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Get Inspired During SpringHill Suites by Marriott’s Art of Local ArtNight and Save Art! Programs

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LocalTalk Contributor
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The staff at SpringHill and TownePlace Suites looks for opportunities to build meaningful relationships with businesses and organizations of all sizes. Photo courtesy: Marriott Properties.

Submitted by: SpringHill Suites Bellingham

SpringHill Suites Bellingham is partnering with Allied Arts of Whatcom County to bring the local art scene to hotel guests and the surrounding community during its 4th annual ArtNight event Friday, October 20, from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.

“SpringHill is a brand that is all about the arts, and it shows right when you come in the lobby,” shared General Manager Keith Coleman. The space itself is artfully designed, encouraging guests and visitors to get creative. ArtNight further elevates the space by transforming part of the hotel into a gallery for an evening.

“ArtNight is a relaxed chance to dress up a little and go look at great art and enjoy some amazing local music,” shared Coleman. The evening is completely free and includes appetizers, delicious drink specials from the Chuckanut Lobby Bar and live music performed by Whitney Mongé.

ArtNight gives hotel guests the unique opportunity to connect with the local community and appreciate great art together. Past art pieces have included jewelry, metal work, paintings and photography. This year, artists have been asked to bring a current piece so guests can see each artist’s process live and in person. While artists have until September 30 to submit their request to show their work, we have confirmed several artists for this years’ event, including Kevin Forrester Coleman, Jessie Chandler, Peter James and Suzannah Gusukuma.

“It is my third time around,” shared local artist, and WhatcomTalk Community Relations and Business Development Manager, Kevin Forrester Coleman. Kevin was pleased with the opportunity to share his art and make connections to the community. “It was a good turnout with a variety of works for all types of people. I think it’s a great way for artists to come together and share what they do in an upscale environment.”

In addition to being an inspiring evening out, ArtNight is a great opportunity to give back to the community via SpringHill Suites by Save Art! program, which gets much needed funding for arts education into schools.

Research has shown that art education has a tremendous impact on the developmental growth and academic success of children. The introduction of the arts in early education teaches valuable life-skills such as creative problem solving, decision making and articulating a vision, and helps to build self-esteem and self-confidence. In spite of this, many schools are facing severe budget cuts that minimize or eliminate their art programs.

In partnership with Fresh Artists – a non-profit organization that brings quality art supplies and innovative art programs to teachers in need – SpringHill Suites will provide art materials to local schools in communities across North America. October is National Arts & Humanities Month, so it’s the perfect time for local hotel guests and community members to make a donation that will go toward purchasing art kits for Cordata Elementary School. Donations in excess of $20 also receive a special gift. SpringHill Suites Bellingham has proudly donated $2,000 each year for the last four years to local schools.

If you can’t make it to ArtNight on Friday, October 20 from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m., you can drop by SpringHill Suites anytime through the end of the year to make your contribution to supporting the arts at Cordata Elementary School.

SpringHill Suites by Marriott is located at 4040 Northwest Avenue, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Second Annual City of Frightdale Halloween Decorating Contest

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LocalTalk Contributor
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Submitted by: The City of Ferndale

Do you love to decorate for Halloween? We at the City of Ferndale want to bolster that neighborly spirit . . . by encouraging everyone to spook the heck out of each other! That’s right, it is time for the 2nd annual City of Frightdale Halloween Decorating contest. 

This October, send us pictures of your house decorated for Halloween and our judges will pick the top three houses. Winners receive gift cards to Woods Coffee, a proud sponsor of City of Frightdale. Our spooky judging panel includes Mayor Jon Mutchler, FHS Principal Jeremy Vincent, Councilmember Rebecca Xczar, Kelsey Rowlson from the Chamber of Commerce and winner of our water tank mural idea contest, FHS Junior Guyan Cool.

Deadline for submissions is Monday, October 30 at 4:00 p.m. We will announce the winners on Halloween through our City facebook page. Email your pictures to Communications Officer Riley Sweeney by clicking here.

Watch Mayor Mutchler explain City of Frightdale in a video here.

More information is available here.

Whatcom County Halloween Events Coming October 28

By
LocalTalk Contributor
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The Downtown Trick or Treat is highly anticipated every year. Photo courtesy: Ferndale Chamber of Commerce.

Submitted by: Ferndale Chamber of Commerce

The Ferndale Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce the annual Downtown Trick or Treat and Haunt the Park events coming up October 28! Both events are free to the community and accommodate all ages.

