The Ketchum-Sun Valley Historical Society Heritage and Ski Museum is a valley entity that many residents and visitors know little about. The museum buildings at Forest Service Park on Washington Avenue and First Street in Ketchum house artifacts, one-of-a-kind ski and winter sports memorabilia, valuable photo collections and more.
"The museum has records and artifacts from the past from people who created Ketchum," said museum Executive Director Dave Hanning. "It explains how and why we got here and how families are deeply connected to the area."
The museum will share its resources at the Party in the Park spring social on Saturday, May 30, from 2-8 p.m. The free event will have museum tours, as well as music by FourStroke Bus, Lava Lake lamb kabobs, wine donated by Frenchman's Gulch and other beverages.
The museum will be open through October and is looking for new members as well as any donations.
"The museum wants to be more active for the community and is a space people can use," Hanning said.
Exhibits include a history of the Northern Shoshone and Tukedeka tribes, which lived in the valley, and ski equipment and clothing from the 1800s, which tell stories about miners and mail delivery. There is an homage to the first native-born Sun Valley ski racer, Jimmy Griffith, who died at 22 in his quest for Olympic gold in 1952. Other interesting artifacts include ski-training films from World War II, which show the 10th Mountain Division, also known as "The Ski Troops," preparing for war. Many dedicated ski troops were instrumental in skiing's postwar boom and the films include Sun Valley ski instructors.
Another exhibition is the Don and Gretchen Fraser exhibit, which follows the respected Olympic skiers throughout their lives, including Gretchen's gold medal slalom win at the 1948 Olympics. It was the first gold medal for any American skier. Also at the museum is an exhibition on Ernest Hemingway that provides a peek into Hemingway's life in Idaho, from his arrival in September 1939 to his death in 1961.
Museum hours are 12-4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday. For details call 726-8118.
Sabina Dana Plasse: splasse@mtexpress.com
The Ketchum-Sun Valley Historical Society Heritage Ski Museum is open for the summer. Photo by Mountain Express
