LAKE COUNTY ? Over the years the red-and-white light atop Mount Konocti has blinked over Lake County for many reasons?to guide seaplanes to Clear Lake, then to mark a tall Lake County Television (LCTV) tower. But since the 1960”s and the advent of high-tech air navigation systems?the light no longer served its original purpose. It has remained on the mountain at the bequest of pilots and citizens who felt attached and comforted by the rotating signal. Then in the summer of 2006 it was shut down. Ever since, efforts have been underway to find a way to finance the light and bring it back.
When the light went out, the California Department of Forestry, which operates a cell tower on the neighboring White Peak, called LCTV, who were then the owners of the tower. Many other citizens called LCTV, and notified the Record-Bee of its absence.
According to David Jolliffe of LCTV, they couldn”t sustain the funding, which prior to 1995 was paid in part by the County of Lake until the Board of Supervisors voted to end their support.
“We did not feel it was fair to add the costs of additional utilities on the backs of our viewers,” Jolliffe said in a press release. He added that each of the 1,000-watt bulbs ran for about $500 and are costly to maintain, requiring a treacherous climb to service the lights” rotating motor. The wind can cause the tower to sway back and forth three or four feet when it”s windy, according to Jolliffe.
A donation from Sutter Lakeside Hospital covered operating costs briefly last winter until LCTV relinquished their ownership of the beacon and the tower was purchased by Lake County Community Radio (LCCR), according to member Chris Mallock, owner of flying school Air North Coast. “It is my hope and several of the other members” that once we get up there and get electricity up there we can reinstate the light. LCTV has relinquished their ownership of the beacon, and we would like to get it going again,” Mallock said.
Bob King of Newhall Aviation Services recalled the light being used for seaplanes when he came to Lake County in 1940.
“That was back in the days when you didn”t have much equipment, just a compass and beacons to guide you. My college job was flying a plane for the Santa Clara Sherriff”s office?and in the ?50”s there were still those lights up and down California,” King said.
He recalled that prior to World War II, seaplanes were the way to travel before jet planes, with luxuries such as a dining stateroom for passengers. The lights they were guided by were referred to as “GARBO” or “green, amber, red, blue and off-airways,” with each color representing a direction.
“Pan Am and the Navy used this lake as an alternate landing site when there was fog in the bay. You knew that if you go just right of the light, you could land the plane,” King said.
The light was also adopted by the Lake County Sherriff Boat Patrol as a guide to start notifying water skiers on Clear Lake to head for home. The light would turn on when a photo-cell was activated by fading sunlight, according to Jolliffe.
“People have always been affectionate about it,” King said. “They”d sit on their patio and watch the light, and when that light went on, that”s when you”d stop waterskiing.”
Another pilot, Howard Allmon of Lake County, said the light has been a long-time landmark, and said he thought the light first was installed in 1962. “I”m going to do some more research on the history of it, but I know for many pilots it was something they would look for, and it”s nostalgic for a lot of people,” Allmon said.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com
