Rick Adelstein, President of Louis Auto Glass, is chairing Boys & Girls Clubs of Whatcom County’s Great Futures campaign. The campaign is the organization’s annual fundraiser running from September through October, culminating at the 17th Annual Breakfast on November 3.
“Rick’s dedication to this organization is well known,” said Heather Powell, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Whatcom County. “We are honored he has stepped up to lead this campaign to success.”
The Adelstein family business has been in Whatcom County since 1929, and was founded by Rick’s grandfather, Louis Adelstein. Rick’s business supports and sponsors over 50 other organizations in Whatcom County.
“I’ve been a supporter of Boys & Girls Clubs of Whatcom County for many years, and because of that, I thought I understood the breadth of their impact,” Adelstein said. “When I recently visited one of the Clubs and met some of the kids and staff, I realized how transformational and vitally needed their work really is in our community.”
In 2015 Boys & Girls Clubs of Whatcom County:
Served over 79,000 healthy meals and snacks to kids; 48% of them qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Spent nearly 13,000 hours helping kids with homework and teaching them skills for academic success
For more information, contact Paloma Pirotte at Boys & Girls Clubs of Whatcom County at 360-738-3808 ext. 307 or ppirotte@whatcomclubs.org.
First inspired by a 2007 serial play at Bellingham’s Idiom Theatre, locally-made web series, Dark Darkness, has been accepted to the 24th Annual Raindance Film Festival in London, England that runs from September 21 – October 2. Episode 4: Snakeman’s Solitude was chosen as an official selection in the Web Fest UK division and will be screened October 1.
Producer and Director Wilson Large will attend the festival with his wife, Joanna. The episode is the final of four episodes that make up Season Zero of this adventure-comedy-fantasy web series. The series follows four flawed but powerful ‘Dark Lords’ who become reluctant allies as they solve a mystery to clear their names of a murder they didn’t commit and ultimately must learn how to be friends in order to survive.
Their local productions that spanned over the past six years have involved more than 90 area artists as well as the skills of connected and incredibly experienced L.A. transplants including CSI: NY’sJesse Collver, set designer Mel Cooper, and, production designer Garvin Eddy.
Episodes have already been screened and won awards at film festivals in Bellingham, Seattle, and Vancouver, B.C, as well as making the quarter finals of the NexTV Web Series & Indie Film Competition. Large is in the planning phase for the future of Seasons One and Two of the series including pursuing fundraising and state incentives for his projected $1.4 million budget as either a continued web series or a full-length feature film.
Large loves the vibe in Bellingham because “the filmmaking community here is talented, collaborative, and supportive.” He’s excited to dive into the next phase of Bellingham’s largest film project.
Less than half of Whatcom County households have library cards. To change this, the Whatcom County Library System just kicked-off the “Book Brain Challenge” campaign to get more local people signed up for WCLS cards during National Library Card Sign-Up Month in September.
To participate, people need to take a video of themselves doing something with a book balanced on their head—they can dance, cook, sing, unicycle, show off a hidden talent—the possibilities are endless. Participants then upload the video to theirFacebook page and/or Instagram and challenge three friends to do the same using the hashtags #BookBrainChallenge and #WCLSlibraries. If people don’t already have a library card, they’re encouraged to sign up for one at wcls.org.
“The Whatcom County Library System offers incredible resources—both print and digital—that enrich patrons’ lives and can save them hundreds of dollars every year,” said Christine Perkins, WCLS executive director. “Despite this, there’s still a large number of people in our community who don’t have library cards. We want to change this! Our #BookBrainChallenge offers an easy way for people to support the library, engage with their community, get more people signed up for library cards, and have fun while doing it.”
Over the last few months, WCLS has taken a new marketing approach with the “My Modern Library” campaign, aimed at promoting their digital services, such as eBooks, downloadable audiobooks, digital magazines, music streaming, free music downloads, online language tutorials, and even downloadable adult coloring books. Because of this campaign, WCLS has seen a huge uptick in digital service usage: music streaming and downloads are up 57%, digital magazine usage is up 50%, eBooks and audiobooks are up 14%, and online language tutorials have seen a whopping 447% increase.
Last March, WCLS also kicked-off online library card registration, making it easier than ever for people to sign up for cards (it only takes about two minutes!). So far, hundreds of people have signed up for library cards online. The #BookBrainChallenge builds off this modern approach by encouraging people to engage with the library in a new and digital way.
