Walk to End Alzheimer’s coming Saturday
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 months, 4 weeks AGO
Moses Lake High School cheerleaders send the walkers on their way at last year’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Moses Lake. This year’s event is Saturday.
COURTESY PHOTO/ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION
A child checks out some of the flowers that will be given to people dealing with various aspects of dementia at the Walk to End Alzheimer’s 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. | September 11, 2025 3:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — There will be more purple shirts and multicolored flowers on the streets of Moses Lake Saturday at the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s than ever before, according to Julie Reathaford, who manages the event.
“It’s really grown,” Reathaford said. “Last year we had the biggest walk ever, as far as the amount of participants that we had come. This year we're expecting more participants, 250-plus, and last year we had just over 180. We have more sponsors this year and generally more community involvement and awareness.”
The Moses Lake Walk to End Alzheimer’s takes place Saturday, alongside three other Moses Lake events: Art on Third, Sip & Stroll and the Care Fair. That’s by design, Reathaford said, because people who are already out for one event are likely to come to another as well.
The Walk to End Alzheimer’s will take place at McCosh Park with entertainment on the Centennial Amphitheater stage and sponsors with informational booths. The event starts with the Flower Ceremony, in which people will receive flowers to show how they’re affected by Alzheimer’s.
“The four colors of our flowers mean something different,” Reathaford said. “Our purple flower means that you've lost someone from dementia or Alzheimer's, and our blue flower means that you are experiencing Alzheimer's or dementia. Our yellow flower is our caregiver’s flower … and orange means that you're a supporter of the cause.”
The walk itself is a 2-mile loop through downtown Moses Lake, with wheelchairs available for those who have trouble making the trip on foot. Strollers and well-behaved dogs on leashes are welcome, bt skateboards and bikes should be left at home.
Money from the walk goes toward research into treatment and ultimately a cure for dementia, Reathaford said. The money raised last year — more than $24,000 of it from Moses Lake — helped fund research that resulted in two promising new drugs to treat Alzheimer’s by slowing the progress of the disease.
This is the 11th year the Walk to End Alzheimer’s has taken place in Moses Lake, according to Columbia Basin Herald archives. Moses Lake is an especially friendly community for events like this one, Reathaford said.
“It really is a community event,” she said. “If you come down to the walk, my guess is you're going to know people there. You're going to see people that you know, or you'll have friends there, and you'll really see the scope of what Alzheimer's has done to the Moses Lake community.”
Walk to End Alzheimer’s
Moses Lake
McCosh Park
Sept. 13
Registration 9 a.m.
Flower Ceremony 10 a.m.
Walk 10:30 a.m.
Info: ACT.ALZ.org/moseslake
A child checks out some of the flowers that will be given to people dealing with various aspects of dementia at the Walk to End Alzheimer’s 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.