Sunday, July 27, 2025
82.0°F

Lectures scheduled on Sasquatch legend

CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 years AGO
by CHERYL SCHWEIZER
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. | July 17, 2018 3:00 AM

MOSES LAKE — An Idaho State University professor who has studied the legend of Sasquatch will give two lectures on his research in August. Tickets are on sale now for both lectures, scheduled for the Moses Lake Civic Center, 401 S. Balsam St.

The lectures by Dr. Jeff Meldrum are in conjunction with the “Sasquatch Revealed” exhibit currently on display at the museum. Admission to each lecture is $5, with a limited number of free tickets reserved for museum members.

“Sasquatch Revealed” will be on display through Aug. 24.

Meldrum will talk about the “Patterson-Gimlin film” at 7 p.m. Aug. 10. The film was 50 years old in 2017, and after half a century it’s still being debated. The film, shot in northern California, shows – something – walking along the bank of a creek. What actually is depicted in the film still is a subject of debate.

The film has been subjected to a lot of analysis in the last 50 years, and studied repeatedly as film analysis techniques have changed. Meldrum is one of the people who has studied the footage and will talk about his conclusions. He’s a professor of anatomy and anthropology at ISU.

Meldrum became interested in the Bigfoot phenomenon in 1996, when he was asked to examine mysterious tracks found in the Blue Mountains of southeastern Washington.

Meldrum’s second lecture, “Conversations about Sasquatch Behavioral Ecology,” is scheduled for noon Aug. 11. The legends about mysterious ape-like creatures in remote areas are found all around the world, and Meldrum has traveled around the western U.S. and Canada, as well as China and Russia.

Meldrum wrote a book, “Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science,” and will be signing copies of the book after both lectures.

“Sasquatch Revealed” is on loan from curator Christopher Murphy, based on an exhibit he created for a Vancouver museum, and has been traveling the U.S. and Canada for more than a decade. It includes casts of footprints, stories from people who claim they have encountered unusual creatures in the wilderness, models of what a Sasquatch skull could look like, and stills from the Patterson-Gimlin film.

MORE IMPORTED STORIES

'Hidden animals' subject of lecture at museum
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 7 years ago
Sasquatch exhibit opens Friday at museum
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 7 years, 1 month ago
Sasquatch expert to speak at library
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 1 year ago

ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER

Two Moses Lake annexations under consideration
July 26, 2025 2:51 p.m.

Two Moses Lake annexations under consideration

MOSES LAKE — Two separate property owners have requested annexation into the city of Moses Lake, and Moses Lake City Council members have agreed to consider the requests. Vivian Ramsey, interim community development director, said considering the request does not mean the properties will be annexed.

ROAD REPORT: I-90, SR 282 projects under way
July 25, 2025 3 a.m.

ROAD REPORT: I-90, SR 282 projects under way

MOSES LAKE — It being the height of summer – long sunny days, long warm evenings, the swimming pool, barbecues – it's also the height of construction season. Drivers going to and from Ephrata and traveling certain sections of Interstate 90 through Grant County already know about the delays.

Spokane Seed provides product, knowledge backed by a century
July 24, 2025 10:02 a.m.

Spokane Seed provides product, knowledge backed by a century

Evolution is a thing in business as well as biology. Spokane Seed has been around for more than a century, and it has evolved as the farms around the Palouse have evolved. “We’re a distributor, a wholesaler,” said Spokane Seed president Andrew Fontaine, the fourth generation of his family to run the business. Their customers, he said, are looking for a very specific kind of product; for dried peas, lentils and garbanzo beans, he said. Their customers come from throughout the world. Spokane Seed has the kind of reputation that has customers seeking them out, he said; that’s partly due to the company’s century-plus in business. Staying in demand requires more than a long history, however.