“We’re inviting everyone in the community—from business owners, to children, to local elected officials and beyond, to show their library support by participating in the #BookBrainChallenge,” Perkins said. “Ferndale Mayor Jon Mutchler has already posted his video and challenged other Whatcom County mayors to do the same. We can’t wait to see what talents people show off!”
On Saturday, September 24th Lydia Place and Boundary Bay Brewery will welcome 300 runners adorned in wedding dresses, tuxedos and bridal attire to the first EVER Wedding Dashers Fun Run, a unique and exciting new outdoor event designed to raise awareness and financial support for homeless families.
Wedding Dashers, a whimsically themed fun-run, kicks off at Boundary Bay Brewery, and sets off on a 2.7 mile course down the Boulevard Trail and back. The finish line is just the beginning, as the Boundary Bay beer garden is transformed into a faux wedding reception complete with DJ, cake, mimosas and games. Registered attendees are asked to put on their wedding gear, lace up their runners, and get dashing for families in need here in Whatcom County.
Wedding Dashers is the brain-child of Jenny Schmidt, local event guru, runner, and Events Manager of Boundary Bay Brewery. Her hope was to design a fun community oriented event to engage people in an important and challenging issue and cause, in an accessible and creative way. Schmidt, known for other local and highly attended classic events like April Brews Day, and Zombies Have Hearts, Too 5K hopes that the local running and non-running community finds Wedding Dashers as an approachable alternative to longer distance options, and gets their funny bones tickled at the same time.
“The team at Boundary Bay Brewery and I wanted to find a way to honor the incredible work that Lydiia Place is doing in Bellingham to end homelessness, while adding a little fun and humor to our downtown and beer garden. Wedding Dashers has been an exciting opportunity to collaborate with our local community and Lydia Place, while shining a light on this important issue,” says Schmidt.
Online registration is currently open. Register here or stop in at Fairhaven Runners. The cost to participate is an accessible $25, with 12 and under free. A limited edition tuxedo t-shirt by Iron Street Printing is also available to registered guests. On the day of the dash, event participants are invited to enjoy complimentary wedding hair styling services provided by The Beauty Institute-Schwarzkopf beginning at 8:00 a.m. at Boundary Bay on Railroad Avenue. Additionally, the first 100 registered guests will receive a wedding-themed goodie bag filled with exciting items and services from event sponsors and wedding industry professionals. All participants will receive a wedding themed participation ribbon, and can enter to win prizes and goodies courtesy of Wedding Dash sponsors. Donations include prizes from Fairhaven Runners, Boundary Bay Brewery, Belle Bridal, LyLy’s Wonders, Wise Buys, lululemon athletica and more.
With some Bellingham restaurants staying open as late (or early) as 4:00 a.m., late night hunger is easily satisfied. Photo courtesy: The Horseshoe Cafe/Facebook.
We all have come to understand the idea of a midnight snack. At home, cozied up in pajamas, our stomachs sometimes grumble far beyond dinner hours and eventually steer us into the kitchen. While pantry pickings and fridge food can sometimes do the trick, other times it’s just, well, blah. So, if you’re willing to hop out of those pajamas (or not—this is friendly Bellingham, after all) and decide to dine downtown, here’s a list of five restaurants your rumbly stomach and taste buds will surely thank you for.
It’s no wonder El Capitán’s is pirate themed — they really do have gold. And by gold I mean mouthwatering sausages, amazing pretzels, and all the extras and condiments you can imagine. Whether you go for a classic option like “THE Hot Dog (Bellingham’s Best!),” or something more along the lines of “The Veggie Dog” that’s paired with sun-dried tomatoes, you’ll be getting a steal.
One of the more interesting items on the menu is a specialty dog called the “X.O.,” which is manager Zac Cote’s top pick. This dog is made up of thick bacon strips, grilled onions, cream cheese and barbeque sauce. This place is certainly worth a visit.
Pel’meni
Food: Russian dumplings
Hours: Everyday, 11:00 a.m. – 2:30 a.m.
Location: 1211 N State St. Bellingham, WA 98225
Pel’meni is great because it’s a simple, quirky, little meal. Despite the few options — beef dumplings, potato dumplings, or a mix of the two — you will certainly find yourself feeling satisfied. To be honest, they really don’t need to add to the menu because it’s perfect just the way it is. Plus, as the late nights haul in a line of customers, you can wait as you listen to a variety of songs playing smoothly on their record player.
Retro vibes mixed with dumplings, sour cream, vinegar and hot sauce is a must-have for all Bellinghamsters now and then.
