Community members in Lone Butte gathered at the Water Tower Park Friday to spruce up the site and honour two of the area’s longtime volunteers.
The annual work bee included mounting plaques to remember Al Jones and Anna (Nath) Granberg for their contributions to the Lone Butte Historical Association and their community. Jones’ plaque was installed on the tower while Granberg’s will be placed by a small lilac bush transplanted from the Nath homestead in Sheridan Lake.
The two were big players in the history of Lone Butte, once the hub of the South Cariboo. Granberg, born in 1927, was an avid gardener and seamstress instrumental in maintaining the Lone Butte Pioneer Cemetery. A stickler for historical accuracy, she once insisted the horse on the murals at the South Cariboo Theatre building be repainted to reflect the correct colour.
Jones’ contribution was no less significant. A historian by education, log home builder by trade, musician, artist and cook, he was involved in all areas of the association.
His crowning accomplishment, however, was the relocation of the caboose to the park and turning it into a museum showcasing the history of the area. This collection of interviews and pictures gives locals and visitors alike, a chance to view the past through the people who lived here when Lone Butte flourished.
The park is open daily until Oct. 10.
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