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Living History Day to transport Sugar Pine Point visitors back to the ’30s

Julie Brown
Sierra Sun
Ryan Salm/Sierra SunLindsay Harbison and Mark Workman play out a skit during a dress rehersal for Living History Day at the Ehrman Mansion in Sugarpine Point on Friday. The actual Living History Day will take place on Saturday, July 28.
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The California State Parks will turn the calendar back Saturday, teaching a living historical lesson at Pine Lodge in Sugar Pine Point State Park in Tahoma.

No textbook or homework is required.

Instead, Pine Lodge ” also known as the Ehrman mansion for the estate’s first owners ” will serve as the setting for actors portraying the mansion’s summer residents during the 1930s.



“It’s a bunch of grown-ups playing dress up,” said Victoria Workman, who with Rosie Smith is co-coordinating the park’s Living History Day.

The state park invites the public to tour the elegant summer home during an open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 28, and get a glimpse of the past.



Dressed in flowing gowns, knickers and caps, volunteers from surrounding communities will act out the roles of the family, servants and guests. They will stage scenes in the Victorian mansion’s parlor, dining room and kitchen, and discuss the issues of the period, from the Great Depression to the day’s cooking.

“Tahoe’s very much different from what it was at the turn of the last century, when the house was built,” said Lew Allison, a Living History Day volunteer. “I think it helps to have a way to look back at the way it was, the elegance, the formal dress, the beautiful cars and boats. It was a wonderful way of life ” it still is, but it was just different.”

Last year, the event attracted 2,000 visitors, making it one of the park’s largest summer events, Workman said. This year, Sugar Pine Point’s 11th Living History Day, Workman expects twice as many to attend. And she doesn’t expect just tourists. Many locals, some who’ve never visited the Ehrman mansion, will drop by, Workman said.

“People can come here and enjoy the expanse of beaches, the quiet and the beauty,” Workman said.


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