It all started more than 10 years ago when Patti started working at a deli and catering business near her home in Linden. Dan was already working there, and almost instantly, the pair felt a connection of friendship. Even when Dan bought the deli and catering company, the two became friends and started dating. That was nine years ago.
Driving to various places along the shore, Dan and Patti found themselves always drawn to
the Twin Lights. There was something about it that held their attention and charm. So much so that when Dan knew he wanted to marry Patti, he planned to bring her to their favorite place, climb one of the towers, and propose to her at the top, looking out over the Atlantic Ocean.
But Patti, who has undergraduate and graduate degrees from Kean University, Dominican University and Georgian Court University and is a third grade teacher, is obviously a woman on the go. Busy with her career as well as other activities, such as serving as Vice President of the Kean University Alumni Association as well as being active in other organizations and school groups, she saved time for Dan and herself to still drive down the shore. In the meantime, Dan sold his successful deli business and is currently a restaurant consultant and managing his own catering business.
The date was set for Jan. 8 of last year for Dan to propose. He wanted to ask that all important question at the top of the Twin Lights. He and Patti were going to a friend’s baby’s Baptism and thought they could stop at Nicholas Creamery for ice cream and after that, visit the Twin Lights.
But Patti was too tired and wanted to go directly home instead. Back at home, Patti’s grandfather was outside by the car. He lives with Patti and Dan, and Dan, concerned he was outside, ushered him into the house. Patti went next door to get her dog from her mom’s house to bring him back home. In the house, with Grandpa settled and the dog lying quietly, it was a very excited and by now frustrated Dan who asked his beloved if she could just stand still for 30 seconds. And as Patti tells it, “I turned around and he was down on bended knee next to our couch. It was the most perfect proposal because it was just us in our home with no interruptions.”
So the engagement did not take place at the top of the Twin Lights as Dan had hoped. But because the site was so important to them both, they drove back down to take photos both inside and outside the museum, as well as a few overlooking Sandy Hook and the ocean. “It was the perfect engagement shoot. We had the fortune of being able to climb both towers and actually used one of them in our engagement shoot.”
The wedding is set for Oct. 13 of this year at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Linden, where Patti and Dan both attended the grammar school, although it was years apart. The reception will be at the Palace at Somerset Park.
For now, while Patti is sorry her active lifestyle didn’t allow for Dan to carry out his engagement plans at the site they both love, she explains “ Dan is an extremely selfless person, helping whoever needs it and putting others needs before himself. He never questioned when my Grandpa became sick and needed to move in with us, doing whatever he could to help out.
He has such a big heart and he never fails to make me laugh. While I’m a very type A person, he is more laid back and never fails to ground me when I take on too much or just need support.” Dan, on the other hand, understands why his own plan for proposal could not happen. He says he is primarily attracted to Patti because she is “ compassionate, caring, and resolute.” He likes how Patti “has always been by my side, even when I didn’t ask for help or wasn’t looking for it.
I love her sense of humor, even her bad puns, which are a constant.” And he loves that once she starts a project, she sees it through until the end. Quite simply, he smiles, “she makes sure everyone is taken care of.”
As for the Twin Lights? It will always be a special place for both of them, and a reminder every time they climb a tower or enjoy a picnic lunch on the front lawn or pick up a gift or souvenir in the gift shop, “it has always been a very special place in both their hearts.”
The Twin Lights grounds are open every day from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM for visits, whether or not an engagement or wedding is planned.
Check our website for building and tower climb hours www.twinlightslighthouse.org call (732) 872-1814 or follow the Twin Lights Historical Society on Facebook.
The Twin Lights State Historic Site is owned and operated by the New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection, Division of Parks, Forestry & Historic Sites (“NJ Parks”.)
Nick Wood, RIS-History, the full time NJ Parks Curator at the site, offers private tours by appointment for a small fee (so worth it!). [email protected].
The Twin Lights Historical Society is the officially recognized friends group for NJ Parks at the Twin Lights. The role and purpose of the society at the site is to support and assist NJ Parks in its operations and exhibit development through financial support as well as volunteer services at the site. The Society invests all donations, memberships and proceeds from the Twin Lights Museum Store to improve visitor experience and online public relations, including new exhibits, paid internships for local high school and college students, as well as special projects.
