'It's my turn to play': Longtime Parks and Recreation Director dedicated decades to local community

MOSES LAKE -- For three decades, Moses Lake Parks and Recreation Director Spencer Grigg has been getting paid to have fun, he said, as he announced his plans to retire shortly after the beginning of the next year.

Grigg, known for his colorful personality and even more colorful shirts, has been a part of the community longer still, moving to Moses Lake in the third grade before graduating high school and beginning college.

He joined the U.S. Army in 1979 and was stationed in Germany, where he worked at a Hawk Missile site, he said. It was there he met a “couple of characters” from the New York area, who turned him on to psychedelic rock band the Grateful Dead, beginning a lifelong love for the music group. In 1981, as the band was touring through Germany, Grigg and one of his army friends began following the tour, as was customary for “Deadheads,” which helped to solidify another lifelong love: concerts and music festivals.

When he returned to Moses Lake, Grigg became a missionary, traveling to Brazil and elsewhere in South America for more than a year before returning to the States. After meeting his wife, Ruth, Grigg decided to finish out his education, originally planning to become a physical therapist. But that work, Grigg came to realize, would mean a lifetime of working with people going through potentially painful transitions -- noble work, but not sustainable, he decided.

Almost by accident, while reading the course catalog at Eastern Washington University, Grigg came across the school’s Recreation Management Program and began reading what the degree entailed.

“That just seemed perfect,” Grigg said. “It was a degree in play.”

After graduating in ‘89, Grigg found part-time work with the City of Spokane’s Parks and Recreation Department, working at Riverfront Park, the site of Expo ‘74 a decade earlier. The work there was endless, he recalled, and he never had two days off to rub together. But he was involved with creating a few music events there, a precursor for what was to come next.

In 1990, as the City of Moses Lake was constructing the Centennial Amphitheater, the city hired Grigg to fill a brand new position, Tourism and Community Events Coordinator. His first major project: a concert to celebrate the opening of the amphitheater. Decades later, Grigg still recalls booking The Brothers Four, a famous folk revival group from Seattle, for that show.

Not long after, Grigg was asked to create an annual, recurring concert series. Every summer for 25 years, residents of Moses Lake and surrounding locales could come together for free concerts, kicking off on the Fourth of July and running until Labor Day Weekend most years. On those opening nights, as the last notes of the last encore played, a fireworks show would begin on the other side of the lake, Grigg recalled fondly.

“That’s his true love,” said Susan Schwiesow, who has worked with Grigg since 1993 and will be appointed as acting director once he leaves the position. “He loves to go to music festivals, those are his favorite things to do, so.”

Though he would have a hand in the concert series until it ended in 2015, Grigg wouldn’t remain in his first job with the city for long. By 1992, as the previous director of the department retired and the assistant director replaced him, Grigg was hired as the department’s assistant director.

“I had to add some hats,” he said with a chuckle.

Then, around 15 years ago, Grigg was offered the job of director of the entire department.

Learning to manage a team was a challenge, he said, one that he didn’t have a lot of experience with going into the job. But he quickly learned to love his team, he added.

“Parks and Rec has an incredible group of people who together make amazing things happen,” Grigg said. “My first love is music and special events, but I have a huge amount of respect for the staff down there.”

The feeling was reciprocal, said Schwiesow, who has worked under Grigg for most of his career.

“Spencer is good,” she said. “He’s funny, he just puts things in a good perspective, he’s pretty even keel and laid back, and he understands what recreation is about. It’s about the quality of life we provide for our community.”

There are innumerable ways in which his legacy will be felt by current and future residents of the city, Schwiesow said, whether it was through his work on the city’s water park, the Paul Lauzier Athletic Complex, Larson Playfield, or the Dick Deane Family Historical Park.

Working on the latter project, named after former Moses Lake Mayor Dick Deane, was a particular honor for Grigg, he said.

Deane taught woodshop at Moses Lake High School, and high-schooler Grigg took every class he offered. At some point, Grigg remembered getting involved with other kids that he maybe should have been staying away from, he said. Deane and another teacher noticed.

“Those two teachers, mentors, pulled me into their shared office and pretty much read me the Riot Act,” Grigg said. “They were right, I listened to them, and I’ve always kind of felt a debt of gratitude to those two gentlemen.”

Grigg would later be able to rekindle his relationship with Deane, who served on the Parks and Recreation Department Commission for 15 years.

“I hate to see him retire, because I know how powerful he’s been in our community,” Deane said. “I’m just proud to have had him as a student, to have him come back after his military service, and he’s done a lot of wonderful things in our local community.”

Now, after decades of building up recreational activities for others, Grigg intends to do a little recreating himself. Grigg will be officially retiring on Feb. 1, with his last day with the city on Jan. 17. Though the pandemic is still keeping many music festivals from happening, he’s got his sights set on a number of them across the western United States.

“You know, my wife and I just bought an RV and a travel trailer,” Grigg said. “With spring not far down the road, our plan is to hitch up to that RV, find some great music, and find some great places to explore.”

“It’s my turn to play,” he added.