Daffodil History

The Daffodil Festival began soon after daffodils became the replacement crop for hops. During the spring, people from all over would drive out to the Puyallup valley to see the daffodils in bloom. Someone came up with the idea to have a parade using the flowers as the primary material. Prior to that time the unpurchased blossoms went for compost.

The Daffodil Festival and Parade originally involved only those communities that grew daffodils. Tacoma soon became involved and the Festival became the premier event of Pierce County. Local schools provided the royalty. During the early days, Fife did not participate in the Festival. Puyallup, Sumner, and one or two Tacoma schools were the first to send royalty and floats.

Fife entered the Festival in 1959. Hanging on the wall of the high school library are pictures of all the Princesses from 1960 to the present. During the sixties and seventies FHS was very active in the Festival activities. A large number of candidates turned out each year to vie for title of Princess. The school and community constructed the float that the royalty rode. The band accompanied the float and royalty on the parade route through Tacoma, Puyallup, Sumner, and Orting. Often the Daffodil Parade coincided with the schools spring break. During those years the band was not required to participate.

Mary Ellen Piro wrote the following about the Festival and her memories of it:
The book, The History of the Flower Bulb Industry in Washington State, by Charles J. Gould says that the first large-scale bulb grower was George Lawler (1861 - 1948) of Lawler's Bulbs of Fife (Gardenville). He began raising bulbs in Fife in 1910.
Mary Ellen (Polky) Piro graduated from FHS in 1968. She remember marching in the band during her 8th, 9th, and 10th grade years and with the Drill Team as a junior and senior. "It was so fun, but we were really tired from all that marching (through Tacoma, Puyallup, Sumner, and Orting). It was also a lot of jun helping to stuff all those flowers into the floats. I noticed in the float photos that it looks like they don't use as many flowers as they did years ago. Daffodils are still one of my favorite flowers.

If you have information you would like to include in this site, please call Pat Reed at the High School Library (922-8751, extension 4411 or email (preed@fife.k12.wa.us) I would like this to be an ongoing project and you input, photos, clippings, whatever would be greatly appreciated.

For a very complete history of the Daffodil Festival, please visit their web site at: http://www.daffodilfestival.net.