Little Big Show
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 2 months AGO
Dave Shafer of Soap Lake shows off his 1917 Dodge Roadster to a couple of attendees at the Little Big Show in Wilson Creek Saturday.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Visitors walk the streets of Wilson Creek Saturday at the Little Big Show, the town’s biggest annual event.
Ricky Gutierrez stands beside his 2019 Subaru at the Little Big Show car show in Wilson Creek.
From left: Darvin Gerdes of Wenatchee, Jack Eldridge of East Wenatchee and George Richardson of Arlington play a little impromptu music at the Wilson Creek Bluegrass Jam Saturday morning.
Michael Borella stands outside the former Wilson Creek Grange building, which he bought in April. He was giving away toy cars to children at the Little Big Show Saturday.
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. | June 18, 2025 1:20 AM
WILSON CREEK — Sometimes, a car owner just can’t help himself.
“Originally I bought it because I needed a commuter,” said Ricky Gutierrez, who was showing his 2019 Subaru at the Little Big Show in Wilson Creek on Saturday morning. “I work for the county, and I drive everywhere, so I needed something better on gas mileage.”
That didn’t last long, he said.
“I grew up modifying cars, so I was like, I’ll add wheels, and then suspension,” Gutierrez said. “And then I (thought) it wasn’t fast enough, so I made more horsepower out of it, and kind of decided to do it into a show car. Full air ride, suspension, the carbon fiber hood, the trunk, the seats inside, and just the little details that add up a lot.”
He still drives it for his commute, Gutierrez added.
There were 107 entries in this year’s Little Big Show, organizer Nicholas Odorizzi said, not as many as last year but still about average. The closed-off street was lined with cars, and 32 vendors were set up in the town park. ABATE grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and Steamboat Rock Cafe from Coulee City served tacos.
Dave Shafer of Soap Lake brought what was probably the oldest car, a 1917 Dodge Roadster that still had its original 108-year-old license plate. How much of it was actually from 1917 was a matter of opinion, however. The car had belonged to a firefighter on the west side, he said, who had used a fire helmet for the air intake, fire hydrant wrenches for the headlight stanchions and flames on the sides.
“(The engine) is from a ’64 dodge pickup,” Shafer said. “It’s a 318 wide block. I was doing 70 coming out here this morning.”
The drive was a chilly one, he added, because the car had no top, just a small vertical windshield.
The third annual Wilson Creek Bluegrass Jam was the same weekend, and there were a few people jamming in the corner of the park at about 10:30 a.m.
“Yesterday we had a jam with about 20 people in it,” said guitar player Jack Eldridge, who had come over from East Wenatchee. “It’ll be more in the afternoon. Lots of them are still waking up and having breakfast.”
A block away from the show, Michael Borella had a huge toy car track set up at the building that used to house the Wilson Creek Grange and was giving away toy cars to the children who came by to play with it. Borella bought the building in April and isn’t yet sure what he’s going to do with it, but was thinking of some sort of community use.
“I think it’s just a delightful town,” he said. “I have just been so happy. All I’ve been doing is cleaning, and I smile the whole time I’m cleaning, and that doesn’t happen very often.
Visitors walk the streets of Wilson Creek Saturday at the Little Big Show, the town’s biggest annual event.
Ricky Gutierrez stands beside his 2019 Subaru at the Little Big Show car show in Wilson Creek.
From left: Darvin Gerdes of Wenatchee, Jack Eldridge of East Wenatchee and George Richardson of Arlington play a little impromptu music at the Wilson Creek Bluegrass Jam Saturday morning.
Michael Borella stands outside the former Wilson Creek Grange building, which he bought in April. He was giving away toy cars to children at the Little Big Show Saturday.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.