Senior picnic draws big crowd
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 9 years, 11 months AGO
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | June 23, 2016 1:00 PM
MOSES LAKE — Seniors (being wise) know how to do things in style. When they have a picnic, it’s no blanket on the ground and cold fried chicken. No, the seniors took over a whole exhibit building at the Grant County Fairgrounds. An air-conditioned one, too.
The second annual All-Senior picnic drew more than 400 people for barbecued chicken, baked beans and brownies, to listen to live music, visit the information booths, and get plenty of door prizes. “A one-stop shop for education, information and entertainment for seniors,” said Terri Riley-Brown, chair of the organizing committee.
The senior picnic grew out of a similar event sponsored by the Moses Lake Senior Center, Riley-Brown said. It was big, so big it outgrew the senior center and was discontinued. But the Senior Networking Forum decided to revive it.
The forum is a group of senior service providers who meet regularly. “We wanted to get together and honor the seniors” and their lives, Riley-Brown said. The invitation was extended to individuals and groups throughout Grant County, and the inaugural picnic in 2015 drew about 260 people.
The 2016 picnic not only featured good food and live music from a Seattle group called the Funaddicts, the Moses Lake Fire Department brought their new truck. The Moses Lake Police Department gave a presentation. The Columbia Basin Antique Power Club brought antique tractors, and there was a display of antique cars. Moses Lake City Council member Bill Ecret was the master of ceremonies.
“I can’t give enough thanks to the volunteers,” Riley-Brown said. Volunteers from the Moses Lake High School cheer squad and from the LDS church served lunch and dessert and picked up the plates afterward. Other volunteers worked the serving line, kept the coffee flowing and the building clean.
Vendor booths lined the walls, their services ranging from extended care facilities to hair styling, transportation services to beauty products, health care to photography. More than 30 businesses and organizations sponsored a booth, Riley-Brown said.
Confluence Health was the primary sponsor. The secondary sponsors included Samaritan Healthcare, the Columbia Basin Herald, Brookdale extended care facilities, Assured Home Health and Hospice, Aging and Adult Care of Central Washington, Genesis Healthcare, Summerwood, the Moses Lake Elks lodge, Pioneer Village senior living, Moses Lake Senior Center, Northwest Farm Credit, Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce, Food Services of America, KDRM and KBSN, the Health Alliance and Basin Foot & Ankle.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].
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