Florida Lighthouse Association


Protecting, Preserving & Restoring Florida's Lighthouses

FLA Board of Directors



District 1
 

District 1 Commissioner 

Olivia Larkins

keylime@bellsouth.net

Olivia is District 1 Commissioner for the Florida Lighthouse Association.  She coordinates and interfaces with Florida lighthouse staffs on the east coast from

Amelia Islandto Hillsboro Inlet.  Olivia is a lifelong admirer and supporter of lighthouses.  She has long believed the history and culture of lighthouses are important to remember and share with those of all ages, especially children and young adults.  Each lighthouse has a story and provides rare and significant insight to our nation’s pioneering and maritime past.  The Florida Lighthouse Association mission to protect, preserve, restore, and maintain lighthouses keep these valuable treasures available to enjoy but also keeps the unique past alive for “hands-on” educational opportunities.  There is a wide-range of knowledge, skills, and abilities that support maintaining lighthouses.  Those who have made lighthouse survival their profession, and the volunteers who assist them, are a dedicated, enthusiastic, and passionate people.  Olivia’s past work experience includes 40 years of public service, at both the state and federal level.  In 2003, Olivia retired from the Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC.  Olivia achieved a varied work experience in private industry as well.  She has completed three start-up businesses and one start-up church.  She is owner of Teacup Antiques and Decorative Arts LLC, Vero Beach.

Olivia holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Columbia Union College, Takoma Park, Maryland, and did her graduate work in Technology Management at the University of Maryland,

College Park.  She holds a certificate in interior design from the Atlanta Career Center.  Her interests include lighthouses, gardens, antiques and decorative arts, mountain dulcimers, barbershop/4-part harmony music, and traveling.  Olivia is a Florida Master Gardener, Indian River County.  She is a member of Beta Sigma Phi International, Florida Lighthouse Association, and the American Association of University Women.  She is a member of various professional, lighthouse, and garden-related organizations.  Her motto is “Do your work well and be happy”.

Olivia is a multi-generational Floridian.  She was born in Alabama and has lived in Florida,

Georgia, Virginia, and Maryland.  Her hometown is Tallahassee.  Olivia currently resides in Vero Beach


District 2
 

District 2 Commissioner

Eric Martin

ericlighthouse@yahoo.com

 

Born in Richmond, Virginia, Eric moved to Winter Park, Florida at age 13 so he has been a long-time Florida resident. As a young man, he became an Eagle Scout with a bronze palm. He graduated from the University of Central Florida in 1981 with a double major of History and Political Science. Eric says he’s been a lighthouse nut since 2002 and he’s seen, and climbed when available, 165 lighthouses including three lightships. Eric is President of the Florida Keys Reef Lights Foundatiom. He served a four-year term on the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District. He’s married to Susan and has three children, Steven, Ian and Brooke. He works for Mears as a Motor Coach Operator.



District 3

 

 

 

District 3 Commissioner

Ron Ecker

usnmcporet2@aol.com

 

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.


District 4



 

District 4 Commissioner

Wanda Mayo

seethelight177@yahoo.com

 

A Pensacola native, Wanda Mayo is a retired Media Specialist from the Escambia County School System.  Her love affair with Lighthouses began with an FLA Tour of the Panhandle Lights in 1999, which culminated with a first-time climb of the Pensacola Lighthouse and membership in FLA. 

Inspired to give back to her community, Wanda joined the USCG Auxiliary in order to conduct tower tours and to share the history of the Pensacola Lighthouse.  In the summer of 2006, she joined the newly formed Pensacola Lighthouse Association.  Since then, Wanda has served on many committees, as Volunteer Coordinator for 2 years, and, currently, as Secretary of the Board of Directors.  According to Wanda, it has been an exciting adventure touring Florida’s magnificent Lighthouses over the years and learning about the history and stories of each one.  It has also been a privilege to meet fellow Lighthouse Lovers through FLA over the years.  I have been inspired and amazed by the dedication and zeal my fellow FLA members exhibit in preserving and protecting these unique and irreplaceable treasures of local, state and national history.

 

   

Commissioner Emeritus

Hib Casselberry

hib.cass@yahoo.com


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.



Amelia Island Lighthouse

 

 

 

Amelia Island Lighthouse & Museum, Inc.

 

Chris Belcher

chris@ameliaislandlighthouse.org
109 South 18th Street
Fernandina, FL  32034


St. Johns River (Mayport)

 

 

 

Mayport Lighthouse Association, Inc.



.


St. Augustine

 

 

St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum

 

Kathy Fleming

KFleming@StAugustineLighthouse.com

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. Ms. 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.

Ms. 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

 

Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse        Preservation Association

 

Ed Gunn

Lighthouse@PonceInlet.org

4931 South Peninsula Drive
Ponce Inlet, FL 32127
(386) 761-1821


Cape Canaveral

 

Cape Canaveral Lighthouse

 

Peggy Armey

George.H.Diller@nasa.gov

United States Air Force
Public Affairs
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Cape Canaveral, FL  32920

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

 

Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse

 

Jamie Stuve

Visit@lrhs.org
Loxahatchee River Historical Society
500 Captain Armour's Way
Jupiter, FL  33469
(561) 747-8380


Hillsboro Inlet

 

Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse

 

Joyce Hager

Info@HillsboroLighthouse.org
Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society, Inc. (HLPS)
PO Box 610326
Pompano Beach, FL 33061-0326


Cape Florida

 

Cape Florida Lighthouse

 

 


Reef Lights

 

Reef Lights - Florida Keys

 

Jack Burrie

Info@ReefLights.org
Florida Keys Reef Lights Foundation, Inc.
1067 Drift Creek Cove

Orlando, FL 32828





Key West

 

Key West Lighthouse

 

Norman Aberle

Key West Art & Historical Society
281 Front Street
Key West, FL 33040


Garden Key

 

Garden Key Lighthouse & Loggerhead Key Lighthouse

Florida Keys

 

Kelly Clark

Kelly_Clark@nps.gov
Dry Tortugas National Park
PO Box 303, 1200 4th St.