Haunt the Park will be fun for the whole family. Photo courtesy: Ferndale Chamber of Commerce.

Downtown Trick or Treat will take place from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. on Main Street, which will be closed to traffic. Children will be able to trick or treat through over 40 businesses and booths in downtown Ferndale. Directly afterward from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m., families can ride the complimentary horse drawn carriage that takes them straight to Haunt the Park.

Haunt the Park is located in Pioneer Park and will have a variety of family activities such as a costume contest, themed games and more trick or treating! In addition, we have also added an all new Haunted Barn. The Barn will be doing a light scare during the event, and then reopen as a full scare from 7:00-10:00 p.m. The Haunted Barn is run by an outside volunteer and has a fee of $5 or $15 per family up to five. All proceeds will benefit the Ferndale Food Bank.

Ferndale’s Halloween events are highly anticipated every year. Photo courtesy: Ferndale Chamber of Commerce.

We would like to thank our sponsors for continuing to make this event possible: WhatcomTalk, Ferndale Grocery Outlet, McDonalds, Starvin’ Sam’s Mini Mart and Best Western Heritage Inn.

To find out more please visit us on Facebook, call us at 360-384-3042 or check out our website at www.ferndale-chamber.com.

Whatcom Women—Nicole Cooley Has Got Money Moxie

By
Joy Wiggins
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Nicole Cooley would like to be your money coach. Photo courtesy: Nicole Cooley.

I first met Nicole Cooley at a Women’s Retreat that focused on saying, “Yes!” Nicole taught a workshop called, “Ignite your Money Moxie!” I, of course said yes to getting my finances straight. There was a group of about ten women huddled around Nicole as she talked about her experiences starting her own business as a money coach. Nicole graduated with a degree in finance and landed her dream job with a great six figure salary. However, she still felt something was missing. “I hadn’t put all the pieces of the puzzle together and as my stress level grew around my job, the more I made and the more I would spend as a coping mechanism. I even started to accumulate some debt. I began to see the relationship between your money mindset and your behavioral finance. That’s when I knew something had to change.”

According to Nicole, your money should reflect what’s important to you. Photo courtesy: Nicole Cooley.

She and her husband made a two-year plan to get out of debt so she could start her own business. This would give her some time to grow the business before striking out fully on her own and before starting a family. Nicole, like so many other women entrepreneurs, left the corporate world to have more flexibility in her work/life balance.

She wanted to create a business that allowed flexibility in working hours and followed her passion of helping people and the community. That’s how “Money With Moxie” began. The idea of paying it forward helps the community directly, “It not only helps the people who need financial help, but the communities and businesses they support.” For instance, Nicole says if eating organic and supporting local farmer’s markets betters your community and lifestyle, then continue to do that. The way you spend reflects what you value, so cut down on things that don’t match your values and spend that money on things that do.

When asked who tends to gravitate toward her for coaching, she explained that many times it’s ambitious people that know what they want, but their money mindset and behaviors can sabotage those goals. There’s a need to be perfect and many carry a fear of not being successful in everything they do. So when it comes to being perfect at managing their money, they just don’t even start. Our money habits can reflect our eating or other health habits as well. We might be really good at eating healthy, but maybe not as good at budgeting.

That’s what makes Nicole different from other money coaches – it’s not just about spending less, saving for retirement and getting out of debt, but also prioritizing the most important things to you to make your financial plan work. “When people allow themselves to live their lives that way, it creates a ripple effect that could be huge throughout the local communities. If they want to support local, conscious companies and it costs more money, then do that. You have to give yourself permission to do those things and not feel guilty about it. Especially for women, we have so much guilt around everything. We can’t feel guilty about buying that dress from the local boutique if that aligns with your values. Own it. Don’t feel bad about it. Sit down and do your numbers so that they work at the end of the day and move on.”

Nicole Cooley would like to be your money coach. Photo courtesy: Nicole Cooley.

Nicole, like so many women entrepreneurs, struggles with knowing when to ask for help and actually asking for it. We have to let ourselves off the hook when things don’t go perfectly and allow space for self-care. Building a support system that extends to the babysitter, dog sitter and even a virtual assistant allows one to focus on the business to help it thrive, rather than spending time on details someone else could cover. That same principle can apply to why you might want to get a money coach.

So when do you know you’re ready for a money coach?