]]>stories frequently that prove it’s so. This includes hearing from couples and families near and far some of whom had their first date here, others got engaged here, others had their weddings here.
To celebrate all, the Historical Society is hosting a “Lover’s Tea” Saturday, February 24, from 4:15pm until 6:45pm. Admission is free.
“This is our first attempt at such an event, but we have already received interest from couples who attended our fall full moon night climbs last year,” said Bev Kugele, Vice President of the Twin Lights Historical Society.
“Specifics have not yet been finalized, but the accent is on each couple have a memorable
time,” the vice-chairman said. “We also welcome those who may have lost their loved one, but who would like to celebrate their memories here by attending,” she added. The day and time for the Lovers Tea was designed to align with the February full moon, which rises over the Atlantic in front of the Twin Lights night.
The event is planned to be High Tea, complete with teacakes and other assorted treats and
beverages, including tea. The event committee would benefit from hearing from interested
parties, in order to complete plans for the event.
Tea service begins at 4:15 p.m. Feb. 24, with sunset at approximately 5:30p.m., moon rise, about 6:00 pm and the closing of the ceremony at 6:45 p.m.
For more information on events, as well as membership information, visit www.twinlightslighthouse.org or follow the Twin Lights Historical Society on Facebook. The Twin Lights State Historic Site is owned and operated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Parks, Forestry & Historic Sites (“NJ Parks”). Nick Wood, RIS-History, the full time NJ Parks Curator at the site, offers private tours by appointment for a small fee (so worth it!).
See below for more details or contact Nick directly at [email protected].
For the most up to date information on hours, call (732) 872-1814 or go to
https://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/historic/twinlights.html.
The Twin Lights Historical Society is the officially recognized friends group for NJ Parks at the Twin Lights. The role and purpose of the society at the site is to support and assist NJ Parks in its operations and exhibit development through financial support as well as volunteer services at the site. The Society invests all donations, memberships and proceeds from the Twin Lights Museum Store to improve visitor experience and online public relations, including new exhibits, paid internships for local high school and college students, as well as special projects.
For more information about the Twin Lights and its illustrious history, go to www.twinlightslighthouse.org or call (732) 872-1814
Visitor Information is available by mail to the Lighthouse at 2 Lighthouse Road, Highlands, NJ 07732 or by calling (732) 872-1814
Grounds are open every day from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM
]]>The New Jersey State Park Service’s Twin Lights Historic Site will open its doors to visitors seven days a week this summer, increasing the need for volunteers, the Twin Lights Historical Society is inviting those interested in volunteering to attend the historical society’s annual Volunteers Day on Saturday, April 23, from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
While the day is set aside annually to honor Twin Lights volunteers, Society President Jeff Tyler is extending an invitation to prospective volunteers this year to learn more about the program. Guests will have the opportunity to meet with volunteers, some of whom have been at Twin Lights for more than ten years, during the informal meeting planned, weather permitting, for the grounds in front of the Lighthouse. Light refreshments will be served during the meeting.
Most volunteers at the lighthouse offer their services at the entry point to the museum and the gift shop, answering questions and giving directions, as well as running the gift shop. Volunteers work under the direction of the Twin Lights Historical Society staff and the State Park Service Historian at the Twin Lights. Volunteers are also needed in specialized areas, including accounting, digitalization, social media and research.
Volunteers will undergo a brief educational session before assuming their duties and will sign up for three-hour sessions on either a monthly or weekly basis. Volunteers of all ages are welcome, with high school students eligible for internship programs in which they can fulfill community service obligations.
Tyler, who started volunteering himself after his daughter gained experience during a high school internship program, said there are numerous opportunities volunteering at the Twin Lights provides. In addition to being able to be of service to others, “it is an opportunity to meet with interesting people, people from all over the world, to discuss local history with experts in the field, and to become a part of the Twin Lights family,” said Tyler. “Being a part of the Twin Lights Historical Society is such a unique benefit. To me, it is the place that everyone wants to be.”
Those wishing further information about the Twin Lights, the museum, and the volunteer program can visit the website at www.twinlightslighthouse.org, or visit the Twin Lights Society Facebook page.
The Twin Lights Historical Society is a non-profit organization formed by volunteers in 1955. Today, the Society partners with The New Jersey State Park Service, which owns and operates Twin Lights, to share its illustrious history.
