Bellingham SeaFeast: Emphasis on the Feast

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seafeast4-SteveSeymour — Drayton Harbor Oyster Company co-owner Steve Seymour preps oysters for the grill at last year's festival. Photo courtesy: Bellingham SeaFeast.

There’s a significant reason that Bellingham SeaFeast is named just that, rather than SeaFest. The event, now in its second year, emphasizes the feast of the sea and strives to be much more than your typical food festival.

Bellingham SeaFeast strives to be much more than your typical food festival. Photo courtesy: Bellingham SeaFeast.

SeaFeast shines a spotlight on the highest quality, most delicious seafood available anywhere – and lucky for us, so much of it is found right here at home.

The annual event is chock full of activities not directly related to the act of eating – such as visiting a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, learning about and celebrating our maritime heritage, listening to FisherPoets, singing sea shanties and much, much more – but feasting is undeniably the big draw.

(Find a full list of goings-on here.)

SeaFeast Kicks Off with Friday’s SeaFeed at the Square

Oysters on the grill are just the beginning of the delicious eats you’ll find in this year’s SeaFeast food court. Photo courtesy: Bellingham SeaFeast.

SeaFeed at the Square opens up the celebration at Depot Market Square with a banquet of world-class seafood including oysters, salmon, crab boil and more. It’s a new event this year; a re-working of last year’s SeaFeast Reception, which took place at the close of the festival.

We’re so fortunate to have internationally renowned producers right here in our beautiful corner of the world. Bornstein Seafoods, Taylor Shellfish Farms and Drayton Harbor Oyster Company are just three who will provide their delicious eats from the sea on Friday evening, while Crave Catering creates a crab boil to remember.

Draper Valley Farms is another local company taking part in SeaFeed at the Square, offering free-range chicken for those who don’t like or are allergic to seafood.

Don’t wait long to buy tickets, as this singular event is expected to sell out.

Saturday’s SeaFeast Festivities

The winning team at last year’s Shuck ‘n’ Slurp contest prepped and ate 22 oysters in just two minutes. Will this year’s champion top that? Photo courtesy: Bellingham SeaFeast.

Saturday’s full day of SeaFeast activities take place along the waterfront and Squalicum Harbor, with everything from dock walks and boat tours to a beer garden and live music.

Taste the Sea: A Sustainable Seafood Experience offers a chance to learn about and enjoy premium, sustainable seafood from several producers, such as Alaskan Leader and Penn Cove Shellfish. Haggen Market Street Catering and Ocean Beauty Seafoods will also serve up a variety of scrumptious samples at the Squalicum Boathouse.

Jay Bornstein, retired patriarch of Bornstein Seafoods, leads the charge for the ”Skill-of-the Grill” Salmon BBQ Grilling Championships, an event similar to one he hosted in the 1990s.

“There are barbecue contests all over the country with ribs and chicken and whatnot,” Bornstein says. “We decided to create our own contest right here, but for salmon.”

Drayton Harbor Oyster Company co-owner Steve Seymour preps oysters for the grill at last year’s festival. Photo courtesy: Bellingham SeaFeast.

Celebrity judges will weigh in on the spectacular salmon options, including renowned barbecue expert and author Rick Browne, who has appeared on PBS, the “Today” Show, “Live With Regis and Kelly” and more.

Drew Gamino, executive chef at Anthony’s Hearthfire Grill, is also slated to judge. He looks forward to being involved and also sharing the imperative message inherent in SeaFeast.

“The more we can contribute to the education of the seafood industry – the job possibilities it creates and the people behind it – the better it will be to cultivate the sustainable future of our seafood industry for generations to come,” he says.

Anthony’s is pleased to be a part of SeaFeast this year and its work to help connect more people to the Bellingham waterfront.

Prepare to be wowed by the variety of seafood you’ll enjoy at this year’s Bellingham SeaFeast. Photo courtesy: Bellingham SeaFeast.

A People’s Choice category has been added this year. Attendees can sample the salmon-grilled with $1 tickets and make their voices heard for which entry deserves the crown.

Have you ever wanted to put your amateur oyster shucking (and slurping) skills to the test? Pull a team together for the Oyster Shuck ‘n’ Slurp Contest. Ready…set…shuck!

If you’re practicing at home – upping your oyster tolerance, shall we say – be warned that last year’s winners shucked and slurped down an astounding 22 oysters in two minutes.

Drayton Harbor Oyster Company – whose co-owner Mark Seymour was on last year’s winning team – is a sponsor of this year’s contest.

(Read WhatcomTalk’s recent feature about Drayton Harbor Oyster Company.)

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Whatcom County’s Anne Mosness – Sparking Interest in Preventing Forest Fires

By

Lynn Bakeman

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Burnout Road Fire is brought under control near the trailhead of Larrabee State Park. Adjacent residents are part of a Firewise community program which may have contributed to quicker fire containment. Photo credit: InciWeb, DNR.

