We would like to comment on a letter to the editor that appeared in your paper in the Jan. 21, 2004, issue. Your subscriber was unhappy with the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum’s 2004 calendar because, chiefly, it did not include the level of Fall City content he would have preferred, and he felt the museum was slighting Fall City generally.

Obviously it would be wonderful to have more display space and artifacts from all of the present and former communities in the Valley so that all could be extensively represented. Within these limits, the museum has always included Fall City content.

Please consider the following facts:

* Fall City has been represented on the board since its inception. In the last decade Cleo Soister, Clarice Eaden, Susan Sherman, Allen Minner, Marguerite Nelson – all from Fall City – have served. Ruth Pickering of Fall City is a current and very active board member.

* The museum director lives in Fall City.

* One of the current displays includes a full case dealing exclusively with Fall City.

* The museum has a booth at Fall City Days each year.

* The museum has worked for years with many Fall City citizens on various projects, including the recent successful effort to preserve the hop shed at Fall City.

* The museum is on the verge of bringing out the fourth edition of Peggy Corliss’s book “Fall City In the Valley of the Moon.”

* The museum carries and distributes copies of Jack Kelley’s walking tour guide of Fall City.

* The museum currently has $2,000 in grant money earmarked specifically for a Fall City project.

These are examples of our efforts that focus entirely on Fall City – they do not include examples where Fall City is part of a bigger story. One of the museum’s stated goals is to preserve, present and interpret the history of the Snoqualmie Valley for the benefit of the public. To this end displays are designed based upon how best a story can be told about the history of a place, an era or people, given the artifacts and photographs available.

These displays are the culmination of literally hundreds of hours donated by volunteers who are vitally interested in the history of our Valley, and we know that the people who visit the museum leave with a new knowledge and understanding of the history of the entire Valley.

The museum is open from April through October, Thursdays through Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and we encourage you all to visit. The museum’s Web site is www.snoqualmievalleymuseum.org.

Board of Directors (Dale Sherman, president)

Snoqualmie Valley

Historical Society