THE LOST
LIGHTSHIP
Historic book sheds new light
on spectacular recovery mission
By NIKKI DAVIDSON
COAST WEEKEND
When people in Ilwaco clean out their
attics, they call Donella Lucero. The collec-
tions manager at the Columbia Pacifi c Mar-
itime Museum is no stranger to dust-cov-
ered relics from residents who lived long
ago.
But last month she received an email
from someone 3,000 miles away that
stopped her in her tracks. The sender wasn’t
a name she recognized and off ered to
donate a book she found in Boston to the
museum.
When the artifact arrived last month,
Lucero couldn’t wait to get her hands on it.
A rare fi nd
“You start going through the photos
and you’re going ‘oh my goodness, oh my
goodness! I hadn’t seen this before,” she
beamed.
The black and red tattered album,
labeled “photographs,” may look insignifi -
cant on the outside, but it’s as good as gold
to Lucero on the inside.
“It’s like Christmas, it’s priceless,” she
said as she carefully fl ipped through the
pages of the weathered album.
ABOVE: The
Columbia River
Lightship was
built in 1891
for a cost of
$60,000.
LEFT and
RIGHT: ‘Photo
Angel’ Kate
Kelley lives in
Boston and
discovered the
lost book at a
local antique
store.
See Page 9
MORE THAN YOU IMAGINED
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