This summer Bellingham was engulfed in a haze of smoke from forest fires, a not-so-subtle reminder that there, but for the grace of Mother Nature and a knucklehead with fireworks, go I. As a transplanted Midwesterner, I sought out Sudden Valley craving to live in the shadow of the gentle giants that create such a beautiful canopy against the sky. Now settled in and getting the lay of the land, I realized that my tall friends could quickly become mortal enemies.

Then I met Anne Mosness, our resident firebrand, who was single-handedly taking on complacency and sharing information about Firewise, an internationally recognized preparedness program that encourages citizens to partner with local emergency and forest management resources to reduce a community’s wildfire risk.

Anne Mosness is Sudden Valley’s own firebrand. Photo credit: Jackie Wardlow.

To learn more about steps to reduce fire risk on your property, please refer to Anne’s article.

As a society, I think we’re secretly pleased when someone steps up to be the whistleblower, goes toe-to-toe with a bully or worries about the what-ifs. What forges the spirit of someone like Anne?

Without any male siblings, Anne’s father asked for her assistance one summer as a deck hand in Alaska. Although she’d summered in a cabin on the San Juan shoreline, girls did not typically work around the docks. Despite having no training, she attributes her success in the industry to overcoming obstacles working as a shelter counselor in Seattle’s Central District. By comparison, fishing seemed elemental and satisfying.

She eventually bought her own vessel and fished the dangerous waters of the Copper River and Bristol Bay, north of the Aleutian Islands. This dangerous occupation taught her that reducing risk was crucial since she was responsible for her crew, as well as making a living.

Anne Mosness went from deck hand to captain. Photo credit: Peter Mosness.

“I became a person who sees the beauty in nature but is not too complacent,” Anne explained. “I have the utmost respect for nature and survived by being hyper-vigilant especially by ensuring preventative maintenance, having the proper equipment for conditions and anticipating risks as much as possible. Our greatest fear as captains is accidents, and in nearly three decades on fishing boats, no one was injured … or worse.”

As president of the Women’s Maritime Association, she learned there were no criminal penalties for rape or assault onboard vessels and worked for eight years to get a law passed in Congress that required skippers to report attacks or face fines.

While working in the wild salmon fishing industry, she became concerned with marine and environmental issues. In the mid-1990s, she began researching and writing about the hazards of putting feedlots of non-native species in public waters.

When a huge warehouse fire in Bristol Bay in 2001 destroyed 35 boats including her own, it set the stage for the next chapter in her life. She became a research consultant with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, National Environmental Trust and Public Citizen.

Firewise hosted an ice cream social with a Vine maple giveaway. Photo credit: Anne Mosness.

Anne received a WK Kellogg Foundation Fellowship and spent the next 10 years traveling and speaking about marine and fisheries issues. While attending a conference, one speaker captured her attention as he described a century of failed forest management. She realized that with her move to Sudden Valley 33 years previously, she was living in a “Woodland Urban Interface” of homes built in and surrounded by dense woods, with a strict home owner’s association policy preventing tree removal and limbing.

“Concern for aesthetics can sometimes be contrary to safety,” Anne stated. “I became a member of the Architectural Control Committee to bring information about forest health and wildfire risk to the community. It takes people speaking up to change policies, otherwise people won’t think of it. I was more concerned about safety than most because of my years in the fishing industry.”

Anne leads community clean-up efforts. Photo credit: Alan Friedlob.

Anne wrote two grants to bring wildfire prevention and education to her community. One DNR grant provided branch chipping for over 200 homes. The second Whatcom Community Foundation Project Neighborly grant provided funds for 1,000 books on Fire Resistant Plants for Home Landscaping, free vine maples and informational community gatherings. To read more about the Firewise community awareness efforts, please read this Project Neighborly article.

Anne recently heard Hillary Franz, Commissioner of Public Lands and head of the Department of Natural Resources speak. By August, 400 fires had burned on DNR forest lands in the state of Washington. Although we haven’t seen any major fires in the past couple years, Chuckanut was big, as was Sumas, Cranberry Lake and Stewart Mountain. And we’re poised for huge fires on Mount Baker, the Cascade Mountains and Olympic Peninsula.

Burnout Road Fire is brought under control near the trailhead of Larrabee State Park. Adjacent residents are part of a Firewise community program which may have contributed to quicker fire containment. Photo credit: InciWeb, DNR.

“Prevention is the best way to keep disasters from happening and mitigating risk ties every component of my life together,” Anne said.

Thank goodness there are people like Anne Mosness with the foresight to plan ahead for issues we’d rather not imagine happening in our own back yard.

Follow the links for more information on the issue nearest to Anne’s heart – the fish farm catastrophe in our northern waters – and to take action to save our sound, our salmon and our future.

