New fair food offerings

MOSES LAKE - Maybe some things shouldn't be tampered with, at least not much. Fair food might be one of those things.

After all, it wouldn't be the Grant County Fair without Spaceburgers from the Moses Lake Lioness booth, or Block 40 ice cream, or Lion ears from the Moses Lake Lions. Or maybe a burger from the Ephrata Lions, or a pronto pup from the Moses Lake Moose Lodge. (A pronto pup is "a corn dog with our own secret batter," said Mike Moore, the lodge administrator.)

The Moses Lake Lions, home of Lion ears (which look a lot like elephant ears but are much better, according to the Lions), fried Twinkies and five flavors of ice cream will add a non-sweet option this year, said Carol Conley, a Lions member who's helping run the booth.

"We're calling them chili haystacks," Conley said, meatless chili mixed with tortilla chips. "This one is definitely not dessert."

Lions members have been wanting to diversify their menu for a while, she said. Club members encountered haystacks at other fairs, she said, and suggested them for the Moses Lake Lions booth.

Now, the Lions are not getting all the way off the dessert train - they're adding a brownie-ice cream-chocolate number called brownie a la mode. Job Corps students are making the brownies, and some are working the booth, Conley said.

The Lions, like the Moose, the Lioness club, Block 40 and other organizations along food alley are raising money for their operation and charities. The Moose Lodge and Block 40 pay some of their bills and part of their charitable activities with money they raise at the fair, and Conley said the money raised by the Lions goes for local projects as well as national and international charitable efforts.