Latest / Abide Meditation App / MAGICAL Bedtime Story ❄️The Flying Lighthouse Santa❄️ FALL ASLEEP NOW

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MAGICAL Bedtime Story ❄️The Flying Lighthouse Santa❄️ FALL ASLEEP NOW · Abide Meditation App

0:01
Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, welcome to get sleepy. Where we listen, we relax,
0:09
Speaker 1: and we get sleepy. My name's Thomas. Thank you so
0:16
Speaker 1: much for joining us tonight. Shortly we'll hear a true
0:22
Speaker 1: story that will take us back to the rugged coast
0:26
Speaker 1: of New England in the United States in the year
0:30
Speaker 1: nineteen twenty nine. It was written by Alicia Stephan and
0:36
Speaker 1: will be read by Heather. In this tale, one person
0:42
Speaker 1: and one act of generosity will kick off a tradition
0:47
Speaker 1: that will ultimately touch thousands of lives and continue for
0:52
Speaker 1: a century into the future. It all begins with the
0:58
Speaker 1: surprise delivery of a few unassuming packages full of very
1:04
Speaker 1: small gifts. Okay, my friends, it's nearly time to hear
1:13
Speaker 1: our story, so let's just ensure that we're suitably relaxed
1:20
Speaker 1: and ready to drift off whenever their time comes. Remember,
1:30
Speaker 1: sleep isn't something to be forced, so all you need
1:35
Speaker 1: to concern yourself with is making space both mentally and physically,
1:43
Speaker 1: to just allow sleep to happen. For some of us,
1:51
Speaker 1: this is a pretty simple task and it doesn't take
1:55
Speaker 1: too much consideration to enable that state of body and mind. However,
2:03
Speaker 1: if you're at all like me, you might find that
2:07
Speaker 1: when you come to bed, your body can often feel
2:11
Speaker 1: a bit restless holding on to the energy from the day,
2:17
Speaker 1: or more commonly, in my case, your mind switches on
2:22
Speaker 1: even more than it had been throughout the day and
2:26
Speaker 1: decides that it wants to do a lot of rather
2:29
Speaker 1: unnecessary thinking or remind you of stuff you need to
2:33
Speaker 1: deal with in the coming days. None of that is
2:40
Speaker 1: very helpful with making space for rest and allowing sleep
2:46
Speaker 1: to happen. So at this moment, just make sure you're
2:55
Speaker 1: feeling as comfortable as can be. Notice the pace and
3:03
Speaker 1: rhythm of your breath. If necessary, just keep your attention
3:14
Speaker 1: there a little longer and try to steady the rhythm
3:20
Speaker 1: and extend the exhales. This will help sow your nervous
3:28
Speaker 1: system and in turn will make you feel calmer. And
3:39
Speaker 1: I just want you to notice the touch points between
3:42
Speaker 1: your body and the surface below. Feel where your body
3:50
Speaker 1: presses into the support of your mattress or whatever you're
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Speaker 1: lying on. Relax into that more and more with each
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Speaker 1: exhale of the breath. Notice how well your head and
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Speaker 1: neck are supported by your pillow, and finally, notice how
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Speaker 1: your body is cocooned in safety and warmth by your
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Speaker 1: soft covers. You are in the perfect place to let
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Speaker 1: everything go, to offer yourself gentle reassurance, and to make
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Speaker 1: space for sleep to come without force when the time
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Speaker 1: is right. Now, with your eyes closed, imagine a blank
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Speaker 1: canvas of blue, green and gray. Picture a light snow
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Speaker 1: falling on dark evergreens, landing on rocky beaches, and disappearing
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Speaker 1: into crashing waves. This is where our story begins.
