Lilac Preservation Project

02/13/2020

Vula Viel

Fabulous video featuring USCGC LILAC and starring our friend Peter Zummo

Official Music Video for Vula Viel - What's Not Enough About That?
From the new album: https://vulaviel.bandcamp.com/

Lyrics:
What's Not Enough?
...
What's Not Enough
If I just come and play?
What's Not Enough
You don't know me!
What's Not Enough About That?
...
What's Not Enough?
Somebody love you.
What's Not Enough?
Somebody love me.
What's Not Enough About That?

Bandcamp : https://vulaviel.bandcamp.com
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0dAE6D3BeyHnsxYEKfVZX6

Vula Viel are:
Bex Burch - Gyil
Ruth Goller - Bass
Jim Hart - Drums

Peter Zummo - Guest Vocals

Music and lyrics by Bex Burch

Directed and edited by: Louise Boer
Filmed by: Louise Boer (Tokyo, London, New York) and Joe Zummo (New York)
Key grip: Julia Zummo (New York)

Music engineered and mixed by Dilip Harris
Mastered by Tyler McDiarmid

Thanks to Quinton Scott
Supported by PRS Foundation and Sound and Music
https://vulaviel.com

01/21/2020

Ramon (Ray) Legaspi Burdeos, Jr.

We are saddened to learn, belatedly, of the death of Ray Burdeos who served as a steward's apprentice on USCGC LILAC from 1956 to 1958.
https://www.galvnews.com/obituaries/article_0df58a33-1f3a-57e0-b85f-28cf58ea50ad.html

The family invites you for a viewing at Carnes Brothers Funeral Home, 1201 Tremont in Galveston on Monday, September 3 at 5 p.m. with a Rosary at 6:30 p.m. led

01/11/2020

Historic Vessel Vega

Greg Fitzgerald just launched a fundraiser for LILAC on his page! Please donate.

John Wickam sent me this and I found the machinery which made lighthouses tick facinating. I know we just had a lighthouse film but could not resist sharing this one with you.

01/03/2020

Our Museum Director Mary Habstritt just raised $530 for us with a Facebook fundraiser! You can create a fundraiser that benefits LILAC too. Just follow the simple steps here: https://www.facebook.com/fund/steamerlilac/

12/25/2019

Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas, all.

11/30/2019

We'll be selling LILAC t-shirts at the National Lighthouse Museum's "Museum Store Sunday" from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM this Sunday, December 1st. It's your chance to stock up on these and other lighthouse-themed items for holiday gift-giving.

11/06/2019

U.S. Coast Guard Tri-State

Always ready to lend a hand, the crews of USCGC PENOBSCOT BAY (WTGB 107) and USCGC LINE dedicated a day of service to the oldest lighthouse tender afloat. And, made a nice video about it too. Thank you! ❤️

The crews of USCGC PENOBSCOT BAY (WTGB 107) and USCGC Line gathered at the historic Lighthouse Tender Lilac yesterday in #NYC to lend some muscle for the restoration and preservation of this former U.S. Coast Guard workhorse.

Like the blackhulls of Lilac's generation, the Penobscot Bay and Line carry on a proud tradition of aiding maritime navigation. Stay tuned this winter as our blackhulls break ice up and down the #HudsonRiver, clearing the path for commerce and recreation.

#USCG #history #maritime #lighthouse #volunteer #service #icebreaking #ATON #newyorkcity #fixerupper #blackhull #communityservice @steamerlilac

11/06/2019

We're busy getting ready for winter. Sunday's crew installed and filled a water tank in the cargo hold where it won't freeze. This will provide water after Hudson River Park shuts off our connection for the season.

10/23/2019

The second day of Open House New York was wet and miserable, but the 50+ visitors were clearly motivated to get to the ship in spite of the rain. Many stayed a long time, in conversation with our volunteers and soaking up the art and history. #OHNYwknd

10/22/2019

Lighthouse Artist Elaine Marie Austin greeted visitors in our main gallery on Saturday and led children in a storytelling activity. We had 177 visitors that day! Open House New York #ohnywknd

10/17/2019

OHNY Weekend with Coast Guard Auxiliary @ LILAC

Nerd alert! Open House New York #OHNYwknd

10/16/2019

OHNY Weekend offers family art activities @ LILAC

Our final weekend of the season will have a little something for everyone...
Open House New York #OHNYwknd

09/29/2019

Back on the first of September, the work crew opened up a junction box for the degaussing system and a rainbow of wires was revealed, seen perhaps for the first time since WWII when it was installed to protect the ship from mines.

