Splash photo by Josh Johnson Sporting a boater’s hat like those common at Liberty Lake picnics in the 1910s and 20s, Liberty Lake Historical Society President Ross Schneidmiller stands in front of a historical display at Liberty Lake Elementary School. He and his wife, Kelli, have rotated photos and artifacts of the community’s past through the display since the elementary school opened. The current display, which debuted in November, features a patriotic theme. More News Greenstone Development continues NOLL K9 Unit Joins LLPD Front Line Goodbye 2025, Welcome 2026 Eat, Shop, and Be Merry Liberty Lake Leads in Manufacturing Innovation 2025 Election Liberty Lake 1st Lego League Back to School Winterglow a No Go 2025 Yard Sale Interactive Map Scroll Down to see and enlarge map 2025 Yard Sale Guide It's time to find some treasures during the 31st Annual Liberty Lake Community Yard Sale!

Search the News Archive

An eye to the past
1/12/2011 10:29:07 AM

By Josh Johnson
Splash Staff Writer

Profiles:
Liberty lake historical society

Pastor Ray Ruef officiated my parents' wedding at Liberty Lake Community Church, where he was my pastor growing up. I remember the daughters of both Ellen Martin Bernardo and Karolyn Kosanke from attending Greenacres Elementary School. Oh, and I could tell you about the time Ross Schneidmiller's daughters tied me - their completely in-control babysitter - to a lakeside tree, but I'd rather just refer to him as a longtime family friend.

Today, in a departure from our normal Profiles format, I'm writing in first person to share about the newly formed Liberty Lake Historical Society. The aforementioned names are among the members of the founding board. Like my connections with them, LLHS was formed to help document and preserve the shared experience that life in Liberty Lake has represented to the people who have called it home for more than a century.

There is also an educational component I'm particularly excited about from my vantage point as publisher of The Splash. It has long been an ambition of mine to share historical photos and stories with the community, but to do so with any regularity has not been possible without some outside assistance. Enter the LLHS. Last week, hopefully you read the first in a 12-part series on the local resorts that once lined the shores of Liberty Lake, written by Bernardo, LLHS vice president.

Advertisement

The society's president is Ross Schneidmiller. Along with his wife, Kelli, Schneidmiller has spent the past quarter-century investigating the community's history and collecting photographs of days gone by.

I sat down recently with Schneidmiller to talk about the path that led to the formation of the LLHS.

Q: So where did this interest in Liberty Lake history start for you?

A: I became interested in our community's history by growing up listening to stories told by Mildred Brereton, a longtime Liberty Lake Sunday School teacher and co-author of the book, "Memories of Liberty Lake." But it was not until my first daughter was born in 1985 that I actively pursued it. With my daughter being a fifth generation resident through my wife's side of the family, I wanted to preserve some history for her.

Q: How did you go about doing that?

A: I started out by contacting photography studios that had been in existence for a long time, like Libby's and Leo's, to see if they had any old negatives, and they did. Then I started taking Kelli's grandfather, Sig Knudsen, with me, and we started visiting friends of his and talking about the lake. They were so excited that people wanted to hear their stories, but I was the lucky one. Their eyes would light up as they told the stories, and I'd record them. A lot of times, when the tape recorder clicked off, the stories would get better, so I started carrying multiple tapes. Some of them had photos or old postcards, and a lot of them would share copies or didn't want the originals if I could make copies for them to give to their kids.

At some point, Tom Vincent, who had pursued the history some years before me, and I combined our collections, and Tom helped me with several things, including the financial aspect of making copies and negatives. He was just really helpful.

Q: Both your side and especially Kelli's side of the family have deep roots in Liberty Lake. When did the Knudsens and the Schneidmillers first find a home at Liberty Lake?

A: Kelli's family goes back to 1889. They homesteaded up above where the county ORV park is today. That was Osmond and Martha Knudsen. Kelli's grandfather, Sigwell, was born in 1901, and then Kelli's father, Ron, was born in 1938. Kelli was born in '61, and our daughter, Jasmine, came in '85.

My side of the family started forming here in the early 1950s, and then my parents, Elmer and Marian, moved here in 1956. I was born in 1957. We have this picture of my dad when he was 15 years old in Liberty Lake Park. His family moved in 1920 to the Palouse country, but when he was 15 they took a school trip to Liberty Lake Park.

Q: At what point did your family history and your own research turn into something that you shared with others? 

A: I had learned these wonderful stories and I had collected several pictures, and I decided to put them on slides. And I took my slideshow on the road. The toughest crowd was the Liberty Lake Community Church group, because I was just learning the history, and they had lived it. If I said, well this is so-and-so's boat, I better be sure, because they would correct me and let me know whose boat it really was.

We also put up a small display in the new (at the time) Liberty Lake Post Office, and we'd change it out once every six months. We had that up a number of years, but then the opportunity came when Liberty Lake Elementary School was built, they designed a space in there specifically for the community's history. My wife and I have (kept up the display) since the opening of the school, but Kelli is the one who makes the whole thing work.

