QUINAULT — Both of the former President Roosevelts will be portrayed chatting about conservation and Olympic National Park at Lake Quinault Lodge this weekend.
The Roosevelt Legacy Celebration marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the park, and recognizes the parts both Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt played to protect the Olympic wilderness.
In October 1937, Franklin Roosevelt visited the Quinault Lodge to eat lunch there during a tour of the area.
In 1938, he signed legislation creating Olympic National Park, which encompasses 922,651 acres.
He built upon the work of Theodore Roosevelt, who, in 1909, had the 8,150-foot-tall Mount Olympus, and some 800,000 acres around it, set aside as a national monument, a refuge for a strain of elk which roamed there, thereafter called Roosevelt Elk.
Daytime events planned during the Roosevelt Legacy Celebration today and Sunday at the lodge, which is within the park at 345 South Shore Road on Lake Quinault, are open to the public.
A five-course commemorative dinner — a fundraiser for the Lake Quinault Historical Society and Museum — is planned at 5:30 p.m. today, and will cost $75 per plate.
Daytime events
A “fireside chat,” reminiscent of the 30 evening radio speeches given by President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933 and 1944, is planned at 9 a.m. today in the lobby of the lodge, at 345 South Shore Road, Quinault.
A question-and-answer period will follow, and tea and popovers will be served.
At 11 a.m. today, Port Angeles actor Ronald Browning will portray Theodore Roosevelt as he gives a speech, “A Perspective on Conservation and the Creation of the U.S. Forest Service in 1905.”
History reenactments are scheduled at 12:30 p.m. today
At 2 p.m. today, Jonah Triebwasser of New York will portray Franklin Roosevelt as he gives three speeches: “The Civilian Conservation Corp,” “Conservation and Preservation Milestones,” and “Creation of Olympic National Park.”
At 4 p.m. today, Triebwasser, in his role as the former president; Sue Magill, the acting Olympic National Park superintendent; and Olympic National Forest Supervisor Dale Hom will dedicate a commemorative sign for the Big Creek Overlook in the park.
At 9 a.m. Sunday, a check will be presented to the Lake Quinault Historical Society.
At 10:30 a.m. Sunday, the Big Creek Overlook sign will be put into place.
Roof repairs
The donation to the historical society will go toward repairing the Lake Quinault Museum, which is the South Shore Road of Lake Quinault within walking distance of the Quinault Lodge.
A tree smashed through the roof and damaged three walls of a small display room behind the main museum, during the Dec. 3 storm, said Phyllis Miller, founding board member and secretary of the historical society.
“That storm was like a train came right through and just leveled things — clear-cut,” she said.
The damage is being fixed by the carpenter who restored the building when the historical society took over the old Quinault Post Office, built in the 1920s, about six years ago.
Dan Chandler, who lives at Lake Quinault, “has done marvelous restoration work,” Miller said.
“We couldn’t have it without him.”
The fallen tree inflicted several thousand dollars of damage, Miller said, although she didn’t know exactly how much repairs will cost the historical society.
“In a small town like this, most labor and operation is volunteer, and we get charged very little, but we still need help to cover the cost.”
Tickets to tonight’s dinner can be reserved by phoning the lodge toll-free at 800-562-6672 or 360-288-2900.
For more information about the historical society, phone 360-288-2317.