Key West, FL

www.nps.gov/drto

305-296-5578 (Key West-Primary #)

305-224-4277 (DRTO)



        Loggerhead Key



 


Boca Grande

 

Port Boca Grande & Gasparilla Lighthouse

 

Sharon McKenzie

Info@BarrierIslandsParksSociety.org
Barrier Island Parks Society
PO Box 637

Boca Grande, FL 33921


Gasparilla


 

 

 

 


Sanibel Island

 

Sanibel Island Lighthouse

 

Alex Werner

mailto:afwerner@embarqmail.com

Sanibel Historical Museum and Village, Inc.

 


Egmont Key

 

Egmont Key Lighthouse

 

Richard Sanchez

rsancz@verizon.net

Egmont Key Alliance

(813) 361-7563


Anclote Key


 

Anclote Key Lighthouse

 

Linda Seabol

lthselady@tampabay.rr.com
Gulf Island GEO Park
#1 Causeway Drive
Dunedin, FL 34698
(727) 469-5942

 


Cedar Keys

 

Cedar Key Light Station

 

David D'Amicol

adamicol@cfl.rr.com

LowerSuwanee@fws.gov
Lower Suwanee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge
16450 NW 31 Place
Chiefland, FL 32626
(352) 493-0238

 

 


St. Marks

 

St. Marks Lighthouse

 

Gail Fishman

ANT Panama City
1700 Thomas Drive
Panama City, FL 34208-5804


Crooked River

 
 

Crooked River Lighthouse

 

Lesley Cox

http://www.crookedriverlighthouse.org

Carrabelle Lighthouse Association
PO Box 373
Carrabelle, FL 32322
(850) 697-2054


Cape St. George


 

Cape St. George Lighthouse

 

Dennis Barnell

www.stgeorgelight.org

St. George Lighthouse Association
201 Bradford Street
St. George Island, FL 32328
(850) 927-2972


Cape San Blas

 

Cape San Blas Lighthouse

 

Charlotte Pierce
www.capesanblaslight.org

St. Joseph Historical Society, Inc.
P. O. Box 231
Port St. Joe, FL 32457


Saint Joseph Point

 

Saint Joseph Point

 

Danny Raffield
danny@gtcom.net


Pensacola

 

 

 

Pensacola Lighthouse

 

Jon Hill

pensacolalighthouse.org

j.hill@pensacolalighthouse.org

 

Pensacola Lighthouse and Museum

2081 Radford. Blvd

Pensacola, FL 32508

(850) 637-4050

 

Jon Hill, an alumni of Pensacola State College and has attended the University of West Florida' Anthropology program, is a tenth generation resident of America’s first settlement, Pensacola. Jon’s first encounters with the Lighthouse came under the guidance of his friend and mentor, Pearl Harbor survivor and Lighthouse caretaker, Frank Eamond in the early 80’s. Later on, Jon came back to the Lighthouse as a Boy Scout during an Eagle Scout project to build picnic tables in the late 1980’s. These early experiences would spark an interest in history and Lighthouses that would eventually bring him back to the Pensacola Lighthouse.

Before working in the museum and tourism industry, Jon had a long career in the private sector working at the corporate level, in marketing and visuals, loss prevention and human resources, with companies such as Simon Properties, Genesco, The Limited and American Eagle Outfitters. In 2006, Jon decided to go back to work with his primary interests of history, underwater archaeology and historic preservation. While working in cultural resource management, Jon began to volunteer with the fledgling Pensacola Lighthouse Association. The association, comprised of about 15 individuals at the time, had been given a long term lease to the Pensacola Lighthouse and operated limited seasonal operations with annual visitation of less than 10,000 visitors. In 2009, after heading up several successful projects, the Pensacola Lighthouse Association hired Jon as their Executive Director tasked with the objectives of opening the Lighthouse fulltime and the establishment of the museum. Since that time, the Pensacola Lighthouse and Museum has flourished as a museum/attraction with over 175 members, 200 volunteers, a professional staff of fourteen, and is now opened to the public year round with annual visitation approaching 200,000. 

 Jon is also an ambassador for the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Pensacola Young Professionals, United Way’s Emerging Leaders, and also serves on the board of directors for The Friends of the Governor Stone and is the Government Liaison for the Florida Association of Attractions. In his spare time, Jon is a professional soccer coach and is on the staff of Florida Youth Soccer Association’s Olympic Development Program.  Jon is also the proud father of Tristen and Aiden Hill and will soon be engaged to Miss Sandy King.

Commissioners are asked to submit their Lighthouse Reports to President@FloridaLighthouses.org using this form


 
 

Florida Lighthouse Association PO Box 1676, St Petersburg, Florida 33731

(727) 667-7775     Info@FloridaLighthouses.org

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