‘Stars, Stripes and Shamrocks’
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 months, 3 weeks AGO
Achilles Moreno, right, and his sister Kimberlee Moreno lead their parents Ricco and Krissy Moreno around last year’s Moses Lake Business Expo. This year’s event is Tuesday.
FILE PHOTO
Kar Vanerstrom dressed as a traffic cone in keeping with a construction theme at last year’s Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce Business Expo. The theme this year is “Stars, Stripes and Shamrocks,” a celebrating both America’s 250th birthday and St. Patrick’s Day.
Jose Pacheco of Okanagan Specialty Fruits prepares to “putt” a golf ball with a pool cue at Bud Clary Auto Group’s Moses Lake Business Expo booth last year. This year’s event is Tuesday.
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 13, 2026 3:15 AM
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce Business Expo has a dual theme for 2026, Executive Director Debbie Doran-Martinez said.
“With it being the Semiquincentennial, we're theming everything American for America's birthday,” Doran-Martinez said. “However, the event fell on Saint Paddy's Day, and we can't just ignore that, so we're doing a little mashup. (The theme is) ‘Stars, Stripes and Shamrocks.’ We'll have people decorating for Saint Patrick's Day, we'll have people decorating for America's birthday and some people just doing their own thing.”
The expo is bigger than it’s ever been this year, Doran-=Martinez said. Lat year it filed the 4-H and Commercial buildings at the Grant County Fairgrounds to bursting, so this year it’s expanded into the Ag Building as well. All three buildings are connected, so attendees can walk easily among exhibits.
There will be 110 booths set up to display local businesses and organizations, Doran-Martinez said. The exact number of businesses was a little nebulous; some businesses have more than one booth, and some are doubling up.
Each attendee will receive a Blackout Bingo card to add a little fun to the tour of booths, Doran-Martinez said.
“These bingo cards have 25 businesses on them,” she said. “We've got five different versions of them so that (all the businesses get on the cards). It just encourages the attendees to go around to at least 25 of the booths and get a, get a little initial or a stamp or something from that booth and then they can be entered into a drawing.”
Drawing prizes include a pair of Meta AI glasses that can record video and take phone calls, Doran-Martinez said, and a 3D hologram stand.
Kip Burns has exhibited his businesses Blinds for Any Budget and B and B Overhead Doors at past expos, he said. This time he’s returning to showcase his most recent business, Bug Out extermination service, with his partner Josh Gilliam.
“The timing is fantastic for (the Business Expo) because people are ready to get out of their houses (after) the winter,” Burns said. “It's professionally run. That's what I like about it. And it’s well attended; it's important to us with businesses that we get to see a lot of folks there. It's a good time … and we get a lot of business out of it.”
More information on the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce and this event may be found at www.moseslake.com.
Kar Vanerstrom dressed as a traffic cone in keeping with a construction theme at last year’s Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce Business Expo. The theme this year is “Stars, Stripes and Shamrocks,” a celebrating both America’s 250th birthday and St. Patrick’s Day.
Jose Pacheco of Okanagan Specialty Fruits prepares to “putt” a golf ball with a pool cue at Bud Clary Auto Group’s Moses Lake Business Expo booth last year. This year’s event is Tuesday.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.