By Daniel Nash | The Courier-Herald
The Greater Bonney Lake Historical Society has been approached by a book publisher with an offer to compile a history book on the Plateau city.
Arcadia Publishing sent a proposal to the historical society earlier this month for a book illustrating the development of Bonney Lake in historic photographs and text. Arcadia specializes in books on local history, featuring old photographs of the focused regions at different points in time. They have published eight books on various aspects of Tacoma, and several more about surrounding areas such as Lakewood and Puyallup.
The Historical Society’s involvement in the project was finalized Monday, Nov. 23 in a meeting held at the Bonney Lake Library.
It was determined that historical society members Winona Jacobsen and Brandon Frederick will spearhead the project. Frederick is the chair of Bonney Lake High School’s social studies department and both are members of the Bonney Lake Planning Commission.
The projected timeframe for the book’s development is 18 months. During that time, Jacobsen and Frederick will solicit community members for photographs and write any necessary text to provide background and context for the images.
“We will be doing research and making appeals to community members for vintage photos depicting people, buildings, landscapes, businesses and events that may be included in the book,” Jacobsen said. “Since we are in need of 180 to 200 quality photos, we are hopeful that community response will be forthcoming.”
The historical society will receive a small percentage of sales of the book, about a dollar per book, Jacobsen said. Typical first-year sales for the publisher’s books are 1200 to 1800 copies, according to Publisher’s Weekly. If the society chose to purchase several books and sell them at retail, they could generate a higher margin of profits.
“Basically the purpose of this would be to educate the public about our history, and not to make a profit,” Jacobsen said.
A brief history of Bonney Lake and the Naches Trail that runs through it is already available on the City of Bonney Lake’s Web site. Visit the Community section of www.cityofbonneylake.org and under Community Resources, click the link for the Historical Society.
