Volunteers, police make big difference at Spring Fest

MOSES LAKE — This year’s Moses Lake Spring Fest came off better than usual, in large part because of lots of community involvement, organizers said.

“We welcome everyone in our community to come and volunteer,” Spring Fest Board Member Lori Valdez said. “But this year, we had a lot of people step up and volunteer that we’ve never had before, and that was very nice.”

Nearly 200 people came out to help with the various activities at the festival, according to Board President Sean Sallis. The Fun Run alone had 60 volunteers, he said. There were 30 volunteers helping with the beer garden, 45 for the 3-on-3 basketball tournament and 11 for the parade.

“One little boy was helping us put tape on the basketball court,” Sallis said. “He was like 4 years old, and he wanted to help lay tape. It’s just a picture of our community.”

The 20 Moses Lake High School JROTC students were especially helpful, Valdez said. They helped set up before the festival and stuck around for teardown and cleanup, which is usually an ordeal in itself, she said.

“By the time we get to Monday, to tear down, we are completely exhausted, 100% medically and physically,” she said. “When you get out of bed, you can’t even walk … They helped clean the tables, they picked up garbage, they came back (Monday), until we were 100% all cleaned up at the park. They stayed until like five o’clock and helped us tear down.”

The JROTC students also carried the giant flag in the parade, Valdez said.

Not all the assistance the festival organizers received was measurable in hours. Pro Rentals donated 18 big lights to illuminate the park and the carnival, Sallis said.

“We had those all throughout the park and the carnival, (in) any spots that were dark,” he said. “Every night, we were inspecting different spots that could have better lighting, and so we were working in concert with the police department and the sheriff’s (office) to … support them.”

The Moses Lake Police Department increased its presence at the festival as well, according to Capt. Jeff Sursely, contracting with the Grant County Sheriff’s Office to provide some deputies as well.

“We plussed up our manpower,” Sursely said. “We averaged, between us and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, between 26 and 30 officers a day, (which included) two jail staff and a jail transport vehicle.”

In past years, the MLPD has only had six to eight officers a day at the festival, he added. Officers made 12 arrests.

“Mostly juvenile issues, trespassing, nothing big,” he said. “Mostly misdemeanor crime.”

The MLPD announced a zero-tolerance policy on crime during the festival, Sursely said, and the Grant County Commissioners authorized law enforcement to book juvenile offenders, which hadn’t been allowed before. The additional lighting was a major factor as well, he said.

The Spring Fest is Moses Lake’s biggest community celebration of the year, and it takes a lot of coordination between departments and organizations. Because most of the event takes place at McCosh Park, the Parks & Recreation and Cultural Services Department bears much of the brunt of the work involved, Director Doug Coutts said, but the rest of the municipal government has a part to play as well.

“Our fire department is here with paramedic services, roaming around and doing checks on people with heat-related issues,” he said. “Our streets department has to close the street for the parade, move the street closures around as the event progresses. So, it is a full-on city team effort.”

Having so much volunteer help says a lot about Moses Lake, Valdez said.

“We had people showing up at the park saying, ‘What can I do to help?’ she said. “It just tells you what type of community we live in, that 100% we have an amazing community.”

    Moses Lake JROTC students carry a giant U.S. flag in the Moses Lake Spring Fest Grand Parade Saturday night. The students also volunteered to help the committee with setting up, tearing down and cleaning up, which lightened the committee’s burden considerably.