The Times Herald from Port Huron, Michigan • Page 4

Times Herald Coming Tomorrow on Spotlight: Alcoholics for Christ Crossroads: QX2) Friday, June 15, 1984 Page 4AJ Backyard Horticulture John I It VanDeusen 1 IIiTU 'rm: Put kids to work in garden This week marks the end of the school year and beginning of summer vacation for most area districts. For the next 10 weeks or more, kids will be looking for things to do. Why not have your kids plant and tend a garden? A small plot about 10 feet by 10 feet would be plenty of space. Till the soil with hand tools or a Roto-tiller and rake the seed bed smooth and you are ready to plant. It's not too late to plant a garden this year.

You may not have the earliest tomatoes on the block, but they will taste even better when you grow them yourself. Starting with seeds will take longer than buying transplants, but you get a special feeling when seeing the seeds germinate and send a row of new seedlings up through the soil. Plus, the time between planting the seeds and seeing the first plants emerge is an exercise in patience and anticipation. Have the kids tend and care for the garden. They will learn responsibility because they will realize that the plants depend on them.

The gardeners feel needed and the plants respond to the care given. The kids also will see that gardening is something that they can do just as well as adults. Plants respond only to the care they receive and are not influenced by the age, sex, race, religion or economic status of the gardener. There is a valuable lesson there for all of us. If you would like more information about getting your youngsters involved in gardening, contact me at the Cooperative Extension Service office.

Even if you are not an accomplished gardener, there is plenty of how-to information Times Herald Ralph W. Polovich A solitary sailboat skims by the the Fort Gratiot one of eight in the Blue Water Area, is the oldest Lighthouse, just north of the Blue Water Bridge operating lighthouse on Lake Huron. It was origi- Fort St. Joseph. Originally 74 feet, it was heigh-near the U.S.

Coast Guard station. The lighthouse, nally built, in 1825, adjacent to old Fort Gratiot and tened in 1862 to 86 feet. 8 area lighthouses radiate history Buffs seek to preserve the Great Lakes Lighhouse Keepers Association, and is in the Museum of Arts and History, Port Huron. The former Peche Island Lighthouse was saved from the scrap pile and donated to Marine City in June 1983 by Michigan National Detroit. The 60-foot, 35-ton lighthouse was built by the U.S.

Coast Guard in 1908 as a navigational aid on Peche Island, Ontario, east of Belle Isle, where the Detroit River joins Lake St. Clair. It was replaced by a light on a tower. The lighthouse, restored and dedicated last year, now stands next to the St. Clair River on South Water Street in downtown Marine City the first artifact in a proposed open-air Great Lakes Museum.

The Fort Gratiot Lighthouse, just north of the Blue Water Bridge near the U.S. Coast Guard station, is the oldest operating lighthouse on Lake Huron and possibly the oldest in Michigan. Established in 1825, it was originally built adjacent to old Fort Gratiot and Fort St. Joseph. It crumbled in a storm and was rebuilt in 1829 a half mile north because it was too far inland to be seen effectively by ships.

Originally 74 feet, it was heightened in 1862 to 86 feet. The Port Sanilac Lighthouse, built in 1886, is the newest lighthouse on the Lake Huron and is still maintained and operated by the Coast Guard, which owns the patch of land it sits on. Its first keeper, Richard W. Morse, kept it until 1893, when it was taken over by Captain William Holmes. He kept the light for 33 years.

The Harbor Beach Lighthouse was built in 1885 by the U.S. Lighthouse Service with the same By MARGARET WHITMER Times Herald Reporter The Blue Water Area has eight existing lighthouses to fascinate maritime history buffs and other curious souls. All but one the restored Peche Island Lighthouse in downtown Marine City are still in operation. Moving south to north along the St. Clair River to Lake Huron, they are: The Old Channel Range Lights at the mouth of the South Channel, west of the southern tip of Harsens Island in Big Musca-moot Bay.

