Moses Lake Farmers Market to open Saturday
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 5 months AGO
Rows of produce line a booth at last year’s Moses Lake Farmers Market. The 2025 market opens this Saturday with games, raffles and a ribbon-tying ceremony.
FILE PHOTO
Isaac Lnenicka, from Liberty Farms based in Soap Lake, breaks open ginger for a customer to smell at the Moses Lake Farmers Market last year.
Dozens of apples are stacked for customers at last year’s Moses Lake Farmers Market, as customers wander by.
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. | April 29, 2025 1:05 AM
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Farmers Market will open Saturday for the season in high style, with live music, entertainment, a raffle, a scavenger hunt and a ribbon-tying ceremony with Moses Lake Mayor Dustin Swartz to symbolize the community coming together at the market. The event is in keeping with the theme of the market this year, according to an announcement from the Market Manager Christine Haguewood.
“This year’s theme, ‘Tied Together by Community,’ highlights the power of local connections – bringing together farmers, artisans and neighbors for a fresh, meaningful start to the season,” Haguewood wrote.
The Moses Lake Farmers Market was established in 1978 and takes place every Saturday from the beginning of May through the end of October at McCosh Park. The number of vendors varies, but this year’s market will kick off with more than 50, Haguewood wrote in her statement.
Saturday’s opening will include entertainment from Spokane musician Nick Grow, according to the market’s social media. After that, the market will alternate Saturdays with Columbia Basin Allied Arts bringing music to the park.
This is the third year for CBAA’s Music at the Market program, CBAA Executive Director Shawn Cardwell said.
“We would show up just for occasional farmers markets, and we would occasionally bring an artist to play while we were there,” Cardwell said. “And then we realized that if we weren't doing that, there were several days that the market’s own budget wouldn't allow to pay for musicians to play. We really feel like it adds a special element to the market.”
Music at the Market will feature live music the second and fourth Saturday of every month, with local artists Days of Honey, Whitley, The Pangaleers and Dimestore Prophets frontman Ray Glover.
“We have artists who've never played at the market before, and we even have artists that are coming from out of the region to play,” Cardwell said.
One of those acts is Hina and Ryuga Allen, a young brother and sister duo from Ellensburg. Another is indie singer-songwriter Andru Gomez from Moscow, Idaho.
“He is an awesome, completely versatile artist, and he brings a really super fun set and energy,” Cardwell said.
The Moses Lake Farmers Market Opening Day starts at 8 a.m. Saturday, according to Haguewood’s announcement.
“It's more than just an event,” Swartz said. “It's … wholly put on by people who live here to celebrate what we do here as a community, which is agriculture. It's a venue where all community members can come together.”
Isaac Lnenicka, from Liberty Farms based in Soap Lake, breaks open ginger for a customer to smell at the Moses Lake Farmers Market last year.
Dozens of apples are stacked for customers at last year’s Moses Lake Farmers Market, as customers wander by.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”