Thank you for the May 25 story about the repairs to Split Rock Lighthouse. Now is the time to show off the full splendor of this jewel in the Minnesota crown by operating the light itself every evening at dusk during the summer tourist season.

By coincidence my wife and I were on the North Shore on the 90th birthday of the lighthouse. The state wisely decided to celebrate by operating the light for 30 minutes from 9:30 p.m. to 10 that night.

Scores of people assembled for the show. As the appointed time, the light suddenly blazed and commenced rotating at three times per minute.

Minnesota is justly proud of Split Rock Lighthouse. The citizens of this state and the thousands of visitors who come each year deserve the sense of excitement and nostalgia my wife and I experienced on that calm summer evening eight years ago.

I believe that the lighthouse should be operated for 20 to 30 minutes every evening from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Of course there will be long-faced bureaucrats in St. Paul and Washington who will explain that it can't be done for some reason. But if something should be done, it can be done. Think of putting a man on the moon, or of the computer, or of the Internet.

We owe it to our children -- and ourselves -- to learn first-hand how our forebears dealt with such problems as preventing ships from crashing on a rocky shore.

Split Rock Lighthouse can be an inspiring teacher of that history.

WILLIAM SOULES, Minnetonka