Built in 1859 by the old Corps of Topographical Engineers (now the Army Corps of Engineers), they marked the first dredged channel across the St. Clair Flats. The taller, rear light was once attached to a large, two-story dwelling which no longer exists. The shorter front light was rebuilt in the 1870s because it was listing badly. Today it is in such a sad state that the Lake St.

Clair Advisory Committee has entertained plans to repair it so it won't fall into the lake. The Coast Guard, however, keeps it lighted for recreational boaters. The U.S. Coast Guard's St. Clair Flats Canal Range Lights Station on Harsens Island.

The station marks the axis of the old St. Clair Flats Canal, built by the Corps of Topographical Engineers in the late 1860s and early '70s. The canal was once bordered by piers, which lined a 300-foot-wide man-made channel. The northerly pier was marked by lighthouses at either end, neither of which remained by 1935 when the station now occupied by the U.S. Coast Guard was built on the island.

A lens belonging to the southernmost light was restored by Michael Van Hoey, founder of Favorite Every year selected children throughout the United States choose their favorite books from all the children's books published the previous year. These Children's Choices Awards are sponsored by the International Reading Association and the Children's Book Council. The following books have been named to the Children's Choice list for 1984 and will interest teen and preteen readers. "BUMMER SUMMER" Ann M. Martin.

New York: Holiday House, 1983 Twelve-year-old Kammy Whit--lock cannot imagine how her life could get worse. First, her father remarries and she must learn to old beacons cause in five years some of them won't be standing any more," Ernest said. Lighthouse keepers already are an extinct species. The last two manned lighthouses on the Great Lakes became automated last year. That means that lighthouses, too, are extinct in the classical sense.

What's left are just empty monuments to a once-dedicated breed of men and women, said association founder Michael Van Hoey who, with his wife, Darla, have spent the past five years researching lighthouses and promoting their preservation. The lightkeepers of old used to stay up all night making sure the light didn't burn out, keeping the lens polished and watching for ships in distress. They made sure to light the lamp at sundown. "Now all (the Coast Guard) does is flick a switch, like you do your bedroom light," Van Hoey said. lighthouses eventually followed suit.

The Port Austin Reef Light was originally intended to be on the shore in 1873. Instead, the Topographical Engineers decided to build the lamp on an offshore reef. This light was completed and lit in 1878. It included quarters for a keeper although the keeper, who lived in Pointe Aux Barques Township, never stayed there. It originally was nothing but a skeletal wooden tower and was essentially rebuilt by 1902.

York: Green Willow Books, 1983. Although Karen Bergman is an adopted Korean orphan, she is a happy 11-year-old with few adjustment problems. Her only wish is for her single mother to get married. Karen makes up a list of necessary qualities her mother's husband must have and proceeds to grill all the men she meets. This is an upbeat and entertaining story.

It is filled with everyday occurrences and tales of happy family life, even though they are not a traditional family. Animal lovers will especially enjoy the Bergman's wide variety of pets. Lynn Wilhelm Is on an educational leave of absence from her ob as a reading teacher In the Port Huron Area School District. Acheson headed the local committee that was responsible in 1971 for seeing that the Huron Lightship the last active American lightship on the Great Lakes be placed as a permanent monument in Pine Grove Park. While Acheson was primarily concerned about the lightship, he joined the association because its purpose and his purpose were the same to preserve artifacts of local historical value.

Another member is Terry Ernest, a Marysville photographer whose hobby is taking pictures of Michigan lighthouses. "To me, they're kind of a monument to the seamen of years gone by. It's a bit of nostalgia, a bit of the past," he said. His favorite, the Fort Gratiot lighthouse, has been restored; others have not been so lucky. "Some of them are in very poor condition.

Now would be the time to record these, be 1847 and stands between Huron City and Port Hope. A new tower was built in 1857 by the U.S. Lighthouse service. This one is probably most important because it is the first light southbound ships see after crossing Saginaw Bay. In the days before modern navigational equipment, shippers could have lost their way and ended up in Bay City without it.

