One of the authors who made a contribution to the new book, &uot;Albert Lea Remembers,&uot; was Donna Eisenbise Light. Please note I’m using the past tense in the previous sentence because she died in March 2004.

I remember this lady for two reasons.

First, she once told me her last name became in part the basis for her intense interest in lighthouses. These beacons along the nation’s coastlines have both historical significance and a multitude of fans. A prime example can be found at Split Rock State Park north of Duluth on Lake Superior. Anyway, I became aware of her interest in this topic.

During a vacation trip which included Seaside and Cannon Beach, Ore., I acquired a pamphlet based on the lighthouses along the Oregon coast. One day I gave her this pamphlet.

The second reason I remember Donna is based on the 2001 Profile Edition of the Tribune. We asked folks who had attended Albert Lea High School, Central Junior High School and Lincoln Grade School located between Clark and Water Streets to contribute their memories. Donna was the only person to reply. Her contribution was rather long, but well written and interesting. We published her entire essay and didn’t have to do any editing or correcting at all.

Now, where in heck does the blackout topic fit in? About a month ago Linda Evenson out at the Freeborn County Historical Museum Library found several news clippings about a blackout for all of Albert Lea in November 1942. I was preparing to write a column based on this unusual wartime event when I became aware of Donna’s contribution to &uot;Albert Lea Remembers.&uot; Her summary, as given to me by the book’s editor, Joan Claire Graham, said., &uot;A siren went off, and the state guard rapped on the front door and ordered all the lights off in the home because the city was having a total blackout.&uot;

I was preparing to use her part of this book to verify this column. Yet, as I read her contribution to the new book, I discovered that her memory of the city’s blackout event was directly connected with the birth of her sister at the family’s home in August 1943. From this clue I found out the city actually had two blackouts.

The concept of blackout was a civil defense action intended to prevent Japanese or German aircraft from finding any illuminated targets during nighttime raids during World War II. There was some basis for this action. Japanese submarines at night had shelled sites near Santa Barbara, Calif., an Fort Stevens, Ore., during early 1942. Daytime Japanese aircraft raids at Dutch Harbor, Alaska, resulted in 43 deaths on June 3 and 4, 1942.

However, it was unlikely any community in the Midwest would be bombed at night by enemy aircraft. Despite this logic, the local blackouts were held anyway.

The first Albert Lea blackout was held on Nov. 12, 1942. For a half hour all the exterior lights in the city were turned off. Lights in the homes were supposed to be turned off or not visible from the outside. To get around this, people used blankets to cover their windows from the inside. All vehicle traffic was banned for the half hour.

A Rock Island train was stopped in Albert Lea and the passengers were taken into the depot during the blackout. This blackout was enforced by the state patrol, city police, state guard, and civil defense personnel. About the only problem came when a local merchant forgot to turn off

his outdoor neon light.

The second blackout came on the night of Aug. 23, 1943. This is the one Donna Light mentions on page 159 of the book, &uot;Albert Lea Remembers.&uot;

This second event was successful, except for one strange detail. The blackout had been scheduled during fair week, so an exception was made for the fairgrounds to avoid problems with accidents for the crowd or cars.

Luckily, there were no Japanese or German aircraft in the area who could use the well-lit fairgrounds as a target that night.

Feature writer Ed Shannon’s column appears each Friday.