MATHEWS – On Saturday, Oct. 3, volunteers with the nonprofit organization, U.S. Lighthouse Society and its Chesapeake Chapter, will honor seven Chesapeake Bay lighthouse keepers in special ceremonies at three cemeteries in Mathews County. Some of the keepers served at the Middlesex County lighthouse at Stingray Point that was removed in the 1960s. The chapter will conduct the first 30-minute-long tribute to Keeper Walter M. Shawn at Trinity Church Cemetery in Foster at 9:30 a.m. Keeper Henry Luther Dow will then be honored at St. Paul United Methodist Church Cemetery in Susan at 11:15 a.m. After a break for lunch, five keepers will be honored at the H.C. Smither Cemetery in Hudgins beginning at 1:30 p.m. In order, the chapter will dedicate Lighthouse Service plaques at the grave sites of Keepers James Garnett Williams, William Thomas Brooks, Robert Harold Matthews, Andrew Broaddus Sadler and Charles Franklin Sadler. Brooks and the Sadlers served at Stingray Point.
Members of U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 66 from Milford Haven will provide the color guard.
Because of the ongoing pandemic, organizers encourage attendees at all ceremonies to practice Centers for Disease Control guidelines of mask wearing, social distancing and the use of hand sanitizer. The public is invited to this event which will be held rain or shine.
For details and current information, see the Chesapeake Chapter’s website at www.cheslights.org, email lghthskpr@aol.com or piano4u@msn.com, or call 703-494-8344.
