THE HISTORY

OF THE

MARYSVILLE STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL

Marysville, Washington- Strawberry Festival! The idea originally was conceived at the first meeting in the May of 1932 by the Commercial Club, a group of civic-minded leaders and a forerunner of the present Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce. Leon L. Stock, then Editor of the Marysville Globe has been credited with its origin. The idea was to make history for the town of Marysville; located in an area between the Puget Sound and the Cascades, where soil conditions were ideal, where rainfall was in abundance for the growth of strawberries and ample sunshine to ripen them to a full and luscious color and size.

At this first meeting many ideas were presented and talked about to the point of where the enthusiasm ran rampant amongst its members. Brought to the attention was the fact that oftentimes the virtues and values of a small town are overlooked. Some members felt that some sort of celebration should be held to promote the sale of local products, not only the berries, but dairy and poultry products as well.

The idea was talked and thought about during the next two weeks. At the second meeting in May, someone came up with the idea of promoting the strawberry shortcake as the banner for local producers. They thought that maybe they could invite marching units, floats and bands! Someone suggested making it an all day affair. If it should be a success-it could be made into an annual event. And the Strawberry Festival was born!

At the next meeting, June 2^nd, a date of June 15^th was selected for the first Marysville Strawberry Festival. President Logan C. Smith made the following appointments:

General Chairman- Earl Meyer

Entertainment- Frank Hilton, Chairman with Floyden Hawley and E.R. Washburn

Baseball Game- Elmer Schaefer, Chairman with O.F. Chartier

Sports- L.T. Barker, Superintendent of Schools, Chairman

Publicity- L.L. Stock, Chairman

Ideas for Prizes- J.J. Jacklin, Chairman with Roland Crowe

Securing Prizes- John Hilton, Chairman with E.E. Colvin and Al Mc Corkindale

Reception- Sant Asbery, Chairman with Milford Carr, Ray Fossee and William Patterson

Strawberry Display- Charles Schaefer, Chairman with Carl Carlson and L.E. Witt

Judges- H.A. Brodaw, Dr. J.W. Rose and Frank Storm

The shortcake was served free that year by the Log Cabin Club. All the ingredients had been donated. The weather was cloudy and for a while-rain threatened. However, just before the festivities began, the clouds broke away and the sun came out to warm the day for the first

Strawberry Festival in Marysville.

The festival committee had hoped to register everyone in attendance who was eighteen years of age or older. This became a difficult task with so many in attendance, but 1,261 registrations appear on the record. There were visitors from five different states.

There was no queen chosen to rule over the first festival, perhaps no one thought of it in that initial planning. However, in 1933, there were six candidates vying for the position and Miss Bonita Davis was selected as our first Queen.

World War II saw the cancellation of our Festival for the years 1942-45.

The year 1956 saw the Festival move its date back into July as a big freeze from the previous year contributed to major set back in agricultural production in our area. The following year the Festival was moved back to its traditional June dates.

In 1959, a completely new organization had been set up to run the festival. Originally it was going to be called Progressive Marysville and was in the process of drawing up incorporation papers when the members decided to rename the group Greater Marysville.

In 1974 another new organization was formed to operate and produce the annual Festival, Maryfest, Inc.-short for Marysville Festivals. It is also the current operator and is organized as a non-profit Washington corporation (9/14/87).

With the arrival of the Millennium, the Strawberry Festival made a major change in its Grand Parade production. For the first time in history, the Grand Parade was moved to a twilight start time. Attendance was excited over the change as many local residents witnessed their first lighted parade. Precedent setters for evening parades included Seafair, Spokane Lilac Festival, the Portland Starlite and the Moses Lake Moonlite Parade organizations.

Maryfest, Inc. makes it's home in the Red Caboose at the Western Gateway to Marysville on the corner of 4th Street & Cedar Street. Maryfest, Inc. is a 100% all-volunteer organization and through operation of the annual Strawberry Festival , sales of sponsorships and the receipts of hotel/motel tax grants produces the community extravaganza in June and represents our City in over 20 community parades and appearances throughout the Northwest and Canada. We have even been to San Diego, California for the Annual Pacific Life Holiday Bowl Parade, famous for being the largest balloon parade in the United States! 

In the year 2003 we will be celebrating the production of 68 Grand Parades and 72 years of history as one of the longest, continuous running festivals in the State.