6:01
Speaker 2: Imagine for a moment that your father is a lighthouse
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Speaker 2: keeper on the rocky shores of New England. You have
6:11
Speaker 2: grown up with a life that revolves around the lighthouse
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Speaker 2: and its environs. As far back as you can remember,
6:23
Speaker 2: you've spent your nights slumbering to the sound of the
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Speaker 2: crashing waves. The cries of the seagulls have created a
6:34
Speaker 2: backdrop to your days. You have never known anything other
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Speaker 2: than the salty air on your face. Meanwhile, you've grown
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Speaker 2: up observing your parents. You know the heavy responsibility the
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Speaker 2: lightkeeper's bear. In fact, as a member of the fact,
7:01
Speaker 2: you also understand that everyone must pitch in to keep
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Speaker 2: the beacons glowing at these crucial posts morning noon, evening night,
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Speaker 2: seven days a week and three hundred sixty five days
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Speaker 2: a year. The light must be shining. The fog bell
7:34
Speaker 2: or the fog horn must be ready to sound its warning.
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Speaker 2: Your father cannot fail at this task. If he is
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Speaker 2: unable to perform it for some reason, your mother or you,
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Speaker 2: or one of your siblings must step in and complete
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Speaker 2: his duties. Otherwise, mariners will be endangered and ships may
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Speaker 2: run aground. It is a sacred duty that you share
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Speaker 2: in small part, even though you are not fully yet grown.
8:18
Speaker 2: If you are lucky, your light station may be attached
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Speaker 2: to the mainland. Many of our most storied lighthouses are
8:29
Speaker 2: perched on rocky outcrops or cliffs close to down, where
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Speaker 2: visitors can walk right up to them and visit, or
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Speaker 2: supplies can easily be delivered. This is always a comfort,
8:47
Speaker 2: because while the keepers must never abandon the light, the
8:53
Speaker 2: world can come to them, and forays to obtain supplies
8:59
Speaker 2: can be brief and predictable. However, it's all so very
9:06
Speaker 2: possible that your family has taken on a more difficult post.
9:13
Speaker 2: Your light station may be on a windswept island, a
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Speaker 2: mile or more out to sea. In the case of
9:23
Speaker 2: an island light station, your family may be the only
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Speaker 2: people who live on a small piece of land that
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Speaker 2: juts out of the tempestuous waters. Supplies may only reach
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Speaker 2: you periodically throughout the year, and you cannot attend school.
9:45
Speaker 2: Like children on shore, visitors will be scarce at such
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Speaker 2: a remote post. A family manning a distant lighthouse must
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Speaker 2: be very self sufficient, keeping each other healthy, happy, and
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Speaker 2: well proficient. Depending on the terrain at your light station,
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Speaker 2: your parents may have been able to supplement their supplies
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Speaker 2: by farming or raising livestock. Many lighthouse families raise goats
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Speaker 2: or chickens. You might have a cow that provides you
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Speaker 2: with milk grazing on the hardy grasses that survive this climate.
10:40
Speaker 2: If the soil is rich enough, your mother may well
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Speaker 2: have planted a garden. Fresh produce is one of the
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Speaker 2: hardest things to obtain when deliveries are few and far between.
10:58
Speaker 2: As a child in this family, you will have learned
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Speaker 2: to help as much as possible, even though you are little.
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Speaker 2: You can assist with the daily chores on your tiny
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Speaker 2: rock in the middle of the water. Anything that you
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Speaker 2: can do will ease the burden for your parents. This
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Speaker 2: is good because life can be exhausting and monotonous with
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Speaker 2: so much responsibility and so little help. Lightkeepers do not
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Speaker 2: get to take vacations. Despite the challenges and privations. However,
11:48
Speaker 2: you and your family are part of a proud tradition.
11:54
Speaker 2: Lightkeepers do not complain about their lot because they have
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Speaker 2: chosen it. They gladly accept the honor and responsibility of
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Speaker 2: their posts because they know that their work saves lives.
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Speaker 2: Countless mariners have been spared due to the light the
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Speaker 2: keeper kept burning or the fog bell they rang, and
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Speaker 2: sometimes it has taken ingenuity to make that happen. As
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Speaker 2: a child of a lightkeeper, you have grown up knowing
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Speaker 2: how to work hard and how to make do. You
12:40
Speaker 2: are also an eager student of creative solutions. Take for example,
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Speaker 2: the story of the light at Mount Desert Rock, twenty
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Speaker 2: six miles off the coast of Maine, which bears the
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Speaker 2: title of the most remote lighthouse in New England. At
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Speaker 2: only six hundred yards long and two hundred yards wide,
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Speaker 2: this distant outpost is so scoured by the wind and
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Speaker 2: water that no soil will rest there for long. In
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Speaker 2: eighteen fifty eight, the keeper named John Dolliver brought his
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Speaker 2: wife a barrel of soil and a packet of seeds
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Speaker 2: from the mainland. She planted the seeds and crevices all
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Speaker 2: over the island, and those produced flowers and vegetables until
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Speaker 2: they were once again swept away in the fall and winter.
