Camp Sherman's history draws a crowd

It turns out, the history of Camp Sherman is a very popular subject.

With the Three Sisters Historical Society hosting a Fireside Evening presentation on the subject at FivePine, on April 25, the Conference Center filled rapidly . An eager and enthusiastic audience was there to hear Lorie Hancock’s presentation “If the Trees Could Speak – Stories of Camp Sherman.”

Having been a founding member of the Camp Sherman Historical Society in 2004, and a resident since 1998, Hancock had a lot to share. She and other volunteers were instrumental in documenting through oral interviews the priceless stories of many of the old-timers over the years, and compiling them into video format.

Snippets of many of these were presented along with a large array of historic photos, and many colorful stories. She talked of old dairies, early bridges and cabins, how the Headwater of the Metolius came to be protected, where the golf course was, the earliest school children (a class of three, but the picture was adorable), the dances, the fishing, and much more.

The audience was challenged to join up as teams at the beginning of the evening and try to answer a series of trivia questions related to various aspects of Camp Sherman’s history. The questions were a bit challenging, such as “how many original homesteaders were there?” “ What color was the original Allingham Guard Station painted?” As the evening unfolded, answers were revealed and no team had them all correct — but it was fun trying, and there may have been some new, and or renewed, friendships made.

Guest Marna Griffin said afterward it was so much fun hearing all the stories, many of which brought back fond childhood memories – but her “favorite was the square dancing at the Community Hall.”

Helen Schmidling from Sisters Gallery brought several works of original acrylic art by Brad Earl that were exhibited and drew a lot of attention. The subject was various viewpoints of Camp Sherman and the Metolius.

Also on hand were Peter Brown and Dakota Foote of Under/Over Productions from Bend. They were video recording the evening and posting it live on Facebook. It will also be made available soon on TSHS’s website and their YouTube channel.

Three Sisters Historical Society is in search of topics and speakers for next winter’s Fireside Series; call 541-549-1403 with suggestions.