Ephrata rings in the holidays with Bells on Basin on Saturday
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 months, 3 weeks AGO
Santa waves from atop an Ephrata Fire Department ladder truck during a previous Bells on Basin parade in Ephrata.
FILE PHOTO
A boy sits in a snow drift along Basin Street in Ephrata waiting for a past Bells on Basin parade.
The Grinch sits in an orange Grant County Jail jumpsuit on the back of the GCSO’s paddy wagon in a past Bells on Basin Parade.
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. | December 12, 2025 3:00 AM
EPHRATA — Bells on Basin will fill downtown Ephrata with holiday spirit Saturday, with games, shopping and a lighted parade.
“It's a festive event that a lot of people look forward to, to kick off and bring everybody together for the holidays,” said Ephrata Chamber of Commerce Director Britney MacLeod.
This is the fourth year for Bells on Basin, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, according to the Columbia Basin Herald archives. The festivities begin at 8 a.m. with Breakfast with Santa, a free pancake feed at the Ephrata Rec Center. Despite the early hour on a Saturday, the event has proven popular, MacLeod said.
“(The Chamber) started helping (with breakfast) two years ago and we had about 300 people,” she said. “Last year, there were about 500 people.”
From 9 to 11 a.m., children will be issued Polar Express passports along with a map of downtown businesses. Participating youngsters can go from one business to the next, where they’ll find a fun activity like writing letters to Santa or making a tree ornament, and get a stamp in the passport. Once the passport is filled, it can be turned in at the Chamber office and entered in a drawing for three Polar Express train sets.
While that’s going on, Mom and Dad will have the chance to do a little exploring of their own with the Shop Local passport, which gets a hole punched for every purchase at a participating business. Once the passports are all punched, they can be turned in and entered in a drawing for a raffle basket. The event spurs shopping at places that residents may not be familiar with, MacLeod said.
“We've had quite a few new pop-up businesses, and a lot of them are partaking in the Shop Local passports or the Polar Express passports,” she said. “It's crucial to get people in so they know they're there.”
In the afternoon, the Chamber office will have free cocoa and popcorn available while folks get ready for the Christmas Parade, which will wind around downtown starting at 5 p.m.
“We really want to make sure we encourage people to get downtown and to shop in our small businesses,” MacLeod said. “They're the foundation of our small town, and to be able to support them through the holidays is important.”
A boy sits in a snow drift along Basin Street in Ephrata waiting for a past Bells on Basin parade.
The Grinch sits in an orange Grant County Jail jumpsuit on the back of the GCSO’s paddy wagon in a past Bells on Basin Parade.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.