By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
The Mountain History Museum is helping Smokey Bear celebrate his 82nd birthday with a party on Saturday, Aug. 1. From noon to 3 p.m., Smokey will be welcoming all visitors and taking selfies and photos with the guests. There will be birthday cupcakes for the first 100 visitors with popcorn and lemonade.
The Mountain History Museum is located at 27176 Peninsula Drive in Lake Arrowhead, at Rhine Road, around the corner from Mary Putnam Henck Intermediate School. Free off-street parking is available in two parking lots and the museum is handicapped accessible.
The displays at the museum focus on local mountain history. A few of this year’s new displays focus on the forest and animals of the San Bernardino National Forest. Their newest acquisition is a professionally made diorama donated by the Riverside County Nature Center, showing life along the lake shore.
The stories of the Arrowhead Springs Hotel, Pinecrest, Crestline and many other mountain communities are displayed, including Green Valley Lake which is celebrating the centennial of the opening of their lake. New this year in the general store are advertising maps more than 40 years old of the Running Springs, Lake Arrowhead and Crestline areas. These maps have attracted much attention this season, especially from long-time mountain residents. The interactive knock and pulley display from the search and rescue team and the museum’s animal skin display are favorites of the children.
The new display on the Yuhaaviatam has a video display showcasing their historic foods and lifestyle. See an example of the kiich home each family built from willow branches and learn about their lifestyle of thousands of years of living on the mountain and wintering down the hill. These travels gave them a wider variety of foods than some other tribes enjoyed.
The air-conditioned museum is open every Friday from noon to 4 p.m., and weekends from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through at least October 18 and is run by volunteer docents. Entry to the museum and enjoying Smokey’s birthday party is free.
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