Sunday, June 15, 2025
75.0°F

Boys and Girls Club nears funding goal

Herald Staff Writer | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 12 years, 11 months AGO
by Herald Staff WriterCHERYL SCHWEIZER
| July 15, 2012 6:05 AM

MOSES LAKE - The Boys and Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin got a step closer to a new home, thanks to a donation from a group formed a quarter-century ago to build new football and sports fields.

The donation of $33,000 on Thursday was the final act for the Moses Lake Sports Complex association, which was formed in 1987. The board members wanted the remaining money to be spent on youth activities, said Dave Dollarhide, the current president.

The association purchased land behind Moses Lake High School and started excavation for a football stadium, according to a story in the Nov. 28, 1988 Columbia Basin Herald. In fact, volunteers once spent about 48 hours straight working on the site, Dollarhide said, with all materials, equipment and labor either donated or provided at reduced cost.

But it proved difficult to pursue such a big project with volunteer labor and administration, he said. In the years since 1988 components of the planned development were built in other places around town, and Lions Field, the existing football field, was refurbished as part of a school district bond issue.

The Moses Lake School District purchased the property in 1996, said Moses Lake School Board member Vicki Groff. The land will be the site of the district's new transportation center and the Grant County Skills Center.

In 2009 association members donated $11,000 to the construction of basketball courts at Doolittle Park on Patton Boulevard. This donation closes out the association's account. "We're done," Dollarhide said.

The Boys and Girls Club has been raising money to replace its existing downtown club in Moses Lake, and the organization's executive director Brant Mayo said the donation puts them $33,000 closer to meeting the goal. "This won't quite get us over, but this gets us a step closer," he said.

The new Boys and Girls Club will be located between Park Orchard Elementary School and a city park, Mayo said. The district will have access to the Boys and Girls Club during the day, and the club will have access to Park Orchard's gym, cafeteria and a computer lab after school is out for the day, he said.

The idea for the sports complex originated with Mick Hansen and his late wife Judy; other board members included Dollarhide, Groff, Jack Hendrix, Bill Mackey, Mike Smith, Hugh Raymond, Alan Burritt, Greg Kittrell, Scott Dietzen and the late Bob Skidmore.

MORE IMPORTED STORIES

Staples donates to Moses Lake Boys & Girls Club
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 14 years, 2 months ago
Realtors kick in over $5,000 for Boys and Girls Club
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 8 years, 6 months ago
Boys and Girls Club breaks ground Saturday
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 12 years, 2 months ago

ARTICLES BY HERALD STAFF WRITER

Staatses plead not guilty
November 2, 2012 6 a.m.

Staatses plead not guilty

EPHRATA - The Moses Lake couple, accused of refusing to take their child to a hospital as the boy was starving, pleaded not guilty Tuesday.

Central Wash. Home Expo this weekend
May 7, 2013 6 a.m.

Central Wash. Home Expo this weekend

MOSES LAKE - Basin residents wanting to build a new home, or renovate an existing one, can turn to next weekend's Central Washington Home Expo for inspiration.

Nurse practitioner program begins in Othello
May 6, 2014 6 a.m.

Nurse practitioner program begins in Othello

Application deadline is May 15

OTHELLO - The Columbia Basin Health Association will start a training program for nurse practitioners, beginning in September. The program's application deadline is May 15.