MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — The heart of the city was reunited Nov. 6.
About 400 people gathered at the Nile Country Club in Mountlake Terrace for the city’s awaited 50th Birthday gala which concluded a year-long string of events given by its birthday committee to celebrate its golden day. The city will be bona fide on Nov. 29, according to city officials.
“It was a great turn out— a lot of old friends came back and ex-residents— it was all really great,” said Mountlake Terrace Mayor Jerry Smith, who is one of six Mountlake Terrace mayors who were able to attend the event. Including Smith, there have been 13 mayors in the city’s history.
“I think everyone really enjoyed themselves—I got no complaints from anyone —it was really great,” Smith said.
Mountlake Terrace parks and recreation director Don Sarcletti said the atmosphere was like a class reunion.
“It certainly was quite an event … people were reacquainted with each other and many stories were told and there was a sense of excitement in the room,” Sarcletti said. “People didn’t want to leave.”
Pat McMahan, a longtime resident, former City Council member and first fire chief of the city, spearheaded the invite list. He said he and his wife gathered a 700-name mailing list and were able to find and have attend four of the five original City Council members.
The four original City Council members who were able to join the party were Harley McFarland, Patricia C. Neibel (who flew in from Florida) Lester L. Steele and H. Scott Wilson.
Sarcletti said it was interesting to see what they had to say about starting the city off.
“Their focus was really just the basics—roads and infrastructure,” Sarcletti said. He particularly liked what Steele had to say: “Now we have a city, what are we going to with it?”
The city’s first appointed mayor and fifth council member who didn’t make it was Gilbert Geiser, who died about 15 years ago, McMahan said. Adding, at the time, because of the size of the city it only had five council members, one of them appointed as mayor with a city manager. Today, there are seven with one appointed mayor and a city manager.
McMahan said when the city was formed in 1954, it was the second largest in Snohomish County.
“We’re down the line (on that list) quite a ways now,” he said.
Along with the original council members and many of the mayors, the gala included some other city historians and VIPs.
Much of the history was displayed through a PowerPoint presentation created by the city’s parks supervisor Ken Courtmanch. The presentation, done by music, was a historical montage of the city from 1954 to the present.
“People applauded throughout the presentation,” Sarcletti said.
Edward Aliverti, a former Mountlake Terrace teacher and announcer of various area events, was the emcee for the night’s program.
Former City Council member Dan Shannon spoke to the crowd. He is now a dean at the University of Chicago, McMahan said.
The person who was the longest serving City Council member and Mayor ever in the city, Lois Anderson, spoke. McMahan said she was instrumental in getting Community Transit started in the area, among other things.
Former City Council member and Mayor Dave Gossett, who is now a Snohomish County Councilman, spoke along with Robert G. White, who was the city manger for half of the city’s life— 25 years.
The party also heard from U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, who used to live in Mountlake Terrace.
McMahan said it really was a great party with only one thing that could’ve been better, “I wish there had been more time to see more people.”
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