MEEKER | “It’s pretty cool to think about, what did this valley look like before people were here? Because it wasn’t really that long ago,” said Andrea Gianinetti, local business owner and history enthusiast, describing her own interest in local history and how it sparked an idea to combine historical and outdoor recreation tourism into “OHV Meeker Historical Tours.”
Gianinetti’s Off Road Rentals will offer historical tours Tuesday through Thursday afternoons, starting at 1 p.m. from their retail shop on Market Street. The tours will continue through the summer, with Thursday, Aug. 31 as the last available date to book a tour.
The guided tours, a first for the rental business, will take prospective history buffs and 4×4 enthusiasts alike to the Coal Creek schoolhouse and Milk Creek battle site, accompanied by Andrea Gianinetti as the OHV trail guide and White River Museum Assistant Director Kevyn Mack as the local history expert. Gianinetti said the locations not only hold historical significance, touring them also means easy access to the off-road experience. “We’re gonna go into the forest on roads that you can only drive a side-by-side on, hopefully up toward Sleepy Cat, weather dependent,” she said, adding, “We can take some good pictures and come back into town and end at the museum.”
She first thought of the concept when the business’ Polaris rep came to town and Gianinetti needed some way to entertain a guest. “I just kind of was showing her the area, and it was a super cold February day,” she said, “I just stopped, talked about random things that I know because I love history, and she was like, ‘I would pay you to do what you just did.’”
After that day Gianinetti thought others might pay for the same thing, an experience that combines her expertise in 4×4 off-roading and personal connection to local history.
DEEP ROOTS
After moving to Meeker from Hayden at the age of 3, she noted she always felt like a newcomer “It was kind of like, well, I’m not from here because even though I grew up here, my parents didn’t grow up here,” she said.
As it turned out, her historical roots to Meeker extended all the way back to the pioneers. She learned about those roots from her grandmother and local artist Eleanor Williams, who was able to share information about historical details like a house on Garfield Street built in 1899 by her great-great-great-grandfather and pioneer Al Durham.
After learning more about her own heritage and local roots, Gianinetti expanded her knowledge on the subject, “I think personally, there’s something really intriguing about pioneers,” she said, also noting an interest in various other topics like the Wilderness Act, Teddy Roosevelt’s visit to the area and more.
“That stuff doesn’t seem that big to us, because we’ve heard it our whole lives,” said Gianinetti.
Newcomer, longtime local or great-great-great-grandkid of one of Meeker’s earliest settlers aside, the tours should offer something for everyone.
Find more information at gianinettis.com
BY LUCAS TURNER | [email protected]
