Big machines, happy children
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 5 months AGO
Children nestle in an enormous tractor tire at the 2022 Touch a Truck event. This year’s event is April 27.
File photo
A pair of children smiles from the cab of a very big fire truck at the Mothers of Preschoolers Touch a Truck fundraiser last year. This year’s event is April 27.
A family enjoys a sunny Saturday at last year’s Mothers of Preschoolers annual Touch a Truck fundraiser in Moses Lake. This year’s event is April 27.
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. | March 14, 2024 1:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — Little kids love big machinery. The two go together like peanut butter and jelly. And they’ll come together again April 27 at Touch a Truck behind Moses Lake Presbyterian Church.
“We will have face painting, a balloon man, a little photo prop area,” said Brittney Ketterer, one of the event’s organizers. “And tons of trucks.”
Tons indeed. There will be police and fire vehicles with flashing lights and sirens, a dump truck, a backhoe and a minibus for children to climb on and explore. The National Guard will bring vehicles too, and there’ll be a Moses Lake Demo Derby car and Tow Mater from the movie “Cars.”
“Usually the sirens are on and the horns are going,” Ketterer said. “The kids can climb in and out of some of the trucks to explore them, check them out, honk horns.”
There will be food vendors too: El Charro Birrieria, Blacky’s Smokin’ Sweet, Tami’s Hawaiian Grinds, Batch Cookies and Favored Farmhouse are slated to turn up, Ketterer said.
The event is a fundraiser for Mothers of Preschoolers, a support group for moms with small children. This is the third year the Moses Lake MOPS chapter has held Touch a Truck. The money raised helps the group pay for arts and crafts supplies, daycare and the use of a room at Moses Lake Presbyterian Church, 1142 W. Ivy Ave., where they meet twice a month. The group regularly hosts 65-plus women of all backgrounds and faiths, Ketterer said.
Admission to Touch a Truck is $5 at the door. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and 10-11 will be a quiet hour, with no sirens or other loud noises, for kids with special needs or disabilities involving sound, Ketterer said.
“We have a couple of people in MOPS that have kids on the autism spectrum,” she said. “We will have music playing this year for quiet hour, but it will be very soft and off at a distance. So if the kids don't want to be around the music, they don't have to be.”
About 1,000 people came out for last year’s Touch a Truck, Ketterer said.
“We are trying to make it a community family event for family, friends and kids,” she said. “We are staying kid-focused … We want the kids to be able to come and have fun and let the parents let the kids have fun.”
Joel Martin may be reached via email at [email protected].
An earlier version of this story omitted the address of Moses Lake Presbyterian Church. It has been corrected above.
A pair of children smiles from the cab of a very big fire truck at the Mothers of Preschoolers Touch a Truck fundraiser last year. This year’s event is April 27.
A family enjoys a sunny Saturday at last year’s Mothers of Preschoolers annual Touch a Truck fundraiser in Moses Lake. This year’s event is April 27.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.