Wildfire Safety Day at Moses Lake Museum Saturday
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 1 month AGO
The Big Horn fire raged in Eastern Klickitat County last week. Wildfires, and people’s thoughts and feelings about them, will be the subject of Wildfire Safety Day at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center.
DNR PHOTO
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. | August 2, 2024 1:45 AM
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Museum & Art Center will host Wildfire Safety Day on Saturday as part of its ongoing Free Family Saturday series. The event is in conjunction with Washington State University’s Wildfire Perspectives Team.
“The event is all about using arts-based methods and activities to engage the public and thinking about their understandings of wildfire, their experiences with it, as well as what they wonder about wildfire, what they're curious about, what they wish they knew more about,” said Dr. Molly Kenton, a researcher with WSU who’s coordinating the university’s side of the event.
Free Family Saturday traditionally involves some sort of hands-on art for all ages, and that’s a part of this event as well. There will be a free-form art station with paints and decoupage for anyone who wants to get creative.
“It's just giving people the opportunity to create what they'd like to create,” Boyd said. “It can be around our theme of wildfires and wildfire prevention, but we're not going to yank the paint out of anybody's hand if they want to paint a puppy or something. Just come in and make some art. You get to make the mess here, and then we clean it up and you don't have to get your kitchen table involved.”
There will also be an immersive sensory space in the Civic Center Auditorium down the hall, with video and audio so people can get a safe experience of wildfire and maybe formulate their thoughts about it. Refreshments will be served in the form of Popsicles, Boyd said.
“It seemed like a good fit for a hot day when we’re going to be talking about fire,” she said.
Wildfire Safety Day is also an opportunity for the team from WSU to assess the public’s understanding of wildfire and their needs as far as wildfire education, Kenton said. As part of the project, a few people will be taken aside to answer a few questions on the subject, and they’ll get a $40 gift card for their participation.
Entries from the museum’s photography contest “Wind, Water and Fire” will be displayed Saturday as well, Boyd said. There are about 25 entries, many of them dealing with fire, and the exhibit will run through Aug. 30.
Wildfires are an important topic now in the Northwest, Kenton said, and the WSU research team is trying to approach it in a big-picture way.
“If you think about something like wildfire, (it’s) being able to make connections between that and climate change, something very global, or also being able to connect that to daily issues like ‘Can I send my kid to summer camp this morning because of the air quality,’” she said. “We're here to listen to the public and try to understand their experiences with wildfire and what they might need and want from educators.”
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.