According
to "Mission's Living Memorials", the Strawberry Festival
was introduced to Mission in 1946. The concept of the festival
was thought of by downtown businessmen and the Board of Trade,
who required funding for a much needed addition to the hospital
after the war. Seventy five percent of the profit from the festival
was to go to the hospital. Two other objectives of the festival
were: a) to make Mission synonymous with strawberries and b) to
encourage growers to improve the conditions of their berries by
naming a "Strawberry King". The festival was heavily
promoted in the Lower Mainland as well as in the Sumas newspapers.
Traffic was diverted to Railway Street during the festivities,
which were held downtown, on Main Street, between Grand and Horne
Streets. To guarantee volunteer participation and good attendance,
the day of the Strawberry Festival was declared a holiday. Because
there were no admission charges, the Board of Trade asked local
businesses to sponsor the festival to cover any financial losses.
Under the guidance of Mr. A.G. McInnes, the first Strawberry Festival
included various activities such as a baseball tournament, skill
games, a log-bucking contest and dancing at the Canadian Legion
Hall and on Main Street. In addition to the Strawberry King contest,
six local organizers promoted a "Strawberry Queen" contest,
where people bought tickets in order to vote. The King was chosen
according to who could produce the best flat of strawberries.
The Queen was chosen by how many tickets she sold. Over the years,
the popularity of the festival increased and additional events
were added.
Jimmy
Gunn, a committee member, had the idea of holding a "Soap
Box Derby" as part of the Strawberry Festival. During the
flood of 1948, the Strawberry Festival was held on two days, two
weeks apart. In 1949 Jimmy Gunn relocated the Strawberry festival
to the fairgrounds, so the Soapbox Derby, could occur on Main
Street.
In 1953, the Strawberry Queen was eliminated, a contributing factor
to the demise of the festival since the contest served as the
financial framework of the festival. Following that, the parade
was discontinued because of the extravagant cost to stage it.
In 1954, the Strawberry King event was eliminated because of declining
interest whereas the Soapbox Derby expected a record crowd of
twenty thousand. Finally in 1958, heavily overshadowed by the
Soap Box Derby, the Strawberry Festival was cancelled.
