Ready to ride
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 11 months AGO
A young rider takes aim and tosses a newspaper into a box at last year’s BARGAS event. This year’s event is Saturday at Larson Heights Elementary School
FILE PHOTO
A volunteer demonstrates some maintenance for a bike owner at a previous BARGAS event., This year’s event is Saturday at Larson Heights Elementary School
Richard Teals, a member of the Moses Lake Trail Planning Team and one of the organizers of the bike rodeo, fits Lydia Michie with a new bicycle helmet at last year’s BARGAS event. This year’s event is Saturday and will be held at Larson Heights Elementary School.
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 25, 2024 3:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — Young riders will have a chance to show their cycling chops, get their bikes repaired and maybe even go home with a bike at the annual BARGAS event Saturday.
BARGAS stands for Bicycle, Activities, Repairs, Giveaways, And Skills, according to organizers, and is a three-way partnership between the Kiwanis Club of Moses Lake, the Moses Lake Trail Planning Team and the City of Moses Lake.
The centerpiece of the event is an obstacle course, where riders can test their skills at turning, coasting, stopping and avoiding obstacles.
“One thing new on the skills course this year is that they’re going to try to stop on a dime,” said Kiwanian Louis Logan, who organizes the event every year. It’s a literal dime, taped to the pavement, he said. Last year’s course included things like a newspaper toss, where riders tried to throw a rolled-up newspaper into a box as they rode past. That will return this year as well, Logan said.
Bikes that need minor work like flat tire repair can get some attention at BARGAS as well.
“I think I have seven people set up this year for doing bike repair,” Logan said. “That's probably one of the main things we do for the city because a lot of kids have bikes and they're just sitting around because nobody knows how to fix a flat tire.”
In addition, there will be drawings to give away bikes. The giveaways include a few grownup-sized bikes, Logan said.
“We have seven 26-inch adult bikes,” Logan said. “We have seven beginning bikes with training wheels, and we have two trikes to give away, one of them brand-new.”
Some of the bikes are also brand-new, Logan said; the rest are gently used.
The organizers will also distribute free helmets donated by the Grant County Health District, according to information from the committee. Attendees will also be able to explore a Grant Transit Authority bus, decorate their bikes and trikes, read bicycle-related stories and make little bikes out of pipe cleaners, according to the committee. Ice cream will be supplied by Sweet Streets ice cream truck from Ephrata.
BARGAS will be held in the parking lot at Larson Heights Elementary from 10 a.m. to noon, Logan said. Last year’s was held at the Larson Rec Center and attracted about 100 youngsters, Logan said, adding that all children must be accompanied by an adult.
“We try to go to different neighborhoods,” Logan said. “What I want most of all is to get these bikes out to the kids that just really need bikes by going to them instead of expecting that they can come to us.”
A volunteer demonstrates some maintenance for a bike owner at a previous BARGAS event. This year’s event is Saturday at Larson Heights Elementary School
Richard Teals, a member of the Moses Lake Trail Planning Team and one of the organizers of the bike rodeo, fits Lydia Michie with a new bicycle helmet at last year’s BARGAS event. This year’s event is Saturday and will be held at Larson Heights Elementary School.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.