Scores of folks here on the Peninsula were delighted, as we were, when they read the “Guest Column” written by former Ilwaco resident Charlotte Davis, in the Jan. 31 edition of the Chinook Observer. It was like saying “Charlotte, we’re glad you’re back with us.”

This great lady has a multitude of friends hereabouts, and they all miss her warm personality and smiling face. From her retirement home in Tacoma, Charlotte wrote a wonderfully detailed and nostalgic account of how she and five brothers and sisters packed up their belongings in flour sacks every summer and climbed aboard the Clamshell train for a memorable trip with their parents to the oyster beds on Shoalwater (Willapa) Bay. Their father operated an oyster station there, and the train ride is how summer vacation began for them for years.

Many local folks who know Charlotte Davis, and miss her as much as we do, read every word of her guest column and savored her fascinating story. If you missed her column, it was on page A4 of that Observer issue.

Charlotte’s tale brought back pleasant memories for me, because I had interviewed her for part of an Observer story back in 2003. As a railroad fan I was interested in the Clamshell train and I wrote a feature story about local residents who had ridden the train as youngsters.

I will never forget my first meeting with Charlotte Davis. I had gone to the Heritage Museum in Ilwaco to find out more about the train. Hobe Kytr, then the executive director of the museum, gave me a preview look at the restored passenger car from the train that was soon to be unveiled as one of the museum’s prime railroad exhibits.

We talked about the history of the Peninsula railroad line and I asked about any local residents who might remember the railroad or who had ridden on it and might be willing to share their reminiscences.

Kytr mentioned Mrs. Davis among others and said she had ridden the train as a child and had written about her experiences for a notebook about the railroad and compiled by the museum. I asked how I could get in touch with her to arrange an interview.

“Well, that shouldn’t be too difficult,” Kytr said. “Come this way.”

We went through a double door at the museum into a large room set up as an art room and there was Charlotte Davis, working on her latest painting in an art class taught by the late Dr. John Campiche.

We agreed to meet at a later date and talk about her childhood experiences on the railroad. After the story was finished, I arranged to meet Charlotte at the museum and take photographs of her standing near the railroad car. As we walked down the aisle of the car she rubbed her hand on the velour upholstery of the seats.

“One thing I remember about the train coaches was the red velour covering on the seats,” she said then. “It was a beautiful cranberry or current red, and it was kind of bristly or prickly when you rubbed it.”

Charlotte invited my wife and I to spend an afternoon with her, and she talked about her family and her long-time interest in local history. She and her late husband published a series of booklets about Pacific County history, interviewing dozens of people and compiling information for the text. Most of it was written by Charlotte and edited by her husband, who for many years was a technical writer for the Boeing Company in Seattle.

Reading her guest column in the Observer was a special treat for her friends. We miss you, Charlotte Davis, and thanks for writing …

Glenn Gillespie, a Chinook Observer correspondent, retired after a career with Pacific Power & Light Co. He and his wife divide their time between Portland and Seaview.