A local camp of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers helped unveil a 33-year old time capsule and shared fond memories of helping establish The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Maple Valley area.
**********************************************
Maple Valley has transformed the past few decades. The loss of greenbelt makes way for more subdivisions and shopping centers. One group of local women remember well when Four Corners was nothing more than a flashing signal, or when it was treacherous to cross Highway 18 before the overpasses were built.
The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (DUP) Maple Leaf Camp in the Seattle South Company has been meeting on the second Tuesday of the month for years. While they share a common ancestry with those who braved the unforgiving trek West to the Salt Lake Basin, their friendships were forged as pioneers of a different sort. These women were some of the first members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Maple Valley.
The Church of Jesus Christ with its members throughout the world is organized geographically. Local congregations called wards are part of a regional organization called a stake. All functions of the wards and stakes are handled by unpaid members of the church on assignment for varying lengths of time. But in Maple Valley and its surrounding towns in 1971, there weren’t enough members of The Church of Jesus Christ to form a ward. They instead were formed into a Branch. In 1977 membership had grown to merit the formation of the Maple Valley Ward. And that ward buried a time capsule a decade later.
A 27” x 6” PVC pipe served as the vessel. Members were encouraged to include something small like a family picture or a letter to their children/grandchildren. It was buried July 4, 1988 at the chapel on Wax Road. It took some guesswork to find the exact location but it was successfully retrieved in April.
The DUP and guests gathered to unveil its contents recently. It proved to be a joyous evening filled with laughter, fond remembrances, and eagerness to see the treasures which had almost been forgotten. In all, 24 families contributed something, as did many children and youth.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Maple Valley. The very first church activity held on May 7, 1971 had 42 adults and three children in attendance. The Maple Valley Stake, created in 1998, now has seven wards with more than 2400 members attending either that first chapel on Wax Road, or the one at Four Corners.
