Film Screening: JFK in Moses Lake, Washington: A short film about the President’s visit and the memories of those who met him with Director Lee O’Connor

Lee O’Connor has made a 12-minute documentary film about the short visit that President John F. Kennedy made to Larson Air Force Base (now Grant County International Airport) on September 26, 1963. The President was scheduled to land in Moses Lake and go directly from Air Force One to a helicopter that was waiting to fly him to Hanford to make a speech at the groundbreaking of N reactor, but instead he took five minutes to shake hands and say hello to folks among the crowd of thousands who were there to greet him.

Through interviews, photos, and home-movie footage, O’Connor’s film documents the President’s time on the tarmac, the impression he made on the people who met him that day, and the way sadness tinged the memories of his visit after he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, less than two months after he touched down in Moses Lake.

The documentary includes interviews that O’Connor, Denise Couture, and Larry Godden conducted with Moses Lake folks who remembered President Kennedy. Photos in the documentary are provided by the City of Moses Lake Museum & Art Center and others. Marie Couture contributed a home movie of the President’s visit. Shane Humphrey narrates. JFK in Moses Lake has closed captions for the hearing impaired. Admission is free.