Events – Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum

2024 Keep the Light On Fundraiser

June 19, 2024/in Events/by Lynne Menz

Join us on Saturday, August 10th, 2024 • 7 PM til 9 PM at the Carlton United Methodist Church, 1196 Archbald Rd., Waterport.

Guest Speaker Roy Widrig, New York Sea Grant’s Coastal Processes and Hazards Specialist,
author of Working with Nature, A Guide to Native Plants for New York’s Great Lakes Shorelines.
Lake Ontario’s shoreline can change in an instant, but has taken over 30,000 years to form. In this presentation, we’ll learn more about New York’s geologic history and how it affects the lives of shoreline residents to this day.
Honoring Peg Wiley, founding OOLHM board member and president
Dessert Buffet immediately following the guest presentation and tribute

Tickets are $20/person and can be purchased at:

Tuesday Evening OONA Concerts in the Park
Friday-Sundays at the Oak Orchard Lighthouse
Call Chris at 585-315-9799 or Larry at 585-230-7829
Purchase online with PayPal. Scan the QR code below or place your order using the buttons below. Tickets paid online will be available at the door the night of the event or arrange for pick up.

Capture the Light Exhibit and Competition

“Capture the Light” Photography Exhibit and Competition

April 2, 2024/in Events/by Lynne Menz

The 2nd Annual Historical Haunted Lighthouse

September 29, 2023/in Events, History/by Lynne Menz

The Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum turns into an Historical Haunted Lighthouse on the evenings of Friday and Saturday, October 20-21, 2023. Enjoy a drink, treat and a not-too-spooky, but haunting performance. Free will offering to help keep the light on.

Keep the Light On Fundraiser 2023

June 23, 2023/in Events/by Lynne Menz

The Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum hosts a fundraiser Saturday, August 19th, 2023 from 7 PM til 9 PM at the Carlton United Methodist Church • 1196 Archbald Rd., Waterport, featuring:

Dessert Buffet
Lake Ontario Author, Susan Peterson Gateley
Old Time Hoedown featuring Kathy Vandemortel & Steve Bland

Ticket price is $20 and available at:
• Tuesday Evening OONA Concerts in the Park
• Friday-Sundays at the Oak Orchard Lighthouse
• Call Chris at 585-315-9799 or Larry at 585-230-7829

The Oak Orchard Lighthouse is a 501(c)(3) not for profit organization. $10 of this purchase is tax deductible.

Historical Haunted Lighthouse 2022

October 3, 2022/in Events/by Lynne Menz

Come to the Oak Orchard Lighthouse for a spook-tacular Friday and Saturday nights, October 21 & 22 and 28 & 29 from 5:30 PM to 8 PM for the Oak Orchard Historical Haunted Lighthouse! Free to the public but donations accepted.

Casino Night, Sept. 17, 2022-CANCELLED

July 20, 2022/in Events/by Lynne Menz

Lighthouse Mystery Tour, Sept. 2021

August 13, 2021/in Events/by Lynne Menz

Lighthouse Mystery Tour 2021 Join us for an Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum “FUN”draiser! There are three ways to participate:

Option 1: Lighthouse Mystery tour event

Complete the Mystery Tour Event on Sunday September 12, 2021
Complete the Mystery Tour questions based on your visits to each of four lighthouses
Get a commemorative sticker, T-shirt and box Lunch at OOLH for $35.00 registration

Option 2: Picnic at the Point

Visit Oak Orchard Lighthouse for picnic box lunch, Noon to 3 PM at OOLH – $20
Register online so we know how many lunches to plan

Option 3: Lighthouses at your Leisure

Visit any lighthouse, or combination of lighthouses, prior to September 12, 2021
Complete the Mystery tour questions based on your visit(s)
Get a commemorative sticker for $10.00 registration

Lake Ontario Lighthouses on the “tour” include (from West to East):

Old Fort Niagara*
Olcott Beach
Thirty Mile Point*
Oak Orchard
Braddock Point (privately owned – roadside access only)
Charlotte-Genesee
Big Sodus Bay Lighthouse and Museum (Museum entry extra)

* denotes this lighthouse is located INSIDE a NY State Park, and park parking/entrance fees apply (not included in package price. Pay at Park Entrance or use your NYS Park Pass

Suggested “legs” include: Western Leg – OFN to OOLH, OR the Eastern Leg – Big Sodus Bay Light to OOLH. Each ends at Point Breeze for lunch between Noon and 3 PM, whenever you arrive.

Click here to register by August 31st

Have fun while supporting the Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum!

Support the Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum, a chartered 501c3 Non-profit organization. Participation in the Tour is NOT tax deductible as goods are exchanged. Donations ARE, however, always cheerfully accepted. THANK YOU!

Shake on the Lake 2019

August 13, 2019/in Events/by Lynne Menz

Peg Wiley Recognized as a Heritage Hero 2016

May 1, 2016/in Events, History/by Lynne Menz

Photo by Tom Rivers – 5 Orleans County residents were honored April 30, 2016 for their efforts to preserve Orleans County history. The group includes, from left: Melissa Ierlan, Delia Robinson, Peg Wiley, Al Capurso and Tim Archer.

Genesee Community College recognized the third class of Heritage heroes on Friday, April 30, 2016 during an awards reception at GCC in Albion. The college first recognized Heritage Heroes in 2014 as part of GCC’s Civil War Encampment. The 150th anniversary of the Civil War has passed and GCC no longer hosts the encampment.

Peg and her husband, Richard purchased their marina on the Oak Orchard River in 2002 and moved to Orleans County from Rochester. Shortly thereafter, she got a “bug” in her ear from the Orleans County Tourism Coordinator that someone should rebuild the Oak Orchard Lighthouse that was washed away in a violent storm in December 1916. Peg wasted no time in posting signs in the community to bring a group of neighbors and history buffs together to begin the process of brainstorming the potential of rebuilding a piece of our maritime history – the Oak Orchard Lighthouse.

Peg Wiley and grandson enjoying the view from the top of the lighthouse

Since 2003, it has been an amazing journey as Peg researched, led the Oak Orchard Lighthouse Committee to raise over $300,000 and stood up to the “Doubting Thomas’s” to rebuild an historic structure based on a detailed 1909 survey of the old lighthouse. The committee incorporated in 2004 as the Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum, a non profit organization provisionally chartered under the NYS Education Department Board of Regents. In 2010, the lighthouse was completed by Peg’s perseverance along with the efforts of the Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum committee, partnering with New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and Orleans County. In 2015, Peg worked with master gardeners to create a Children’s Peace Garden adjacent to the lighthouse and planted native species of botanicals to attract birds and butterflies.