Kelseyville >> The Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum, usually open every Saturday and Sunday, will be closed this Saturday and Sunday. Ely has been chosen as the venue for a Boy Scout weekend campout.
This is an annual event for the Boy Scouts allowing them to perform community service projects while honing their camping skills. This year they will camp out for two nights on the Ely property, clearing the hillside below Ely’s main house during the day.
That particular weekend would also have been Ely’s Living History Day. That activity is being pushed to Oct. 29. Historian Ruby Glebe will return to the stage stop that day to share more stories from the past. Glebe preserves and promotes Lake County’s historical resources. Fifteen years ago, the Lake County Board of Supervisors appointed Glebe to the position of Lake County historian. She is only the third person to hold this distinction, preceded by Henry Mauldin and Marion Goebel.
Glebe will be talking about the Pine Flat Community of 1870, once a quicksilver mining boomtown in the rugged Mayacamas Mountains that straddle Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties. Nothing remains of the community that was killed by the plummeting price of quicksilver and periodic wildfires that plague the area. Her presentation will begin at noon. Admission is free with donations accepted. Through these Living History Days at Ely, the stories of Lake County’s history are being preserved for future generations, says stage stop volunteer Linda Drake.
Finally, on Nov. 6 Ely will host the monthly California Old Time Fiddlers Association for a jam session in the Ely barn from noon until 2 p.m. Musicians will follow the usual round-robin format with donations benefitting both the Ely Stage Stop, helping to fund the construction of the blacksmith shop, and the Old Time Fiddlers Association District 10, using it to partially fund its scholarship programs.
The Lake County Historical Society’s Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum is located at 9921 State Highway 281 (Soda Bay Road) in Kelseyville, near Clearlake Riviera, just north of Highway 29-Kit’s Corner. Current hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday. Private tours can be arranged by appointment. Facilities are available to support events, conferences or family gatherings.
Visit www.elystagestop.org or www.lakecountyhistory.org, check out the stage stop on Facebook at www.facebook.com/elystagestop, or call the museum at (707) 533-9990 for more information.
