Editor, the Voice:
I always enjoy Bill Kombol’s When Coal Was King column, and loved the recent series on “the orginal” Maple Valley. I especially got a kick out of the story on Merlini’s Sport Shop. As a child, I always thought it was the most amazing thing you could inspect a packet of frozen fish bait or bright red salmon eggs on your way into lunch!
It’s my understanding that the original cafe counter was put in for Mondell Merlini’s girlfriend. What I know for a fact is, at some point, my classmate Lori Ganowsky’s mom (famous to Tahoma students for the tasty hot lunches she cranked out as a part of the food service team) took it over. It’s interesting that it is now so often referred to as the former Testy Chef. I’m not sure if it actually had a name in the early days; to many of us, it was simply the Sports Cafe. You could always tell when somebody new came in for breakfast: that person ordered two (plate-sized!) pancakes, when one was as much as most adults could eat. And remember The Stump Jumper Burger? I believe that was Mrs. Ganowsky’s creation too.
Time marches on, and it’s great that the latest reincarnation of the building is the very successful Cascadia Pizza. Still, it’s enjoyable to look back on happy memories now and then – not to mention be reminded that thanks to a septic tank, my beloved bit of Maple Valley managed to escape King County’s plan for urban growth.
Sincerely,
Heidi A. Beck
