Vittles for a queen
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 2 months AGO
Lila Stacy beams as she realizes she’s queen of the rodeo at the annual Cowboy Breakfast Friday.
CHERYL SCHWEIZER/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
A roping contestant tries her best to take down that steer at the Cowboy Breakfast.
A barrel racer runs the course at Friday’s Cowboy Breakfast, the traditional kickoff for the Grant County Fair and Moses Lake Roundup.
A queen contestant answers a question from Jessica Cox during the Pee Wee Rodeo at the Cowboy Breakfast.
A contestant waits for the chute door to open during the bucking bronc contest at the Pee Wee Rodeo.
Running the barrels is a traditional rodeo event, and it was featured in the Pee Wee Rodeo Friday at the Cowboy Breakfast.
Determined rider and horse round the barrel at the Cowboy Breakfast Friday.
A confident queen contestant answers a question at the Pee Wee Rodeo during the Cowboy Breakfast.
With red hat, pink boots and pink horse, a bronc rider takes to the arena at the Pee Wee Rodeo.
Mom and daughter ride together in the bucking bronc event at the Cowboy Breakfast.
Volunteers manned the chow line at the Cowboy Breakfast Friday.
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. | August 14, 2023 1:30 AM
MOSES LAKE — Seven-year-old Lila Stacy began her reign as queen of the rodeo at the annual Cowboy Breakfast Friday. The Cowboy Breakfast is the traditional kickoff to the Grant County Fair and the Moses Lake Roundup; the fair begins Tuesday and the rodeo Thursday.
The breakfast is a community service project of the Moses Lake Kiwanis chapter, and for 2023 they got considerable assistance from Jessica Cox of Country Financial. Cox helped pay for the food and music, and ran the annual Pee Wee Rodeo.
“Honestly, it’s just giving back to the community,” she said.
It was her first year volunteering to help with the breakfast.
“I hope for many more to come,” she said.
The Moses Lake Senior Center cooked the biscuits and gravy, sausage and eggs, and volunteers did the serving.
Kiwanis president James Shank said breakfast is not a fundraiser, just something fun for the community. Any money left after the bills are paid is donated to the senior center, and the Kiwanis will make a donation to them regardless, Shank said.
The Pee Wee Rodeo provides the children with their own version of the ridin’ and ropin’ events, with an inflatable steer for roping. The children also ran the barrel race with stick horses. A couple of contestants decided they would run their own course around the barrels.
The stick horses were the bucking broncos too. One contestant explained that her brother really wanted to ride, despite his protestations that he didn’t. Being a good sport, he consented to participate because his little sister asked him to, the only entrant in the bull riding contest. (That featured the plastic steer from the steer roping, plastic cows being another of those adaptable breeds.)
Sometimes the children’s rodeo seemed like a good idea until it came time to get up on the stage in front of all those people. The prospect sent one of the steer ropers back to her mom — getting up on stage was a big ask. One of the bronc riders was willing to go on, but only with her mom’s help.
“That takes a lot of guts,” Cox said as mom and daughter finished their eight seconds. “Thanks, Mom.”
The queen contestants answered a question with the help of Miss Moses Lake Roundup Annabelle Booth.
Ted DeWitt, the breakfast co-chair, said business was steady throughout the morning.
“It’s been working great,” he said.
He credited the volunteers, the senior center cooks and Cox with helping breakfast run smoothly.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Power lines, dam upgrades headline Grant PUD capital plans
QUINCY — The Grant County Public Utility District is projected to spend about $118.6 million on a multi-year project to build additional transmission lines from Wanapum Dam to Quincy, about $103.3 million to finish a new maintenance facility in Ephrata. Those are the two largest projects outlined in the PUD's proposed 2027 budget.
Income and priorities subject of Ephrata budget discussion
EPHRATA — Balancing requests and revenues, what can and should be done in 2027 and what can wait was the subject of a budget discussion at the Ephrata City Council meeting Wednesday.
GCFD 8 firefighter sustains minor injuries when hit by car
MATTAWA — A Grant County Fire District 8 officer sustained minor injuries Wednesday when he was hit by a driver subsequently arrested for DUI. Battalion Chief Doug Anderson and GCFD 8 crews were on the scene of a non-injury collision at about 10:30 p.m. when a car drove through the crash scene, according to a media release from the Grant County Sheriff's Office. The driver, Jorge Ramirez Suarez, 33, Mattawa, allegedly drove through the crash scene, hit Anderson in the leg, and kept going without stopping, according to the GCSO. He was subsequently booked into the Grant County Adult Correctional Facility on suspicion of DUI, vehicular assault and hit-and-run. Anderson was treated at the scene. He joined GCFD 8 in 1998 as a volunteer firefighter, said Barb Davis, the district's business manager, and is still a volunteer. He has served as a GCFD 8 captain, assistant chief and interim chief, as well as battalion chief.