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Speaker 2: The keeper renewed the supply the next year, and it
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Speaker 2: became tradition, with grateful sailors contributing their own boxes of
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Speaker 2: soil when they passed by. The island became known amongst
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Speaker 2: the seafaring folk as God's rock Garden, and it was
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Speaker 2: much loved and appreciated by those passing by. It is
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Speaker 2: this fighting spirit and this appreciation for small comforts that
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Speaker 2: you have absorbed from your family, and you have learned
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Speaker 2: a lot about gratitude. You have seen how much your
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Speaker 2: parents' work is appreciated, even though you might be aware,
14:49
Speaker 2: they feel isolated and unnoticed some of the time. But
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Speaker 2: this is the price they pay for accepting such a
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Speaker 2: sacred duty. Of course, some days are more challenging than others.
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Speaker 2: The isolation may be less cheerfully born during parts of
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Speaker 2: the year when celebration of family and fellowship are the tradition.
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Speaker 2: Even the staunchest lighthouse families wish for a mainland life
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Speaker 2: around the Christmas holidays still even out there on the island,
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Speaker 2: you sense the rising excitement. Your mother may be using
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Speaker 2: precious stores of supplies to make extra treats. You and
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Speaker 2: your sibling are secretly working on handmade gifts and cards
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Speaker 2: for one another. Your father has hinted that Santa may
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Speaker 2: have sent some candy on the upcoming supply boat. You
16:05
Speaker 2: are excited about this festive time of year, despite the
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Speaker 2: fact that your parents have not promised a visit from
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Speaker 2: Santa or any parties with friends or family. You know
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Speaker 2: not to ask for these things. But one day, something
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Speaker 2: miraculous happens that you will never forget as long as
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Speaker 2: you live. It's Christmas morning and your family has had
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Speaker 2: a festive breakfast together exchanging small presents. Your mother went
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Speaker 2: to extra trouble making everyone's favorite dish. Later after, after
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Speaker 2: your father has tended to the light, you are promised
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Speaker 2: that you will all sing some carols around the fire.
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Speaker 2: In the meantime, your mother has urged you to bundle
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Speaker 2: up and get some fresh air. You know that she
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Speaker 2: wants some time to herself to tidy the small keeper's
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Speaker 2: house so that it will be jolly for later. You
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Speaker 2: and your siblings venture into the dusty chill of late morning.
17:40
Speaker 2: As you clamor aimlessly about the familiar rocks and outcroppings
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Speaker 2: of the island, you hear the sound of a seaplane
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Speaker 2: from above. You shield your eyes, observing it with excitement
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Speaker 2: as it approaches the island. Then, as you watch an amazement,
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Speaker 2: you see an object plummet from the airplane, landing safely
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Speaker 2: out of sight on your island. In a moment, the
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Speaker 2: plane has passed. The race that ensues between the two
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Speaker 2: of you children is one of good natured competition. Both
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Speaker 2: of you are overwhelmed with curiosity to find out what
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Speaker 2: in the world has just been deposited nearly on your doorstep.
18:47
Speaker 2: Running over sparse grass and clamoring over rocky outcrops, you
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Speaker 2: make your way nearly to the edge of your island,
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Speaker 2: where you find that the object is a parcel wrapped
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Speaker 2: in brown paper. This package looks a bit worse for
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Speaker 2: the wear, having fallen from a considerable height. It is
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Speaker 2: not terribly large and weighs no more than fifteen pounds
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Speaker 2: or so. The two of you are able to lift
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Speaker 2: it easily and haul it back to the keeper's house,
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Speaker 2: where you burst through the door to show your mother
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Speaker 2: what you have found. She is perplexed at your discovery.
