Community Corner

Maritime Society Debuts Harbor Light Stamp Saturday

The New London Maritime Society will hold a special ceremony Saturday, during Sailfest, to commemorate the stamp.

From a press release issued by the New London Maritime Society

New London Maritime Society is happy to announce that New London Harbor Light's USPS Forever stamp will be unveiled this Saturday at 10 am, beneath the Custom House Maritime Museum tent at 150 Bank Street. 

The event, which is free and open to the public, is part of New London's annual SailFest Celebration: come down early for the stamp and stay for the fireworks! New London Harbor Light, the oldest and tallest lighthouse on Long Island Sound, is the featured lighthouse for Connecticut in the 2013 United States Postal Service's New England Coastal Lighthouses series. There will be a special ceremony with music, talks, special guests and the lighthouse stamp, itself, available for purchase on its own or as a special first-day-of-issue cachet. 

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New London Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio and Rick Uluski, Area Vice President, Northeast Area of the U.S. Postal Service will be among the speakers at the event. Special guest, WTNH- TV Storm Team Anchorman Quincy Vagell, a Meteorologist and the Executive Producer of WXedge.com, will talk about the correlation between the Storm Team and Lighthouses in times of bad weather conditions and in aiding maritime pilots and coastal communities all year round. New London Maritime Society director Susan Tamulevich will present a short history of the lighthouse, which the Maritime Society took ownership of in October of 2010.    

There will be a USCG color guard, the NLCO (New London Community Orchestra) Quartet will perform the Star-Spangled Banner, and troubadour Tom Callinan will sing a new, original ballad about the light. After the ceremony, three different designs of special first-day-of-issue cachets, designed by philatelist Alan Bentz of Stonington, will be sold for $5 apiece, along with stamps and lighthouse items from the US Postal Service.   

Find out what's happening in New Londonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The New London Harbor Light stamp is a part of  the Sentinels of the Coastline, Reminders of Romance -  the USPS series of stamps featuring lighthouses from throughout the country.  Artist Howard Koslow has worked since 1990 to render each regional Lighthouses series issuance with detailed accuracy.


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