‘I hope I made a difference.’
Former Moses Lake Mayor Jon Lane was the keynote speaker at the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast held in the Moses Lake Christian Academy’s new gym, The Den, on Tuesday. Lane, a lifelong educator and member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, has had several positions that offered him an opportunity to serve the community.
CHARLES H. FEATHERSTONE/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
MOSES LAKE — In his 31 years as an educator, former Moses Lake Mayor Jon Lane said he is proudest of the five years he spent as principal of St. Rose of Lima Catholic School in Ephrata, where he and his family have been worshiping since arriving in Moses Lake 70 years ago.
“We started the day with prayer, we started lunch with prayer, we ended with prayer,” Lane said of the school day at St. Rose of Lima School. “That’s how it ought to be.”
Lane was the keynote speaker at the annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast, which was held Tuesday morning in the Moses Lake Christian Academy’s new gym, The Den, and brought together clergy and worshipers from across the city for two hours of fellowship, faith and breakfast.
“You are an amazing person and someone I look up to immensely,” Moses Lake Mayor Don Myer said.
Citing the Gospel of John where the resurrected Jesus calls the disciples to join him by the Sea of Galilee for a morning meal of grilled fish, Moses Lake Presbyterian Church Pastor Eric Frey said it was proof that Jesus enjoyed eating with friends.
“Jesus loved breakfast,” Frey said.
Lane spoke of his early years in Moses Lake, noting the town as a place of “faith, family and community, and said among the things he learned from his father — who settled in Moses Lake after leaving the U.S. Navy — to make whatever corner of the world you find yourself in the best place possible.
Lane was a teacher, a wrestling coach, a member of the Moses Lake City Council and the town’s mayor during his time in Moses Lake. In his speech, he challenged those gathered to “make good little choices,” because from such choices “good big things happen.” Lane said it has been his experience that a lot of the terrible things that happen in the world are the result of lots of “bad little choices.”
Lane said he often thinks about that day at Frontier Middle School — Feb. 2, 1996 — when a 14-year-old student came to school with multiple firearms and began shooting, taking the lives of three students and wounding others.. Lane said he heard the shooting, ran to see what was happening, and then disarmed and tackled the shooter. He hoped that was a good enough choice.
“I tried to do something and I wish I could have done more,” Lane said. “I hope I made a difference.”
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.