19:43
Speaker 2: You place it on the table and stare at it,
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Speaker 2: trying to discern whence it came and why. After what
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Speaker 2: seems in an interminable amount of time, your father finds
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Speaker 2: returns from tending the light, and you know that he
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Speaker 2: will open it, your suspense will finally be at an end.
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Speaker 2: Inside you find a note of thanks for your service
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Speaker 2: from the local pilot, William Winkobab. You know his name
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Speaker 2: because he is often about conducting business via sea plane.
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Speaker 2: He has been known to brave inhospitable conditions on many
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Speaker 2: occasions to fairy sick or injured Islanders to medical care.
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Speaker 2: It seems on this Christmas he has dropped you a
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Speaker 2: little care package to brighten your holiday. Your mother glows
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Speaker 2: with happiness at this thoughtful act, and your silently thankful
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Speaker 2: to this kind man for bringing a smile to her face.
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Speaker 2: The contents of the delivery are not extravagant, but they
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Speaker 2: might as well be lavish gifts. There are recent newspapers
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Speaker 2: and magazines. These are luxuries you normally do not have.
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Speaker 2: Beyond that, there is a precious bag of coffee, which
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Speaker 2: makes your father happiest of all. For you and your sibling.
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Speaker 2: There's brightly colored candy and chewing gum. Both are quite
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Speaker 2: a rare treat. But the greatest gift of all is
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Speaker 2: the thought he had of sending you this package of
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Speaker 2: holiday cheer. At this moment, your family is warmed by
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Speaker 2: the knowledge that they are not forgotten. On this Christmas holiday,
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Speaker 2: you all know that you are remembered and appreciated. The
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Speaker 2: story you just experienced is an approximation of what a
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Speaker 2: handful of families off of the mid coast of Maine
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Speaker 2: may have experienced on Christmas Day in nineteen twenty nine.
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Speaker 2: That was the day that, purely of his own volition,
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Speaker 2: out of the kindness of his heart, a local pilot
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Speaker 2: named William Winkipah took it upon himself to spend the
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Speaker 2: morning dropping care packages from his small travel air A
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Speaker 2: six thousand a plane. He delivered them onto the remote
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Speaker 2: stations of a head full of Banobskiit Bay lighthousekeepers. Having
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Speaker 2: done so, he simply circled back and returned to his family,
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Speaker 2: enjoying the rest of the afternoon as he always might.
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Speaker 2: He had no idea that he had just started a
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Speaker 2: movement that would be carried forward into the next century,
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Speaker 2: expanding to reach countless other deserving families. The heartwarming story
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Speaker 2: of that legacy is told by the modern nonprofit organization
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Speaker 2: Friends of the Flying Santa, which records the history in
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Speaker 2: fascinating detail. As it turns out, in the days following
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Speaker 2: his first holiday care package deliveries, Winkepol was taken aback
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Speaker 2: by the outpouring of appreciation he received. Bit by bit,
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Speaker 2: word got back to him that his gesture had made
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Speaker 2: a real difference to the folks he had visited. As
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Speaker 2: a result, he made the decision not to just make
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Speaker 2: it an annual tradition, but to expand his range. In
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Speaker 2: the ensuing years, Winkpol eventually stretched his Christmas delivery route
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Speaker 2: to cover spots all along the New England coast by
24:47
Speaker 2: nineteen thirty three. Just a few years later, he had
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Speaker 2: moved his family from Friendship, Maine to Winthrop, Massachusetts. However,
24:58
Speaker 2: even though he had relocated, his deliveries didn't stop. His