Nicole says, “The way we choose our goals has a direct financial component. Making sure your lifestyle, savings and debts align with the direction you’re trying to go. If you know what your goals are and where you want to go and you’re ready to get there faster, then you’re ready for a money coach.”

A typical consultation with Nicole might first be about getting out of credit card debt since that seems to be the main reason people come to her. However, Nicole says that the faster we can address that, the faster we can get people through the tunnel and on track to meet other goals. It’s that easy.

If you’re ready for a money coach, you can sign up for her free Budgeting Starter Kit to start looking at categorizing your spending habits and get a free consultation. You can contact Nicole Cooley at nicole@moneywithmoxie.com or visit her website Money with Moxie.

Alcoa Foundation Awarded Whatcom Community College a $25,000 Grant

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LocalTalk Contributor
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Cyberdefense National Resource Centers
WCC celebrates its 50th Anniversary on May 29, 2017. Photo credit: Patricia Herlevi.

Submitted by: Whatcom Community College

Alcoa Foundation awarded Whatcom Community College a $25,000 grant to support the College’s expanding pre-engineering program. The Alcoa Program for Engineering Student Development/Career Success will provide the essential equipment and materials for students preparing for futures in engineering. The yearlong grant, which begins in October, is expected to benefit 150 students annually.

“Alcoa Intalco is proud to partner with Whatcom Community College through the support of Alcoa Foundation in its efforts to expand opportunities in our community for engineering education. The critical thinking, problem solving and technical skills these students will gain are exactly what we need in our future workforce,” said Laura McKinney, Alcoa NW Government Affairs and Public Relations Director.

The grant will provide state-of-the-art robotics and circuit lab kits, laptops students can check out to design projects, a laser cutter to bring projects to life and more. The college also plans to develop a multi-purpose student lab and maker space, equipped with 3D printers, to help prepare students to work in the engineering field.

“These improvements will propel our engineering program to the next level, allowing Whatcom students to gain important hands-on experience with the equipment and work environments they will face in the real world,” said Heidi Ypma, WCC’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Division Chair.

WCC offers pre-engineering courses and engineering transfer options through the Associate in Science-Transfer (AS-T) degree.

 

Whatcom Community College Celebrates Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math with October Events

By
LocalTalk Contributor
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Submitted by: Whatcom Community College

Today, a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) degree equals career opportunity. Whatcom Community College strengthens the local and regional talent pool in these critically important fields through relevant degrees and certificates, scholarship opportunities and programs for middle and high school students.

In October, WCC will celebrate STEM Month with a series of events open to the public. Highlights include an Oct. 5 Chuckanut Radio Hour with author Nathalia Holt in partnership with Village Books and a free screening of the TED Talks on PBS film “Science & Wonder” at Pickford Film Center on Oct. 17.

Celebrate STEM and learn more about Whatcom’s programs by attending these October events (all events are free and located on WCC’s campus unless otherwise noted):

  • 5: Chuckanut Radio Hour with Dr. Natalia Holt, author of “Rise of the Rocket Girls,” in Heiner Theater. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., seating for the show starts at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $5. Tickets and more information available at villagebooks.com
  • 11: Western Washington University engineering program information session for transfer students in Laidlaw Center 121, 2:30 – 4:30 p.m.
  • 11: WCC Cybersecurity Center dedication ceremony at Baker Hall, 4:30 p.m.
  • 17: TED Talks on PBS: “Science & Wonder” film screening at Pickford Film Center, 6:30 p.m. Reserve your free ticket at the Pickford box office.
  • 24: Engineering major information session in Laidlaw Center 121, 11:00 a.m. General major and career information session in Laidlaw Center 211, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
  • 25: Western Washington University majors fair for WCC students in the Pavilion, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Biology and chemistry major information session in Laidlaw Center 121, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.

Recent WCC achievements STEM:

  • Whatcom is the lead institution of CyberWatch West, one of only four National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded centers in the nation dedicated to cybersecurity education.
  • WCC ranked third in the state (behind University of Washington and Washington State University) and 150th in the nation in fiscal year 2015 grant funding from the NSF. The most recent awards (totaling more than $600,000) recognize WCC’s excellence and innovation in STEM education.
  • The College’s first four-year degree, a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in IT Networking, began this fall.
  • The Aspen Institute ranks WCC among the top nine community and technical colleges in Washington and among the top 150 in the nation, based on successful student outcomes.