09/26/2019

Trap Checking off Lilac

Just a sample of our friends from The River Project at work sampling life in the Hudson River from LILAC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA1wQ487jwg&app=desktop

The River Project's staff and interns check traps off steamship Lilac for the fish ecology survey. This video was made as part of The River Project's Back to...

09/20/2019

Voices of Lighthouses exhibit opens Saturday @ LILAC

Voices of Lighthouses exhibit opens Saturday @ LILAC

09/20/2019

Happy to help The COOP! We're looking forward to the play. #terrafirma

Thanks to the amazing folks at Lilac Preservation Project for donating old ship ropes and pulleys for our #terrafirma set. Tickets are on sale now!

09/12/2019

Miele Exhibit Ends This Weekend @ LILAC

Miele Exhibit Ends This Weekend @ LILAC - https://mailchi.mp/lilacpreservationproject/miele-exhibit-extended-to-september-lilac-2964993

09/01/2019

Sam got dirty last week disconnecting a broken scupper in tight quarters #steamerlilac #coastguardcutterlilac #lilacpreservationproject #volunteering #plumbing

08/26/2019

U.S. Coast Guard Hawaii Pacific

LILAC has a historic connection to one of the Coast Guard's newest cutters. The USCGC MIDGETT is named for generations of Midgetts who well and proudly served the Coast Guard. One was John E. Midgett who served several tours of duty as LILAC's Commanding Officer. Huzzah for the new cutter! Semper Paratus.

Please Join us 10 a.m., Saturday, as Admiral Karl Schultz, the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, presides over the dual commissioning of the Coast Guard Cutters Kimball (WMSL 756) and Midgett (WMSL 757) at Base Honolulu.

08/23/2019

Is the Navy Trying to Cover Up a WWII Explosion That Killed 250?

This is especially sad when so few citizens are aware of the Coast Guard's service overseas in wartime. Their sacrifice should be properly recognized.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/08/09/navy-trying-cover-wwii-explosion-killed-250.html?ESRC=coastguard_190814.nl

Packed with 600 tons of ammo and explosives, the USS Serpens died in a flash beneath a full moon on Jan. 29, 1945.

08/22/2019

The Coast Guard is a military service, a law enforcement organization, a regulatory agency, a first responder and an intelligence gatherer, according to a recent Military.com article about the newest cutters to be commissioned. "A Swiss Army knife flexibility" seems to sum it up all right.

07/30/2019

Restoration of the Lyle gun was completed Sunday. That is, short of adding a firing mechanism and carriage. Often referred to by the name of the artilleryman who designed it, a Lyle gun was used to shoot a line to a ship in trouble to help rescue crew and passengers. Such line-throwing guns were typically fired from shore by surfmen of the U.S. Life Saving Service who staffed stations on shores where shipwrecks were common. (Like the U.S. Lighthouse Service which built LILAC, the Life Saving Service became part of the Coast Guard.) We found remnants of black paint to indicate that this gun was painted all black early on, probably for ease of maintenance, so we went with that. It was manufactured just down the street from Pier 25 according to the builder's plate. It was donated to LILAC by the U.S. Maritime Administration.

07/29/2019

Parakeet spotted at LILAC on Saturday! It is not known whether he is a friend of "Lyle," the black-crowned night heron that fishes from the rudder.

07/18/2019

Opened for the first time in 40 years--the officers' skylight!

07/05/2019

After yoga on the pier with Veterans Yoga Project we watched the sun set from the deck.

06/26/2019

Jay chipped paint all afternoon!

06/23/2019

Thrilled to hear stories from back in the day from Lilac veteran Steve Vani! #lilacpreservationproject #coastguard #coastguardcutter #coastguardcutterlilac #coastguardveterans

06/20/2019

One of our new tshirts, won in the raffle at our opening reception. Congratulations David Derbyshire!

06/19/2019

Now that the water has warmed, we added two more anodes to the rudder and the project to protect the hull from galvanic action is nearly complete. Thanks to our friends at the Downtown Boathouse for loaning a canoe--and Kelly.