When it was rebuilt in 1857, it received the first Third Order Lens installed in Michigan, the largest lens made at the time. Other well drawn, but Elsie's boyfriend, Craddoc, seems too mature and responsible to be realistic. "MAXIMILIAN DOES IT AGAIN," Joseph Rosenbloom. New York: Lodestar Books, 1983. If 12-year-old Maximilian Augustus Adams is a nobody in his seventh grade class, he makes up for it by being an ace detective.

In this newest volume of mysteries, Maximilian cracks 14 new cases as Detective Walker's valuable sidekick. The cases are designed much like the Encyclopedia Brown books, but they are written for an older audience. "RAISING A MOTHER ISN'T EASY," Elisabet McHugh. New The ancient sentinels dot the shores and reefs of Lake Huron and the St. Clair River.

Lonely, sometimes leaning, the lights from their towers slice through the night like guiding stars, leading sailors to their destinations. If they could talk, they might tell curious tales of rescue, heroism and maybe tragedy at sea. But they are silent. And their keepers, too, are gone, replaced by electronic controls. Yet the number of people willing to speak for the old guards of the harbors the lighthouses is burgeoning.

The Great Lakes lighthouses, many of which were built more than 100 years ago, are drawing more and more attention from people dedicated to preserving them, their history and their lore. In Michigan, The Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association has more than 200 members, including James C. Acheson, board chairman of Acheson Colloids Port Huron. blueprints used for the Detroit River, Chicago Harbor and Cleveland Harbor lighthouses. The lighthouse, called the Sand Beach Lighthouse until 1904, was built because there was no natural harbor between the St.

Clair River and Saginaw Bay to shelter ships from storms. So two breakwalls were constructed to form an artificial harbor. In those days, the area was known as the Harbor of Refuge. The Pointe Aux Barques Lighthouse was originally built in natural and engaging. "HOW DO YOU LOSE THOSE NINTH GRADE BLUES?" Barthe DeClements.

New York: Viking Press, 1983. In the author's first novel "Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade," her main character is a self-conscious fat girl named Elsie Edwards. In her new novel, Elsie is a cute and slender ninth grade knockout who still lacks confidence. Despite winning a solo in the choir concert and snagging a senior football hero, Elsie still has problems. This is a fast-paced, easy-to-read story about high school life.

The characters of Elsie and her trouble-plagued friend, Jack, are available. If you have children in the fourth through the eighth grades, they can enroll in a special horticulture class just for them. It's part of the Port Huron Area School District's Community Education program. The class will meet from 10 a.m. to noon Wednesdays beginning June 27 and ending July 25.

The cost is $2 per student. Instructors are Peggy Moran, a certified master gardener, and myself. We will work in a green house, plant some vegetables, visit a farm and more. For registration information, contact the Community Education office in the Port Huron Area School District, extension 35 or 40. If you would like details about the class itself, contact me at the extension office.

John VanDeusen works for the St. Clair County Cooperative Extension Service. Questions for him may be sent to the extension office, 108 McMorran Port Huron. What's Happening Today Lecture: counselor Jim Smoke, St. Clair County Community College library, Port Huron, beginning at 7 p.m.

Sponsored by the Colonial Woods Missionary Church Singles Christian Fellowship. For registration call or write the church. Auditions for "The Runaways," 7 p.m., Port Huron Little Theatre, 14th and Wells streets, Port Huron. Sponsored by the Port Huron Little Theatre's Youth Theatre. Saturday Father's Day Fun Run, 9 a.m., race begins and ends in downtown Port Huron.

Sponsored by Downtown Port Huron Inc. Farmers market, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., downtown Port Huron. Sponsored by Downtown Port Huron Inc. book list sure to draw interest The Bookshelf Lynn Wilhelm adjust to a stepmother, a 3-year-old stepsister named Muffin and a baby stepbrother without a name at all.

When Kammy finds only misery with her new family, she is faced with an even worse fate, a summer at Camp Arrowhead. Both the camp sequences and the conflicts between Kammy and her stepmother, Kate, are true to life. The dialogue is especially.