Chautauqua performance of George and Elia Whittell, the Accidental Conservationists

The Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center continues its Heritage Lecture Series with a 55-minute Chautauqua presentation, Lake Tahoe’s Eccentric George and Elia Whittell, the Accidental Conservationists. The presentation will be held on February 8 at 6:30 p.m. at the Douglas County Historical Society.

Local authors and historians David & Gayle Woodruff assume the characters of one of the wealthiest couples on the West Coast from the 1920s through the 1950s. The Whittells kept an African Lion for a pet, owned over 25 miles of Lake Tahoe waterfront, built one of the most beautiful estates on Lake Tahoe’s shore, hosted high-stakes poker games with the rich and famous, and unintentionally conserved a huge portion of Lake Tahoe lands for the public to enjoy today.

The Douglas County Historical Society (DCHS) is located at 1477 Hwy 395 N., Gardnerville. Doors open at 6 p.m.. Admission is $5, DCHS, Alpine and Dayton Valley Historical Society members are free. Please call David at 760 920-8061 for more information.