The most surprising thing about Enumclaw High School’s first Homecoming celebration isn’t that it was first held in 1947, or that Evan Richey and Sue MacKay were selected as King and Queen. It’s how they were chosen. Enumclaw’s first royal couple were selected by America’s most popular actor and comedian, Bob Hope.
The origins of homecoming rituals date to the early 20th century. The University of Missouri is generally credited with holding the first homecoming event in 1911, though the University of Illinois and Baylor offer competing claims. The three events all included a late-season football game with invitations for alumni to return to campus and visit their alma mater. Over time, ancillary events like parades, pep rallies, and dances were added to the celebration. The tradition spread to high schools in the 1930s, where choosing a king and queen, typically a senior, added to the pageantry.
When the question arose, who would organize Enumclaw’s first homecoming, it was resolved, “Give it to the Annual Staff, the hardest working gang in the school,” according to the 1948 Tiger Tales yearbook. At the time, Enumclaw’s school mascot was the Tigers. But that name was discarded during the disastrous 1949 marriage and bitter 1952 divorce that briefly united two arch-rivals, Enumclaw and Buckley, under the same banner – White River. Like many a bitter marital breakup, both towns refused to surrender their offspring, a stinging Hornet dressed in maroon and gold. Enumclaw demanded its birth name back, while Buckley retained ownership of the White River marriage moniker.
As the 1947 school year began, the yearbook staff, led by editors Lorraine Hanberg and Connie Gunderson, began arranging those first Homecoming festivities. Rex Waldron, the art teacher and annual advisor, wrote to Bob Hope asking him to select the winners from among 12 nominees. Photos by Paul Standar, who operated a studio on Cole Street, were included in the mailing together with the students’ qualifications.
Bob Hope responded by letter dated October 13, 1947, addressed to Waldron, Chairman of the Homecoming Committee. A copy of Hope’s answer appeared in the yearbook and concluded thusly, “I send my best wishes to all of these young folks, and congratulate Enumclaw High School on having so many fine-looking boys and girls from whom to choose winners.”
Bob Hope chose Sue MacKay as queen, with Beth Dodge and Julia Johnson as her attendants, and Evan Richey as king, followed by Charlie Krainick and Delbert Grennan. Below his signature in bold type, Hope’s stationery included the title of his signature tune, “Thanks for the Memory,” which won the 1938 Academy Award for Best Original Song. Bob Hope hosted the Academy Award presentation 19 times from 1940 to 1978.
The 1947 Homecoming celebration was held on Friday, October 24, with a 2:00 pm street parade down Enumclaw’s Cole Street. The parade featured floats sponsored by classes and clubs. The high school royalty rode in convertibles, with the mounted Naches Trail Riders trailing behind. Mayor Robert Stobbs crowned Queen Sue MacKay at the judges’ reviewing stand in front of Sunrise Pharmacy on the southeast corner of Griffin and Cole.
That night’s Homecoming game featured the Enumclaw Tigers facing off against the Auburn Trojans at the same Pete’s Pool stadium used today. Several Enumclaw players were doubtful after the previous Friday’s game against Lake Washington. Six suffered severe burns from unslaked lime used to line the field. Although Maurice Hellack, Del Grennan, Joe Fantello, Harold Lokovsek, Ralph Wilde, and Dave Potter were slowed by the trauma, most played in the 12–6 Enumclaw victory before the largest crowd in many seasons. Quarterback Del Grennan and halfback Warren Pederson each scored a touchdown.
Following the football game, festivities moved to the nearby Fieldhouse, where students, alumni, visiting Trojans, and the general public joined together for a dance hosted by chairwoman Doreen Hobbs. Admission was $1.00 per couple and 75¢ stag.
The following week, a Courier-Herald editorial praised that first Homecoming, calling it, “One of the most successful events of its kind in this community. From the start, the entire program was well conducted and reflected much credit upon the student body. It was an exhibition that we as a community might well take considerable pride.”
Interestingly, Betty Sue MacKay and Del Grennan were high school sweethearts who married two years later, at Enumclaw’s Sacred Heart church on October 22, 1949. They raised seven children: Tim, Brian, Mike, Jill, Becky, Jody, and Kari. Del was one of 11 Grennan children, so Enumclaw’s citizenry is populated with numerous Grennan-related descendants. Sue MacKay was also a chosen Ski Queen for the Milwaukee Road Ski Bowl (now Hyak) on Snoqualmie Pass during the 1947-48 ski season.
This year’s Homecoming events, scheduled for October 16-18, will feature a football game against Auburn Mountainview on Thursday at 7:00 pm, a parade along Cole Street on Friday at 4:00 pm, and a formal dance commencing at 7:00 pm at Pete’s Pool Fieldhouse.
This column is indebted to the Enumclaw Class of 1971 journalism class, which posted a story from the October 30, 1970, Hornet student newspaper, revealing details of the first Homecoming celebration. That article was likely written by Gerald Campbell, the journalism instructor and advisor to both the Hornet paper and the Cascadian yearbook. Additional information came from the Courier-Herald archives. Genealogical information was provided by Donna Brathovde, a Ravensdale historian.
Most, but not all of those involved with Enumclaw’s first Homecoming have passed away. Bob Hope died in 2003, shortly after his 100th birthday. Evan Richey died in 2022 at the age of 93, Del Grennan in 2018 at age 87, Sue (MacKay) Grennan-Olson in 2009 at age 78, Gerald Campbell in 1993 at age 82, and Rex Waldron in 1979 at age 64.