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Speaker 2: teenage son, Bill Junior, began accompanying him on his journeys. Together,
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Speaker 2: they made it to ninety one lighthouses that year. The
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Speaker 2: next year, Bill became the youngest licensed pilot in the
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Speaker 2: state at the age of seventeen. In fact, it was
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Speaker 2: through his son that Winkpol became acquainted with the man
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Speaker 2: who would ultimately play a crucial role in the future
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Speaker 2: of the Christmas Lighthouse deliveries. That man, whose name was
25:49
Speaker 2: Edward Snow, was Bill Junior's high school history teacher. He
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Speaker 2: became friendly with William Winkipol and volunteered to help out
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Speaker 2: with the Christmas deliveries. He was a great addition to
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Speaker 2: the team. In nineteen thirty six, Bill and ed took
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Speaker 2: on their own leg of the Holiday Lighthouse delivery route,
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Speaker 2: covering twenty five stops in southern New England. This turned
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Speaker 2: out to be a very important development because both William
26:32
Speaker 2: and Bill Junior were unable to complete their flights a
26:37
Speaker 2: couple of times in the early nineteen forties due to
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Speaker 2: a combination of remote work and wartime duties. In their absence,
26:50
Speaker 2: whenever he could manage, ed stepped right in hiring a
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Speaker 2: pilot to fly him where he needed to go. Company
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Speaker 2: by his wife Anna Merle, and supplemented by generous assistance
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Speaker 2: from Wiggans Airlines, the deliveries continued in their absence, although
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Speaker 2: some changes had to be made for the sake of
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Speaker 2: wartime safety. Anna Merle looked back on these flights much
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Speaker 2: later in life, relating how happy the lighthouse families were
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Speaker 2: to see their planes fly over. She told a story
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Speaker 2: of the lightkeeper's wife a ten pound island in Gloucester, Massachusetts,
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Speaker 2: who nailed down pieces of newspaper on the ground to
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Speaker 2: spell out the words Merry Christmas. Ed was so delighted
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Speaker 2: with the sight that he took a photograph and it
27:58
Speaker 2: ended up in the local newspaper on the mainland. The
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Speaker 2: son of the lightkeeper saw the newspaper while he was
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Speaker 2: on shore at school and brought it back to his
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Speaker 2: unsuspecting parents on the island when he returned home. Thus
28:19
Speaker 2: the circle of appreciation was complete for everyone involved. At
28:28
Speaker 2: times during the nineteen forties, Ed and his helpers also
28:33
Speaker 2: began using helicopters for some of the deliveries. One of
28:40
Speaker 2: the first helicopter deliveries revolved around a very special little
28:47
Speaker 2: girl named Simond Pnzart in nineteen forty five, at the
28:54
Speaker 2: age of five, Simond was wishing very much for doll
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Speaker 2: to arrive for her at the Cutty Hunk Island Light
29:04
Speaker 2: in Massachusetts. Mister Snow faithfully dropped her family of package. However,
29:13
Speaker 2: when he received a letter of appreciation from them soon after,
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Speaker 2: it was revealed that the doll had broken on impact.
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Speaker 2: This type of accident was unfortunately an occasional result of
29:31
Speaker 2: the flyover Santa drops that were necessary, but Ed gathered
29:38
Speaker 2: that the little girl was heartbroken despite her parents' efforts
29:43
Speaker 2: to mend the doll. As a result, Ed made it
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Speaker 2: a mission of his to get her another doll in
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Speaker 2: nineteen forty six. In the interim, her father had been
30:00
Speaker 2: transferred to West Choplight in Martha's Vineyard. Determined to deliver
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Speaker 2: her new doll in one piece, mister Snow employed the
30:12
Speaker 2: use of a helicopter to safely land and hand deliver
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Speaker 2: the replacement to now six year old Siemond. His kind
30:25
Speaker 2: act turned out to be a defining moment of her childhood.
30:32
Speaker 2: Simond wrote to the Lighthouse Santa annually after that, and
30:38
Speaker 2: in an interview later in life, she said, Ed Snow
30:44
Speaker 2: made my Christmases last forever. As one would imagine, Siemond's
30:53
Speaker 2: doll was not the only thing that sustained some damage
30:57
Speaker 2: due to the imperfect art of their delivery. When it
31:01
Speaker 2: came to the Christmas packages, reportedly, an effort was always
31:10
Speaker 2: made to safely drop the package away from anything breakable.