PeaceHealth St. Joseph Cancer Center to host a Lung Cancer Screening Information Fair

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LocalTalk Contributor

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Submitted by: PeaceHealth St. Joseph Cancer Center

The community is invited to attend a free information session about lung cancer screening now available in our community. The session is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Cancer Center, 3301 Squalicum Parkway. The event will include the opportunity to hear from a radiologist about lung screening eligibility, obtain educational information and participate in a FREE clinical hypnotherapy session for smoking cessation.

This free lung screening information fair is hosted jointly by PeaceHealth and Mt. Baker Imaging. For information, please contact Carol Brumet, Outreach Coordinator at cbrumet@peacehealth.org or 360-788-8220.

Empowering New Mothers with Lactation Consultations at PeaceHealth

By

Sara Holodnick

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PeaceHealth St. Joseph — PeaceHealth Lactation Consultants are there to support mothers, babies and families. Photo courtesy: PeaceHealth.

Debra Conlan, RN has worked as an obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN) nurse for about 30 years, and has specialized in lactation support since she became certified in the late 90s. Upon moving to Bellingham she realized that there was a need for an outpatient lactation program in our area. She worked with PeaceHealth to develop such a program five years ago.

lactation consultants at PeaceHealth — Lactation Consultants at PeaceHealth help mothers overcome hurdles and build a sucessful breastfeeding relationship. Photo courtesy: PeaceHealth.

In addition to the many breastfeeding classes and support groups offered by PeaceHealth, outpatient lactation consultants are available to any new mother in need in Whatcom County at PeaceHealth’s Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic.

“Initially we see patients for education around breastfeeding,” shared Conlan. “Mostly these are new moms who have never had a baby before who need help with the dexterity of holding the baby and learning about the benefits of breastfeeding.”

Women who need help from a lactation consultant usually have their first appointment three to five days after they’ve had their baby. They can continue to see them for support throughout the baby’s first year. The program was a bit slow to start, but now they see 20 to 30 women for one-on-one visits every week depending on the local birth rate. It’s a big hit with patients and doctors alike.

“Pediatricians and family doctors love that we’re here,” shared Conlan. “We get a lot of referrals from the community and from PeaceHealth.”

These consultations help new mothers learn how to breastfeed, how to tell if their baby is getting enough to eat, what a day might look like as far as feedings go, and what to do if things don’t go as expected. Consultations can also be helpful to women who don’t have support for breastfeeding or who are uncertain if it’s right for them.

“We also talk to mothers about whether or not they’re feeling positive about breastfeeding and feel out the family support around breastfeeding as well because sometimes that will determine how successful she is,” explained Conlan. “She may want to breastfeed, but if there isn’t family or cultural support, it may be difficult. Empowering mothers to breastfeed is really important. We want them to know that breastfeeding is good for them and is good for the baby, but we also want to get to the bottom of their concerns and help them find a way to breastfeed that will suit their needs.”

Moms and babies both receive long-term benefits from breastfeeding. There’s decreased risk of breast cancer for the mother and there’s often increased satisfaction and bonding with their child. Plus health costs during the first one to two years of life tend to be lower for babies who are breastfed.

“If you can breastfeed for a year and a half until their immune system is up and going, it’s very helpful,” explained Conlan. Childhood leukemias are lower in breastfed babies and breastfed babies tend to have fewer illnesses in general. Plus breast milk changes as the baby grows to adapt to what the child needs as it develops.

“The dynamic of breastmilk changes day to day and month to month as babies breastfeed,” explained Conlan. “Breast milk is probably the most healthy way to feed a baby, but we always leave room for those who aren’t doing that. I really feel it’s important to work with the mom, the baby and the family dynamics so that we can be sure that we’re not giving up on breastfeeding too soon. And we certainly don’t want to dictate breastfeeding if they’ve chosen not to. Sometimes it’s just not a good fit.”

Sometimes new mothers are physically unable to breastfeed due to complications with the breast or breast tissue, and adoptive parents may need special coaching on how best to feed their child with formula. Every case is different. Conlan and the other lactation consultants at PeaceHealth Medical Group are committed to making sure every patient gets the help they need to be successful.

“I think it’s really important to empower women,” shared Conlan. “I think that marketing done by the formula companies can mislead mothers into thinking that formula is exactly the same as breast milk. It is not and it won’t ever be. But if a mother can’t breastfeed – or doesn’t want to breastfeed – we need to support the best way to go about that and help them not feel guilty. Guilt is one of the first things mothers learn and it’s so not helpful. We want to make sure that they are comfortable with whatever decision they’ve made and support them all the way.”

Learn more about PeaceHealth’s breastfeeding classes and support groups, or talk to your doctor about being referred to PeaceHealth’s Lactation Services program if you think you may need extra help.

