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.