Q: When did forming a Liberty Lake Historical Society enter into the equation?

A: Almost ever since Kelli and I started pursuing the history actively, people have asked, "What is next?" We have looked for avenues for the history to get out to the community, and one opportunity was with the formation of Pavillion Park. Talking to the then-Spokane County parks director, I was just looking for a space within the park to include some history, and he said, "Why don't we make the whole theme of the park the history of the community?" And that eventually led to naming the park Pavillion Park, because the dance pavilion was one of the unique items that really separated Liberty Lake from many of the other lakes in the Spokane area.

There have been other opportunities to (showcase the history in the community), and it hasn't just been Kelli and I. ...

As time went on and as our community became more formalized, I felt it was important for us to have a more formal presence in preserving the history, but it really came to fruition when a group said, "We're excited to do this; we want to roll up our sleeves and get involved." This is a group that's every bit as passionate as I am. They are excited to do whatever they can to move the preservation of Liberty Lake history forward.

We sat down and have looked at goals and objectives for the organization. We have set some of those, but our first concentration is to actually see what can we accomplish in 2011. What concrete things can we do? We wanted to hit the ground running in 2011, and the project we've started with is the Resort Project. On top of the monthly resort ones, we're already seeing additional history articles forthcoming.

Q: Is someone is interested in Liberty Lake history and wants to know more about LLHS, what's their next step?

A: Now that we have the articles under way, we are going to talk about how we can get the community involved throughout this year. More is to follow. There will be activities and events to involve the community, and those probably will be both allowing the community opportunity to learn more about our history as well as continued efforts to preserve our history - both us informing them and them informing us.

Q: What makes Liberty Lake history special in your mind?

A: One of the reasons why so many people can relate to our history in this community is that much of it is a history of recreation. Whether someone grew up in the Spokane area and came out to the various resorts or grew up in California or Minnesota and had a family history of going to the lake in the summer, they can relate to Liberty Lake's history and seem ready to adopt it as their own. It's a history of being part of a community and doing things as a community that I think makes Liberty Lake history unique.

Also, we've had certain themes here at Liberty Lake that have endured since the Native Americans gathered in the 1850s for  community and for recreation and for music. Those three things of community gatherings, recreation and music continued again when the dance pavilion was opened in 1909 - along with all the other recreational activities of the resort era - and then again when Pavillion Park opened and we now have our events and concerts.

Formed
Fall 2010

Initial project
The Resort Project, a 12-part series appearing in The Splash about the resorts that once lined the shores of Liberty Lake.

For more information
Write to oldlake@mac.com or in care of The Splash, P.O. Box 363, Liberty Lake, WA 99019

Founding board members
President Ross Schneidmiller: A lifetime Liberty Lake resident, preserving, learning and sharing the history of the community has been a joint hobby for Ross and his wife, Kelli, for the past 25 years.

Vice President Ellen Martin Bernardo: Along with her husband, Gary, Ellen is a 22-year resident of Liberty Lake. "We are at a pivotal point in our community: We have an opportunity to speak with the very people who saw, lived and made history here," she said. "Unless we seize the moment, the opportunity will be lost to preserve and document their stories first hand."

Secretary Karolyn Kosanke: Karolyn grew up in Liberty Lake, and her husband Richard's family moved here in 1968. "My mom always thought the lake was a great place to raise a family and felt that living at Liberty Lake wasn't just a place to live, but a way of life," she said. "For me growing up here was like being on vacation every day. The lake entertained us every season."

Annette Carter: Annette and her family moved to Liberty Lake in 1995. She owns The Art Chalet, a business run out of a building on Melkapsi she purchased that once housed Liberty Lake's post office. She said preserving buildings - as well as memories - is a priority to her.

Dona Lettelleir: On a visit to Liberty Lake in 2003, Dona fell in love with the area to the extent she purchased a home before returning to her native Florida. "I am excited to participate with the research, discovery, documenting and sharing of more of the rich Liberty Lake history ..." she said.

Pastor Ray Ruef: Pastor Ruef and his wife, Karen, moved to Liberty Lake in the fall of 1965, where he served as pastor of Liberty Lake Community Church for 24 years, followed by 17 years at two other area churches. "As I have seen this community grow, change, face challenges and work together, make some adjustments and compromises, the history needs to be preserved so that all of us can appreciate the hard work and success of so many great people," he said. "The roots of our community are worthy of preservation."

Tom Specht: Tom and his wife, Cathy, are well known as hands-on members of the Liberty Lake community. Specht spearheaded efforts in the 1990s to develop and expand the Liberty Lake trails system, efforts that resulted in the completion of several "loops" in the community as well as the pedestrian bridge over Interstate 90.

Josh Johnson: Josh grew up in Liberty Lake, where his grandparents first moved in 1952. He returned with his wife, Kim, in 2004 to work at his hometown newspaper, The Splash.