Pancakes, fire equipment at Firemen's Breakfast

MOSES LAKE — Kids got their own fire hats and stickers and a chance to see a fire truck up close, and everybody got a hearty helping of pancakes and sausage at the annual Moses Lake Firemen’s Breakfast Saturday morning.

Breakfast was sponsored by the Moses Lake Firefighters Local 1258 and the Moses Lake Lions Club. Firefighters flipped the pancakes and cooked the eggs, while Lions Club members and more firefighters served up the food.

The breakfast is an annual event on the first weekend in October, said Schrade Rouse of the Moses Lake Fire Department. It’s been going on for 14 years, more or less, starting out as a hunters’ breakfast. Over time it morphed into breakfast for the community, Rouse said.

Kids who were there early got a chance to see what happens when firefighters actually go to work – firefighters were summoned to a report of a fire alarm. “Kids are always pretty entertained by the lights and the sirens,” Rouse said.

Proceeds go to projects supported by the two groups. The Lions Club focuses on local projects, and vision and hearing support, both locally, nationally and internationally.

The firefighters’ benevolent fund sponsors Operation Warm, which provides new coats for children, and the Christmas program, which provides Christmas baskets to qualifying families. The firefighters also donate to the Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation, Schrade said.

The firefighters are working with the cancer foundation on a T-shirt fundraiser, selling pink T-shirts in honor of National Breast Cancer Month. The shirts were sold during breakfast, and any left can be purchased at the fire department office, 701 E. Third Ave. The shirts are $15 each or two for $25.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.