Off to a fair start: Kiwanis Club hosts Cowboy Breakfast

MOSES LAKE — If the music, games and performances didn’t lure people to Sinkiuse Square Friday morning, it must have been the smell of waffles, syrup, sausage, eggs and coffee as the Kiwanis Club of Moses Lake kicked off the Grant County Fair with the Cowboy Breakfast.

Along with the peewee rodeo games and music by DJ Dale Roth, AIM School & Gymnastics put on a performance to entertain those who wandered up and paid for a plate. After the pandemic canceled the breakfast last year, said Kiwanis Club member Juanita Richards, it was a lot of fun to have the event back.

Kiwanis Club profits go straight to student scholarships and the Moses Lake High School Key Club, Richards said.

The fairgrounds at 3953 Airway Dr. NE will be bustling every night of this week’s fair and Moses Lake Roundup, from Tuesday through Saturday, with the demolition derby Tuesday and Wednesday and the rodeo Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The Cowboy Breakfast is also the club’s kickoff, Richards said. Next week, volunteers will be out at the rodeo all five nights serving food at the derbies and rodeo for the same cause.

With the 2020 rodeo shut down, this year organizers have been proceeding knowing restrictions could change at any moment, said Moses Lake Roundup Association President Rodney Rosin.

The cowboys must be feeling this pressure too, he said. It’s going to be a big year, as contestants seem to be showing up in droves anywhere they can make money.

2021 will see one of the largest contestant counts ever, he said: 50 bull riders, 78 saddle bronc riders and 21 bareback riders.

“Just a huge amount of contestants,” he said. “We’re excited about that.”

The annual demolition derby, too, has doubled, he said. While it’s typically one big show on Wednesday, this year they split it into a small car demo on Tuesday and a big car demo on Wednesday.

The derby is always sold out, so the second show will give more people a chance to join the fun. Organizers have been discussing the extra show for years, Rosin said, and decided this is the year to give it a try.

Time trials start at 5 p.m., and heat races fire off at 7 p.m.

The fair’s already off to a good start, Richards said, if breakfast is any indication. The weather turned out nice, at least.

“Everyone in town can get together and see each other, especially after the last year and the pandemic, so it’s kind of nice that everyone can get together and say hello and have some breakfast and support the community,” she said.

She’s looking forward to the continued support through the week, she said.

Kiwanis meets at noon every Monday at the Red Door Cafe, 202 W. Third Ave. in Moses Lake, to discuss networking, shared community involvement, volunteering and fellowship, she said. They are always welcoming new members.