A casual, open request between two friends has led to a large, collaborative, history event in downtown Hoquiam.

The event — Historic Hoquiam Memories — is this Saturday. It runs from noon to 5 p.m. It is the 100th anniversary of the Emerson Manor.

Connie Parson, a resident of the Hoquiam Senior Center — which is inside of Emerson Manor, said a friend told her how “someone needs to make the history on this building.” Parson soon started collecting a few historical items. She started reading up on Emerson Manor’s history. Then she started talking about it. People asked her to bring what she collected on the history downstairs so people could see it all.

“I set it all up,” Parson said. “Made a nice display, made room for people to sit and read things if they wanted to.”

Nobody showed to the event. But that was just the first try.

The next time, Parson lay out the history in the lobby.

“Of course people came in for lunch, so everybody was right there, handy,” Parson said. “They stopped and talked about it, got all excited about it. I kept thinking about it and thought ‘you know? I need to bring all my stuff down at one time, but it’s a lot of work.”

Parson then called Bruce Niemi for help. He sells Hoquiam history. He wasn’t the only one who came for Parson’s next history event at the manor.

“He came, Kyle Pauley came with his Masonic Lodge history, I guess (Pauley’s) a historian for the Masonic Lodge,” Parson said. “The Elks people came over. Somebody came over from Posey (Manufacturing). Somebody came over from the library. 7th Street Theatre showed up. So to make a long story short, it built up.”

Parson was hoping for 50-75 people. She said that sort of attendance would have made her “really lucky.”

“My girlfriend and her husband showed up with two full-sized sheet cakes,” Parson said. “I said, ‘Barb. What are we gonna do with all that cake?’ She said ‘We’ll figure it out.’ I said ‘OK.’”

More than 300 people showed up to the event to learn about the history of Hoquiam that year.

“I was totally shocked,” Parson said. “It’s mind-boggling to me. We had people from Olympia, from Ocean Shores. I had a lady (Kerry Quimby-Zenich), who unfortunately passed away, who came from Bend, Oregon. Her family was based here.”

The COVID-19 pandemic put a halt on the historic festivities. Parson missed three years because of it.

But Parson is back doing the event and is excited for Saturday.

“I have just been overwhelmed by the kind of reception it’s gotten,” Parson said. “The Polson Museum comes over and (puts together) a table,” Parson said. “I don’t know, it’s kind of overwhelming when you think about how many people view the history.”

John Larson, director of Polson Museum, called Parson “such a great champion for local history and especially the history of the Emerson Hotel, which is turning 100 this year.”

“Her history expos held at the Emerson have been a wonderful way to get community members together to share stories and show off private artifact collections,” Larson said.

The museum will again participate in Historic Hoquiam Memories, according to Larson. This year, they’ll share information about Polson’s three new exhibits it debuted this month — “The Spectacular Vanishes: When Horses Left the Harbor”, “Maritime Grays Harbor”, and “Made in Grays Harbor”.

“We’ll also be bringing our just launched Red Car Raffle vehicle, a new Jeep Gladiator 4×4 alongside our historic Franklin 10-C sedan,” Larson said. “Like the Emerson Hotel, our Franklin turns 100 this year.”

Parson thought about what keeps her going.

“No. 1, I wanted something that’s free. Nothing’s for sale,” Parson said. “There are people who do sell things. I said ‘I don’t care if you send them to your house, or whatever. But you can’t sell them here in the building. I want something that’s free, (so) people can come and see history. And I wanted to help promote the small businesses.”

This year, Parson said Harbor Books will be involved, and the American Legion building will be represented. Phil Slep, who has put on many tours in Aberdeen, will put on a walking tour.

This year, Parson is adding the Hoquiam Downtown Walking Tour. Those tours are at 1 and 3 p.m., and they start at Emerson Manor.

“We’re thinking it’ll take about an hour,” Parson said. “We’re gonna meet here and we’re gonna go over to First National. … They’re going to start on that corner and kind of talk about some of the businesses. They’ll walk as far down as the train station. …And 7th Street Theatre’s going to do an open house that day, so you can go in and tour the building. And that’s where they’re gonna stop the tour. Those two things are new this year, something I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m hoping it’ll be successful.”

Pauley, who’s helping again with the Historic Hoquiam Memories event, threw in his two cents about the event and about Connie herself. Count him a fan of both.

“As a rabid local history collector, I have had the privilege to participate in this event for many years,” Pauley said. “So many local residents collect our history, or who have amazing stories to tell, and this event is an opportunity for us all to come together and share. Whether it be through antiques, books, pins, matchbooks, or any number of items, they all tell a story of a different time.”

Parson’s foresight impresses Pauley.

“Connie’s vision to preserve the history and legacy of the Emerson Manor and Hoquiam as a whole has allowed so many to come together and celebrate the history that has brought us to today,” Pauley said.

Contact Reporter Matthew N. Wells at matthew.wells@thedailyworld.com.

Matthew N. Wells / The Daily World The foreword within the 1924 Hoquiam High School yearbook, which Connie Parson showed Tuesday from inside Emerson Manor’s lobby, provides both what the high school staff then was thinking, as well as what Parson and other historians today are thinking as they prepare for Historic Hoquiam Memories this Saturday at noon at Emerson Manor — 703 Simpson Ave., in Hoquiam.