This Saturday, Wekiva Island will be closed until 5:00 p.m. for our annual Fall Egg Fest. We’d love for you to join the fun—grab your ticket and be part of the festivities. After 5:00 p.m., the Island will reopen and welcome guests as usual.
Wekiva Island is home to plenty of quirky pieces of local and family history. From our riverside statues to unique signs in the Tooting Otter, our signature pieces are part of what welcomes regulars home. If you’ve been by the Island lately for a family cabana day, you might have noticed a new conversation piece—the cast-iron light poles illuminating Cabana Cove.
Once part of a different time and place, these vintage light poles now stand quietly among endless chats, clinking glasses, and the rustle of palm trees, embracing a new chapter in their long lives.
If those light poles could speak, what story would they tell?
Before they lit up Cabana Cove, becoming the backdrop to riverside sunsets, family gatherings, and laughter beneath the stars, these light poles had already lived a full life – and then some.
They originally lined York Street in the Seneca Heights neighborhood of Olean, NY, lighting the way since the early 1900s. When the city began replacing them with modern fixtures, Rick Lang, a former line foreman with Niagara Mohawk, saw more in them than just old streetlights. With a penchant for gathering old items, he saw timeless cast iron craftsmanship and design. Determined to keep their light shining, Rick rescued the poles.
This could have been the end of the story, but instead it’s the beginning.
Rick is the father of Wekiva Island Manager Carrie, father-in-law to Manager Erick, and brother-in-law to Bill, the owner of Wekiva Island. He’s also uncle to owners Billy and Ashley and Manager Robbie, and brother-in-law to CFO, Karen, and Corporate Booking Director Jo. (Yes, in case you hadn’t noticed, Wekiva is truly a family affair.)
Since sometime in the 1970s, Rick kept those poles tucked behind the family barn on Lippert Hollow in Allegany, NY – just in case they’d be needed again one day. And there they laid, for years, through snow and ice storms and the changing seasons, silently waiting for their next chapter.
Rick’s daughter Carrie has her own fond memories of those poles. She, her sister Amy Jo, and the neighbor kids turned them into endless sources of creative play – forts, balance beams, or whatever their imaginations could dream up. For Carrie, those poles were a part of her childhood.
Eventually, Rick and his wife, Kathy, sold the farm and moved to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, but the poles didn’t stay behind. Rick called in a favor. That’s when Erick, Rick’s son-in-law, hauled them to a friend’s house in Allegany, NY, where they sat for a few more years. Then one day, Rick had an idea – one that would give the poles the new purpose and let them shine again.
He asked Bill, his brother-in-law, if he’d like the poles for Wekiva Island.
The answer was yes.
So, Erick, now well-versed in the fine art of moving giant, cast iron streetlights, loaded them up yet again and brought them all the way from Allegany, NY to Wekiva Island.
They were stored in a utility yard, waiting for their moment to shine when, in 2013, the Wekiva Island bar was lost to a fire. The poles were moved yet again to another utility yard (and yes, Erick moved them once more!).
Finally — finally! — in 2025, the time came. Our revamped and upgraded Cabana Cove was ready. The vision was clear. The vintage light poles, with all their history and heart, found their new home (and Erick didn’t have to move them this time).
They now stand proudly, like so many items at the Island – not just as lighting, but as storytellers. They carry with them the history of Seneca Heights in Olean, NY, the memories of Allegany winters, hours of road trips with Erick, his patience, strength, and the love of a family who believed they still had a purpose.
Next time you visit Wekiva Island, stop by Cabana Cove and take a moment to look up at those poles. They’ve been through a lot to get here. And just like Wekiva Island itself – they’ve stood the test of time.
This Saturday, Wekiva Island will be closed until 5:00 p.m. for our annual Fall Egg Fest. We’d love for you to join the fun—grab your ticket and be part of the festivities. After 5:00 p.m., the Island will reopen and welcome guests as usual.
Join Wekiva Island and 3 Daughters Brewing this Saturday for a seafood feast benefiting the Central Florida Zoo. Enjoy a pound of jumbo shrimp, clams, corn, potatoes, sausage, and three pours of beer, all for $45!