31:18
Speaker 2: One lightkeeper related that his delivery would often land out
31:24
Speaker 2: on a ledge at the edge of the island, reachable
31:28
Speaker 2: only at low tide, but there were small mishaps, like
31:35
Speaker 2: the destruction of a fence on Maine's Monhegan Island. Luckily,
31:42
Speaker 2: this type of little accident was not the norm. D's
31:49
Speaker 2: dedication to the program was a blessing because William Winkipol
31:54
Speaker 2: passed away unexpectedly in the summer of nineteen forty seven.
32:02
Speaker 2: As a result, the fate of the Christmas lighthouse deliveries
32:07
Speaker 2: was in Bill and Ed's hands. Determined to honor his legacy,
32:15
Speaker 2: they managed to get gifts delivered to one hundred seventy
32:19
Speaker 2: six light stations in nineteen forty seven. Furthermore, Wiggans Airlines
32:27
Speaker 2: pitched in by providing some additional aircraft and pilots to
32:33
Speaker 2: cover more routes. Even the Coastguard began sometimes providing a
32:40
Speaker 2: plane to assist them. Together with continuing support from Anna Merle,
32:49
Speaker 2: they continued making memories for deserving lighthouse families. By the
32:57
Speaker 2: nineteen fifties, sponsors were give getting in on the action.
33:03
Speaker 2: A typical package at that point could include coffee, tea,
33:10
Speaker 2: shaving products, rubber balloons, gum, pen and pencil sets, and
33:18
Speaker 2: even special toys to delight the littlest lighthouse keepers. In addition,
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Speaker 2: a feedback postcard was added, allowing the light keepers to
33:31
Speaker 2: let the pilots know if they'd received their packages intact.
33:38
Speaker 2: With the help of these postcards, the team was able
33:43
Speaker 2: to see that they consistently delivered the parcels with an
33:48
Speaker 2: impressive ninety four percent accuracy. Luckily, folks had a great
33:55
Speaker 2: sense of humor about the six percent of deliveries that
33:59
Speaker 2: were and awrye. There was a particularly humorous story about
34:05
Speaker 2: one year when Ed was a little behind schedule and
34:11
Speaker 2: the children at Ipswich Light were assembled and waiting. The
34:17
Speaker 2: keeper called up to his wife to ask if Santa
34:21
Speaker 2: had arrived, only to hear a package crashed through a skylight.
34:26
Speaker 2: Moments later, the story goes, she called down to him
34:32
Speaker 2: directly saying, yes, dear, we can start the party now.
34:40
Speaker 2: Ed Snow was known to always cover any damage that occurred,
34:45
Speaker 2: and the lightkeepers took the mishaps with great humor, turning
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Speaker 2: them into funny stories that would be told and retold
34:55
Speaker 2: for years. Ed And and Merle had a baby girl
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Speaker 2: named Dolly, and she immediately became an additional passenger on
35:08
Speaker 2: the holiday flights. In an interview on a podcast many
35:14
Speaker 2: years later, she talked about her memories of those trips
35:19
Speaker 2: when her father would sit behind the pilot tossing packages
35:23
Speaker 2: out the window, while her mother sat to the right,
35:28
Speaker 2: and she herself was perched in the very back, surrounded
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Speaker 2: by parcels. Delivering the annual holiday cheer continued to be
35:40
Speaker 2: very much of family affair. The Lighthouse routes had already
35:46
Speaker 2: been covering stations from Canada to Florida by the late
35:52
Speaker 2: nineteen forties, and the expansion of the routes continued. In
36:00
Speaker 2: fifty three, the Snows made their morning stops on the
36:03
Speaker 2: East coast and then Ed flew to the West coast
36:08
Speaker 2: and completed a route from Tillamook Rock in Oregon to
36:12
Speaker 2: San Pedro, California. As amazing as this was, he continued
36:20
Speaker 2: to find ways to reach more families. Nineteen fifty four
36:27
Speaker 2: saw the addition of the Great Lakes and Bermuda. Perhaps
36:33
Speaker 2: most notably, that year, Ed made the trek out to
36:38
Speaker 2: Sable Island one hundred miles off the coast of Nova Scotia.
