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A Plethora Of Activities Planned For Ilwaco Area With 150th Anniversary Of Cape Disappointment Lighthouse And Commemoration Of Peter Iredale Shipwreck Cape Disappointment State Park, the U.S. Coast Guard and Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum (aka Ilwaco Heritage Museum) will offer programs and guided talks as part of Lighthouse Days Celebration, October 14 and 15, and/or ‘Graveyard of the Pacific’ Shipwreck Week, October 21 through 29, 2006 |
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CONTACT: Kay Buesing OR Una Boyle LONG BEACH, Wash. – September 26, 2006 – Noting the 150th anniversary of Cape Disappointment (Cape D) Lighthouse – the first lighthouse in the Pacific Northwest, and the 100th anniversary of the Oct. 25, 1906 grounding of the Peter Iredale, a host of special activities will take place at Cape Disappointment State Park and Ilwaco on the weekend of Oct. 14 and 15 as part of Lighthouse Days at Cape D, Oct. 14 and 15, and ‘Graveyard of the Pacific’ Shipwreck Week, Oct. 21 through 29, 2006.
Lighthouse Days at Cape D, Oct. 14 and 15, 2006, will offer the following… A U.S. Postal Service Cape Disappointment Lighthouse stamp cancellation at the Ilwaco Post Office at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, Oct. 14, from 10AM to 2PM. Cancellation stamp designer, Tom Rogers, will be on hand to sign commemorative items; One Day Only Lighthouses Displays, Oct. 14, 10AM to 4PM, at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Representatives of the Washington State Lightkeeper’s Association and other Washington and Oregon non-profit lighthouse organizations will host exhibits of historic beacons, accompanied by a maritime materials display by the U.S. Coast Guard; ‘Lighthouses of the Pacific Graveyard’ temporary exhibit at Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, 10AM to 5PM, Oct. 14, and 9AM to 1PM, Oct. 15; Cape D Anniversary Sale at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center Gift Shop, Oct. 14, from 10AM to 5PM; North Head Lighthouse Tours, Oct. 14, from 11AM to 2PM. Suggested donation of $1 per person; Cape Disappointment Lighthouse Tours, Oct. 15, from 9AM to 1PM. This is a rare opportunity to tour this non-public landmark with park interpreters, who will discuss its history. Handicap access is not available. The U.S. Coast Guard Aid to Navigation Team will be on hand to discuss present day maintenance and operation of the light; Maritime Program by park interpreters will follow the Cape D tours from 1 to 1:30PM, Oct. 15, at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center; Anniversary Program at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center will feature talks by Elinor DeWire, author, Lighthouses of the Pacific Coast and many other lighthouse books, articles and guides, who will speak on Washington lighthouses, followed by Lt. J. Fredricks, U.S. Coast Guard Cape Disappointment, who will present “The U.S. Coast Guard: Then and Now,” Oct. 15, from 1:30 to 2:30PM. Following the talks, light refreshments will be served from 2:30 to 4PM. Shipwreck Week activities on the Long Beach Peninsula will include the following: Search and Rescue Demonstration, Oct. 27, 11AM, by the U.S. Coast Guard at Cape Disappointment Station, Ilwaco, and visible from the Viewing Room at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center; U.S. Coast Guard Open House, Oct. 27 from 1-3PM at the U.S. Coast Guard Station, Cape Disappointment State Park, Ilwaco; Descendant of the Peter Iredale Tells the Story of Peter Iredale, the Man, At Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum (aka Ilwaco Heritage Museum) (www.ilwacoheritagemuseum.org), Oct. 25, from 7 to 9PM. Admission is free. The program features Thomas Peter Iredale, who will discuss the colorful history of Peter Iredale, the shipping magnate who owned the vessel; Shipwreck Stories and Sea Shanties at the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum (aka Ilwaco Heritage Museum) (www.ilwacoheritagemuseum.org), Oct. 29, from 2 to 4PM. Admission is free. The program features living history presentations of characters from the Columbia River’s past as well as performances of traditional sea shanties by Hank Cramer and the Constellation Crew; Ranger talks at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, perched on a 200-foot high cliff in Cape Disappointment State Park, daily from Oct. 21 to 29 at 1PM. From a vantage point overlooking the mouth of the Columbia River, talks will focus on how the nickname ‘Graveyard of the Pacific’ was earned, why the Cape has two lighthouses, how Cape Disappointment was named, and more. Talks will run about 30 minutes. Regular admission prices apply. While at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, visitors also can view the Columbia River Bar shipwrecks exhibit, a first order Fresnel Lighthouse Lens -- one of the oldest in the U.S, and a Life Saving Service Boat, over 100 years old. Admission to the Interpretive Center is $3 for adults and $1 for youth age 7 to 17, with free admission for children under age 7. The Center is open daily from 10AM to 5PM. Tours of North Head Lighthouse are $1 per person. Additional Shipwreck Week activities will take place in Oregon at the Columbia River Maritime Museum and Fort Stevens State Park. For more information, please access http://www.funbeach.com/events/shipwreck. Built of iron and steel in 1890, the Peter Iredale is one of nearly 2,000 vessels that have been lost to the tumultuous waters at the mouth of the Columbia River. Among the others is the Isabella, one of only two intact wooden wrecks from the 1830s era on the West Coast. Just blocks from the Ilwaco waterfront, the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum (aka Ilwaco Heritage Museum) is open from 10AM to 4PM, Monday through Saturday, and on Sunday from 1 to 5PM. Regular admission is $5 for adults. $4 for seniors, $2.50 for youth age 12 to 17, $1 for children age 6 to 11 and free for children five and under. This local history museum houses exhibits on the natural history of the lower Columbia region, traditional and post-contact Native American history, fur trade and explorers in the region, the fishing, logging and railroad industries, a train depot, and more. With two historic lighthouses built to help ships safely navigate the treacherous Columbia River Bar, Cape Disappointment was the original anchorage site for European merchant ships starting in the 1700s and the western terminus for Lewis and Clark’s trek across the continent in November 1805. The craggy Cape anchors the south end of the Long Beach Peninsula, a longtime Northwest vacation destination, is the site of the first installation of the Confluence Project by Maya Lin, home to a U.S. Coast Guard training station, and part of the nation’s newest national park – the Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Park. For more information, please access www.funbeach.com or call 800.451.2542. # # # |
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