Moses Lake tree lighting kicks off the holiday season
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 9 months AGO
Jak Sutter, 5, and his sister Royal Sutter, 6, rock out to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” at the downtown Moses Lake tree lighting Friday.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Downtown Moses Lake Association President Denise Kinder, left, and Director Mallory Miller stand in front of the big tree, all lit up for the season. The tree, 24 feet tall, is bigger than in years past and will stay lit through February.
Karlson Keel, right, and Cheyenne Griffith, clad in magnificently garish Christmas sweaters, share a photo with Santa and their son Harrison Keel, 7 months.
Craft tables were set out at the Moses Lake tree lighting Friday night, where kids of all ages could decorate their own paper Christmas trees.
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. | November 20, 2024 1:20 AM
MOSES LAKE — Downtown Moses Lake blazed into light Friday evening as the enormous holiday tree in Sinkiuse Square was lit to mark the beginning of the holiday season.
About 500 people came to the event, said Mallory Miller, executive director of the Downtown Moses Lake Association, which staged the event. In addition to the tree lighting itself, there were craft tables and a scavenger hunt for the kids and hot dogs and hot cocoa for everybody.
The turnout was bigger than last year, said volunteers Jesseanne Polmateer and Mason Golliher, who were handing out fliers for the scavenger hunt. There were about 300 people at the end of the night last year, Golliher said, and within the first half hour they had already given out more than 100 fliers.
The tree was bigger this year as well, Miller said. There had been feedback in the past that the 16-foot tree was too small, so this year’s tree was 24 feet tall. The lights were new and better as well, she said, paid for through a donation by Starlight Sponsor Spokane Teachers Credit Union. STCU also paid for the lights on the trees lining Third Avenue, which people attending the lighting turned on at the same time as the big tree lights.
The city of Moses Lake hung the decorations and the lights on the big tree, Miller said. DJ Dale Roth spun holiday tunes, and Dance FX and singer Karli Zeik put on some live entertainment. Attendees could have their pictures taken with Santa Claus, played by Bud Bergdahl. The lines for the Santa pictures and the hot chocolate were out into the street, Miller said, which fortunately was closed off for the occasion.
The scavenger hunt was a particular hit, Miller said. Children were given a list of 15 businesses in which an ornament had been hidden. They then went from shop to shop looking for the ornament, and when they found it they could get a stamp on their flier. It was fun for the kids and a way to get the grownups to look into downtown businesses they might not have been familiar with, Miller said.
“I talked to one of the business (owners) as we were doing our tear-down, and she had a clicker,” Miller said. “She estimated that she had had 200 people come into her store just for the scavenger hunt. She (thought she) had missed a couple of people, too, because there were so many all at once, like every 10 minutes. It was pretty insane.”
Besides the big tree, the trees lining Third Avenue were also festooned with lights, and when the big tree was lit, kids stationed at those trees flipped a switch and they lit up as well.
“My goal for this year was to relight downtown,” Miller said.
Downtown Moses Lake Association President Denise Kinder, left, and Director Mallory Miller stand in front of the big tree, all lit up for the season. The tree, 24 feet tall, is bigger than in years past and will stay lit through February.
Karlson Keel, right, and Cheyenne Griffith, clad in magnificently garish Christmas sweaters, share a photo with Santa and their son Harrison Keel, 7 months.
Craft tables were set out at the Moses Lake tree lighting Friday night, where kids of all ages could decorate their own paper Christmas trees.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.