Oriana Waldren, a seven-year-old from Portland, is helping to save the lighthouse on Swan’s Island.
When she arrived on the island with her family this summer, she set up a small stand at the end of her driveway with the help of her mother, artist Willa Vennema. At her stand, Oriana sold jewelry, note cards, hand painted sand dollars, some of her mother’s artwork, and even some of her own artwork. The bulk of her sales came from the fun, fashionable jewelry that her aunt, Amy Vennema, produces. Amy Vennema’s company, a.v. max, sells jewelry at Bloomingdales, Nordstrom’s, and other department stores. Amy donated the jewelry, which included necklaces, bracelets and earrings, for Oriana’s fundraiser.
Nearly every day, Oriana was at the end of the driveway waiting for tourists, islanders, schooner passengers, yachters — anyone walking or driving by her stand was a potential customer. Willa Vennema described her daughter by saying, “She is very outgoing and sociable. This has been a very good activity for her this summer.”
As each potential customer approached her stand, Oriana would present them with a brochure that told about the lighthouse on Swan’s Island and the restoration effort. When asked why she wanted to contribute a portion of her sales to the Lighthouse fund, she said, “The lighthouse is rotting and falling apart and I just wanted to donate the money to fix it.”
Oriana was quite an impressive salesgirl. Often, after selling a pair of earrings, she would pick out a necklace and hold it up to her customer saying, “This would look very nice with your new earrings.” Many times she would succeed in making the additional sale.
Paul Joy, a Swan’s Island clergyman and lobsterman, was one of Oriana’s most frequent customers. He would stop by her stand on his way home from hauling. Oriana said, “Once when he stopped by, Rev. Joy said `hello, can I buy something?’ So I sold him one of my paintings. He stopped by to see me four times, so he was one of my best customers.”
Oriana’s donation will help the Burnt Coat Harbor Light Station on Swan’s Island, which is currently undergoing an historic restoration to the period of the 1930s. Efforts to save the light station, which includes the light tower, keeper’s house, bell tower and oil house, have been underway for several years now.
Grants and private donations, along with fundraising efforts like Oriana’s jewelry sale, will help keep the restoration project moving forward. Oriana’s goal was to sell $2,000 worth of jewelry and donate $1,000, 50 percent of her proceeds, to the Lighthouse Restoration fund. She had a thermometer bulb on her sign that she would color in with red marker each day to indicate her progress. She exceeded her goal by the time she left Swan’s Island to return home to Portland for the beginning of the school year.
On Aug. 22, Oriana presented a check to Eric Chetwynd, the secretary of the Swan’s Island Lighthouse Committee. The presentation took place in front of the lighthouse, with Oriana’s family and friends present. Oriana’s contribution to the Lighthouse Restoration fund totaled $1,900; almost double the goal she set at the beginning of the summer. Following the presentation of the check, Oriana was given a personal tour of the lighthouse tower, climbing all the way to the top. She exclaimed, “It was fun and I felt excited going to the top of the lighthouse.” Chetwynd said, “We are thankful for all of the hard work Oriana did this summer to raise money for the lighthouse restoration. She is a wonderful example to all of us who love the lighthouse.”