Walking buddies
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 11 months AGO
A Grant County Sheriff’s Deputy and a Moses Lake Police officer talk with some participants at last year’s Buddy Walk. This year’s event is Saturday.
FILE PHOTO
Teams of walkers set out from McCosh Park in Moses Lake on the 2022 Buddy Walk, hosted by the Down Syndrome Society of Grant County. This year’s event seeks to honor parents and caregivers who work to make life better for those with Down Syndrome.
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. | September 20, 2023 1:30 AM
MOSES LAKE — People with Down Syndrome, along with their friends and families, will gather Saturday at McCosh Park for the 11th annual Buddy Walk, hosted by the Down Syndrome Society of Grant County. The walk will be the same as in past years, but the festivities beforehand will have a little something extra.
“We are honoring caregivers and parents for the first time,” said Denise Ketola, one of the organizers of the event and the mother of a 20-year-old with Down Syndrome. “That’s kind of our theme; it’s the first time we’ve done that.”
Part of the lead-up to the Buddy Walk is a ceremony in which each person with Down Syndrome receives a medal to wear on the walk. This year, Ketola explained, a parent or caregiver will put the medal on the person themselves, and receive in turn a special keychain.
The event was started in 2012 by Daniella Bushman, whose brother has Down Syndrome. It’s a community-wide event with local businesses and organizations coming out to participate. The Home Depot will set up a craft table, and the Moses Lake Library and Goodwill will have booths as well, Ketola said. There’s music and a chance for people with Down Syndrome to rock out on the stage at the Centennial Amphitheater. And naturally, there will be goodies.
“We'll have the popcorn and snow cones,” Ketola said. “And somebody is donating cotton candy.”
Ordinarily, the Buddy Walk has a special speaker, but in keeping with the parent-and-caregiver theme, this year the program will be spread out a little.
“We have a few speakers, parents or caregivers who will talk for one to two minutes about what they do for their kids,” Ketola said. “One of them will be a doctor. He has a son with Down Syndrome, and he also has a lot of them in his practice. And then we have a mother who has twins, identical twins with Down Syndrome. And recently, she remarried and her husband has a child with Down Syndrome. So now there's three of them in the house.”
Parenting a child with Down Syndrome is both a joy and a challenge, said Melissa Kultgen, whose 3-year-old daughter Mikayla has Down Syndrome.
“It was a little scary in the beginning,” Kultgen said. “Because there's so many unknowns; you don't know what to expect. But once she's here, she is so much fun and everybody adores her. She is everybody's favorite, everyone in the family and outside the family. She's just so much fun and loving. And it hasn't really been any different, other than her mile markers are just a little later, or you don't know when they're coming.”
Mikayla just learned to walk last fall, Kultgen said, so she’ll be tackling the Buddy Walk on her own two feet for the first time.
“It’s a fun way for anyone in the community who wants to come and meet (people with Down Syndrome),” Kultgen said. “They're just normal kids that love to do things and have fun. And it's a good way for anyone who does have a child or a family member with Down Syndrome to see how many others there are in the community who are willing to help you.”
Joel Martin may be reached via email at [email protected].
Columbia Basin Buddy Walk
Saturday, Sept. 23
Centennial Amphitheater
McCosh Park, Moses Lake
Registration 2:30 p.m.
Walk 3-5 p.m.
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.