DELIVERING NEWS TO MID-COLUMBIA SENIORS SINCE 1982
OCTOBER 2022
Vol. 10 | Issue 10
TUESDAY, OCT. 18 Pavilion at Southridge 9 A.M. to 3 P.M. Numerica Sports & Events Complex
Senior picnic
Autumn sun shines on rescheduled All Senior Picnic By Senior Times staff
Half a dozen members of Rambling Travelers, a travel and adventure group, staked out a shady spot at the All Senior Picnic to dine on pulled pork sandwiches and potato salad skewers and to dish about their upcoming adventures. They were among the more than 500 seniors who flocked to Howard Amon Park in Richland on Sept. 29 for the first All Seniors Picnic since the Covid-19 pandemic forced a two-year hiatus and poor air quality forced organizers to reschedule. “It’s the first very large senior event we’ve had since 2019,” said David Everett, a director of the Richland Seniors Association, a group that welcomes residents from any of the surrounding cities. Getting seniors together as a community is important, especially after the pandemic isolated so many of them,
Photo by Wendy Culverwell Lenny Ross, 73, of Richland, dances with Ciera Huie, a staff member at Kennewick’s Columbia Crossing of Grandridge, while an accordion player performed at the 2022 All Senior Picnic, held Sept. 29 at Howard Amon Park in Richland.
said Todd Halterman, founder of Active 4 Life, one of the event’s sponsors. He emceed the Hawaiian-themed event and
encouraged seniors to have fun but also to visit with the vendors to learn about the ways they could volunteer in their
community to feel better connected to it. The Tri-City senior population continues to grow so events like the picnic are key to connecting seniors, Everett said. Over the past decade, he noted the greater Tri-City 65-and-older population has climbed from 10% to 14%. “Not only is this senior community getting together in large groups, but we’re eager to encourage Pasco, Kennewick and Richland seniors as a community of people to realize they have the power and opportunity here – they just need the will to become a family,” Everett said. At the All Senior Picnic, they were doing just that. Rambling Traveler Judi Clark, a retired bank and title company manager from Kennewick, brought her longtime friend and neighbor, Myrene Northey, a uSENIOR PICNIC, Page 2
County to complete KGH deal, lease for another facility By Wendy Culverwell editor@tcjournal.biz
The dream of a Three Rivers Behavioral Health Recovery Center is close to becoming a reality as Benton County moves to secure two sites to serve Tri-Citians facing mental health and substance abuse crises. The county expects to complete a $1.6 million deal to buy the now closed Kennewick General Hospital from Trios Health on Oct. 25. It is also negotiating a separate deal for quarters, reportedly in downtown Kennewick, to house aspects of treat-
ment that can’t be carried out at the old hospital under terms of the deal. The county has already taken on some responsibility for the six-acre hospital campus, which is at 10th Avenue and Auburn Street. Crews laid out temporary drip lines to try to reverse the effects of a well failure, which left the mature landscape parched after going without water during the hottest summer months. Benton County said an irrigation well at the site failed about the same time Trios relocated its birthing center from the former Kennewick General earlier this year. The property is not
served by the Kennewick Irrigation District and Trios apparently opted not to use expensive city water. Shyanne Palmus, spokeswoman for the county, said crews put out drip lines to try to save the trees and shrubs. But it expects the grass will die. “We’ll have to address the landscaping and water system once we take ownership of the building,” she said. Neighboring properties include a city park and school properties and are unaffected by the lack of water reaching sprinklers. In addition to the parched greenery, litter is visible on the grounds and there
is evidence of light dumping near the Auburn Street entrance, where cardboard boxes and a pallet were left in the bushes. Trios officials cited the well failure for the situation and pledged to take steps to address the browning trees. Trios, which is owned by the forprofit LifePoint Health, acquired the old hospital and the other assets of the former Kennewick Public Hospital District from RCCH Healthcare Partners. RCCH in turn acquired the assets after the taxing district filed for bankuKGH, Page 2
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
MONTHLY QUIZ What was the name of the steamer that carried 12 cars across the
Tapteal Native Plants offers droughttolerant landscaping alternatives
Page 13
Richland’s new bakery whips up Bundtastic cakes
Page 17
Columbia River, docking in Pasco? ANSWER, PAGE 11
PLEASE DELIVER TO CURRENT OCCUPANT Senior Times 8524 W. Gage Blvd., #A1-300 Kennewick, WA 99336
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PASCO, WA PERMIT NO. 8778