Pye Hole – La Fiamma Pizza
Food: Pizza and more
Hours: Thursday – Saturday, 11:00 p.m. – late
Location: Side window at 200 E Chestnut St. Bellingham, WA 98225
Stacks of fresh pizza–and other amazing options–await you at the window. Photo credit: La Fiamma/Facebook.
As La Fiamma’s website clearly states, “If the fire’s on, there’s pizza for you, drunky-pants.” And some of the best darn pizza ever, I might add. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy pizza as that midnight snack we all know and love?
But get this, the window offers even more than that. Yes, most of the time the window also offers up a “Big Turkey Leg,” “Super Stuffed Baked Potato,” “Hot Apple Pie,” “Garlic Knots” and a “Big Brownie.” So if the cheese, pepperoni, meat combo or veggie combo slices aren’t enough, you should be able to find something else. If you’re really more in the mood for a midnight meal you can even order full pizzas.
The Horseshoe Cafe
Food: Breakfast and lunch
Hours: Sunday – Thursday, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m. and Friday – Saturday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 a.m.
Location: 113 E Holly St. Bellingham, WA 98225
Hit your sweet tooth with a sugary helping of “Churro Waffles” from the Horseshoe Cafe. Photo courtesy: Horseshoe Cafe/Facebook.
The Horseshoe Cafe is said to be the oldest continuously operating cafe and cocktail lounge in Washington State. Specifically, they have been around since 1886. With so much experience behind them, the ‘Shoe offers loads of options and is open late into the night for those nighttime food cravings.
Rachael Satter, a server five nights a week, knows how favorable The Horseshoe Cafe becomes during late hours.
“We call it a post-bar rush,” she says. “It can get pretty busy.”
But with so many people ordering all over the menu, Rachael thinks the “Churro Waffle” is definitely underappreciated. This is a waffle that gets brushed with butter, dipped in cinnamon sugar and includes vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. So, breakfast food and dessert?! If that doesn’t cure your late night sweet tooth, I don’t know what will.
Sweet and savory — nothing can go wrong when you have either option. Especially with a crepe. Seriously, how often do you have the opportunity to chow down on a “Chicken Bacon Ranch” crepe packed with sharp cheddar, tomatoes and spinach? AB Crepes is a wonderful spot to go for that second dinner or well-deserved dessert considering that the crepes are a great size and great taste to match. Plus, with gluten-free and vegetarian options, everyone in your party should be able to find something fitting on the menu.
Make some moves and head downtown to end that midnight snack craving once and for all — or at least for tonight.
At Demo Days, shoppers can learn new ways to make use of seasonal produce from professionals like Sarah Southerland of Sustainable Connections and Electric Beet Juice Company. Photo courtesy: Bellingham Farmers Market.
Food To Bank On, a beginning farmer business training project facilitated by Sustainable Connections, is currently accepting applications for up to four new participants in 2017. They are proud to announce that three Food to Bank on participants were recognized at the Farm Fund Hootenanny awards last weekend.
The Food to Bank On project provides farmers with business planning resources, connects beginning farmers with mentor farmers, coordinates specialized workshops and provides new market opportunities. Participants are also paid to deliver fresh food to local food banks and shelters. Whatcom County food banks, soup kitchens and women’s shelters have received over $90,000 in fresh produce since the program’s start in 2003.
Food to Bank On participants go through a business planning series each winter, working with a cohort of peer and mentor farmers to write and revisit their business plans. They also receive marketing assistance and free membership to Sustainable Connections, enabling them to build their business through relationships with retailers, restaurants, and other established farmers. Fifty-two farmers have participated in the three-year program and 80% are still successfully farming – an outstanding rate for any beginning business. In order to provide a diversity of locally-available agricultural products, the farmers chosen for Food To Bank On grow and raise a variety of foods like vegetables, meats, eggs, flowers and more.
During last Sunday’s Community Food Co-op Farm Fund Hootenanny, co-hosted by Sustainable Connections, Food to Bank On farmers swept the awards. Food to Bank On participant Slanted Sun Farm was recognized with the New Farmer Award and Bow Hill Blueberries, a Food to Bank On mentor, was awarded Most Innovative Farm. In addition, Mike Finger from Cedarville Farm was honored with the Mentor Farmer award. As Anna Morris of Slated Sun Farm said, “we have so much love for this amazing community – we are so lucky to be a part of it!”
An original all-purpose seasoning made famous in a Niagara Falls, Canada restaurant is now available for sale in Western Washington.
