The LCHS Victorian Christmas Party

On December 13th, 2014 the Latah County Historical Society had our annual Victorian Christmas party.  The party was well attended by folks from Latah County and beyond, with over 200 people in attendance.  We think this event was a great way to show off the McConnell Mansion in all of its Christmas splendor.  In case you missed it, the Mansion is open from Tuesday-Friday from 1pm-4pm and is available for tours.

The fantastic holiday party took place in the afternoon.  The event highlighted our biggest historical artifact, the McConnell Mansion.  The Mansion was decorated to the hilt with Christmas decorations including two live Christmas trees.  Any party at the McConnell Mansion would not have been complete without the assistance of the great LCHS events committee and membership who shared their favorite holiday cookies with everyone.  This year there were two special highlights, the opening of a new exhibit and the Palouse Choral Society.  The Palouse Choral Society sang throughout the event spreading cheer from the family parlor.  The new exhibit is titled Departments of Latah County: Department Stores and Mercantiles across Latah County's History.  While the choral society has gone the new exhibit will be up for a while yet.

Here are some photographs of this great event.

One of the two Christmas trees upstairs in the Mansion.

Children's activities upstairs.

The stairway all dressed up.

The Palouse Choral Society at the Victorian Christmas Party.

LCHS Door greeting committee.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Thank you very much for attending this year's Victorian Christmas and we look forward to seeing you again next year!

Zach Wnek
Museum Curator
Latah County Historical Society

Harvest Dinner 2014

It's that time of year again for the Latah County Historical Society Harvest Dinner!  This year our Harvest Dinner broke from tradition and was offered in a new location, the Moscow High School.  The Harvest Dinner was a great success, thanks to our many volunteers who worked very hard to make it happen.  A special thanks goes out to our great events committee who organized the event.  Below are some photographs from the event.  We look forward to another great event next year!

 

2014 Troy Old Timers' Day

Today we at the Latah County Historical Society would like to fill you in on a little event happening in Troy TOMORROW July 12, 2014.   This event is the Troy Old Timers' Day.  This event is free to attend, however has some costs involved for food and some activities.  To begin talking about this event let's take a look at the events that are planned.

The event begins with an all you can eat pancake feed for only $5.  This event is sponsored by the Troy Lions Club.  I would suggest eating a light dinner tonight so that you can take advantage of this great deal.  The pancake feed starts at 6 AM, so be early and be hungry.

A pancake feed in Moscow, ID, circa 1950, courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 01-11-110.

After everybody is full of pancakes the next natural thing to do is go for a run to help eliminate the calorie overload.  The Boy Scouts are sponsoring a 5K fun run along the Latah Trail beginning at 8 AM.

C.S. (Hec) Edmundson, 1908 AAU National Champion, courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, Edmundson.C.01.

Once you have ran, it is time to sit back and enjoy a parade down Main Street of Troy.  The parade will have coffee and doughnuts available to replace all those calories you lost while running at the Troy Lutheran Church.

After the parade it is time to sit down for a good, old fashioned buffalo burger.  Buffalo burger sales will start at 11am as will the Snake River Six, a live band.  Live music will continue throughout lunch with Chanda Knaptik performing at 12:15 and Carla Miles performing at 1:15.  The music and lunch is sponsored by the Troy Lions Club.

There is a 3 on 3 basketball tournament beginning at 11 AM hosted by Lori Smith and the Troy Recreation Department.  If basketball isn't your sport there is also a 4 on 4 volleyball tournament beginning at 11:30 AM hosted by the Troy High School Volleyball team.

The Troy High School boys basketball team from 1917, courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 15-06-003.

The highlight of the afternoon (At least I think so) is the buffalo chip toss.  At high noon there will be a buffalo chip tossing contest so I encourage everyone to chuck their chips and see who can get their pioneer fire starter the furthest.
 

Debi and Mike Kealey, buffalo ranching near Troy in the 1980s, courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 25-02-463.

Well these are simply the morning and early afternoon activities.  The entire event goes until 8 PM.  For a full list of activities, events and vendors I encourage you to go to their website here: http://www.troylionsclub.org/troy_day.htm .  I hope everybody has a great time out in Troy this weekend, be sure to stay hydrated as the forecast claims it will be close to 100 degrees out there.

  - Zach Wnek
Museum Curator
Latah County Historical Society