06/04/2019

Тяжёлый буксир с нежным именем

The Voice of America--Russia story about LILAC is now up. We mentioned this was in the works in our post on May 17th. It's dubbed in Russian, of course. View it at https://www.golos-ameriki.ru/a/4935849.html

«Сирень» – плавучий музей Нью-Йоркской бухты

05/31/2019

New York Lottery - Wrestler

It's amusing that the first word revealed by the wrestler playing the scratch-off lottery game is "Lilac."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZeNfj5E9Dc

05/31/2019

The ship opens early tomorrow for the Great Fish Count!

The Great Fish Count is this Saturday, June 1st!

The World Science Festival Great Fish Count is an all-age, hands-on celebration of the marine life in the waters surrounding our five boroughs.

From 11am-1pm, join The River Project to check fish traps aboard the Lilac Preservation Project steamship. Help us count the many species of fish and marine creatures right here in our own city waterways.

This event is FREE and open to the public.

RSVP to [email protected]. Rain or shine!

Check out @worldsciencefestival for more Fish Count sites throughout NYC, Westchester County, and NJ. This event is produced in partnership with NYSDEC and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

05/26/2019

Surprise for Lilac's birthday party tonight, Peter Zummo and friends will be giving us some live music. The Buoy Tender reception runs from 7 to 10 PM with cash bar. 21+ only.

05/23/2019

Watch Spectrum News NY1 tomorrow, Friday, May 24, for Roger Clark's story about Lilac. We'll be live from the ship at 6:50, 7:50 and 8:50 AM. (Yes, that is AM.)

05/22/2019

We need birthday cake! The supermarket we used to buy our sheet cake from has closed and Captain Mary is searching for a new supplier. We always serve cake during our opening weekend. This year we're celebrating Lilac's 86th birthday. She was launched on May 26, 1933.

05/17/2019

Voice of America interviewed Captain Mary for a story about LILAC for their Russian channel. The two Vladimirs were particularly interested in the engine order telegraph and we sent a couple of messages from the bridge for the video. It's to air on the internet (VOA is banned in Russia) during Fleet Week New York on May 26, LILAC's 86th birthday.

05/08/2019

Celebrating the First Trans-Atlantic Flight. No, It Wasn’t Lindbergh’s.

A story newly brought to light tells that six Navy and Coast Guard crewmembers flew the first plane to cross the Atlantic. It wasn't non-stop and it wasn't solo, but they did it before Lindbergh.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/08/nyregion/trans-atlantic-flight-queens-ny-azores.html?searchResultPosition=2

A Navy seaplane flew from Queens to the Azores in 1919, eight years before the Spirit of St. Louis. It took three weeks. It was not nonstop.

04/29/2019

Robert "Owen" Davis Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Owen Davis, one of Lilac's WWII vets, crossed the bar on Saturday. He was the ship's cook for several years. Please keep his family in your thoughts. https://www.parksbrothers.net/obituaries/Robert-Owen-Davis?obId=4347947#/celebrationWall

Share Memories & Support the Family.

04/28/2019

Rustbusting at Lilac today

04/16/2019

U.S. Coast Guard employs drone to inspect new ATON structures

Using drone technology to economically and safely assess Aids to Navigation seems like a great idea.
https://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2019/04/u-s-coast-guard-employs-drone-to-inspect-new-aton-structures/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheCoastGuardCompass+%28The+Coast+Guard+Compass%29

04/05/2019

It Was Just a Kayaking Trip. Until It Upended Our Lives.

"...then the Coast Guard appeared and, just as swiftly, regathered that chaos into order. It was like watching footage of an exploding object, then watching it run in reverse." Semper paratus.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/03/20/magazine/kayaking-trip-alaska.html

A weeklong trip in Alaska was supposed to be an adventure. In an instant, it became the experience that defined us all.

03/27/2019

Tomorrow's leaders designing tomorrow's ships

It's great to see that these young people are working on the problem of an aging aids to navigation fleet.

https://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2019/03/tomorrows-leaders-designing-tomorrows-ships/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheCoastGuardCompass+%28The+Coast+Guard+Compass%29

03/22/2019

Peter Zummo provided musical accompaniment to our work on Tuesday.

03/22/2019

Installing sacrificial anodes to protect the hull with help from volunteers Luke and Angus. Thanks to Caddell Dry Dock and Repair Co. for donating the anodes and stainless fittings and Makerspace NYC for more of the material that helped get this done.

02/27/2019

We are saddened to learn that Lilac's Chief Engineer Frank Williams lost his beloved wife Rita Williams earlier this month. Please keep Willy in your thoughts.