23-05-2025
Memorials to honor the fallen Monday in the Basin
May 23—COLUMBIA BASIN — Among the barbecues, festivities and relaxation of the three-day weekend, many Basin communities will take a solemn moment to recognize the reason for Memorial Day weekend.
The Moses Lake Spring Fest, a tradition for more than 40 years, is adding a little patriotic remembrance into its Grand Parade at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, said Spring Fest Committee member Lori Valdez.
"(This year) we ordered a very, very large flag that is going to encompass the street, and we have people who have volunteered to carry the flag. It will bring a tear to your eye if you've had a loved one serve."
Pioneer Gardens in Moses Lake will hold a ceremony Monday morning at 11 a.m., and American Legion Post 51 will hold one at the Ritzville Cemetery, also at 11 a.m. The Veterans of Foreign Wars will hold a ceremony at 11 a.m. as well, at Bess Hampton Cemetery in Othello.
The American Legion and other volunteers will place flags and crosses on the graves at the Ephrata cemetery Friday night, according to Legion Auxiliary spokesperson Jane Montaney. The Beezley Hills Community Flag Association will put out the Aisle of Flags at the Ephrata cemetery on Monday morning starting about 7 a.m., Montaney said.
"We have casket flags ... and they have the name of the deceased on the banding of the flag," she said. "And as we're putting them up or taking them down, we're looking at that name and offering up a prayer for that veteran and his or her family."
The Legion will hold ceremonies at the cemeteries in Soap Lake, Ephrata and Quincy on Monday, with the honor guard from Art Semro Post 28 in Ephrata participating in all three. The Soap Lake ceremony will be at 10 a.m., Ephrata at 11 a.m. and Quincy at 12:30 p.m.
At 11 a.m., the Forgotten Heroes Memorial at the Grant County International Airport will commemorate the 87 servicemen who died when their transport plane crashed at what was then Larson Air Force Base in 1952. That memorial was established by Million Air owner Larry Godden, who passed away earlier this year, and Million Air General Manager Mark Bonaudi has taken it over, Bonaudi said.
Pastor Mike Swartz of Lake Valley Baptist Church, a retired army chaplain, will deliver the invocation, and Buck Naff will sing the National Anthem.
"I'll have (Port of Moses Lake) Commissioner Darren Jackson speak briefly, and then I'll read about the event," Bonaudi said. "We will call off every single name of the 87 service members who lost their lives that day, and upon the name being read, a bell will ring. Then we have 100 long-stemmed roses for the people who are attending to bring up and lay against the memorial."
The ceremony will close with taps and a benediction, also by Swartz.
"This is very important to the community," Bonaudi said. "I want to make sure that we keep it going, that the 87 forgotten don't get forgotten."
Memorial Day, May 26
Moses Lake: 11 a.m. at Pioneer Memorial Gardens, 14403 Road 2 NE, Moses Lake.
Soap Lake: 10 a.m., Valley View Memorial Park, 20174 Road A NE.
Ephrata: 11 a.m., 333 E Street SW.
Othello: 11 a.m. at Bess Hampton Cemetery, 1915 E. Cemetery St.
Ritzville: 11 a.m. at Ritzville Memorial Cemetery, five miles west of Ritzville on Rosenoff Road.
Quincy: 12:30 p.m. at Quincy City Cemetery, Seventh Avenue and F Street Southwest.
