Historical preservation underway in Lonepine

LONEPINE- Many residents of Sanders County may not know much about the county fair of 1942. Lonepine resident John Bras wants to change this and is aiming to do so by attempting to gather people together who were at the 1942 fair and tell their stories.

Bras is trying to preserve a part of the local history before the memories or the resources fade away. Bras said he became interested in the fair when he discovered that it was once held near the part of Sanders County he calls home.

Bras brought up the subject of the 1942 Sanders County fair during a recent Lonepine Alumni Association meeting. He said what started the project was interest of younger generations in the local history.

Bras said he was approached by members of the alumni association who encouraged him to spearhead the effort to preserve the history of the area around Lonepine. Bras said he can trace his own family’s connection to the area back to 1910 when his grandfather homesteaded near Lonepine.

Bras said he wants to get historical information, stories and anecdotes recorded in some form or another before the information is lost. He said the local 4-H participants were part of the collaborative project to maintain a historical record of the area.

“There are some people here who were at that fair in 1942 and so we want to get their stories before it’s too late. We need to preserve this information so that future generations will know what went on here,” said Bras.

After a meal prepared for those in attendance, Bras called the meeting to order with a request for anyone who had stories about the 1942 fair in Lonepine to share their memories. In a stark demonstration of what Bras was hoping to avoid, very few in attendance could recall much about the fair.

There were a few memories from those in attendance. One resident remembered she had a calf in the fair. Another resident recalled her friend having a calf in the show.

This triggered a few recollections about the time during the war in Lonepine amidst nationwide rationing which was apparently why the fair was held in Lonepine in the first place. According to Bras, Heron was too far to drive as gasoline usage was strictly regulated during World War II.

Bras himself had managed to find a few old newspaper stories written about the fair, one in 1942 and another from the 1960s reflecting on the history of the area. He was also able to locate a few old photographs of the fair. One resident in attendance, Verla Packard, was recognized by Bras as one of the women in the photograph.

“We need to capture these stories and save them. Hopefully people will come forward with what they remember and we will have this information recorded for posterity,” said Bras.