Corral Creek kicks off spring season at George CoffeeHouse
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 months, 4 weeks AGO
Corral Creek, from Newberg, Oregon, will play at the George Community Hall March 21.
COURTESY PHOTO/RON TAYLOR
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. | March 11, 2026 3:00 AM
GEORGE — The George CoffeeHouse concert season gets underway March 21 with a performance by Corral Creek at the George Community Hall.
“They’re a great bunch of people,” said Community Hall Director Debby Kooy. “They do wonderful classic bluegrass, plus some more contemporary bluegrass. The bandleader also does a fair amount of storytelling, which is interesting and fun to listen to.”
Corral Creek is based in Newberg, Oregon, in the wine country southwest of Portland. The name comes from a small stream that runs through bandleader Ron Taylor’s yard, he said. The band has played together for 21 years, Taylor said.
“We play wineries, assisted living facilities, community festivals and bluegrass festivals in Oregon and Washington,” Taylor said. “(We spent) a couple of weeks in Alaska a couple of years ago. They’re like a lot of areas; they like live music.”
The audience can expect to hear Northwest-themed songs about things like cars on blocks and opossum gravy; Taylor wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. The band is big on audience participation, with singalongs and dialogue, and often invites children up on stage.
“It’s always a family show,” Taylor said. “We like to see people who want to sing along. We want to see some kids if we can. And we’ll always include some Gospel songs as well, just to make it a fun evening for you.”
The concert will be at 5 p.m. The George CoffeeHouse concerts have been taking place earlier in the day because so many people prefer not to drive at night, Kooy said. Admission is $5 for adults and free for children 12 and younger. Refreshments will be served at halftime.
At every George CoffeeHouse concert there’s a hat pass to help pay the band’s expenses, Kooy said; that’s supplemented by a grant from the Columbia Basin Foundation.
“It keeps my husband and me from having to dig into our own pockets,” Kooy said.
Corral Creek is the first of three shows in the CoffeeHouse series this spring, according to the George Community Hall website. Carter Junction, with Clint and Sarah Carter, will play April 18 and 5 Mile Drive will be in town May 16.
“We just try to be entertaining and let people have a good time,” Taylor said.
Corral Creek
March 21
Doors open 4:30 p.m.
Show begins 5 p.m.
George Community Hall
403 W. Montmorency Blvd.
George
Admission $5, under 12 free
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.