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Growing a Legacy – Find Delicious Local Garlic at Joe’s Gardens

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Sara Holodnick

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joes-garden-peggy-braiding-garlic — All of Joe's Gardens' garlic braids are hand-braided by Peggy or Laurie. Photo credit: Sara Holodnick.

For centuries garlic has been valued for its pungent flavor and revered for its medicinal qualities, earning the ancient plant a place as a staple in countless kitchens across the globe. The unmistakable aroma makes my mouth water and if your household is anything like mine, you always have at least a bulb or two of garlic on hand.

Joe’s Gardens co-owner, Nathan Weston, says that their softneck Italian Silver variety has distinct advantages. Photo credit: Sara Holodnick.

Garlic was one of the very first crops ever planted at Joe’s Gardens, and it’s a quintessential part of their farmstand offerings. In fact, their Italian Silver variety was brought to Bellingham by Joe himself in the early 1900s.

“We’ve had the seed ever since Joe brought it from Italy in the 20s and we keep propagating it every year,” shared Joe’s Gardens Co-Owner, Nathan Weston. He and his brother, Jason, are the farm’s caretakers now. Their parents, Carl and Karol Weston, bought Joe’s Gardens in 1983 and passed operations onto their sons in 2007. But while times and ownership have changed, much about this family-owned and operated farm has stayed the same over its nearly 100-year history, including that iconic garlic.

“This is one of our legacy crops,” Nathan explained. “It’s very distinctive to Joe’s.” Most garlic consumers will find in grocery stores is a hardneck variety, which has to do with the stiffness of the stalk that grows from its head of cloves. Joe’s Italian Silver variety is a softneck garlic, which has a few distinct advantages.

Joe’s Gardens planted four acres, which is 60,000 cloves, of garlic last year. Photo credit: Sara Holodnick.

“First off, it’s an excellent keeping garlic,” said Nathan. “A hardneck garlic will last maybe three to four months before it starts to go, but this will last nine to ten months. A lot of our customers will have their garlic into May or even June. The other really cool thing about a softneck garlic is that you can braid it. So our designated braiders, Lore and Peggy, go through and braid it.”

“I love it,” shared designated braider, Peggy Weston. “It’s my favorite thing we do.”

You can hang the braid of garlic in your kitchen for easy access to the so-called “stinking rose” any time you need a clove. “And another nice thing about this garlic is how large the cloves are, which makes it easier for cooking,” Nathan said.

Joe’s Gardens used to grow their garlic right on their Bellingham farm, but the demand for this quintessential crop outpaced their space. “In the old days we grew probably a tenth of what we grow now,” shared Nathan. How much garlic does Joe’s grow? Last year they planted 60,000 cloves on four acres of land in Whatcom County.

The dried bulbs of garlic that aren’t saved for seed are either cut off their stalks or braided and sold in their farmstand. Photo credit: Sara Holodnick.

“A lot of work goes into this garlic,” said Nathan. “We’ll sort what we’ve harvested for seeds and end up pulling out 10,000 bulbs of garlic.” These heads of garlic won’t be as large as the ones sold in their farm stand, but they will be perfect in shape and style because good genes beget good future crops. Those bulbs are bundled up and stored for the winter.

“And once we get into January or February there’s always this one week window of weather when it’s dry for five or six days. We’ll have a little wind and the soil dries out just a bit,” said Nathan. “Then we haul all the garlic out of storage and separate it into each individual clove. Every four inches we drop a little clove in.”

“The big difference between growing it here and growing it out in the county is that out there it’s sandy soil,” said Nathan. “It doesn’t compact down and you get bigger bulbs. It’s also a lot easier to dig. We have a tractor that lifts each bulb up and sets it on the ground.” Back before they expanded their garlic crop, picking was all done by mattocks – a pickaxe with a shovel end on it. “With each bulb you’d have to go under it to try and scoop it out and the soil would be rock hard. And if you hit a bulb – my god! Joe would be so mad.”

All of Joe’s Gardens’ garlic braids are hand-braided by Peggy or Lore. Photo credit: Sara Holodnick.

Once the garlic is harvested it’s loaded into trucks and brought back to Joe’s Gardens to be washed and dried in their greenhouses. The dried bulbs that aren’t saved for seed are then cut off their stalks or braided and sold in their on-site farmstand.

“I think this is probably the most iconic crop that we grow,” said Nathan. “It’s our legacy. We hope this seed goes on and on.”

You can find garlic bulbs and braids starting in late summer at the Joe’s Gardens retail farmstand at 3110 Taylor Avenue in Bellingham (open March through mid-October).

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Itek Construction Update

By

LocalTalk Contributor

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Western Solar Itek Factory — Itek Energy is a solar photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturer located in Bellingham. Photo courtesy: Western Energy.

