Florida Lighthouse Association

Protecting, Preserving & Restoring Florida's Lighthouses

Florida Lighthouse Association Officers

		President Ken Smith President@FloridaLighthouses.org Ken Smith is an independent television producer living in Orlando. His work includes television news stories, commercials and industrial films. He is a forth-generation native Floridian whose family has a rich heritage in maritime history of the state, specifically the West Coast and Miami. He has a passion for Florida history so his involvement in preservation and restoration efforts of Florida lighthouses is a natural fit. His first lighthouse to visit was Block Island Southeast Light, RI, but the day he climbed Ponce Inlet Lighthouse and joined FLA was the day he got "hooked." Ken and wife Dede are supporters of many lighthouse preservation groups across the country.
		Executive Vice President Position Open ExecVP@FloridaLighthouses.org Secretary Beverly Oakes Secretary@FloridaLighthouses.org Beverly has been interested in lighthouses for over 30 years, but didn't start visiting and climbing them until becoming a member of FLA in 1998 when she and her husband, Gene Oakes (recently deceased and past FLA president) attended their first meeting in Amelia Island, Florida. She has worked at JEA, the Jacksonville Florida utility company for 19 years in IT. In addition to lighthouses, her interests include genealogy, photography, scrapbooking and music. Treasurer John Kennedy Treasurer@FloridaLighthouses.org John Kennedy was born and raised in Wisconsin. He received a B.B.A. from the U.W.Oshkosh and a M.A.T. in Education at U.W.Whitewater where he also completed the requirements for certification in School Business Management. He taught high school cooperative and business education classes for 21 years in Wisconsin and Florida. He is a Vietnam Veteran, has been a member of the Jaycees and Rotary, and volunteered with the Boy Scouts of America for many years. He and his wife, Kathy, have lived in Fort Myers since moving to Florida in 1978. They have been on lighthouse tours to Puerto Rico and Massachusetts and have visited many lights in other states. John is a member of the U.S.L.H.S., A.L.F., G.L.L.K.A., Harbor Lighthouse Collectors, and several individual Florida lighthouse associations. His first lighthouse was the Racine Reef that he saw on a day at a Lake Michigan beach. Committee Chairs Membership Recruitment and Retention Committee Chair Position Open
		Membership Recruitment and Retention Committee Subcommittee: Membership Renewal Chair Linda Peck Membership@FloridaLighthouses.org Membership Recruitment and Retention Committee Subcommittee: New Member Recruitment Chair - Open
		Meeting Planning Committee Chair Ron Ecker Meetings@FloridaLighthouses.org Ron retired from the US NAVY submarine force as a Master Chief Petty Officer in 1987, having served 24 years. Following that he worked at Kennedy Space Center for 10 years and as a project manager for a small construction company for another 10 years until he finally retired for GOOD in 2009. Ron and his wife Chris joined FLA in 2008 and enjoy climbing lighthouse towers and visiting surrounding areas in Florida and the United States where lighthouses are located.
		Revenue Development Committee Chair Teri Long Marketing@FloridaLighthouses.org Teri Long is an Application Analyst with Florida Hospital in the Purchasing department. She is originally from the middle Tennessee area and moved to Florida in 1988 to have sunshine all year round. Her first lighthouse meeting was in 2008 at Cape Florida but due to her fear of heights, was not able to climb. On the way home, making a stop at Jupiter and making it to the top and outside, set the challenge to overcome that fear. Now, years later, there does not seem to be a lighthouse that she can't climb. Still there are challenges but slowly and steadily makes it to the top, outside and back down. She belongs to the Egmont Key Alliance and participates in their monthly work days, Discover the Island, and other days, as requested, working in the store. Revenue Development Subcommittee : Fundraising Committee Chair Open Revenue Development Subcommittee: Product Sales Chair Open
		Grants Committee Chair Alfred King III Grants@FloridaLighthouses.org Al King is a Business Analyst for Masonite Corporation and resides in Tampa. He is responsible for providing data and customized reports that support the various divisions of the company. His interests are travel, photography and public arts. Al’s interest in lighthouses began after a trip to Ponce Inlet and a tour of the Fresnel lens exhibit. Since that time, he has visited over 600 lighthouses and participated in multiple challenge events. He is a member of multiple lighthouse groups including the Chesapeake Chapter of the US Lighthouse Society and has been a member of the Florida Lighthouse Association since 2005. Marketing and PR Chair Sharon McKenzie Info@BarrierIslandsParksSociety.org Marketing and PR Subcommittee: License Plate Sales Advisory Committee Chair ~ Open
		Marketing and PR Subcommittee: Website/Technology Committee Chair ~ Stan Beckstrom Webmaster@FloridaLighthouses.org Stan was raised in Chicago. He developed an interest in photography in High School and went to work for Eastman Kodak after graduation. After 10 years he started a nomad career working government contracts as photo technician and quality control manager. His work took him to Patrick Air Force Base, FL, Redstone Arsenal and NASA in Huntsville, AL, Houston, TX and the Johnson Space Center, Dallas and then to Pratt & Whitney in West Palm Beach where he retired after 22 years. Stan served as Scoutmaster in Houston and Palm Beach Gardens, FL. He was president of the Band Patrons Association at North Shore H. S. in West Palm Beach. He and his wife Dottie were drawn together partly by their common love of lighthouses, in fact they spent their honeymoon visiting and photographing lighthouses.Then they discovered the FLA and were hooked.


		Marketing and PR Subcommittee: Historian Neil Hurley hurleyuscg@hotmail.com Neil Hurley is a retired Coast Guard Commander who has served on our board since the FLA was formed. Neil has been researching Florida lighthouse history for more than 15 years, and is the author of several books and articles on Florida lighthouse history and the creator of the Florida Lighthouse Page on the Internet. He was featured on the PBS-TV Series "Legendary Lighthouses", and has served as a historical consultant on archeological work at the site of the first Pensacola Lighthouse. In addition to maintaining a database of all Florida Lighthouse Keepers, he is currently nearing publication of a new book, "Florida's Lighthouses in the Civil War".

		Past President Stan Farnham Stan Farnham has been a Forest Service firefighter, an Army paratroop officer, a company CEO, and president of several associations. He led five manufacturing companies, as a turnaround CEO, from dire straits to profitability in the 1990s. He and his wife Mary, who have six grown children, then moved to Florida when his interest in lighthouses heightened. His book, "So You Want to Move to Florida", has a chapter in it on lighthouses.