The first celebration which led to the creation of Maple Valley Days happened on May 6, 1961. A parade was staged and a queen named with a theme of “back across the years.” A number of Maple Valley’s earliest settlers were honored, and a new tradition was established. An estimated crowd of 2,000 people attended events held at the location of Maple Valley’s original settlement near the Cedar River bridge and Highway 169 where the Food Bank and other small businesses still survive. Darlene Jones was crowned Queen and paraded along the half-mile route in a Shetland pony-drawn cart. A banquet dinner held that evening at Gaffney’s Lake Wilderness Lodge completed festivities.
One event for turning back the clock to olden days included bathing beauties donning period swim attire. According to contemporary news reports some of these bathing suits dated to the 1880s. An original image that can’t be found included a fourth model, Mrs. Vi Jones who was cut from the left side of this picture which comes courtesy of JoAnne Matsumura, an Issaquah historian and collector of photographs. From left to right are Mrs. Anne Tingvall, Queen Darlene Jones, and Miss Sue Markham.
This year, most Maple Valley Days’ events are cancelled, though a special fall event with live entertainment, vendors, inflatables and food trucks is slated for October 9th and 10th at Lake Wilderness Park.
