No matter how high Roger Sherman gets up in years, he never grows tired of the view of Ebey’s Prairie.

It’s something he has enjoyed for a lifetime and is happy that others will be able to admire today and into the future.

It was Sherman, his brother, Al Sherman, and their families that made financial sacrifices in the early 1980s that helped prevent a critical piece of the prairie landscape from being altered by residential development.

The decision to trade the developmental rights of one piece of property to acquire another was a legal agreement with the National Park Service that would ensure both parcels would stay in the family but remain working farmland.

“From a financial standpoint, it might have been a very bad decision,” Roger Sherman said. “But we were happy at the time, and we’re happy now.

“I love to see the prairie. I look at it every day and know it’s going to be protected.”

The impact Al and Roger Sherman have made on the Coupeville community is part of the reason they were selected as the guests of honor for a dinner and auction that will benefit the Island County Historical Society.

The event will take place at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 11, at the Oak Harbor Elks Lodge.

The cost to get on the guest list is $70, which includes dinner and two beverage passes. Reservations may be made at the Island County Historical Society Museum at 908 NW Alexander St. in Coupeville.

This is the fourth year that the Historical Society has honored special guests at its annual fundraising dinner and auction. The first three recipients were Wallie Funk, Helen Chatfield-Weeks and Vern Olsen.

Nancy Conard, Coupeville’s mayor, suggested something different this year, proposing to Rick Castellano, the museum’s director, and Cindy Johnson, Historical Society board president, that both Sherman brothers be honored for their impacts on local history and historic preservation.

“We both looked at each other and said, ‘Wow, how do you top that?’ ” Castellano said.

Retired farmers, Roger and Al are part of a Sherman family that has tilled the soil on the prairie since 1896.

Each has lived in Coupeville for all but only a handful of years of their lives. Al, 82, spent time in the Army, college and in a farm program in Austria, while Roger, 79, had a stint in the Air Force.

After the military, they joined forces to run a farming business together on 700 acres. They raised turkeys, then ran a dairy.

“We raised a lot of turkeys,” Roger said. “We raised up to 100,000 a year for a few years.”

They also raised families, with their offspring carrying on the family farm business independent of the other.

Karen and Wilbur Bishop, Al’s daughter and son-in-law, own Ebey Road Farm.

Don and Deb Sherman, Roger’s son and daughter-in-law, run Sherman Farms.

“He and I farmed together all of our working life and grew up together on the farm,” Al said. “We made it work. Farmers have had a hard time passing land from one generation to another. That’s always complicated. Farming has a high net worth and low income most of the time. You always need to buy more machinery.

“My dad got it to Rog and I. We incorporated and Roger and I got it to the next generation to our kids. We’re pretty proud of that. And the process of doing that — we sold development rights so the farmland will be there and won’t be cluttered with houses — I’m pretty proud of that, too.”

Both brothers have been involved in the community in other ways, such as with the Lions Club and as docents at the Jacob Ebey’s House.

“Everyone wants to be on the shift with Roger,” said Lynn Hyde, interpretive/education specialist with Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve. “You always come out smarter.

“They’re both just real stalwart contributors and always have been. Al was one of the first people to start the momentum that would become the cause to create the Reserve in the first place.”

Roger also is a longtime cemetery district commissioner and noted Coupeville historian who has specialized in giving cemetery tours over the years.

“They both have been very generous to the community,” Coupeville historian Judy Lynn said.

Both are honored to be a part of the featured guests at the museum’s major fundraiser.

“It’s really nice,” Al said. “It’s something you appreciate. I’m kind of looking forward to it. My kids all seem to want to come. If they want to come, that’s fine with me.”