The return of a tasty icon

Space Burgers once again draw crowds at GC Fair

Around this time of year, the two certainties of life become three: Death, taxes and long lines of people to buy Space Burgers at the Grant County Fair.

The little UFO-shaped burgers have been an attraction at the fair for decades, and not even the novelty of other booths can shake the faith of those who wait for every August to get another taste of history, Grant County style.

"(The popularity) amazes me," said Kim Beagley from Lioness of Moses Lake, the community service group that sells the burgers this year. "It's this way every year."

While some may consider it an affirmation of Grant County as a rural area that something that peaked 42 years ago at the Seattle World's Fair of 1962 is still drawing long lines here, most people do not seem to care, focusing instead on the burger's taste, and its traditional value at the fair.

"The fair could not be the same without the Space Burger," Rich Victor said. "When you come, you gotta buy them by the six-pack."

Victor's opinion was shared by Michael Boggs, a nine-year-old who proudly stood in line for what he said would be his twentieth Space Burger ever.

Part of the magnetism of the flying saucer-shaped burger, people say, is the fact that you can only get them once a year in only one place in all of the county. The wait makes the experience more special.

""We have to look forward to them all year," Barbara Gallaway said. "When you wait for something, it makes it taste better.

Galloway said that if the Space Burgers weren't here she would probably still come to the fair, but something would not be the same. Meanwhile, the burgers are indeed here to stay, and she planned to take a few home.

What other people take home, besides the taste of taco meat and dressing, is the fact that since the Space Burgers are sold by Lioness of Moses Lake, each purchase goes to help a variety of causes, from the Moses Lake Fire Department to the Boys and Girls Club, Leader Dogs for the Blind and Columbia Basin Allied Arts.

"There is money being raised," said Anne Marie Guy, in line to buy her own burger. "This is a good place to go."