Milotte artifacts will be on display Monday at Historical Society open house

On Monday at 6 p.m., the Milotte collection will be on display at the Bonney Lake Public Works Center — the old City Hall — in the former court and council chambers. The display will be part of the Historical Society's open house.

Before Sky Island became an idyllic residential community nestled in Bonney Lake’s highest hills, it was home to Alfred and Elma Milotte.

The Milottes were cinematographers who shot nature documentaries for Walt Disney Studios. Shorts such as “The Alaskan Eskimo” and “Prowlers of the Everglades” were released under Disney’s True-Life Adventures film series, a studio staple from 1948 to 1960. From 1954 to 1958, the couple also filmed — and sometimes appeared in — episodes of the television series “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color.”

While researching her book, “Bonney Lake’s Plateau,” Winona Jacobsen of the Greater Bonney Lake Historical Society learned about the filmmaking couple, an education that eventually led the Society to host the inaugural Milotte Wildlife Film Festival in the fall of 2012.

In the summer of the same year, the executor of the Milotte estate donated a wealth of personal and professional possessions of the Milotte family. Among them are letters, diaries and lecture notes pertaining to their work with Walt Disney Studios.

On Monday at 6 p.m., the Milotte collection will be on display at the Bonney Lake Public Works Center — the old City Hall — in the former court and council chambers. The display will be part of the Historical Society’s open house.

The Public Works Center is located at 19306 Bonney Lake Blvd.