MOSES LAKE — The 12th annual Moses Lake Senior Picnic on June 10 was a star-spangled success, organizers said.

“It’s amazing,” said Laurie Ahmann, executive director of Brookdale Hearthstone, one of the sponsors of the event. “There are some (people) who are first-timers this year, but there are those who say they’ve been here all 12 years.”

The picnic took up two buildings at the Grant County Fairgrounds and drew a crowd of about 900 people, said Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce Director Debbie Doran-Martinez. That number was about on a par with the 2025 picnic, she added.

The Senior Picnic is a combination social meal and trade expo, with lunch served to attendees and more than 40 businesses and organizations that serve seniors setting up in booths. Admission, which included lunch, was free for anyone 55 and older, and only $5 for everyone else. A free golf cart shuttle brought attendees back and forth to the parking lot, so folks could save their walking strength for exploring the booths. The event officially started at 10 a.m., but people had begun arriving as early as 8:30, Doran-Martinez said.

This year’s theme was “Celebrate America’s 250th,” and the red, white and blue theme was everywhere. Before lunch was served, Ahmann sang the national anthem, and led attendees in a rendition of “God Bless America.” Nearly every booth was decorated with a patriotic theme, Doran-Martinez said.

Lunch was traditional American picnic fare, with hot dogs and baked beans.

“Our food (service) is a well-oiled machine,” Doran-Martinez said. “Jodi (Montoya) at Avamere has it dialed in. They’re able to plate and serve for 900 people in about 30 minutes.”

Luda Shcheblanova and Alona Babak, representing McKay Senior Living in Soap Lake, had given away a lot of swag before lunch was served at noon, they said.

“We brought, like, four boxes of place mats and pot holders,” Shcheblanova said. “We got rid of all of them.”

So many people took advantage of the golf cart shuttle that organizers are planning to increase the number available next year, Doran-Martinez said. People arrived sporadically enough for volunteer shuttle drivers to keep up, but when the picnic ended, many more people were ready to leave at the same time, causing some congestion. 

“The other thing we’re going to do is have wheelchairs and walkers on hand,” Doran-Martinez said. “So if people who are independent and don’t (ordinarily) use those things find themselves tuckered out and in need of them, we’ll have them available.”

The Senior Picnic is organized by the Columbia Basin Senior Networking Forum, a group that meets monthly to share resources and services that affect seniors in the community, according to member Terri Riley-Brown. At one time the Moises Lake Senior Center had hosted a picnic for its members, Riley-Brown said, but when the senior center staff was unable to keep up with it, the Senior Networking Forum stepped up to take over, expanding it to all seniors in the Basin. Twelve years later, the event is still going strong, despite a couple of years during the COVID-19 pandemic when it had to be a drive-thru affair. 

For some seniors, it’s a rare opportunity to get out and socialize with other folks their age, Ahmann said.

“Some people have said, ‘We look forward to this every year because we get to spend time with our friends,’” she said. “It means so much to all of us to be able to put this on every year.”

    Laurie Ahmann (left), executive director at Brookdale Hearthstone, leads attendees at the Senior Picnic in a rendition of “God Bless America” while Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce Ambassador Alan Heroux holds an American flag.
  

    Six-year-old Stella Streeter checks out swag at the McKay Healthcare & Rehabilitation booth at the Senior Picnic. McKay staffers Luda Shcheblanova (left) and Alona Babak said they gave away most of the items they had brought before noon.
  

    Walgreen’s Store Manager Brie Dorsey brought some of her team down from Wenatchee to help serve lunch at the Moses Lake Senior Picnic June 10. The roughly 900 attendees were served within about 30 minutes, Chamber of Commerce Director Debbie Doran-Martinez said
  

    The band Shy-Ann performs at the Senior Picnic in Moses Lake.
  

    Senior Picnic organizers take a star-spangled group photo June 10. Front row, from left: Tracy Goff, Starbucks; Karisti Cox, Brookdale Hearthstone; Angela Ferguson, Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce; Lori Robins, Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce. Middle row, from left: Terri Riley Brown, Assured Home Health and Hospice; Shannon Hintz, Hidden Meadows; Connie Luna, Samaritan. Back row, from left: Jodi Montoya, Avamere, Laurie Ahmann, Brookdale Hearthstone; Debbie Doran-Martinez, Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce; Alan Heroux, ReMax The Collective Grant County; Dana Moreno, Columbia Basin Herald.