Trinidad Memorial Ceremony

The Ceremony begins with bagpipe music by Matthew Marshall. Dana Hope, Trinidad Civic Club Co-President, presides.  Girls Scouts from the Redwood Service Unit conduct the flag ceremony and pledge of allegiance. The Rev. Nancy Streufert, Associate Priest, Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka, gives the invocation and Lorenza Simmons-Phillips sings “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot/All Night, All Day.” Special guest LT Jarret McEldowney from the United States Coast Guard Sector Humboldt Bay commemorates service members.  Patti Fleschner, Trinidad Civic Club Historian, reads “The Ocean” by Nathanial Hawthorne. In keeping with tradition, Trinidad City Mayor Cheryl Kelly rings the Trinidad Head Lighthouse Keeper's cottage bell. Janine Volkmar, Trinidad Civic Club Recording Secretary, reads the memorial names, followed by a USCG helicopter flyover.  "Taps,” played by Matthew Brogdon, concludes the ceremony.

Beautiful wreaths created by Nancy’s Forever Treasures; sound services by Tofu Mike.

The memorial, approximately 45-minutes long, occurs rain or shine with no seating provided.  To preserve the solemn nature of the event, the roads surrounding the immediate vicinity will be closed from 1 to 3 p.m. 

The Trinidad Civic Club built the Memorial Lighthouse, dedicated on June 26, 1949 to house historic navigational aids decommissioned from the 1871 Trinidad Head Lighthouse, including the Fresnel lens and the 1898 bronze Fog Bell. The Hallmarks donated the land for the structure to display the 1871 Fourth Order Fresnel Lens, the last coal oil burning revolving light on the Pacific Coast, decommissioned by the United States Coast Guard. The Fifth Order Fresnel Electric lens has been on permanent loan to the Trinidad Museum since 2013. The LED replacement lens is observable 20 miles out to sea.

The Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse Monument houses the historic Bell and is located at the Trinidad Rancheria Harbor.