Sand Scorpions bring family fun to sand dunes
As participants waited for the poker run to start, they had fun taking off and throwing up sand.
Rebecca Pettingill/Columbia Basin Herald
Hundreds of local children turned out to the Sand Scorpions Easter Egg Hunt on April 16.
Around 20,000 eggs were hidden amongst the sand and sagebrush of the Moses Lake Sand Dunes on April 16.
As kids would spot eggs, they would run to try to be the first to nab it.
Some parents helped their children hunt for eggs.
A kind stranger gives some of their eggs to 3-year-old Kiara Sanchz who had not yet collected any eggs at the Sand Scorpion Easter Egg Hunt on April 16.
A small poker run of about a dozen off-road vehicles was held after the hunt.
MOSES LAKE — The Sand Scorpions ORV group held their annual Easter egg hunt at the Moses Lake Sand Dunes on Saturday. The event drew hundreds of area children to gather up about 20,000 hidden eggs.
“The rise of social media allowed us to spread the word so much easier and the last five years, it's just been off the charts,” said Sand Scorpion board member Brandon Douglass.
The Easter egg hunt, which has been around for more than 25 years, only recently grew to be so popular from that social media boost, Douglass said.
Douglass said this year about 20,000 eggs were hidden in the Red Zone Fence area at the southernmost tip of Moses Lake. He noted that the eggs and hunt were only possible through sponsors and volunteers, as the event is free to the public.
Analee Calvillo of Quincy said she saw the event on Facebook and decided to bring her 3-year-old daughter, Kiara Sanchz, to the hunt since they had missed their own community’s event.
Kiara didn’t have any eggs as the event was coming to a close but a kind stranger gave her a few of theirs.
When asked if they had a good time and if they would do it again next year, Calvillo said “Yes, of course. This was really fun. I didn’t know that the community did this.”
There was a small poker run held right after the hunt for those with off-road vehicles, wherein participants raced to checkpoints to collect playing cards to develop a poker hand.
The Sand Scorpions are a nonprofit ORV group and have been around since 1990, said Douglass.
Sand Scorpion founding member Rich Archer said it started out with three friends: Archer, Lyle Laves and Randy Radach.
Archer said they decided to go down to the dunes one night shortly after Christmas to have a bonfire to burn their Christmas trees, and decided they wanted to do events at the dunes for people.
The group holds dozens of off-roading events throughout the year. One of their biggest events each year is the $5K Bounty Hole in September, which Douglass said is his favorite. The event pays $5,000 to whomever goes the farthest or fastest through the mud hole, Douglass said.
Archer and Douglass said there is a misconception that people just go down to the sand dunes to drink and drive off-road vehicles drunk and that members of the group go out of boundaries and trash the dunes. However alcohol is not permitted in the dunes and has not been for around 20 years, Douglass said.
Archer said the group works really hard to keep the dunes clean, respect the zoning and not disturb the wildlife.
“Now people are coming here to make memories with their family,” Archer said of the change in how the area is viewed now.
Archer said for people wanting to get involved, there is a $5 lifetime membership fee that covers the entire family. Archer added that the membership comes with two Sand Scorpion stickers for members to put on their vehicles to identify themselves as part of the group.
Douglas said the group has more than 1,000 families in its membership.
“The number one thing is that we are all real family-oriented. Everything we do we try to plan around family,” Archer said.
Douglass added that there are a lot of events that are hard to watch unless spectators have off road vehicles themselves but the Sand Scorpions try their best to note them in their events.
The group’s next event, scheduled for April 29-May 1, is an Off-Road Adventure. For more information visit the Sand Scorpions ORV Group Facebook page or www.sandscorpions.org.
Rebecca Pettingill can be reached via email at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com.
