Joe Rogers Trail dedication ceremony set for Saturday
MOSES LAKE — Joe Rogers was champion of trails in Moses Lake and Grant County all the way up until his untimely death in 2015. That commitment will be honored on Saturday during a dedication ceremony for the Joe Rogers Trail, which connects Big Bend Community College with Moses Lake.
The trail dedication is scheduled to take place in the Wallenstien Theater at BBCC from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The Joe Rogers Trail extends from the Big Bend Community College loop trail, down Patton Boulevard to Randolph Road, down the trail to state Route 17, along Grape Drive to the Lauzier Athletic Complex and ending at Valley Road, where it connects with the Joseph K. Gavinski Trail.
Saturday’s dedication is the culmination of a significant amount of work and entities coming together to see the trail come to fruition. The trail was brought together by the Moses Lake Trails Planning Team (TPT), with the Grant County Board of Commissioners, BBCC, the city of Moses Lake and a grant totaling about $4,000 from the Columbia Basin Foundation playing big roles in the completion of the project.
“So the entities of the county and the city and Big Bend were really helpful,” TPT co-chair Richard Teals said.
The dedication ceremony will feature a bicycle giveaway to winners of an essay contest from North Elementary. Teals said the students submitted essays on bicycling and safety in Moses Lake, with the top six essay writers to receive a bicycle on Saturday courtesy of John Laughery and Specialty Welding, Inc. and the Plumbers and Steamfitters Union 529.
Grant County Health District officials will distribute bike helmets and discuss bike safety tips.
Joe Rogers was active in the community for many years and a major driving force behind many of the trails that are used in Moses Lake today. The idea behind the Joe Rogers Trail is to connect BBCC and the city, which is a connection Rogers made for decades during his tenure as a sociology, anthropology and photography professor at BBCC up until his retirement in 2005.