This Christmas, you might notice the twinkling lights of Christmas trees on yonder “Little Island” in Sippican Harbor at night – a sight never beheld before. But, thanks to advances in technology, the Christmas Spirit now resides on the small, rocky, uninhabited island that is owned by Jay Wurts and located in the inner harbor in Marion.
“For the first time in history, Little Island has been illuminated,” said Catherine Lacause.
You can see the little illuminated island from Island Wharf. The island sits about 600 feet from the dock at Wurts’ residence at 49 Water Street.
“Catherine kept saying it would be a very good idea to light the trees this year,” said Wurts. “So we started in October and it took a while…”
With a little help from the sun, a solar-cell battery Wurts purchased on the Internet brightens the energy-efficient LED lights every night.
“You couldn’t have done this a few years ago,” said Wurts. “There’s a thousand lights out there, and it draws only seven watts of power.”
The lights on Little Island glimmer and gleam, reflecting off the black, nighttime surface of the water like a Christmas dream, mesmerizing the couple every night after dark.
“Instead of sitting by our fireplace in the winter, we sit here and watch our lights,” said Wurts.
And what do the couple’s neighbors think about the lights of Little Island?
“They all love it,” said Wurts, pointing out that many of his neighbors string up lights along their houses and flag poles, but not like the little trees on Little Island – that is something special to Wurts and Lacause.
Residents that live along the waterfront have been calling him up and wondering what is going on, remarking on the beauty of the lights in the middle of the harbor.
Wurts said one person recently told him that the lights on Little Island guided his vessel safely into the harbor one night, since the Coast Guard had turned off the lighted buoys for the winter.
“They must have been very surprised [by the lights],” said Wurts. “They aren’t marked on the navigational chart.”
Wurts and Lacause used a 16-foot boat hook and tediously got the lights strung onto the trees – trees that had been growing back since Hurricane Bob blew away the older ones that once stood on the island 23 years ago.
“It’s already survived three 40-knot storms,” said Wurts, although a week of stormy weather lay ahead to test the durability of the couple’s display. Hopefully, by the end of the stormy week, the lights at Little Island will continue to shine, guiding boats through the harbor and residents toward a Merry Christmas.
By Jean Perry
