The Lady of the Lighthouse made it once again to the Port Boca Grande Museum and Lighthouse Christmas lighting Sunday, a traditional gesture she has attended every year it has been held.
Dian Miller of Sarasota said she never misses a chance to come back to the island lighthouse where she lived as a child from 1941-51.
But this year an appendicitis attack made the visit touch-and-go after she was stricken 10 days before she had planned to load up her trademark recreation vehicle with friends, family, food and adult beverages for her favorite annual party.
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Dian Miller of Sarasota said she never misses a chance to come back to the island where she lived in the lighthouse for 10 years from 1941-51.
"I thought I would miss it," she said in her RV drivers chair. "But I feel good. I'm not even taking any pain pills."
Miller said she enjoys celebrating the resurrection of the lighthouse, which had become rundown before the current leadership took over.
Joyce Kuhl, her older sister, was with her this year. She hasn't made the pilgrimage every year but she, too, is gratified her childhood home has been restored to such great shape.
"For awhile, it was down," she said of the lighthouse. "But Sharon McKenzie is the best," she said of the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse and Museum executive director.
More than 300 people attended the event, according to lighthouse official estimates. The crowds came by cars, golf cart and on foot this weekend forcing an early start to the festivities as they crowded the museum porch and strolled through the inside sampling the food bites and drinks.
