24 - CAPE GAZETrE - Tuesday, October 17 - Thursday, October 19, 2006
SCHOOL & EDUCATION
Students get up close, personal with Breakwater Light
By Ron MacArthur
Cape Gazette staff
The winners of the Coast Day
Lighthouse Essay Contest got up
close and personal with the topic
they had written about. The win-
ners were hosts of the Delaware
River and Bay Lighthouse
Foundation on a tour of the his-
toric Breakwater Light in Lewes
Harbor.
Four of the six winners made
the trip to the lighthouse early on
Sunday, Oct. 1, accompanied by
parents, teachers, and members of
the foundation. The topic for this
year's essay contest involved the
life of a lighthouse keeper, and
one of the prizes was a trip to the
Breakwater Light.
The students were the first to
visit the historic landmark.
The group was ferried to the
lighthouse on the Big Stone Pride
of the Delaware Launch Service.
The winners were: Shraddha
Damaraju, first place, North Star
Elementary, Hockessin; Natalie
Save, second place, Laurel
Intermediate School; Sanjana
Paul, third place, home school;
and Vladislav Stafanovich,
Shields Elementary School,
Lewes; Christian P. Conaty, St.
Ann School, Wilmington;
Shannon O'Neill, Lord Baltimore
Elementary School, Ocean View,
all honorable mention.
Winners were alsohonored dur-
ing a ceremony later in the day
• during Coast Day at the
University of Delaware College of
Marine and Earth Studies.
"The lighthouse was really,
really cool," said Stefanovich, the
local winner, as he got off the pilot
boat. "I have never been on a
lighthouse before, and it was not
what I had expected. I thought it
would be wooden."
He was the first student from
Shields Elementary to win a prize
in the Coast Day contest.
"A lighthouse on the breakwater
dates back to 1885 and the current
rust-brown lighthouse helped to
replace the Cape Henlopen
Lighthouse when it collapsed into
the ocean in 1926. The 51-foot
brick and cast iron structure was
actually the second navigational
aid placed on the breakwater - the
first being a wooden structure.
Keepers tended the light until the
1950s when it was automated,
even though personnel were need-
ed to man the foghorn at the light-
house for several more years. The
lighthouse was decommissioned
in 1996 and taken over by the
state.
The Delaware River and Bay
Authority now owns it in a lease
arrangement with the state. The
current restoration project is a
joint venture between DRBA and
the Delaware River and Bay
Authority Lighthouse Foundation.
Ron MacArthur photos
At right, four of the six Coast Day Essay Contest winners
get ready to go inside the Breakwater Light in Lewes Harbor.
Part of the prize for winning the contest was a tour of the
lighthouse. The fifth graders are (from the top, l-r): Shraddha
Damaraju, first place, North Star Elementary School,
Hockessin; Shannon O'Nell, honorable mention, Lord
Baltimore Elementary School, Ocean View; Natalie Save, sec-
ond place, Laurel Intermediate School; and Vladislav
Stefanovich, honorable mention, Shields Elementary School,
Lewes.
Below, the Breakwater Light is under restoration by the
Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation.
Above, Sanjana Paul, a home-schooled student from
Wilmington, took third place in the Coast Day Essay Contest.
24 - CAPE GAZETrE - Tuesday, October 17 - Thursday, October 19, 2006
SCHOOL & EDUCATION
Students get up close, personal with Breakwater Light
By Ron MacArthur
Cape Gazette staff
The winners of the Coast Day
Lighthouse Essay Contest got up
close and personal with the topic
they had written about. The win-
ners were hosts of the Delaware
River and Bay Lighthouse
Foundation on a tour of the his-
toric Breakwater Light in Lewes
Harbor.
Four of the six winners made
the trip to the lighthouse early on
Sunday, Oct. 1, accompanied by
parents, teachers, and members of
the foundation. The topic for this
year's essay contest involved the
life of a lighthouse keeper, and
one of the prizes was a trip to the
Breakwater Light.
The students were the first to
visit the historic landmark.
The group was ferried to the
lighthouse on the Big Stone Pride
of the Delaware Launch Service.
The winners were: Shraddha
Damaraju, first place, North Star
Elementary, Hockessin; Natalie
Save, second place, Laurel
Intermediate School; Sanjana
Paul, third place, home school;
and Vladislav Stafanovich,
Shields Elementary School,
Lewes; Christian P. Conaty, St.
Ann School, Wilmington;
Shannon O'Neill, Lord Baltimore
Elementary School, Ocean View,
all honorable mention.
Winners were alsohonored dur-
ing a ceremony later in the day
• during Coast Day at the
University of Delaware College of
Marine and Earth Studies.
"The lighthouse was really,
really cool," said Stefanovich, the
local winner, as he got off the pilot
boat. "I have never been on a
lighthouse before, and it was not
what I had expected. I thought it
would be wooden."
He was the first student from
Shields Elementary to win a prize
in the Coast Day contest.
"A lighthouse on the breakwater
dates back to 1885 and the current
rust-brown lighthouse helped to
replace the Cape Henlopen
Lighthouse when it collapsed into
the ocean in 1926. The 51-foot
brick and cast iron structure was
actually the second navigational
aid placed on the breakwater - the
first being a wooden structure.
Keepers tended the light until the
1950s when it was automated,
even though personnel were need-
ed to man the foghorn at the light-
house for several more years. The
lighthouse was decommissioned
in 1996 and taken over by the
state.
The Delaware River and Bay
Authority now owns it in a lease
arrangement with the state. The
current restoration project is a
joint venture between DRBA and
the Delaware River and Bay
Authority Lighthouse Foundation.
Ron MacArthur photos
At right, four of the six Coast Day Essay Contest winners
get ready to go inside the Breakwater Light in Lewes Harbor.
Part of the prize for winning the contest was a tour of the
lighthouse. The fifth graders are (from the top, l-r): Shraddha
Damaraju, first place, North Star Elementary School,
Hockessin; Shannon O'Nell, honorable mention, Lord
Baltimore Elementary School, Ocean View; Natalie Save, sec-
ond place, Laurel Intermediate School; and Vladislav
Stefanovich, honorable mention, Shields Elementary School,
Lewes.
Below, the Breakwater Light is under restoration by the
Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation.
Above, Sanjana Paul, a home-schooled student from
Wilmington, took third place in the Coast Day Essay Contest.