Sage-N-Sun '23
Members of the Tenino Motorcycle Drill Team maneuver in the middle of Basin Street at the start of this year’s Grand Parade on Saturday, part of the annual Sage-N-Sun festival in Ephrata.
CHARLES H. FEATHERSTONE/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Kaylee Stump, Miss Coulee City Last Stand Roundup 2023, rides in this year’s Sage-N-Sun Grand Parade followed by Miss Moses Lake Roundup 2023 Annabelle Booth.
Grand Marshal Grace Nelson, who graduated from Ephrata High School in 1951, waves to the crowd during the Sage-N-Sun Grand Parade on Saturday.
Members of the Ephrata High School Drill Team march in the Sage-N-Sun Grand Parade on Saturday.
EPHRATA — With an overcast sky and temperatures in the mid-60s, there wasn’t much sun on Saturday for Ephrata’s annual Sage-N-Sun festival.
But that didn’t bother participants or spectators one bit.
“It’s a good day today. It’s a wonderful day,” said James Burton, a long-time Ephrata resident who rode a little electric scooter alongside this year’s parade down Basin Street. “It’s nice to have Sage n’ Sun with nice weather.”
The festival kicked off the evening of Friday, June 9, with a youth parade and live music on the grounds of the Grant County Courthouse, followed by a fun run Saturday morning, the Grand Parade at 11 a.m. and then a day of music, food and fun featuring the Wenatchee Youth Circus along C Street NW in front of the county courthouse.
Starting this year’s Grand Parade was the Tenino Motorcycle Drill Team from Tenino, Washington, followed by 1951 Ephrata High School graduate and Grand Marshal Grace Nelson as well as classic cars, local civic groups, elected officials Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, and Rep Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, local rodeo queens, city businesses, several giant lift trucks from the Grant County Public Utility District and fire vehicles from Grant County Fire District 13.
“We did the fun run. It’s a tradition, we come out and do the race, and then we come and get lots of goodies and then we watch the parade,” said Amy Rodriguez, a Moses Lake resident who works in Ephrata. “We come out to support the small town.”
“It’s nice to see familiar faces and just everyone out having a good time,” Rodriguez added.
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.
