“Great news … Drew was rescued.”

That was the message David Sites, the official Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse photographer, posted on Facebook along with a photo last August after he’d pulled Drew from the turbulent waters of the Chesapeake Bay.

Tropical Storm Debby had just surged through the region, sweeping the lighthouse dock away, along with the four-legged, decoy coyote standing guard on the deck.

Drew – meant to scare seagulls away from pooping on the lighthouse – was bobbing along the bay, on a new adventure.

Sites’ Facebook post of the rescue received hundreds of likes, shares and comments. From there, Sites took Drew out on his boat every day and posted their adventures while they waited for the lighthouse dock to be rebuilt.

His journey inspired the children’s book “Drew’s Grand Adventure” by the Pasadena-based artist Natasha Nash Dixon, who saw Sites’ social media posts and followed Drew’s adventure.

Since Dixon published “Drew’s Grand Adventure” in December, it amassed more than $2,000 in sales, which Dixon gave to the lighthouse for upkeep and conservation. Last month, she released an accompanying coloring and activity book, with drawings she made, and those proceeds will also go to the lighthouse.

Historic Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the lighthouse. “It’s stood the test of time,” said John Potvin, the lighthouse manager.

When it was built in 1875, it was one of 40 screw-pile lighthouses — screwed into the bottom of the bay where it’s shallow and not rocky — on the Chesapeake Bay, he said.

Today, the lighthouse is the last survivor of its kind still in the water, in its original location, Potvin said. It was also the last manned lighthouse on the bay — it was automated in 1986. It still shines every night for 365 days, warning people off the shore.

“It’s kind of an iconic lighthouse for everybody in Annapolis, when they’re coming up or down the bay, they always know when they get to Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse, they know they’re home,” he said.

The lighthouse is also one of 12 in the country that is a National Historic Landmark.

Potvin said there will be a big event for the lighthouse’s 150th anniversary in August. Speakers, including state and local politicians, the National Park Service and the Coast Guard are expected to attend the celebration at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.

The event will be an opportunity to raise funds and to make sure people are aware of flooding on the bay and the damage it can cause, he said.

He said funds raised will go toward hiring an engineer to figure out how to elevate the lighthouse to keep it out of harm’s way.

Drew’s adventure

Dixon said she was following Sites’ posts of Drew exploring sites all over the bay last summer and fell in love.

“I started actually paying attention to the comments, and people were asking for calendars, stuffed animals — they wanted all these things with Drew,” she said. “This light bulb went off in my head, and I said, ‘You know what? This would make such a wonderful children’s story.’”

She wrote the story that night — minus the ending — and sent an email with a copy of the story and the idea to use Sites’ photos, to Potvin.

Potvin and Sites, whom she had never met before, loved the idea.

Dixon said Sites trusted her and her husband, who did the book layout, to present the photos he took in the best way possible, and Potvin helped fill in some gaps in the story, and also gave Dixon the ending.

Drew had quite the grand adventure, Dixon said, with one of his highlights going parasailing and seeing the lighthouse from the top – which really happened when Sites took Drew with him.

There are even photos of Drew getting his safety gear on before flying in the sky, she said.

After publication, the book immediately received attention, Dixon said, adding that she’s proud of the project.

The number-one thing she wants readers to take away from the books is the understanding of how important the lighthouse is to the history of Maryland and the state’s maritime history.

“We really need to focus on conservation, not only for the treasures that we have, like our lighthouses … but protecting the Chesapeake Bay itself,” she said.

Drew is back at the lighthouse, now with a temporary dock. He stands tall, guarding it from those pesky seagulls, as he awaits a new permanent dock to continue doing his job for years to come.