Queen Darlene Jones, a Junior at Tahoma High School was greeted by another young V.I.P., Chiquita, a one-year-old hinny when this photo appeared in the May 4, 1961, Issaquah Press. Queen Darlene was a true southern belle, who came to Maple Valley from Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1952 and grew to love the valley where her family made its home. Darlene was a graduate of the Vi Welshko Charm and Modeling School, as well as an enthusiastic booster of saddle clubs and other sports activities. She was honored as Miss Maple Valley and selected Queen of the 1961 parade, an event which formed the beginnings of Maple Valley Days.
A hinny is a domestic equine hybrid that is the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey. It is the reciprocal cross to the more common mule, which is the product of a male donkey and a female horse. The hinny is distinctive from the mule both in physiology and temperament as a consequence of genomic imprinting. Chiquita was one of 16 known hinnies, then on record across the whole world. Her mother was Carmelita, a fuzzy burrow, and her sire was a black Shetland pony. Chiquita was entered in the May 6, 1961 parade by her owner, Mrs. Anne Tingvall of Issaquah. This photo #P.86.02.03 comes courtesy of the Maple Valley Historical Society.
