Moses Lake rocks out at Red, White and Boom
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 1 month AGO
Dimestore Prophets rock the Centennial Amphitheater at McCosh Park in Moses Lake Thursday for the annual Red, White and Boom celebration.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Children twirl their dancing ribbons at Red, White and Boom Thursday.
Shyla Young-Settles, 4, enjoys some cotton candy at Red, White and Boom in Moses Lake.
Lake City Blues performs “Let the Good Times Roll” at Red, White and Boom Thursday.
Moses Lake Museum & Art Center staff help children figure out what crafts they’d lke to do at Red, White and Boom. The museum supplied glow sticks and dancing ribbons, as well as an assortment of beads for making bracelets.
The pyrotechnics team sets up for the fireworks show on a boat in the middle of Moses Lake Thursday.
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. | July 9, 2025 3:15 AM
MOSES LAKE — The weather was warm and the music was hot Thursday at Moses Lake’s Red, White and Boom celebration at McCosh Park.
About 400 people came out to Moses Lake’s Independence Day celebration July 3, which included two free concerts, food vendors and a craft table set up down near the stage where children could string beads for bracelets. The Moses Lake Museum & Art Center, which hosted the table, also had glow sticks, hula hoops and dancing ribbons, long rainbow-colored strips that the youngsters could twirl as they danced.
“(The dancing ribbons) seem to be the hit of the evening,” said Museum Creative Programs Coordinator Jenni Shelton. “The hula hoops are a hit. The weather’s great, and we’re just celebrating.”
The event was mostly centered on the music, featuring two free concerts. Spectators set up chairs and blankets on the grass at the Centennial Amphitheater to hear first the Dimestore Prophets and then Lake City Blues.
The event drew about half a dozen food vendors, both local and visiting. Fare included corn dogs, shaved ice, ice cream and barbecue from Blacky’s Smokin’ Sweet of Othello.
“This is my first year at this event,” said Blacky’s owner Michael Black. “Mostly I’m down here for the farmers market … We’ve had roughly 150 (people in the first couple of hours).”
The event was held on July 3 because of difficulty arranging for fireworks on the Fourth, according to Moses Lake Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director Doug Coutts. The fireworks show at 10 p.m. was fired off from a barge in the middle of the lake.
“I love that they’re still doing this, given everything that’s been going on in our country and everyone else’s,” said Gray Cassius of Moses Lake, who was enjoying hearing Dimestore Prophets for the first time. “I’m glad we’re all able to come together and enjoy it.”
Children twirl their dancing ribbons at Red, White and Boom Thursday.
Shyla Young-Settles, 4, enjoys some cotton candy at Red, White and Boom in Moses Lake.
Lake City Blues performs “Let the Good Times Roll” at Red, White and Boom Thursday.
Moses Lake Museum & Art Center staff help children figure out what crafts they’d lke to do at Red, White and Boom. The museum supplied glow sticks and dancing ribbons, as well as an assortment of beads for making bracelets.
The pyrotechnics team sets up for the fireworks show on a boat in the middle of Moses Lake Thursday.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.