The Friends of the Barnegat Lighthouse organization hosts its first lecture of the New Year on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 1 p.m. at the visitors center at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park in Barnegat Light. The program will pay tribute to the designer and builder of the lighthouse, George Meade, who was a lieutenant and engineer in the U.S. Army when he was assigned to build the light in 1855. Meade later gained fame as the Union Army general who defeated Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Confederate forces at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Special guest is Andy Waskie, a Civil War historian and Temple University professor, who will appear as the general in…