Lighthouse Kids of Long Tail Point

[music]

Narrator: On a sliver of land just outside Green Bay stand the ruins of a long-abandoned lighthouse. Hard to imagine now — but once upon a time, this empty land was a home. A home for two Wisconsin boys named Cletus and Ralph Weber. Their father, assistant keeper Andrew Weber, and mother, Alice, moved into Long Tail Point Lighthouse in 1910. They found the sturdy clapboard house with attached tower an ideal spot to raise a family. The Weber family — Cletus, Ralph, and baby sister Adris — lived in Green Bay but spent their summer months on Long Tail Point. The Webers lived in the 1859 Lighthouse, but the remains of the old lighthouse built over a decade earlier still lay scattered about the island, making it a fitting home for adventures. In 1980, Cletus and Ralph Weber, now adults, reminisced about their childhood adventures at Long Tail Point.

Cletus Weber: Born in Green Bay, 1913, and moved out to the lighthouse when I was three weeks old.

Ralph Weber: My dad was a lighthouse keeper at Long Tail. I was born in 1915.

Narrator: Though only youngsters, Ralph and Cletus pitched in to keep the lighthouse grounds running.

Ralph Weber: Like, we had a typical day is I had my work to do, take care of the crab boxes, and help Mother in her garden. Whatever we could do, we were obligated to do.

Narrator: But when the work was done, the boys would escape into the island’s 434-acre wonderland…

Cletus Weber: Go swimming, fool around, follow deer, hunt ducks… We went swimming maybe five, six times a day. There was nobody around to bother us. Just the two of us.

Narrator: Summers spent wandering the beach, catching fireflies, digging for arrowheads. And of course… fishing.

Cletus Weber: We ate fish till it come out of our ears!

Narrator: For these brothers, Long Tail Point made for an idyllic childhood. An experience they would carry with them for a lifetime. Both brothers would grow up to have long careers on the water, Cletus as a Sea Scout, and Ralph as a captain. The lighthouse that was home to the Webers no longer stands. Reeds and bulrushes have reclaimed the island. All that remains is the long-abandoned stone tower — a silent monument to the families who worked and played in its shadow.

[music]