Ag appreciation: Annual parade lights up snow-covered Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — There was snow on the ground, but spirits were high at the annual Ag Appreciation Parade and Street Party in downtown Moses Lake on Friday.

The party started at 5 p.m., with the parade at 7 p.m. The weather was chilly, at about 24 degrees, but downright balmy compared to the 2022 parade’s temperatures in the teens.

“I was a little nervous at first with the crowds for the street party portion of the event,” said Mallory Miller, director of the Downtown Moses Lake Association, which puts the event on every year. “But as soon as it got around 6:30, 6:45, the streets started filling like crazy.”

Miller wasn’t sure how many people were there, but she estimated at least 2,000, and probably more. The street party stretched down Third Avenue from the Post Office down to the Smith Martin Building at Division, she said, with vendors in between.

“Mason’s (Place coffee shop, in the Smith Martin Building) told me that they were slammed all night,” Miller said. “So I can only imagine what the streets looked like down there.”

Porky’s Hot Dogs and the Corn Dog Company had set up to feed the crowd, and Simplot once again offered free french fries. At the Red Door Cafe, Care Moses Lake served up hot chocolate and cider, and Amy’s Artistic Expressions painted faces.

In Sinkiuse Square, two fire pits were set up to toast marshmallows for s’mores, sponsored by the Steve Crapson Insurance Agency and James Shank of Edward Jones. By about 6:30 the graham cracker supply had run out, said Dorian Shank, who was assembling what was left of the marshmallows and chocolate on paper plates.

“We still have lots of marshmallows, so people will just do keep doing marshmallows,” Shank said. “Last year, they were so frozen that people couldn't stab into them. The kids really like it. Some of the adults like it too. There are some people going off the path and just eating them without warming up the marshmallow.”

    Dorian Shank, right, and Susan Barrett set out s’mores fixings for the crowd at the Moses Lake Ag Parade and Street Party Friday.
  

This year’s event added some live music as well. James Gonzalez, Moses Lake High School senior AJ Moreno,  Moses Lake Presbyterian Church Worship Pastor Jon White all took a turn on the stage. Sound and announcements were handled by Dale Roth.

    Moses Lake Presbyterian Church Worship Pastor sings “O Holy Night” at the Ag Appreciation Parade and Street Party Friday in Moses Lake.
  

Meanwhile, in the parking lot at McCosh Park, parade participants were decking out trucks, floats and farm equipment in lights and holiday décor. Many of the displays have become traditional at the parade, like the Grant Transit Authority bus, the J.R. Simplot Express and the Sons of Norway Viking longboat.

This year the Sons of Norway are sharing the float, which boasts Viking shields, runic inscriptions and a dragon head on the prow, with Camas Cove Cellars, which holds a pirate regatta every September on Moses Lake, and Freewind Martial Arts Studio, said Sons of Norway member Jamie Casteel.

    The Sons of Norway longboat waits in the parking lot at McCosh for the Moses Lake Ag Appreciation Parade to begin Friday.
  

“We've sailed with the pirates of Camus Cove Cellars. And we've trained with the students of Freewind Martial Arts in an effort to build up community bonds and teach the Scandinavian culture,” Casteel said. 

Casteel did much of the design and construction on the longboat herself, and had made some updates this year.

“I painted a whole bunch of new shields and the stories on the back that they tell are all Norse mythology,” she said. “And of course, our dragon blows smoke. Because, you know, fire is frowned upon around here. I don't know why; why wouldn't you want like a 7-foot-long flame spouting out of the mouth of a dragon?”

“The parade started right at seven and the streets were still filled,” Miller said. “The announcer had to say,  ‘Please get out of the streets. See those lights coming? Those are coming down this road.”

    Maddie Turner, left, and her aunt Kami Mensonides warm up on the PNW Ag and Turner Pumpkin Junction float before the Ag Parade Friday in Moses Lake.
  

The parade also exceeded expectations. DMLA President Denise Kinder said there were 55 entries pre-registered, compared to 30 last year. Miller explained that the final count was closer to 60.

“There were 55 from what we counted Friday morning,” Miller said. “But we had people showing up to the parade parking lot right before the parade started, saying they wanted in. I had Denise call me literally at 6:59 saying, ‘We have one more entry, please tell the announcer.’”

    Alicia Lundquist of Amy’s Artistic Creations decorates 9 1/2-year-old Sunday Plettenburg with boughs of holly inside the Red Door Cafe during the Ag Appreciation Parade and Street Party Friday.
  

Joel Martin may be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.

    Children dash through the snow after candy thrown in the Moses Lake Ag Appreciation Parade Friday.