Seniors enjoy pier on Moses Lake
Sheila Burts (right), activity director at McKay Healthcare and Rehab in Soap Lake, assists one of the seniors at the new Blue Heron Park Fishing Pier.
MOSES LAKE - Each time Gary Main drives by Blue Heron Park, he sees someone out fishing on the pier he helped build. Sometimes 10, maybe even 20 people dropping their lines into Moses Lake. Each time, he's sees what he was hoping for.
"This is what we built this for," Main said, who is a chairman of the Columbia Basin Walleye Club that donated the pier to the city. "It almost brings tears to my eyes."
On Friday, Main stood out at the pier, waiting for a group of disabled seniors from the McKay Healthcare and Rehab Center to make the trip from Soap Lake for some fishing.
Six seniors, all in wheelchairs, made it down to likely the most accessible fishing area in the county, Activity Director Sheila Burts said.
Burts said the group was also on the pier two weeks ago, even catching a few perch.
"There's not a lot of places you can do this," she said.
Burts added there are other fishing areas that the seniors like to go but the new pier makes it much easier and there's chances to actually catch some fish. She said some of the seniors really enjoy the fishing trips the group makes.
The group spent a couple hours fishing before enjoying lunch at the park.
Main said another bench should be added to the pier in the near future and he is hoping to add pole holders along the edge to further assist children and seniors.
The pier, costing about $100,000, was turned over to the city in July after five years of work by the Walleye Club and donations from local businesses.