Memorials to honor the fallen Monday in the Basin
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 3 months AGO
Jeanie Radder, past American Legion Auxiliary Fourth District chaplain, delivers the opening prayer at a previous Memorial Day ceremony at Pioneer Memorial Gardens. This year’s ceremony will be at 11 a.m. Monday.
FILE PHOTO
Pastor and retired Army chaplain Mike Swartz and his wife Lesa prepare to lay roses at a previous memorial for 87 U.S. service members who died when their transport aircraft crashed at Larson Air Force Base on Dec. 20, 1952. Swartz will deliver the invocation and benediction at this year’s memorial Monday at 11 a.m.
Flags and crosses line the base of a fallen veterans memorial in Soap Lake. There will be a Memorial Day ceremony at the Soap Lake cemetery at 10 a.m. Monday.
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. | May 23, 2025 2:50 AM
COLUMBIA BASIN — Among the barbecues, festivities and relaxation of the three-day weekend, many Basin communities will take a solemn moment to recognize the reason for Memorial Day weekend.
The Moses Lake Spring Fest, a tradition for more than 40 years, is adding a little patriotic remembrance into its Grand Parade at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, said Spring Fest Committee member Lori Valdez.
“(This year) we ordered a very, very large flag that is going to encompass the street, and we have people who have volunteered to carry the flag. It will bring a tear to your eye if you’ve had a loved one serve.”
Pioneer Gardens in Moses Lake will hold a ceremony Monday morning at 11 a.m., and American Legion Post 51 will hold one at the Ritzville Cemetery, also at 11 a.m. The Veterans of Foreign Wars will hold a ceremony at 11 a.m. as well, at Bess Hampton Cemetery in Othello.
The American Legion and other volunteers will place flags and crosses on the graves at the Ephrata cemetery Friday night, according to Legion Auxiliary spokesperson Jane Montaney. The Beezley Hills Community Flag Association will put out the Aisle of Flags at the Ephrata cemetery on Monday morning starting about 7 a.m., Montaney said.
“We have casket flags … and they have the name of the deceased on the banding of the flag,” she said. “And as we’re putting them up or taking them down, we’re looking at that name and offering up a prayer for that veteran and his or her family.”
The Legion will hold ceremonies at the cemeteries in Soap Lake, Ephrata and Quincy on Monday, with the honor guard from Art Semro Post 28 in Ephrata participating in all three. The Soap Lake ceremony will be at 10 a.m., Ephrata at 11 a.m. and Quincy at 12:30 p.m.
At 11 a.m., the Forgotten Heroes Memorial at the Grant County International Airport will commemorate the 87 servicemen who died when their transport plane crashed at what was then Larson Air Force Base in 1952. That memorial was established by Million Air owner Larry Godden, who passed away earlier this year, and Million Air General Manager Mark Bonaudi has taken it over, Bonaudi said.
Pastor Mike Swartz of Lake Valley Baptist Church, a retired army chaplain, will deliver the invocation, and Buck Naff will sing the National Anthem.
“I’ll have (Port of Moses Lake) Commissioner Darren Jackson speak briefly, and then I’ll read about the event,” Bonaudi said. “We will call off every single name of the 87 service members who lost their lives that day, and upon the name being read, a bell will ring. Then we have 100 long-stemmed roses for the people who are attending to bring up and lay against the memorial.”
The ceremony will close with taps and a benediction, also by Swartz.
“This is very important to the community,” Bonaudi said. “I want to make sure that we keep it going, that the 87 forgotten don’t get forgotten.”
Memorial Day, May 26
Moses Lake: 11 a.m. at Pioneer Memorial Gardens, 14403 Road 2 NE, Moses Lake.
Soap Lake: 10 a.m., Valley View Memorial Park, 20174 Road A NE.
Ephrata: 11 a.m., 333 E Street SW.
Othello: 11 a.m. at Bess Hampton Cemetery, 1915 E. Cemetery St.
Ritzville: 11 a.m. at Ritzville Memorial Cemetery, five miles west of Ritzville on Rosenoff Road.
Quincy: 12:30 p.m. at Quincy City Cemetery, Seventh Avenue and F Street Southwest.
Pastor and retired Army chaplain Mike Swartz and his wife Lesa prepare to lay roses at a previous memorial for 87 U.S. service members who died when their transport aircraft crashed at Larson Air Force Base on Dec. 20, 1952. Swartz will deliver the invocation and benediction at this year’s memorial Monday at 11 a.m.
Flags and crosses line the base of a fallen veterans memorial in Soap Lake. There will be a Memorial Day ceremony at the Soap Lake cemetery at 10 a.m. Monday.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.