Last updated 5/31/2009
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The Florida Lighthouse Association |
Visit the Florida Lighthouse Association Web site and find out how to Join us
The Gene Oakes Memorial License Plate Project
We want to give you the opportunity to display this
beautiful art as your Florida license plate. While displaying your love of
lighthouses you will be helping generate funds to restore these state treasures.
The bill authorizing the "Visit Our Lights" tag was approved by the Florida Senate on April 28, 2008 by a vote of 35-4. On April 29 the House of Representatives gave it a 118-1 approval. The bill was forwarded to the governor's office, and Governor Crist signed it on May 28. Thank all of you for your support in bringing this about. The plate became available at the local tax collectors offices throughout Florida in mid December 2008. Now we can all give our full support by purchasing these tags and proudly displaying them on our cars. $25.00 from the sale of each tag will be used for the preservation and restoration of our 29 remaining historic lighthouses.
Our late president, Gene Oakes had set as his top priority the obtaining of a specialty license plate to raise funds for the preservation of Florida's historic lighthouses. Gene's untimely death came before he was able to obtain that goal. The Association was determined to accomplish what Gene had started and in 2005 established the Gene Oakes Memorial License Plate Fund with Gene's widow, Beverly Oakes, as chairperson. Three years later that goal was accomplished. Now that the Goal has been achieved there is no need for the fund to obtain the plate, so the fund has become the Gene Oakes Memorial Project. Now that we have achieved our goal of obtaining the specialty license you may ask "What can I do now?" Click here for some suggestions.
Would you like to track the sales of the Visit Our Lights specialty tag? This link will take you to the Specialty Plate Sales Search Page of the Florida Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles where you can track the tag sales by county or by month.
Who Are We?
The Florida Lighthouse Association was founded in 1996 for the purpose of creating awareness of Florida's many lighthouses. As a maritime state with extensive coastlines, our state has many lighthouses of various construction. Our lighthouses are a state treasure and a national treasure as well. Each of these structure is unique in history and architecture. Unfortunately, many of Florida's lighthouses are in disrepair and we are in danger of losing them.
The Association is a consortium of the individual lighthouse organizations and interested individuals from across Florida and the nation. We meet quarterly, rotating the meetings among the various lighthouses. This gives us an opportunity to allow membership to personally experience each lighthouse and encourage the membership to support the member lighthouses.
What are our Objectives?
The Association has as its objective the preservation of Florida's lighthouses for future generations. Our goals are to assist in the restoration process, to educate the public regarding lighthouse history, to bring awareness of their present condition and to provide as much financial assistance as possible to the preservation effort.
We are committed to providing every assistance possible to preserve all of Florida's lighthouses. This assistance is a multi-faceted approach. We provide information to the local lighthouse organizations in the form of advice and guidance in navigating legislative issues.
we assist in educating the public regarding circumstances surrounding specific lighthouse issues. We provide funds through the issuance of grants to local lighthouse organizations to assist them in meeting financial obligations that are incurred in the restoration, maintenance and preservation process.
Florida's lighthouses are a source of pride to Floridians. They are sentinels of the past and they represent where we have been.
By preserving Florida's lighthouses we can honor our heritage, preserve our past, show appreciation for artisanship and integrity, experience and appreciate the efforts and accomplishments of prior generations and inspire future generations of architects, engineers and historians.