Submitted by: The Port of Bellingham

Major construction activity is nearly complete on Itek Energy’s new 48,000-square-foot solar panel manufacturing plant on Bellingham’s downtown waterfront. Itek is set to move into their new facility and begin manufacturing solar panels by the end of the month.

Itek has experienced strong demand for their efficient, high-quality solar panels since starting production in the Irongate neighborhood in 2011. Last year, Itek purchased property from the Port of Bellingham as part of a $6 million project to convert a former pulp and tissue warehouse into a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility. The new solar plant will add approximately 30 jobs to Itek’s existing operations, moving up to 125 jobs to Bellingham’s downtown core and significantly strengthening the local economy.

“Itek Energy is a tremendous local success story,” said Port Commission President Dan Robbins. “The Port sold property to Itek to stimulate job growth and it’s wonderful to see all of the construction jobs this project is creating as well as new manufacturing opportunities for Whatcom County residents.”

While changes to the exterior of the former pulp and tissue warehouse have been highly visible with new windows, siding and a roof; it is the hum of new, state-of-the-art equipment inside which is most exciting to the owner of the local company. “We have installed the most advanced solar panel manufacturing equipment in the world,” said Itek Founder and CEO, John Flanagan. “We now have the capacity to produce up to 200 megawatts of highly efficient panels per year. Solar panel manufacturing has never been done to this scale in the State of Washington.”

When Itek’s new factory is up and running later this month, raw materials will be delivered by truck to the north side of the building, assembled into solar panels and then shipped out as finished product from the south side of the building. Some of the most sophisticated machinery in the world will allow Itek to produce a large volume of high quality panels in a relatively small footprint. For example, Itek’s new stringer machine will solder-connect two solar cells in 1.71 seconds—the fastest system in the world.

Increasing production capacity is necessary to meet escalating demand in Washington, Oregon and California, as well as emerging east coast and international markets. In Washington, legislation extending solar incentives to homeowners and businesses for eight years was signed into law this summer. “The U.S. solar market had it biggest year ever in 2016, and is projected to nearly triple in size over the next five years,” said Flanagan.

Itek will keep their Irongate facility to manufacture custom products with unique sizes and applications. “We have many customers interested in fabricating innovative solar products and technologies, and our Irongate facility will help us service this demand,” said Flanagan.

Itek’s new manufacturing plant is located within the Port’s 237-acre downtown waterfront redevelopment area. Construction on the first new roads and park in the downtown waterfront are scheduled to begin next month, and the Port’s private development partner recently announced plans to build four large scale projects within the next several years.

“We are excited to be part of the downtown waterfront redevelopment effort,” said Flanagan. “It is an amazing place to live, work and play. Bellingham’s central waterfront has some unique clean energy resources, including our new facility, which could eventually form a clean-tech innovation hub and create a significant number of jobs related to manufacturing, research and education.”

Clean energy resources on the waterfront include the planned installation of district utility systems, waste heat from Puget Sound Energy’s Encogen station which could be reused to help power a district heating system, and a surplus 48-inch water main extending from Lake Whatcom to the waterfront which could be used to generate hydropower. Western Washington University’s Institute for Energy Studies is ideally situated to provide education in the area of clean and renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Clean technology is rapidly developing into an important part of the national economy with over 2.7 million workers in the U.S. Nearly 260,000 Americans work in solar – more than double the number in 2012 – at more than 9,000 companies in every state.

New Activity at the Bellingham Shipping Terminal

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LocalTalk Contributor

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Michael Shepard and Ken Bell — Photo courtesy: Port of Bellingham.

Submitted by: The Port of Bellingham

The Bellingham Shipping Terminal is set to receive its first regular cargo shipment in over 17 years. The 590-foot MV Diana Bolten is scheduled arrive on September 28 loaded with 10,700 metric tons of organic corn and soybeans destined for local markets.

“The Bellingham Shipping Terminal is open for business,” said Port Commission President Dan Robbins. “The Port has made significant investments to modernize this job-creating facility and bring back working waterfront jobs which were lost when Georgia-Pacific shut down its pulp and paper mill. We are excited to welcome the MV Diana Bolten to our Port and look forward to regular shipping activity in the years to come.”

Local longshore union (ILWU) workers will offload the organic corn and soybeans for temporary storage in the Shipping Terminal warehouses. Sunrise Foods will distribute the grains to producers of organic livestock in northwest Washington and southern British Columbia for use as animal feed.

“There has been a surge of organic grain imports over the past several years due to strong demand from American consumers,” said Port Marine Terminals Business Development Manager Chris Clark. “The Port Commission’s commitment towards modernizing the Shipping Terminal along with strong support from our local ILWU has been critical towards making this facility a cost-effective and convenient gateway for international commerce. Consumer demand for organic foods is expected to continue growing rapidly in the U.S. and we are hoping to secure additional contracts to move organic grains and other commodities over our docks in the coming years.”