For further information, visit the Twin Lights website at www.twinlightslighthouse.org
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As the name suggests, they are a pair of beacons located 246 feet above sea level on the headlands of the Navesink Highlands. It was once the brightest beacon on the East Coast with its Fresnel lens, and itself a historic landmark for a variety of reasons.
In 1899, Guglielmo Marconi chose the Twin Lights to set up his history-making wireless telegraph. Marconi placed an antenna and receiving station at the lighthouse to demonstrate his Wireless Telegraph. He transmitted messages from a boat offshore, which were then sent to a New York newspaper for publication. These experiments established the commercial viability of wireless communication and provided the foundation for experiments and technology that led to the wireless devices we depend upon today.
The Twin Lights became the first lighthouse electrically powered. In the 1930s, the Army’s Mystery Ray, what we now know as radar, was tested at the site. Officially known as the Navesink Light Station, the two lights separated by keeper’s quarters were designed to avoid confusion for seamen with the Sandy Hook Light and are not identical twins because of the differences in their shape and operation.
Maintained by the State of New Jersey, and home to both the Friends of the Twin Lights and the Highlands Historical Society, the Twin Lights are open for visiting and climbing several days a week and house a magnificent maritime collection in the Museum located between the towers.
]]>Today we celebrate how these scenic, historic structures comforted travelers throughout the centuries, and at the Jersey Shore, we have many to keep our mariners safe!
Whether they be topped with bright red roofs, Victorian in style, at the edge of land and sea or high atop a nearby hill, New Jersey lighthouses have been a tourist attraction and draw for history buffs for as long as they have been the beacons that provide guidance and warnings to ocean-going vessels of all sizes. And well they should be, considering the diversity and number of lighthouses in the nation’s third smallest state.
It all started in 1764 when the 103-foot-high white lighthouse was built on Sandy Hook, now part of Gateway National Recreation Area in Highlands. It was one of only 11 lighthouses in the original 13 colonies and today remains the oldest still operating lighthouse in the country. Although the building is maintained by the National Park Service, the light itself is under the direction of the Coast Guard and the light remains a beacon for ships entering and leaving New York Harbor.
A few miles away, across the Shrewsbury River and situated on one of the highest points along the East Coast waterways, is the Twin Lights, once the brightest beacon on the East Coast with its Fresnel lens, and itself a historic landmark for a variety of reasons. It is the site where the Pledge of Allegiance was officially first said publicly; it is also the site where Guglielmo Marconi sent his first wireless message, and eventually became the first lighthouse electrically powered. In the 1930s, the Army’s Mystery Ray, what we now know as radar, was tested at the site.
Officially known as the Navesink Light Station, the two lights separated by keeper’s quarters were designed to avoid confusion for seamen with the Sandy Hook Light and are not identical twins because of the differences in their shape and operation. Maintained by the State of New Jersey, and home to both the Friends of the Twin Lights and the Highlands Historical Society, the Twin Lights are open for visiting and climbing several days a week, and house a magnificent maritime collection in the Museum located between the towers.
Barnegat Lighthouse, Old Barney to friends, at 171 feet in height, joins the Absecon lighthouse as being the two tallest lighthouses in the state. Located on the north end of Long Beach Island, Old Barney’s striking red and white exterior is a familiar sight for summer visitors. The lighthouse was built in 1859 on what has been identified as one of the most crucial change of course points for ships, with swift currents, shifting sandbars and shoals extending from the shore offering unique and dangerous challenges for sea vessels along the New Jersey coastline.
The Lighthouse is on the NJ Coastal Heritage Trail.
In addition to Sandy Hook the Twin Lights and Barnegat lighthouses, visitors seeking to discover the uniqueness of the structures can visit the Absecon Lighthouse, the 157 foot high Cape May lighthouse, as well as Hereford in Wildwood, and Sea Girt, decommissioned since 1945 but a charming Victorian building constructed in 1896 and boasting a square red-brick tower.
Several others include:
Tucker’s Island, a reconstructed lighthouse built about six miles from the original building, East Point in Heislerville on Delaware Bay, a two-story white building with a bright red roof, Finns Point Rear Range, an 1876 wrought iron structure in Pennsville, built in Buffalo and moved to its site by rail and wagon, and Tinicum Rear Range Lighthouse in Paulsboro, built in connection with Tinicum Front Range Light to guide ships along the Delaware River to ports in Philadelphia and Camden.
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