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BCHA News!

Rescheduled!

Idaho Day 2024 will now be on May 6th.
Our Theme this year will be "A History of Transportation in our State."
An outline of out transportation history will be presented. Student Contests have been judged, and awards will feature prominently in our program.
Now scheduled to be held at Taylorview Middle School in Idaho Falls,
located at 350 Castlerock Lane, Idaho Falls, ID.

Our Fall Presentation was given on September 20, 2023.
Our Theme this year was "The Navy's History in Idaho" There was a an interesting history of our Navy in Idaho By retired Navy Captain Robert Skinner, Plus an honoring veterans, info on other military history, entertainments, and artifacts.

Idaho Day 2023 was celebrated on Thursday March 2, 2023.
Our Theme this year was "We Love Idaho and all of Her Gems." There was a great short film showing many of her unique and beautiful "gems", including her mountains, rivers, lakes, wilderness, towns, and all the special things that make up Idaho. There was entertainment by the 4th grade students from Dora Erickson and Westside elementary choirs, Bonneville High Dance Team, and Chief Tahgee Academy Dance Team. Jenny and Bruce Stanger provided prelude music.

Student Contest submissions were on display for viewing in the Carr Gallery. Winners of the Student Contests were announced and honored during the Program.


Downtown Idaho Falls in the 40's and 50's.
A fun and interesting event was presented by the BCHA in cooperation with the Museum of Idaho. A slide show and narrations described the evolution of the Idaho Falls "DownTown" into a center for entertainment. music, and dancing during the 1940's and 1950's. Photos comparing the lights and activities back then to the quieter state we have today showed how much things have changed. Dancers from the Thunder Ridge High School presented a live demonstration of the dance forms of the 1950's, which concluded the evening.


Announcing the Naval Reactors Facility Oral History Project
Colorado State University's Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML) and the Public Lands History Center (PLHC) are honored to be supporting Fluor Marine Propulsion and Naval Reactors, Idaho Branch Office to collect and curate oral histories as part of the Naval Reactors Facility Oral History Project. The project is supporting ongoing efforts to preserve the history of three prototype reactors at the Naval Reactors Facility in Idaho: the S1W, A1W, and S5G. These prototypes were the land-based precursors to the reactors deployed for use in the USS Nautilus, USS Enterprise, and USS Narwhal. The project is inviting those who worked or trained on one or more of the prototypes at the Naval Reactors Facility (NRF) to share their stories and personal experience during an in-person oral history event to be held in Idaho Falls, ID on July 18-20, 2022.

To learn more about the oral history project and how to participate in the event, please visit the Naval Reactors Facility Oral History Project webpage.


The Keefers, a one-hour documentary from Eagle Rock Films that was shown on April 20th at The Colonial Theater in Idaho Falls. Read and description and view the trailer here


Student Contest winners and Home Town Heroes Achievement Awards awarded at a special meeting.
Our Student Contests have been concluded and judged.
At our event student contest winners and achievement winners received their awards. Home Town Heroes Achievement Awards were presented to four recipients at this meeting as well.


Our March 4th Idaho Day for 2022 is not being scheduled due to the continuing risk of Covid-19
On a better note
, our Student Contests are proceeding!
Teachers, students, and parents can download them (a Zip file with 23 Word documents) here.


Our March 4th Idaho Day for 2021 has been Cancelled due to the continuing risk of Covid-19
The theme was "A Tribute to the 75th Anniversary of World War II"


On a better note
, our Student Contests have proceeded!
Eight schools participated, and 138 entries were received and scored.
At least one person from each school won one of the 14 First Place awards of $100.
Schools participating were: Alturas Academy, American Heritage Charter School,
Fox Hollow, Iona, Longfellow, Taylorview Middle School, Sunnyside, and Westside.
We congratulate the First Place winners and all the participants for honoring Idaho Day
by their efforts in learning, capturing, and presenting knowledge of our great State.


Idaho Day 2020 is come and gone -

On March 4th, 2020, we celebrated Idaho Day. Our youth were invited to join in the study of our history and heritage by participating in our student contests. Winners were announced and prizes awarded at the event. This year again, top winners received cash prizes.
Remember, Idaho Day is celebrated each year on the 4th of March.


Our Fall Presentation was a big hit!

At the Museum of Idaho on Monday, October 9th we had a fascinating presentation by David Leroy.

In period dress and in first person, he spoke as William Wallace, the first territorial governor of Idaho. He told of his friendship with Lincoln since the 1840s and recounted how Lincoln, by word and deed was a friend to everyone in Idaho Territory. A display of Lincoln and Idaho memorabilia set the tone before the presentation, and added greatly to the store of knowledge gained by attendees.


Idaho Day 2019 is history -

On March 4th, 2019, we presented "Downtown Memories" of Idaho Falls [Click here to see Flyer!] as an example of the 2019 Idaho Day State theme: "My Town, Idaho". Downtown Idaho Falls was chosen as "Our Town" because it has, for decades, been the place for many people in smaller towns "to go to town" for shopping and entertainment. The growth, decline, and revival of Idaho Falls downtown district were reviewed in stories and pictures. Watch the 20-minute video we presented that night:

"Downtown Memories"


Are You Feeling Social?

by Jessica Donnelly

If you're like most people these days, you're probably confused by all the social media options out there! Who can keep track? And do we really need to know what our friends and family ate for breakfast? The answer might surprise you when you consider they are a fun and social way to preserve memories.

Social media is a powerful tool because of the ease it keeps us in touch with our family, friends, and colleagues. Distance becomes less of a problem when your loved ones are a click away! Social media is also interesting for another, less obvious reason. It also is a way to preserve our own personal histories. Part of the fun is looking back and preserving all those precious moments we may have otherwise forgotten. It is a photo of a happy summer day or a particularly good book you enjoyed. It's even that special dish we successfully cooked and were proud about. It's our daily lives that we share with social media and those are our stories. You can look back and enjoy these snapshots of your life because they are the moments big and small.

If you are new to social media, there are many options to choose from. Facebook allows you to have a profile and post updates and photos to friends and families. It also allows you to follow pages of businesses and organizations you are interested in. (Be sure to check out BCHA on Facebook if you decide to join us!) Instagram, a photosharing social media platform, allows you to keep a record of all your moments in visual form. It's these new digital technologies that we often think are perhaps frivolous, but can be powerful in preserving our own life stories.

Bonneville County Heritage Association's mission is to preserve our heritage and collect memories of the lovely place we call home. As digital technologies continue to become a part of daily life, we are so excited to embrace new methods of historical preservation. As we, and our members, work to preserve the important legacy of Bonneville County, we also look forward to sharing those precious moments and personal histories of our community.

Be sure to visit us on Facebook for events, Idaho trivia, and share your own personal Bonneville treasures!


If there is any BCHA website content you wish to see added or changed, contact Dave Nipper (the webmaster) or any member of the Board.


Links to items of interest:

The Bonneville County Historical Society Webpage
The Idaho State Historical Society
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Coming Events Calendar:


Idaho Day 2024

Rescheduled!

We will now present this year's celebration on Monday, May 6th.
See the article on the left!


"The Navy's History in Idaho" was our September 20th Fall Event
See the item on the left!



BCHA Board Meetings
will be scheduled and announced via email.





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