14
SEPTEMBER 1�8, 2021
CULTURE & HERITAGE
CELEBRATING THE HISTORY
OF EASTERN OREGON
Always a
storyteller
Karen Haas shares tales
from the Oregon Trail
By Lisa Britton
Go! Magazine
B
LO S T I N E , O R E G O N
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Travel Baker County
Storyteller Karen Haas performs
Friday, Sept. 3, at the National
Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive
Center, and in Geiser-Pollman Park
on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 4-5.
AKER CITY — Karen Haas
is a storyteller at heart, and
she combines that skill with mu-
sic to share tales of the Oregon
Trail.
“I’ve always been a storyteller,
even as a kid,” she said. “History
is not just dates.”
She’ll be in Baker City this
weekend to perform both at the
National Historic Oregon Trail In-
terpretive Center and in Geiser-
Pollman Park.
The center is 5 miles outside
of town on Highway 86. The
park is on Campbell Street in
Baker City.
Haas fi rst performed at the
center in 2009. She’s returned
every year since, with the excep-
tion of 2020.
Her programs on Friday, Sept.
3, will be outside at the center
at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and
2:30 p.m.
On Saturday and Sunday,
Sept. 4-5, Haas will join the
wagon encampment at Geiser-
Pollman Park. She’ll perform
at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and
2:30 p.m. both days.
In addition, she will give a
special presentation at 5 p.m.
Saturday, also in the park.
Haas will bring three diff erent
shows to Baker City. In “Wagons
West,” she talks about the “trea-
sures and tools of the trail.”
“Like the wonderful things
you can make out of a horn,” she
said. “And I mix it up with stories
and songs from the trail.”
For “Eliza Jane Meeker,” she
takes her audience back to 1852
to meet this woman with a well-
known husband.
“A lot of people have heard of
her husband, Ezra Meeker,” Haas
said. “She started the fi rst library
in Puyallup.”
In her third program, “Tales &
Tunes of the Trail,” Haas portrays
a woman traveling the trail who
is sharing stories around the
campfi re.
“She’s telling stories and gos-
sip, and singing songs they all
know,” she said.
Haas taught music for 10
years, and worked as the curator
of education at two historical
sites near Tacoma, Washington.
“I found I’m still a teacher, but
I’m bringing the past to life,” she
said. “I love sharing history.”
Although she delved into sto-
rytelling by Zoom over the last
18 months, this weekend she’ll
be back to screen-free presen-
tations.
“I’m looking forward to having
a live audience,” she said. “I’ve
really missed that.”