District 1District 1 Commissioner
Hibbard “Hib” Casselberry came to Winter Park, FL in 1926. His parents bought acreage and started an agricultural business in what is now the City of Casselberry in Seminole County. In the 1930's the family spent some of the weekends in the Daytona Beach area. He became familiar with the waters around Ponce Inlet with a family friends’ yacht. That is where his love of lighthouses started. Just before Thanksgiving vacation in 1942, President Roosevelt said German subs were sinking our ships and asked any men that knew any part of our Atlantic Coast to enlist in the US Coast Guard. Hib enlisted that week and was sent to Boot Camp at St. Augustine’s former Ponce de Leon Resort Hotel. His first few assignments were Jacksonville and Mayport, the latter on a wood-hulled yacht with a 30 mm machine gun on the forward deck, roll-off ash cans on the stern, and sonar anti-submarine system. Later after attending Destroyer Escort school at Norfolk, VA Naval Station, Hib was assigned to the USS Peterson, DE-152 commissioning crew at Orange, TX and served convoy duty in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic..After World War II, he earned a BS Degree in Building Construction, married a fellow graduate and moved back to Central Florida. Hib moved his family of 7 to Ft. Lauderdale in 1965 and continued in the architectural field for 40 years, retiring in 1993.
About 1970 Hib became an “Associate Member” (passive) of the Ponce de Leon Lighthouse Preservation Assoc. He is a charter member of the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation (6 years on the Florida Maritime Heritage Program Steering Committee) and charter member of three lighthouse groups – FLA (V.P. Membership 4 years), Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society (4 years as President), and Florida Keys Reef Lights Foundation (Board Member). Hib helped Tom Taylor and others to promote or develop the Amelia Island, Mayport, Carrabelle, Cape Canaveral, and other lighthouse associations. Hib has written a number of maritime articles for publications and has received numerous awards for his lighthouse preservation work including a Life-Time Achievement Award from FLA in 2002 and the FLA President’s Award in 2006 for a decade of service to this organization.
District 2District 2 Commissioner
Ray Stewart for a few months was lightkeeper at Key West Lighthouse while stationed at the Key West Coast Guard Station. Having been raised around the waters of New England, fell in love with all things nautical. Retired after owning a marine distributorship in south Florida. As a past president and board member of The Institute Of Maya Studies, he has been photographing archaeological sites and lecturing on Pre-Columbian cultures for the past 30 years. Visiting and photographing lighthouses around the country is a great incentive to study our history and travel. This has given him an opportunity to develop a slide program on the history of lighthouses that has been given to school children for the past five years along with several adult organizations (Rotary Clubs, U.S. Power Squadrons, Archaeology Associations, etc.).
District 3Richard "RIP" Puls CPO USN RET.
District 3 Commissioner
Rip is a veteran of 26 years in the Navy. Following his Navy career he was with the Veterans Hospital, retiring after 22 years. He says he has always loved lighthouses, Rip was active in the restoration of the Anclote Key Lighthouse. He is a collector of Harbor Lights miniature lighthouses.
District 4
Dianne D. Levi
District 4 Commissioner
Dianne fell in love with the Pensacola Lighthouse back in 1968, when her husband Gordon was going to a Navy School at NAS Pensacola. Years later, when they retired in Pensacola, they helped the Navy's Cultural Resource Manager set up the displays in the restored Keepers' Quarters and began coordinating volunteers for tours at the Command Display Center located in the Keepers' House. Dianne was a school teacher and librarian, is the Mother of 3 and grandmother. She has been active with FLA since 1998. She enjoys traveling and learning about the history and ghost stories of an area. She has done many programs on the ghost stories of Pensacola and the lighthouse, as well as assisted with two books and three films. She was on FLA's Education Committee and has represented the organization at the State History Fair Awards programs, as well as served as judge for the Escambia County History Fair. She organized community members to form the Pensacola Lighthouse Association in January 2006.
Amelia Island
Helen Sintes
Amelia Island Lighthouse & Museum, Inc.
109 South 18th Street
Fernandina, FL 32034
St. Johns River (Mayport)
Charlie Knox
Mayport Lighthouse Association, Inc.
4610 Ocean Street
Mayport Village, FL 32233
Charley is originally from Gettysburg, PA and retired from the US Navy. Charley and his wife Lottie developed an interest in lighthouses while visiting the St. Augustine Lighthouse. That interest grew as they visited many different lighthouses in Florida. They heard of the Florida Lighthouse Association while exploring the internet and joined. Their interest has only increased while getting involved in trying to preserve the St. John's River Lighthouse. Charley is currently the Secretary/Treasurer of the Mayport Lighthouse Association. They also are members of the American Lighthouse Foundation, United States Lighthouse Society, St Augustine Lighthouse Association and Tampa Bay Harbor Lights Collectors Club.