The organic corn and soybeans were shipped from Turkey, one of the largest exporters of organic products to the United States. The MV Diana Bolten is currently in the North Atlantic Ocean and scheduled to enter the Panama Canal on or around September 12.

In 2016, Turkey, Mexico, Italy, Peru and Ecuador supplied 43 percent of tracked U.S. organic imports.

The Port has recently made significant capital investments to the Bellingham Shipping Terminal to encourage new business. At its last meeting, the Port Commission authorized a rental agreement, with the option to purchase, equipment necessary to load and unload grain and other bulk commodities. Over the summer, the Port completed a $500,000 project to replace the roof on Warehouse 2 allowing the facility to be certified for the storage of organic grains. Other recent improvements include a new bulkhead, up-to-date stormwater and power systems, and the clean-up of historic contamination from the Whatcom Waterway.

The Bellingham Shipping Terminal is a full-service marine terminal with the flexibility to meet a diverse range of business needs. Terminal assets include 1,250 feet of dock space on a deep water pier, a 550 foot barge pier, 85,000 square feet of covered storage, 40 acres of available land and access to resources via rail, barge, rafts, trucks, containers and ocean-going vessels.

The Port of Bellingham was established in 1920. Throughout Whatcom County, the Port owns, operates and maintains approximately 1600 acres of property including a shipping terminal, a cruise terminal, two marinas, industrial development areas, commercial uplands, parklands, shoreline public access areas and an international airport.

Learn about Maritime Skills and Craft at Bellingham SeaFeast 2017

By

Sara Holodnick

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Bellingham Seafeast Yum — Be prepared for delicious eats at SeaFeast 2017! Photo courtesy: Bellingham SeaFeast.

The second annual Bellingham SeaFeast on September 22 and 23 will showcase and celebrate Whatcom County’s maritime heritage, bustling working waterfront, internationally-renowned fishing and seafood industries, and unsurpassed culinary bounty. And while there will be plenty of good eats to enjoy, SeaFeast 2017 organizers want the community to see and understand the wide variety of operations that work together to bring them the seafood they love.

Come on down and have some oceanfront fun! Photo courtesy: Bellingham SeaFeast.

SeaFeast Co-Manager Pete Granger, coordinator of the festival’s commercial fishing activities, grew up in a fishing and maritime family and wants to share the rich heritage of the industry with locals and visitors alike.

“My father was a salmon tenderman before WWII,” Granger shared. Granger began fishing for salmon in the reefnet fishery off of Lummi Island when he was a sophomore in high school. Over the years he has worked a wide variety of jobs in the maritime field. From managing salmon canneries in Alaska after college to overseeing a 20-person marine outreach program at University of Washington Sea Grant for the past 15 years, Granger knows a little something about the industry.

“I have sold fish, processed fish, headed fishermen’s trade associations as a lobbyist and as a generic marketer for West Coast and Alaska seafood,” he said.

One thing Granger has noticed over his many years working with and around seafood is that many people in Whatcom County are not familiar with the breadth of the maritime industry here. “They know other major sectors such as agriculture and the Cherry Point industrial complex and health sector, but don’t know that maritime employs over 6,000 direct and indirect jobs here,” he explained.

Learn how your favorite seafood is harvested at SeaFeast 2017. Photo courtesy: Bellingham SeaFeast.

Bellingham SeaFeast helps educate the public about these skills and trades by putting the maritime industry on display for the general public to witness and interact with. “SeaFeast will provide examples of fishing boats to show the public how the fish they buy at the market or in restaurants are caught,” said Granger. “They will see the equipment needed on the boat to catch the fish. Fishermen will be there to explain these operations and to take them on interpretative dock walks.”

It takes an incredible amount of skill and training to be a fisherman. Fishermen must be well-versed in things that seem more obvious, such as navigation, steering and running a boat, engine repair and net building and mending. But crew management, finance and accounting are extremely important as well. “They are all self-employed businesses,” said Granger.

While those of us who love to eat seafood may have a good sense of what kind of fish we enjoy or how we like to eat our oysters, many of us have no real understanding of the wide variety of skills and specialized crafts employed by the people who work in maritime trades. Bellingham SeaFeast 2017 will change all that.

The Friday night festivities take place in downtown Bellingham, featuring a SeaFeed at Depot Market Square (tickets available online at www.BellinghamSeaFeast.com). FisherPoets-on-Bellingham Bay will also perform original poems, videos and storytelling of life at sea at four different downtown venues. A $5 badge gets you into all four.

It’s fascinating to watch these heroes in action. Photo courtesy: Bellingham SeaFeast.