36:45
Speaker 2: He arrived by seaplane, after which he was reportedly pulled
36:50
Speaker 2: by semi wild ponies in a wagon across land. Ultimately,
36:56
Speaker 2: he reached a very appreciative group of three children and
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Speaker 2: twenty three adults who were extremely grateful to be remembered
37:06
Speaker 2: in such a remote location. Even though he couldn't land
37:13
Speaker 2: the plane much of the time and see folks in person,
37:17
Speaker 2: ed still dressed up as Santa Claus for a few years.
37:24
Speaker 2: He even tried wearing the white beard and whiskers, but
37:28
Speaker 2: he gave up because the heavy winds kept blowing the
37:32
Speaker 2: false beard off his face when he stuck his head
37:36
Speaker 2: out of the window of the plane. Apparently, he once
37:41
Speaker 2: received a package a few weeks after Christmas that contained
37:46
Speaker 2: his fake white beard. With it, a lightkeeper had sent
37:52
Speaker 2: a note which read, here are your whiskers, now, where's
37:57
Speaker 2: our package? Changing times always require the Flying Lighthouse Santa
38:05
Speaker 2: team to evolve. By the late nineteen seventies, stricter FAA
38:13
Speaker 2: regulations were making it much harder for the planes to
38:18
Speaker 2: make their drops. Additionally, the insurance that the snows had
38:25
Speaker 2: to take out in case of damage was becoming prohibitively expensive.
38:34
Speaker 2: Unwilling to accept defeat, the Snows changed up their strategy
38:41
Speaker 2: and switched to more boat and helicopter deliveries. One advantage
38:50
Speaker 2: to this method, in addition to the promise of fewer
38:53
Speaker 2: wayward packages, was that the delivery team got to engage
38:59
Speaker 2: with their great recipients more often in person. After decades
39:07
Speaker 2: of service, as the light House Santa ed Snow passed
39:12
Speaker 2: away in nineteen eighty two, Fortunately for the families of
39:19
Speaker 2: the light stations, other nonprofits and volunteers stepped in to
39:25
Speaker 2: keep the wonderful tradition alive. As more and more light
39:34
Speaker 2: stations became automated, the focus shifted to Coastguard families, volunteer
39:44
Speaker 2: and Lighthouse Santa Historian Brian take writes in his history
39:50
Speaker 2: of the Organization of the joy experienced by the children
39:55
Speaker 2: at the remote Coastguard stations and hot it was met
40:00
Speaker 2: each year with a bounty of goodies and eager little faces.
40:10
Speaker 2: He adds that it was not uncommon to see powdered
40:13
Speaker 2: sugar on the helicopter controls by the end of the day.
40:22
Speaker 2: In two thousand and three, now a member of the
40:25
Speaker 2: Coast Guard herself, Siemond Ponzart joined the team in delivering
40:31
Speaker 2: the holiday year. It was a wonderful, full circle moment
40:38
Speaker 2: that poignantly demonstrated the lifelong impact the effort had on
40:45
Speaker 2: so many children. Fifty seven years after ed Snow had
40:53
Speaker 2: brought her a doll in a helicopter, Siemond returned to
40:58
Speaker 2: the same light station at West Chop to bring gifts
41:02
Speaker 2: to the Coastguard children who were living there. The very
41:09
Speaker 2: next year, in two thousand and four, William Winkpol's grandson,
41:14
Speaker 2: Bill the third, flew along with his wife and two
41:19
Speaker 2: children to celebrate the seventy fifth anniversary of the very
41:25
Speaker 2: first flying Lighthouse Santa deliveries. Afterwards, he convened with his
41:35
Speaker 2: family at Al's Headlight, right near Rockland, Maine, where Winklepol
41:41
Speaker 2: had dropped his first few packages on Christmas Day in
41:46
Speaker 2: nineteen twenty nine. With most lighthouses now automated, the solitary
41:55
Speaker 2: existence of the lighthousekeeper has largely fail into history. However,
42:03
Speaker 2: William Winkopold's gesture of kindness is still a magical part
42:08
Speaker 2: of Christmas that brightens the lives of so many hard
42:13
Speaker 2: working coastal families. The legacy of the Flying Lighthouse Santa
42:21
Speaker 2: shows us that it's the little things and most of
42:26
Speaker 2: all the thought that truly counts on the W nothing.
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