Elks Lodge to move into Porterhouse building
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 6 months AGO
Elks Lodge No. 2892 is purchasing the building that now holds the Porterhouse Steakhouse, but the iconic totem pole will remain where it is.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
The patio space behind the new Elks Lodge in Moses Lake will be available to rent for special events, like the Purple Party held last July for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.
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. | March 26, 2025 2:20 AM
MOSES LAKE — In a time when everything seems to be changing, at least one thing will remain the same: the Porterhouse totem pole is staying put.
“There's such history with that totem pole, we would like to put a plaque there that acknowledges the history and the Russell family for leaving it there for the community,” said Debbie Doran-Martinez, a trustee with Elks Lodge No. 2892.
The Elks Lodge is in the final stages of purchasing the Moses Lake restaurant building to use as its new lodge. The totem pole, however, was not part of the transaction, said the lodge’s Exalted Ruler Steve Crapson. It will remain the property of the Russell family, which has owned the Porterhouse for 15 years.
For the most part, the building itself won’t be changed much, Crapson said.
“They have a banquet area in the back that we’re going to use for the lodge (meetings),” he said. “The front, at this point, is pretty much going to stay the way it is now.”
The kitchen and bar will serve members of the lodge and may allow the public to use some of the facilities as well, Doran-Martinez said.
“We’ll have meeting room space that we can rent to the public,” she said. “Depending on how our kitchen is operating, if we’re doing it (with) volunteers, then obviously we may not commit to doing food for outside events, but we are looking at possibly having a caterer use the commercial kitchen and provide meals for the members as well as for events that we have going on there. We don’t have it all dialed in yet.”
The lodge is also purchasing the vacant lots behind the building, Doran-Martinez said, for parking and possibly other uses.
“They have a wonderful little patio out there,” she said. “So, for small events that are looking for indoor-outdoor options, we’ll have that available as well.”
Elks Lodge No. 2892 was chartered by the larger Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks last November, Doran-Martinez said, but had no permanent facility. They’ve been meeting at the Windermere Realty office in downtown Moses Lake, according to their website. The previous lodge in Moses Lake, which had a building on Stratford Road, folded about three years ago when its charter was revoked by the BPOE, Doran-Martinez said.
The Washington State Elks Association purchased some land off Interstate 90 behind the Washington State Patrol office in September, according to county records. Doran-Martinez said the original plan was to build a lodge on that property, but she wasn’t at liberty to discuss what will happen to that property now.
Crapson said the Elks would look at moving in just after the end of the month.
“It may take us a couple of weeks to have some stuff up and running, but we’ll be going as fast as humanly possible,” he said.
“We’re working on the liquor and gambling licenses as we speak,” Doran-Martinez said. “That’s really the only holdup we have.”
The gambling license is necessary so the club can offer pull tabs, she added.
Even without a building, the Moses Lake Elks have been busy in the community. The lodge was the premier sponsor of a building at the Moses Lake Business Expo earlier this month, and sponsored youth hoop shoots in January and February. The lodge also contributed to the cost of a van for Care Moses Lake earlier this month. Doran-Martinez said the new lodge building may help the numbers grow.
“We are hoping to attract a lot of new members because the Porterhouse has a special place in a lot of people's hearts,” she said.
The patio space behind the new Elks Lodge in Moses Lake will be available to rent for special events, like the Purple Party held last July for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.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.”