On Saturday, September 23, 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. at Zuanich Point Park/Squalicum Harbor, Bellingham SeaFeast attendees can take part in commercial fishing activities in the active harbor of Bellingham Bay including:

Meet Your Fishermen: Dock walks, boat visits, knot-tying and net-mending demos, and much more.
Demos: Learn to fillet, to crack crab and to prepare your seafood.
Two Harbor Boat Rides and Tours of Ice House and Fish-Processing Plant and the Downtown Waterfront: Limited-capacity trips to Bellingham Cold Storage & Home Port Seafoods (walking), and by boat a tour of the waterfront redevelopment area. Advance tickets are available online.

There’s also a land-only, free tour of All-American Marine boat builders at 1010 Hilton Ave.

“[Attendees] will have the opportunity to travel by boat to a large processing facility, Bellingham Cold Storage, to see its operation of processing, freezing and storing seafood and all the various skills needed for that operation,” Granger shared. “They will also see a vital public agency, the Coast Guard, and how it works locally to ensure the safety of commercial and recreational boats.”

Be prepared for delicious eats at SeaFeast 2017! Photo courtesy: Bellingham SeaFeast.

SeaFeast attendees can board a Coast Guard cutter, and a Coast Guard helicopter will arrive from Port Angeles at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday to demonstrate an at-sea helicopter rescue.

“The maritime sector provides good-paying, year-round jobs located right here in Whatcom County,” said Granger. “Other sectors include boatbuilding, boat service and maintenance, public and private boatyards and marinas, net and rope manufacturers, cold storages and more.”

So come enjoy the wide variety of family-friendly, hands-on educational activities along Bellingham’s waterfront during Bellingham SeaFeast 2017. You’ll never take our delicious local seafood for granted again!

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Experience the New Camber Coffee

By

Kenneth Clarkson

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There's nothing like a perfect cup of brew. Photo credit: David Yake.

Camber Coffee is cool. I know, I know, you’re probably thinking, “Well, what exactly does that mean?” And, in actuality, it means exactly what you think it does. Camber Coffee is impressive, fashionable, relaxed and yep … just downright cool – from the sleek white-walled interior to the tranquil atmosphere. The new artisan coffee shop and bistro in Bellingham celebrated its grand opening on Aug. 26. Now in full-swing, Camber is ready satisfy all your coffee, beer, wine and food cravings.

But Camber’s story doesn’t just start at the opening of their brick and mortar location. In fact, Camber has been roasting coffee in Bellingham for two years, introducing their first line of coffee in 2015. Owner David Yake started Camber after having been a barista for five years in Seattle while attending the University of Washington. The original blueprint for Camber was to wholesale coffee to cafes across the United States and Canada, but overtime visions of a restaurant and coffee shop became a reality.

Camber has a full kitchen, nine beer taps and coffee bar. Photo credit: David Yake.

“It had always been a dream of ours to open a brick and mortar location,” Yake says. “We were already working with fantastic cafes who do a great job with our coffee, but we had always wanted to showcase the coffee ourselves too.”

Yake says they couldn’t be more in love with their new location. Camber has an ample amount of space, which provides for both a good meeting place to grab a cup of coffee, and a spot to sit down and enjoy a delicious meal. The location’s chic aesthetic and vibe was brought together by a team of architects, designers and the vision of Yake’s business partner Andrew Bowman. Yake says they wanted to go for a look that was both modern and welcoming.

“When we bought the place Andrew immediately started dreaming ideas on how to make it our own,” Yake says. “We knew we would have enough space to make it both a coffee shop and restaurant, which was awesome because we are huge food lovers too, not just coffee fanatics.”

Currently, Camber sports an evening and brunch menu, and the introduction of a discounted happy hour menu is on the horizon. The evening menu features dishes such as Steamed Clams with bacon, mustard and mint, and Spaghetti Carbonara with bacon, fresh peas, Parmigiano-Reggiano and basil.

Specialty coffee served at Camber comes from a variety of different coffee farms, most notably from Guatemala and Colombia. Photo credit: David Yake.

Camber keeps their quality of food consistent, as the brunch menu is one to rival if not even surpass their evening plates. Dishes such as the Baked Eggs Pomodoro and Hen of the Woods Porridge are sure to fulfill all of your brunch desires.

The Hen of the Woods Porridge takes a classic breakfast dish Goldilocks and the three bears would be proud of and gives it a pristine food makeover. Maitake mushrooms, Macrona almonds, ryeberry and spelt come together to give the breakfast tradition a complete 180. Bellingham isn’t too shabby of a town when it comes to getting great brunches, and Camber’s brunch certainly makes that list.

“We want people to know in addition to serving great coffee, we are a full-blown restaurant,” Yake says. “We take every aspect of our business seriously.”

At Camber you have two options, you can either order at the counter or you can sit down, relax and wait for one of their staff members to come take your order. The best of both worlds. Choose your own adventure. Whatever you decide to call it, the fact is it makes your life easier. One way or the other you will get to enjoy locally-roasted coffee, select-local brews, fresh eats and discover great wines.

