Submitted photos

L-R: Lila Tilley, Mildred Fine, George Sahlberg, and Terry Williams will be honored during this year’s Pioneer Celebration.

by Karen Nitz
for Burns Times-Herald

In a break with the traditional potluck luncheon that’s held each year in June, the community is invited to the 103rd annual Pioneer Celebration on Saturday, Oct. 12, at the Burns Elks Lodge. In association with the Harney County Historical Society, the Harney County Pioneer Association will bestow the title of Queen Mother to Mildred Fine and Lila Tilley and the title of Pioneer President to George Sahlberg and Terry Williams. Friends and family are encouraged to attend and share stories or reminiscences in honor of these long-standing members of the community.

Event tickets can be purchased for $5 per person at the door or in advance at the Harney County Chamber of Commerce office in Burns. Admission includes dinner prepared by the Elks and family-style entertainment. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. You

need not be a member of the Pioneer Association to attend.

The history of this 103-year-old Harney County tradition dates to 1916. It was initially envisioned as an event akin to a county-wide family reunion honoring the elders whose arrival in the area often predated the establishment of the county itself in 1889. Little thought was given then to acknowledging Native Paiutes who occupied the land for thousands of years prior to Euro-American settlement.

Since its beginnings as a county-specific offshoot of the Oregon Pioneer Association, the Harney County Pioneer chapter has annually bestowed the titles Pioneer Queen Mother and Pioneer President upon the oldest man and woman registered with the organization. Qualifications to join the association are few: residency within Harney County for 30 years or more (years need not be consecutive). First-time registrants receive a keepsake badge to which yearly commemorative ribbons can be added from each succeeding Pioneer Association celebration attended. Many families maintained the tradition through multiple generations. Badges become family heirlooms and even museum pieces.

The first Pioneer Association reunion picnics were elaborate social affairs held on the courthouse lawn in Burns. Later, when the new courthouse was constructed in 1941, a dedicated space in the basement was allotted to the group as a meeting place and secure space to store local historic relics and artifacts. With the completion of the Harney County Historical Museum and Pioneer Club Rooms in 1960, the site of the celebration shifted once again. More recently, the Harney County Senior and Community Center has hosted the event as a potluck luncheon.

To allow an opportunity for greater community participation, this year’s event organizers pushed the date back to October from the busy travel season of early June. Dinner will be prepared and served by the Elks to better accommodate busy family schedules. Beginning with the 100th anniversary of the Harney County Pioneer Association in 2016 and going forward, two women and two men will be recognized. In keeping with tradition, however, family-style entertainment will take the stage, and the newly appointed Pioneer royalty will be honored by family and friends.

The Harney County Pioneer Dinner will take the place of the regularly scheduled monthly public historical society program for October. No further monthly programs will be held until April 2020, coinciding with the reopening of the Harney County Historical Museum for next season. However, the historical society plans to

host several special events at the museum during the winter.

For more information, call 541-573-5618, email harneymuseum@centurytel.net, or watch our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/HarneyCountyHistoricalMuseum.