Submitted by Sarah Brenden, Communications Specialist
The City of Maple Valley is announcing changes to its annual Hometown Holidays celebration with the offering of two separate events.
The City will not be offering its traditional in person community gathering and tree lighting due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, there will be two alternate events to bring joy and community involvement for all to enjoy while maintaining current safety and health protocols.
The first event will be a virtual tree lighting to be held Thursday, December 3 beginning at 6:15p.m. The tree lighting will be streamed on Facebook Live along with City Council’s message to kick off the holiday season. Unfortunately, this year’s event is strictly virtual, the public is not allowed to join the celebration in person. The holiday lights will shine throughout the Highway 169 corridor with the Maple Valley Holiday Tree remaining lit through the New Year.
The second event, added to this year’s holiday celebration, will be the Hometown Holidays Wilderness Lights Drive. This event will be held from 6:00p.m. to 8:00p.m. each night Friday, December 18 through Sunday, December 20. Community groups will have the opportunity to set up a lighted display in the Lake Wilderness Park parking lots at no charge to the organization. The estimated number of displays offered at this year’s drive thru event will be between 25 and 30. This experience is free to the community to drive through the park and view the displays. This event is open to vehicles only, walk-thru visits are not allowed.
Applications for those individuals or organizations interested in sponsoring the drive-thru event are due by Monday, November 2. The application for community group displays is due by December 15. The application can be found at https://www.maplevalleywa.gov/home/showdocument?id=27230
For more information on the 2020 Hometown Holidays events, contact Recreation Coordinator, Allison Scott, at allison.scott@maplevalleywa.gov
