, who during one adventure assisted police in tracking down a pleasure boat filled with illegal narcotics that tried to land on the north shore over 20 year ago.
Innovation Minister Alan Campbell said the success of the project was due to the hard work of Flannery and her group that convinced government the community would rally and benefit from the project. The East Point lighthouse has been pulled back from the shore three times during its long career.
The East Point community now owns the lighthouse that seasonally employs 14 people and the province provided about $160,000, while ACOA chipped in $60,000 and the Friends of Elmira contributed about $25,000 (and countless volunteer hours).