St. Augustine
Kathy Fleming
St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum
81 Lighthouse Avenue
St. Augustine, FL 32084
(904) 829-0745
Ms. Fleming is the current Secretary of the American Lighthouse Coordinating Committee. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Preservation Action in Washington, DC as one of three current representatives from the State of Florida. She is a member of QM2, executive roundtables and, as a museum professional, works as a Museum Assessment Program Reviewer (MAP) for the American Association of Museums. In 2005, Ms. Fleming and the Board of Trustees at SAL&M created Salt Run Sales, Inc. a for-profit corporation that exists to help other museums and lighthouses nationwide create revenue and support their mission and purpose through museum store sales. Fleming also serves on the Board of Directors of the Local Visitor and Conventions Bureau and is on the honorary board of Jupiter Inlet's Loxahatchee River Historical Society, which manages the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse. She is an active supporter of the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation and of the Florida Association of Museums.Fleming is a native of Asheville, NC. She attended Wake Forest University and has a BA in Studio Art. Post-graduation she studied professional advertising and is about to embark on a Master's Degree in Organizational Leadership. Ms. Fleming is married to Andy Fleming a Florida native, whom she met at Wake Forest University. They have three children including a beautiful teenage daughter and twin boys who are remarkably rambunctious and growing like weeds. Her family is also the proud owners of two rescued dogs, two formerly homeless cats and three small fish.
Ponce de Leon Inlet
Ann Caneer
Ed Gunn
Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse Preservation Association
4931 South Peninsula Drive
Ponce Inlet, FL 32127
(386) 761-1821
E-mail: lighthouse@ponceinlet.org
Cape Canaveral
George Dillar
Contact:
United States Air Force
Public Affairs
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Cape Canaveral, FL 32920
E-mail: George.H.Diller@nasa.gov
George Diller served as Treasurer of the Florida Lighthouse Association for seven years. He has been employed by NASA at the Kennedy Space Center since 1979 as a Public Affairs Officer and is an official NASA spokesman. Mr. Diller is on the board of directors of the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Preservation Foundation and the American Meteorological Society, Cape Canaveral Chapter. He is a graduate of the University of South Florida in Tampa holding degrees in Communications and Business Administration. His residence is in Titusville, Florida.
Jupiter Inlet
Jamie Stuve
Loxahatchee River Historical Society
500 Captain Armour's Way
Jupiter, FL 33469
(561) 747- 8380
Email - visit@lrhs.org
Hillsboro Inlet
Joyce Hager
Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society (HLPS)
P.O. Box 6062
Pompano Beach, FL 33060
E-mail: info@hillsborolighthouse.org
Cape Florida
Art Levy
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Recreation Area
1200 S. Crandon Boulevard
Key Biscayne, FL 33149
(305) 361-8779
E-mail: art.levy@dep.state.fl.us
Reef Lights
Rick Schulze
Jack Burrie
Florida Keys Reef Lights
Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box 1517
Key West FL 33041
E-mail*: info@reeflights.org
Key West & Reef Lights
Claudia Pennington
Key West Art & Historical Soc.
Norm Aberle
281 Front Street
Key West, FL 33040
(305) 295-6616
Sanibel Island
Joy Earl
John Kennedy
Gasparilla (Port Boca Grande)
Sharon McKenzie
Barrier Island Parks Society
P. O. Box 637
Boca Grande, FL 33921
(941) 697-77
Egmont Key
Sandie Mallett
President
Egmont Key Alliance
sandiemallett@verizon.net
Anclote Key
Linda Seabol
Gulf Island GEO Park
# 1 Causeway Drive
Dunedin, FL 34698
(727) 469-5942
Cedar Keys
Dave D'Amicol
Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys Nat’l Wildlife Refuge
16450 N.W. 31 Place
Chiefland, FL 32626
(352) 493-0238
E-mail: Outreach Ranger at lowersuwannee@fws.gov
St. Marks
Robin Will
ANT Panama City
1700 Thomas Drive
Panama City, FL 32408-5804
(850) 234-81
Crooked River
Arlene Oehler
Carrabelle Lighthouse Association
P. O. Box 373
Carrabelle, FL 32322
(850) 697-2054
Cape St. George
Dennis Barnell
St. George Lighthouse Association
201 Bradford Street
St. George Island, Fl 32328
850-927-2972
Cape St. Blas
Charlotte Pierce
St. Joseph's Point
Danny Raffield
Danny is a fourth generation Floridian tracing his heritage back to the pioneering families who helped to settle what is now known as Bay and Gulf counties. Danny's home is in the small community of Simmons Bayou which is located along the shores of St. Joseph Bay. His dream home is the restored Saint Joseph Point Lighthouse, also known as the Beacon Hill Lighthouse. He shares this home with his wife, JoAnn, a kindergarten teacher at Port St. Joe Elementary, and their youngest daughter, Emily, recently graduated from Port St. Joe High School. They also have two older children, Suzanah and Daniel
Pensacola
Gordon Levi
Gordon grew up in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of New York State. Since his retirement from the United States Navy, Gordon and his wife have called Pensacola, Florida home. It was during his formative years in Junior High School that he became interested in the art of photography. He first photographed the Pensacola Lighthouse in 1968. Since then he has photographed lighthouses from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes and beyond. His years of interest in history, travel and photography is a source of great personal satisfaction. Gordon represents the Pensacola Lighthouse Association and is also serving as the Archivist for FLA.