Flags, fireworks and parades
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 months, 2 weeks AGO
The 133d Army National Guard Band will return for Moses Lake’s Red, White and Boom celebration July 3.
FILE PHOTO
The Fourth of July festivities are always big in George, including what’s described as the world’s biggest cherry pie.
Othello’s Independence Day includes a solemn flag-raising ceremony. This year, local children will perform at the ceremony, according to Greater Othello Chamber of Commerce Director Jackie Wilhelm.
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. | June 23, 2026 3:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — The United States only turns 250 years old once, and Basin communities are preparing to celebrate in a big way.
Moses Lake starts the festivities a day early, with its Red, White and Boom celebration on July 3. There will be food vendors in McCosh Park and a live performance by the 133d Army National Guard Band, followed by fireworks at 10 p.m.
The town named for the Father of our Country will host festivities all day, including a fun run, parade, patriotic program and the world’s largest cherry pie at the George Community Hall. The Quincy Valley Historical Society will bring its American History Mobile Museum, and Jeremy McComb’s Honky-Tonk Circus will perform, sponsored by Veterans Operation Creation. The day will finish with fireworks at dusk.
The patriotic observances will be in the morning, and most of the entertainment in the evening, said Elliot Kooy, facilities manager at the George Community Hall, with less happening in the middle of the day.
“It doesn’t work to do entertainment in the middle of the afternoon,” Kooy said. “It’s too hot and everybody goes home.”
About 6,000 people attend the celebration in George, said Community Hall Director Debby Kooy.
Grand Coulee Dam is a popular place to celebrate the Fourth, drawing tens of thousands of visitors to a three-day party at Grand Coulee Dam Visitors Center Park near the foot of the dam. There will be food, vendors, live music and a laser light show on the face of the dam July 2-4, finishing with fireworks from the top of the dam on the Fourth. Because the large number of visitors can make finding parking tricky, there will be a shuttle available to bring people from locations in Grand Coulee, Coulee Dam and Electric City.
Ritzville holds its celebration on July 3. There is an All-American Picnic with live music and vendors from noon to 8 p.m. in the city park, then the Hometown Heroes Parade on Main Avenue downtown, and finally fireworks at Lind-Ritzville High School.
Lind has a more low-key day planned, with a community potluck in the Lind City Park. There will be potato sack races, a bean-bag toss competition and lots of food, according to the Lind Chamber of Commerce.
Washtucna also keeps it small, as befits a town of about 200 people. The Washtucna Future Business Leaders of America will hold a by-donation breakfast, and the parade will take place at 10 a.m. on Main Street. A flag ceremony and community picnic will follow the parade in Bassett Park, and Sonny’s Tavern will host a horseshoe tournament at 1 p.m.
Othello has a full day of festivities with a parade downtown at 10 a.m., followed by basketball and volleyball tournaments. This year, the Chamber of Commerce is partnering with the Othello Community Museum to create a time capsule, said Othello Chamber of Commerce Director Jackie Wilhelm. Residents will be given prompts and some paper to write down their thoughts, and the papers will be sealed away to be opened in 10 years, she said.
The afternoon will feature a car show and five live entertainment acts, as well as a Kids Zone with children’s activities. Children will lead the way at the flag-raising ceremony, Wilhelm said.
“We’ll have a fourth grader doing the national anthem, and a fifth grader doing the Pledge of Allegiance,” she said. “We’ll have another fourth grader singing “Fifty Nifty United States.”
The flag will be lowered at 7 p.m. and the fireworks will begin at dusk.
“We’re trying to include the kids because they are our future,” Wilhelm said.
The Fourth of July festivities are always big in George, including what’s described as the world’s biggest cherry pie.
Othello’s Independence Day includes a solemn flag-raising ceremony. This year, local children will perform at the ceremony, according to Greater Othello Chamber of Commerce Director Jackie Wilhelm.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.