Play ball! Parade and ceremonies kick off youth sports
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 years, 4 months AGO
Joel Martin/Columbia Basin Herald Players and their coaches round the bases to exchange high-fives at the Moses Lake youth sports opening day ceremony Saturday.
Joel Martin/Columbia Basin Herald A truck loaded with baseball players makes its way proudly down Third Avenue at the Moses Lake Youth Sports Parade Saturday.
Joel Martin/Columbia Basin Herald Parade grand marshals Rick Koba (left) and Pete Doumit were honored for their decades of service at the Moses Lake youth sports opening day ceremony Saturday.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | April 22, 2018 10:14 PM
MOSES LAKE — The wind was blowing fast and furious, but the sun was bright and so were the spirits of the players, coaches and families who took part in the Moses Lake Youth Baseball Parade and Opening Day Ceremonies Saturday morning. The event is a 15-year-old tradition, said Moses Lake Youth Baseball Association secretary Marie Jones.
The parade featured most if not all of the teams playing in both the MLYBA and the Columbia Basin Girls Softball Association. Each team decked out a vehicle – mostly pickup trucks – in the parking lot at McCosh Park. At 10 a.m. the parade began winding its way down Fourth Avenue, then back up Third Avenue to Broadway and out to the Larson Playfield. There the teams arranged themselves on the ball field, boys on either side of third base and girls around first, for the ceremony that would kick off their season.
One spectator was Gina Adams, whose granddaughter played softball with the Blazing Beauties. “I like it,” she said of the program. “It gives the kids something to do and a chance to interact with other kids. They learn sportsmanship and that it’s not about winning or losing.”
Her son Deandrae Adams agreed. He had played in little league 30 years ago, he said, coached by the late David Cunningham and by Pete Doumit, who was one of the grand marshals of this year’s parade.
Moses Lake City Council member Mike Riggs opened the ceremony. After an invocation by Pastor Dave Dechape, the American Legion presented colors for the flag salute. Distinguished Young Women runner-up Renee Ohs and her friend Halle Davis delivered a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem. Next Riggs introduced the “dynamic duo” of Doumit and his co-grand marshal Rick Koba, presenting them with a plaque and listing their contributions over several decades to local youth sports.
One by one as the teams were introduced by MLYBA president Kurt Kuykendall, they came running down the base line to exchange high-fives with the dignitaries gathered around home plate. The energy level on the field promised an exciting season to come.
“Even though the weather wasn’t perfect, it was so much fun,” said Carrie Hoiness of Moses Lake Parks and Rec, who coordinated the event for the first time. “Watching the children’s faces as they drove through the parade or as they ran the bases giving high-fives to the high school baseball and softball teams is what this event is all about.”
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.