A SusanvilleStuff Photo Feature
by Jeremy Couso
History fans, local dignitaries and special honorees all came together Friday evening for the Lassen County Historical Society’s 2013 Open House, held on the lawn at Roop’s Fort.
Honored for their lifetime contributions were three people who have worked tirelessly to help research, preserve and display local history.
Janet Corey, for many years the President of the Historical Society, was recognized with a lifetime membership for her work to extend both the depth and the reach of the society’s research.
In 2009 Corey travelled cross-country to Carroll County, Maryland to meet Isaac Roop’s relatives, and even appeared before the Nevada State Legislature to successfully make the case that Roop was that state’s first governor, and his portrait was hung in the Governor’s Gallery at the Capitol in Carson City.
Corey was also instrumental in the creation of the Office of Education’s Third Grade History Day which brings students from schools throughout the county to historic uptown Susanville for a day filled with living history, in the form of authentic character re-enactment, fostering an awareness of the town’s unique history for the third graders.
Bob and Gail Bengard are longtime members of the Historical Society and were two of the driving forces behind construction of the new museum next to Roop’s Fort. The Bengards were given lifetime memberships for their commitment to carrying out the mission of the society.
Gail Bengard has been a past President and a docent at the museum.
Scholarship Chairperson Marka Hemphill presented Lassen High Senior Aaron Pudlicki with a scholarship and several books on local history from the bookstore at the museum.