About Whatcom:

Whatcom Community College is a regionally and nationally accredited college with an accomplished faculty and staff who serve 11,000 students annually. On its campus in Bellingham and through online courses Whatcom offers transfer and professional-technical degrees as well as basic education, job skills training and community education classes. The College is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017. For more information, visit whatcom.edu/50.

Whatcom County’s Kali Crow-Liester: Growing Alliances, Growing Empowerment

By
Joy Wiggins
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The growing Alliances crew has fun in the dirt. Photo courtesy: Kali Crow-Liester.

There’s something magical about growing food. It’s amazing how you can plant this tiny seed, water it, make sure it has sun, keep the bugs off and it grows into something you can eat. I remember my first garden and that feeling of sheer excitement when I bit into my first tomato.

Kali Crow-Liester is the Executive Director of Growing Alliances. Photo courtesy: Kali Crow-Liester.

Even when a critter was clearly biting into them, I would comb through books (and now online) to try to remedy whatever was ailing them. I remember how big the zucchinis would get when I couldn’t see them through the foliage. I was so proud when I could actually make a meal out of the tomatoes, zucchini, broccoli and kale. The better the first round of plants got, the more variety of vegetables I wanted to plant. It ignited a passion to see what else I could grow and like a worried parent anticipating the growth of her little plants, I was fully invested in their survival. That’s what one entrepreneur hopes will happen with her young employees.

Whatcom County’s Kali Crow-Liester, Executive Director of Growing Alliances, is on a mission. She aims to create a cadre of alums of the community garden program to come back and work with youth to create a cycle of empowerment around food security and justice. Growing Alliances is a non-profit community garden that employs youth transitioning out of foster care and other young people.

Young Growing Alliance employees having fun with watermelon. Photo courtesy: Kali Crow-Liester.

“We have several goals,” said Kali. “We grow our food to go to food banks but we also are simultaneously building skills to prepare them for the workforce and building awareness around the food system.”

Growing Alliances leadership started with Heather Tiszai, with whom Kali volunteered. Heather would later recommend Kali for the executive director role when she stepped down. When Kali took over, she had to register a new license, change the mission and members of the board all within a few weeks.

Kali is a recent graduate of Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University where she studied food security and environmental resilience. Throughout college, Kali was most interested in the capacity of sustainable agriculture towards creating food security. Her first experiences were with the WSU extension Community First Garden Project and as the Garden project coordinator for Northwest Youth Services. She continually asks herself how we can use urban farming as a social justice tool to provide resources and food for people who don’t have it.

After a hard day’s work of weeding, the crew plays. Photo courtesy: Kali Crow-Liester.

“Our mission with Growing Alliances is empowering youth through opportunities with vocational agriculture. We want to give them as many opportunities to build their confidence around empowering themselves and see how they can improve other people’s lives. This builds that re-investment for them to return to the program to train the next group.”

This is where Kali gets particularly passionate about Growing Alliances … her vision for the future. She would like to see a community of alumni where five to 10 years from now, the alums are talking to the current employees so that they are teaching each other.

Having fun in the garden! Photo courtesy: Kali Crow-Liester.

“I’d love to see the people who have gone through the program turn around and help us improve and then teach those improvements,” Kali said. “I really hope they will take over to teach the way they wanted to be taught.”

Kali would also like to partner with the schools so Growing Alliances can award credit to schools and students participating in the program. In addition to growing and donating the food to local food banks, she would also like to see the youth actually prepare and serve the food. They would have the chance to engage with the community they are serving and hopefully build trust and a sense of investment with the program long term.

The growing Alliances crew has fun in the dirt. Photo courtesy: Kali Crow-Liester.

So, how does one gain employment in this program? Kali says it’s very simple and they will be hiring in March 2018. Go to the Growing Alliances website for more information about the program itself. Then if you’re interested, you can email info@growingalliances.org to introduce yourself, give examples of your volunteer experience and why you’re interested in the job. It’s that simple. (Don’t forget to give her your contact information.) The next step would be to have an informal interview to discuss what the job will look like and your level and ability to commit.

If you’re interested in donating to Growing Alliances, you can do that too. Simply go here and donate away! The more money raised, the more hours of youth employment and organic food-based production can happen. If you are interested or know someone who is passionate about this project, Growing Alliances is also looking to grow its board.

For even more information about growing your own food or their latest news, you can check out their blog here. Now, go forth and grow!

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