The PBY Memorial Association has teamed up with a professional video producer and a long time Oak Harbor resident, writer and historian, to create a documentary of the history of Oak Harbor.

And, the association has big plans for the completed production.

Dorothy Neil moved to Oak Harbor as a young woman about 70 years ago and has devoted much of her professional life to publishing books and magazines about the history of North Whidbey Island.

Neil still writes two columns per week for the Whidbey News-Times.

Neil has retold much of that history in, so far, about six hours of unedited videotape created by video producer Alan Bixby of his Freeland-based business, Videocast.

While Bigsby has taken the winter months off from the project, he will be back in the spring to complete the work by about June, said Bill Jones, chairman of the historical committee of the PBYMA.

Meanwhile, the PBYMA is continuing work that will contribute greatly to the documentary. Members are collecting old pictures related to the history of Oak Harbor, which will be used as a backdrop in some of the video.

Additionally, the association is collecting donations to pay for the production, which Jones estimates will cost about $20,000.

So far the PBYMA has about $5,000, donated mostly by Oak Harbor families and businesses.

The PBY Memorial Association is a non-profit group with the purpose of preserving the history of the crews, activities and the aircraft for which Whidbey Island Naval Air Station’s Seaplane Base was built in 1942.

The group recently purchased a PBY aircraft, which it plans to bring to Oak Harbor and make the focal point of a planned museum here.

“Oak Harbor was a small, sleepy farming and lumbering community,” Jones said. “Then the Navy decided to come here. What resulted was real growth for the island.”

While, Jones said, Whidbey Island might have grown anyway over the years, “the Navy’s been a major factor.”

Dorothy Neil, Jones said, will be a large part of the video production. She talked about the history of Oak Harbor and the Navy, and how the two have coexisted in Oak Harbor.

Jones said the PBYMA will give copies of the final production to the Navy, Whidbey Island schools, libraries and museums, to the City of Oak Harbor and the chambers of commerce, for educational, familiarization, and welcoming purposes. Additionally, PBYMA will offer copies for sale to the general public.

“This is good advertising for the area,” Jones said. But, that’s not the only reason Jones has become so deeply involved in the project.

“It’s kind of a feel-good project,” Jones said. “There’s no downside to it. I get to do something with Dorothy, who I’ve admired many years. I get to do something for the community. And, I get to do something for the United States.”

Pictures, memorabilia, and donations may be sent to the PBYMA at P.O. Box 941, Oak Harbor, WA 98277-0941, or by calling 678-1718.

Donations are tax-deductible and should be specified for the video history project.