It was a party time at the Greater Maple Valley Community Center Feb. 18 with two special birthday celebrations.

Walt Brookins was celebrating his 90th birthday and Elwyn Weide was marking up 100 years.
Brookins spent an active life working as a fisherman, a crewman aboard a luxury yacht when he was younger and then 40 years at Boeing.

He served in the Navy during World War II. He and his wife had two children and two grandchildren.
Brookins said he enjoyed celebrating his 90 years, “as long as I’m happy and I can do the things I want to do.”

Weide joked about living to 100 by stating the secret to a long life is being, “mean, ornery and hard to handle. That’s what does it.”

Weide said he worked as a toolmaker and sold diesel engines. He was a sales manager at Cummins for five years and started his own business selling engine parts after he was 65.

He said one of the most memorable events of his life was “when I became a Shriner in 1961. It really inspired me.” He noted all the charitable work the Shriners do for children.

Weide and his wife of 58 years, Marian, had two children.

Weide ended the celebration at the center with a ride home in a Maple Valley Fire and Life Safety fire engine. His father, Otto, had been a firefighter in Seattle.