Purple Party smaller but successful
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 month AGO
Participants make their way through Moses Lake at a previous Walk to End Alzheimer's. This year's Purple Party, which is a pre-party to the Walk, raised more than $700 and fielded at least a dozen teams for this year's Walk, which is Sept. 19.
FILE PHOTO
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. | August 5, 2026 3:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — There were about 50 fewer people at the Purple Party July 16 than came last year, but those people accomplished a lot.
“I don’t feel as though there was quite the participation we had last year,” said Karisti Cox, living sales specialist at Brookdale Hearthstone, which hosted the event. “However, the people who were there, were there with the intention to build their teams and do the fundraising. So while there weren’t as many people, we actually did better.”
The Purple Party is sort of a pre-party for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. The primary purpose is to prepare for the Walk, which raises money for dementia research, by organizing teams and making plans, but the event also raises funds in its own right. The Purple Party July 16 raised $770 in just two hours, Cox said.
The money came from raffles that featured prizes donated by local businesses, but even more from the sale of repurposed and painted cowboy boots that can be turned into planters or other decorations. The residents at Brookdale Hearthstone created the boot art themselves, Cox said.
“What was really special was that it was done by the people that (Alzheimer’s) truly affects,” Cox said. “The older generation are the ones most apt to be dealing with it. It was spectacular that the residents decorated the boots and put the flowers in.”
The Alzheimer’s Association website listed 67 teams for this year’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s, although only 12 of those had any funds raised yet.
The Walk to End Alzheimer’s will take place Sept. 19 at the Centennial Amphitheater at McCosh Park in Moses Lake, according to the Alzheimer’s Association website.
The Purple Party was a group effort, Cox said, drawing participants not only from Brookdale Hearthstone but from other senior living facilities, including Avamere, Monroe House and LakeRidge.
“I feel like this is one of the common denominators that break the walls of competition,” Cox said. “We realize we’re taking care of our community and the seniors within that community, and it brings us together as a family. We’re all in this together.”
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.