Couple asks city to honor drill team

Council hears idea for sign in Moses Lake honoring Molahiettes' three straight titles

Moses Lake High School's Molahiettes have proven their mettle with their three consecutive national dance and drill team championships.

Now one couple in Moses Lake wants to give them their due, and City Council members are showing their support.

Debbie Horney, a Moses Lake woman who has no relatives on the Molahiette drill team, said she and her husband were traveling to Indiana to visit their son at college and noticed several signs posted at city limits touting their schools' accomplishments.

Horney immediately thought Moses Lake needed something similar, and she thought the Molahiettes were a worthy recipient.

"The Molahiette drill team has represented Moses Lake well these last three years. I think it would be a wonderful way for the City of Moses Lake to recognize them in return," Horney wrote.

Horney's husband, Sandy Horney, presented the letter at the Moses Lake City Council meeting last Tuesday.

"We just wanted to get the ball rolling," Sandy Horney told the Council at the Tuesday meeting.

Councilman Lee Blackwell liked the sign idea, and he suggested the Horneys approach Vision 2020, which is working on ways to improve Moses Lake's image.

"I think we should show some recognition," Blackwell said.

The Vision 2020 committee, which has focused much of its energies on downtown development, was founded by Blackwell with the goal of improving Moses Lake.

One of the suggestions brought forth by consultants Dave Leland and Don Stasny was to place signs at the entrances to town to give passers-by a reason to come into town. That concept is called a gateway, and Blackwell said the Molahiette sign could serve that purpose.

Councilman Richard Pearce added that the project could be tackled by a local service group, or the city's Parks and Recreation department could build an interstate sign.

Councilman Dick Deane, a former vice principal at Moses Lake High School, said similar ideas, such as a Wall of Fame for all MLHS achievers, has been discussed but needs someone to take the ball and run with it.

He added that high school Principal Dave Balcom and Athletics Director Loren Sandhop should be involved.

"We need to sell our young and what they're doing," Deane said.

In an interview with the Herald Monday night, Debbie Horney said she is planning to attend the Vision 2020 meeting Tuesday afternoon to make her pitch.

Michele Kittrell, who coached the Molahiettes to four straight titles from 1997 through 2001 and two of the national titles held in Anaheim, Calif., said the team has never received any major recognition for its accomplishments, and the sign would be appreciated.

Kittrell added that the girls on the team do much of the work themselves, such as their own choreography.

"I think it would be awesome," Kittrell said of the proposed sign, adding that the Molahiettes are "something that's kind of a best-kept secret."