July 8, 2008

The elegance of summering at the lakefront, in the high style of Old Lake Tahoe, returns to Sugar Pine Point State Park on Living History Day, Sat., July 26.

The public is invited to visit the park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to take advantage of open house at the famed Pine Lodge and enjoy many family activities, free of cost. These include nature walks through the estate’s 2,000 acres, use of its two miles of beach, music, games for children and displays of antique cars and famous wooden boats. Parking is $6.00 per car.

Pine Lodge, also known as the Ehrman mansion, is a three-story, shingled home built in 1903 by Isaias Hellman, a pioneering California banker. The estate is about 10 miles south of Tahoe City on Highway 89. (Tours of the mansion are usually priced at $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for juniors.)

For over 60 years the Hellmans, and later their daughter Florence Hellman Ehrman, entertained family members and friends in the summertime. The estate remained closed to the public until Esther Lazard, daughter of Florence Ehrman and granddaughter of Isaias Hellman, sold the property to the state of California in 1965.

“This is our 12th Living History Day,” said Ranger Heidi Doyle of the California Parks Department, “and already it is one of the largest summer events in the Tahoe Basin. There’s fun for everyone in the family.”

The Sierra State Parks Foundation sponsors a variety of educational and historical exhibits, including an annual favorite, a display of vintage cars.

Elders of the Washoe tribe, whose ancestors were the original residents of the Tahoe Basin, will relate their people’s history. Visitors can take guided nature hikes through the Z’berg Natural Preserve to the “highest lighthouse in the world” or along the Washoe Path of the Water Babies.

For younger visitors, Living History Day will offer a Kids Zone, with story telling, period dress up and the opportunity to create pictures of the lodge to take home as souvenirs.

Three prominent local artists will demonstrate their talents at various points on the grounds throughout the day. Bill Clausen, of Homewood, has created many watercolor paintings of Sugar Pine Point; Cathy McClelland, of Kings Beach, works mostly in acrylics, many portraying bears and other wildlife of the lakeshore; Andy Skaff, of Tahoma, specializes in works of the plein air genre, such as landscapes.

Living History Day gives visitors their only opportunity of the year to go inside General Phipps’s Cabin. Frontiersman William Phipps came to Tahoe in 1860 to homestead 160 acres that eventually became part of Sugar Pine Point State Park. Guides playing Phipps’s friends will tell stories of pioneer life as they demonstrate use of their tools and black-powder rifles.

Visitors will want to bring swimwear and towels to take advantage of the estate’s beach. A bathhouse is available for changing clothes. Those who would like to picnic on the vast lawn overlooking the lake can bring their own lunch or, buy hamburgers, hot dogs, barbecued chicken and soft drinks.

Further information and a full schedule of events can be obtained by contacting Ranger Heidi Doyle at the California State Parks Sierra District office, (530) 525-9528, or visiting the website for the event, www.laketahoelivinghistory.com.