Soap Lake Chamber adds new event in 2026
CALEB PEREZ | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 months, 2 weeks AGO
Lights and glow sticks illuminate Soap Lake during last year’s Moonlight Paddle. The Soap Lake Chamber of Commerce will once again host the Moonlight Paddle in August this year.
FILE PHOTO
A line of classic cars in the hot summer sun during the previous year’s Suds & Sun celebration. Chamber president Karen Woodhouse said this year’s event will be the biggest yet in honor of the country’s 250th birthday this July.
SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake Chamber of Commerce released its event schedule for 2026, including a new event this year: the Lantern Festival. Chamber President Karen Woodhouse said this addition gives the community something to do year-round.
“I’ve been wanting to do something in the winter for the last three years, and this year I finally talked to the (Soap Lake Natural Spa & Resort) and got them on board,” said Woodhouse.
The Lantern Festival will be held the evening of Feb. 21 and is loosely inspired by Chinese New Year celebrations. She said the event will feature decorated paper lanterns with LED lights and a dragon prop that will be taken on a small parade through the area.
Along with the parade, the festival will have music, decorations, food such as moon cakes and chicken skewers and a dance performance.
“Mostly it’s just to have stuff lit up and really pretty,” said Woodhouse. “Something fun to do for the kids.”
The Chamber plans to host its usual events throughout the year as well, with an Earth Day community cleanup in April, the Sandblaster Open golf tournament in May, 3-on-3 basketball in June, the Suds & Sun Fourth of July celebration and the Moonlight Paddle in August. The year will conclude with the Shop About Fall shopping crawl in October, Shop Small Saturday in November and Winterfest in December.
Woodhouse said this year’s Suds & Sun festival will be the grandest one they’ve planned yet in celebration of the 250th birthday of the country.
“Each year we just try to be a little bit bigger and because it’s the 250th anniversary, we are going to try to outdo ourselves,” she said. “We already have a person for the parade committee ... we figured since it is such a big celebration this year, we want to make sure we have everything lined up in plenty of time.”
With the addition of the Lantern Festival, the Chamber now hosts an event nine months out of the year. She said that the main goal is to ensure that there is always something to look forward to celebrating in the community.
2026 Events in Soap Lake:
Feb. 21, Lantern Festival
Apr. 25, Earth Day
May 16, Sandblaster Open
June 6, 3-on-3 Basketball
July 4, Suds & Sun
Aug. 29, Moonlight Paddle
Oct. 17, Shop About
Nov. 28, Shop Small Saturday
Dec. 5, Winterfest
A line of classic cars in the hot summer sun during the previous year’s Suds & Sun celebration. Chamber president Karen Woodhouse said this year’s event will be the biggest yet in honor of the country’s 250th birthday this July.ARTICLES BY CALEB PEREZ
Tigers Cross Country ready for their biggest season yet
EPHRATA — The Ephrata Tigers Cross Country team is already hard at work to be in top shape for the 2026 season. With a strong group of returning runners alongside a solid group of new faces, the Tigers are eager to hit the ground running this year. “I’m feeling energized,” said Tigers Head Coach Lyndsy Roberts. “We’ve got a good group, one of the largest groups we’ve had in a long time.” The Tigers roster has over 50 athletes that have been participating in early season practices between the boys and girls, who Roberts said have all been mixing together well.
Lions set with smaller but strong squad
MOSES LAKE — Despite seeing a smaller roster this year, the Moses Lake Christian Academy Lions volleyball team is looking to build off their success from last season. With strong returners, the Lions are on track to stay competitive. “We lost some people, but we’ll be able to fill in, so that’ll be nice. Not quite at the numbers that we normally have, but we’ll make it work,” said Lions Head Coach Dean Spurbeck. The Lions concluded their 2025 season with a 10-8 record after battling through a tough Central Washington B League. MLCA entered into the postseason district tournament where they entered as the fourth seed and fell to the fifth seeded Pateros in the second round.
Huskies bring in senior experience for the coming season
OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies girls soccer team is preparing for another tough season in the Central Washington Athletic Conference. This year the Huskies are returning with an advantage as they bring back their full roster from last season. “We’re looking good; we’re trending in the right direction,” said Huskies Head Coach Victor Quiroz. “We’re bringing everybody back that we had last year on our varsity team, so we’re super excited. That makes it a lot easier going into the season.” Last season, the Huskies completed the regular season 6-9-1, which earned them a spot for the district tournament. Othello was eliminated in the first round of districts after a tight game against Prosser that ended in a shootout with a final score of 2-1.