“Bands will play and flags will fly in Maple Valley next week, when the first annual Queen’s Parade of the Maple Valley Community Club starts its march.” So read an article from the Renton News Record the week before the May 6, 1961 event which became Maple Valley Days. Back then the parade was held in the original core of Maple Valley where Highway 169 crosses the Cedar River. Today, that area is home to Good Earth Works, Cedar Grange, Cascadia Pizza, Foley’s Market, and the Food Bank, but not even within Maple Valley city limits. As detailed in last week’s column, the Queen’s Parade grew from earlier traditions of civic involvement such as the Maple Valley Community Club dance and Cedar River boat races. Over subsequent years this debut event morphed into Maple Valley Days whose central activities later migrated to Witte Road and Lake Wilderness Park. Yet the parade has remained central to celebrating the greater Maple Valley area, which for many encompasses the far-flung reaches of the Tahoma school district. Unfortunately, the parade portion of this year’s limited Maple Valley Days has been cancelled.
This 1961 photo of Queen Darlene Jones and her court was organized by Vivian Stickley, a local dance instructor who coordinated the first parade. It was taken at the Cedar Lodge, today a part of the Maple Valley Food Bank building. Queen Darleen was daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A.L. Jones and a junior at Tahoma High School, while her Princess Sandi DiMartino was daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John DiMartino. The following members of the court have been identified. Front row sitting (R-L): unknown, Jodi Stickley; back row standing (R-L): Guy Belleman, unknown, unknown, Ken Stickley, Sandy DiMartino, Darlene Jones, unknown, Joan Shearer, Cathy Shoemaker, and Teresa Belleman. This photo #P17.06.03 comes courtesy of the Maple Valley Historical Society. Next week, a picture of local girls modeling vintage swimsuits for the “Back Across the Years” theme of the inaugural 1961 event.