Yake says they are excited about a slew of new events they have in the works, including vitner nights, coffee classes and seasonal food and beer pairings.

“We want things to be fast and efficient, but also interesting and special,” Yake says. “We want you to be able to have an experience, from sipping our specialty coffees to our rare beers.”

Camber Coffee’s bistro and coffee shop is now open for business at 221 W Holly Street, Bellingham. Photo credit: David Yake.

Every year Yake and his business partners travel to South and Central America to visit coffee farms they have partnerships with. The trips they take to key coffee-producing regions of the world help to foster the relationships they have with the farms they purchase their coffee beans from. Yake says they buy coffee from all over the world, with their main locations being Guatemala and Colombia.

The roaster turned bistro and coffee shop also forges relationships with various producers in the Pacific Northwest and, more specifically, in Whatcom County. To celebrate their soft opening Camber collaborated on a coffee beer with Wander Brewing also based in Bellingham. Currently Camber is using six of their nine beer taps and plan to expand with a greater selection of brews as time goes on.

“We couldn’t be happier opening our location here in Bellingham,” Yake says. “We are excited to build quality relationships with our customers and fellow producers around us.”

Neighborhood Notes—Skate Year Round at Lynden’s Skate Church

By

Kenneth Clarkson

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Skateboarding is a staple of childhood for many. For some it is a leisure activity fostered in youth then continually practiced later in life. One of the best feelings I ever experienced was getting my brand new skateboard. I had wanted to get a skateboard for so long and finally, during the Christmas of my 13th year, I got one. It changed the game. I remember taking my board out onto the cul-de-sac and stepping on for the first time. Bobbing, weaving, falling, bruising. When you were a kid on a skateboard you took the good with the bad, pain was pleasure

Being from the East Coast, I was fortunate to be able to skateboard during any season. Due to the massive amounts of rain, a lot of kids in the Pacific Northwest don’t have that luxury. Enter Skate Church. Lynden’s Skate Church combines the unlikely partnership of fellowship and skateboarding to give skaters of all ages a place to stay dry and land their sweet tricks.

Lynden Skate Church offers skaters many ramps and amenities. Photo credit: Kenneth Clarkson.

Skate Church started in 1998 as an outlet for youth in the Lynden community to have a place to skateboard. Created and curated by the Third Christian Reform Church, skaters originally utilized the back parking lot of the church as the skating area, but it was only used from the spring to fall seasons. As interest in the Skate Church increased, the Third Christian Reform Church decided it best to rent out a barn at the NW Washington Fairgrounds. This allowed skaters to stay dry and skate during the rainy months.

Now the current incarnation of the Skate Church functions two-fold. During the summer, Skate Church is held at the Third Christian Reformed Church’s parking lot and during the other seasons it is at the Henry Jansen Building at the NW Washington Fairgrounds. Skate Church’s location at the Henry Jansen Building also serves as one of the only indoor skate parks in Whatcom County. Ramps, halfpipes, grinding rails and many other obstacles populate the inside of the barn making it an ideal location for skaters looking to change it up from skating their local convenience store parking lot.

Skater’s helmets rest on the helmet rack during the mid-session prayer break at the Lynden Skate Church. Photo credit: Kenneth Clarkson.

But for skaters in Lynden, even skating those convenience store parking lots was not allowed. Lynden has an extremely limited amount of places for people to skate. Most businesses and commercial enterprises don’t allow skating on their property and skating on property that does not condone it can lead to legal trouble. Skate Church provides a place for skaters to avoid running into trouble with the law. It is a haven where they can skate in peace.

Sessions at Skate Church run from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays, with each session costing $1 in order to skate. Talk about affordability. The whole session isn’t skating though, there are breaks in between for prayer and even free food. A typical skate session at the Lynden Skate Church goes like this: an hour of skating when you first get there from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., followed by a fifteen minute prayer break and then another 45 minutes of skating.

A spray-painted car that skateboarders do tricks off of sits in the middle of the Lynden Skate Church. Photo credit: Kenneth Clarkson.

The small break during the middle of the session is aimed at bringing skaters together through fellowship and community. The break includes free food for the skaters, a recited prayer and a scripture read from the bible.

In order to skate at the Skate Church you must follow the rules and regulations put in place by the Third Christian Reformed Church and their staff. Not complying with the rules can result in removal. And trust me, you don’t want that to happen. Perhaps the most important rule is that in order to skate you have to show up before the prayer break. Skaters arriving afterward cannot skate. So make sure you get there early. In addition, refrain from using cuss words … even if you wipe out.

Skate Church is hands down one of the best places (if not the best) to skate in Whatcom County. There isn’t much else out there that is quite like it. When I went for my first time, strictly to view a session, I was instantly transported back to being that 13-year-old kid gripping his brand new skateboard for the first time. I couldn’t wait to come back again, this time as a skater.

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