Ephrata rings in the holidays with Bells on Basin on Saturday

EPHRATA — Bells on Basin will fill downtown Ephrata with holiday spirit Saturday, with games, shopping and a lighted parade. 

“It's a festive event that a lot of people look forward to, to kick off and bring everybody together for the holidays,” said Ephrata Chamber of Commerce Director Britney MacLeod. 

This is the fourth year for Bells on Basin, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, according to the Columbia Basin Herald archives. The festivities begin at 8 a.m. with Breakfast with Santa, a free pancake feed at the Ephrata Rec Center. Despite the early hour on a Saturday, the event has proven popular, MacLeod said. 

“(The Chamber) started helping (with breakfast) two years ago and we had about 300 people,” she said. “Last year, there were about 500 people.” 

From 9 to 11 a.m., children will be issued Polar Express passports along with a map of downtown businesses. Participating youngsters can go from one business to the next, where they’ll find a fun activity like writing letters to Santa or making a tree ornament, and get a stamp in the passport. Once the passport is filled, it can be turned in at the Chamber office and entered in a drawing for three Polar Express train sets. 

While that’s going on, Mom and Dad will have the chance to do a little exploring of their own with the Shop Local passport, which gets a hole punched for every purchase at a participating business. Once the passports are all punched, they can be turned in and entered in a drawing for a raffle basket. The event spurs shopping at places that residents may not be familiar with, MacLeod said. 

“We've had quite a few new pop-up businesses, and a lot of them are partaking in the Shop Local passports or the Polar Express passports,” she said. “It's crucial to get people in so they know they're there.” 

In the afternoon, the Chamber office will have free cocoa and popcorn available while folks get ready for the Christmas Parade, which will wind around downtown starting at 5 p.m. 

“We really want to make sure we encourage people to get downtown and to shop in our small businesses,” MacLeod said. “They're the foundation of our small town, and to be able to support them through the holidays is important.” 

    A boy sits in a snow drift along Basin Street in Ephrata waiting for a past Bells on Basin parade.
  

    The Grinch sits in an orange Grant County Jail jumpsuit on the back of the GCSO’s paddy wagon in a past Bells on Basin Parade.