Mr. Frank’s all-purpose seasoning is ideal for steaks, salmon, pork, chicken, vegetables, and even popcorn, according to company founder Lisa Campbell of Bellingham. The 8-ounce containers can currently be found on the company’s website, www.MrFranksSpiceCo.com and will be on retail shelves shortly.
“It’s the only spice you’ll reach for,” Campbell said. “It enhances flavor by itself or is fabulous with clarified butter and a few dashes of Maggi ®.”
Campbell’s father, Frank Postl, developed the seasoning for his restaurant, Frank’s Steak House and Tavern, which he opened in 1964 in Niagara Falls, Canada. Postl, who emmigrated from Austria into Canada in 1953, knew nothing of the restaurant business, nor even what a steak was, his daughter admitted.
“He did, however, have an acute sense of taste,” Campbell said. “He invented a steak spice that, along with his dedication to perfection, would eventually make him famous in Niagara Falls and his restaurant a huge success.”
Campbell followed her father’s footsteps; becoming general manager of three restaurants by the time she was 21. After stepping away from the hospitality industry, almost 2 decades later and upon the passing of her father, she recalled the popularity of her father’s seasoning and decided to carry on his legacy and bring it to retail shelves.
“Summer is an ideal time for Mr. Frank’s Spice because so many people are barbecuing,” Campbell said. “This also is a great area to launch it because we are a small but closely knit community that supports each other, particularly in business. Combined with people’s love of cooking, this has me extremely excited to bring my dad’s original seasoning to the Bellingham market. It truly is an incredible seasoning and I know people will love Mr. Frank’s the first time they try it!”
For more information about the seasoning and Mr. Frank himself, visit www.MrFranksSpiceCo.com.
Store Manager Nancy Long poses in the renovated Wise Buys. Photo credit: Patricia Herlevi.
In the past, shoppers found high-end recycled clothing at consignment shops. Only true bargain hunters braved outdated or worn-out clothing at thrift stores. However, Wise Buys, a thrift store tucked along North State Street near Rudy’s Pizza, Old World Deli and the Y, resembles a consignment shop without the high price tags.
With recent renovations and the re-opening of Wise Buys last April, shoppers ranging from teens to sage elders find fashion at reasonable prices. And in the thrift store tradition, a shopper can take an additional 50 percent off the item with the right color tag. The other advantage of finding gently-worn treasures at Wise Buys is that proceeds supportLydia Place, a local organization providing transitional housing for homeless families.
Wise Buys offers upscale fashion at bargain prices — and all for a good cause. Photo credit: Patricia Herlevi.
The store now resembles a boutique with easy access to women’s and men’s clothing as well as household items. Store Manager Nancy Long describes Wise Buys’ mission as revolving around diversity. That includes diversity of the treasures available in the shop, the customers, and the shop’s volunteers. “In addition to diversity, we recycle everything. Zero waste is part of our mission,” Long says. This allows shoppers to buy local and keep clothing out of the waste stream.
The zero waste mission includes recycling paper and bottles as well as donating hard-to-sell goods to ARC, Goodwill, Ragfinery and furnishings to the Re-Store. Nancy is meticulous about recycling everything, and she shares that passion through education with her volunteers.
Taking a tour through the back of the store, we walked past winter boots, coats, and piles of donations. However, the store does not accept every donation. Unacceptable donations include large furnishing, children’s clothing, and computer electronics.
However, the store sells children’s clothing to Little Bugs Consignment then turns the proceeds into vouchers for children’s clothing to help families in need. And as far as used beds, while the store itself doesn’t accept them, it will donate gently used beds to families.
Wise Buys is tucked along North State Street. Photo credit: Patricia Herlevi.
The store concentrates on the biggest sellers — women’s and men’s clothing. Nancy describes the contemporary thrift shop consumer while bringing Wise Buys up to speed with the current trends. “People buy at thrift stores for fun. Younger customers, [under the age 50], buy the most from the store.”
She goes on, “We corner in on high-end brands and fashion that would cost more. And active-wear sells ridiculously quickly.” A big seller is sports bras, which according to Nancy, fly out of the store as soon as they arrive.
Besides selling gently used brand name clothing and working towards zero waste, Wise Buys connects with the community in providing job training with Opportunity Council, Work Source, Work First and other similar programs. The non-profit organizations pay the wages of the workers-in-training.
Reaching further out in the community, Wise Buys teamed up with Western Washington University’s Center for Service Learning, which connects professors and students to non-profits.
Sportswear, especially jogging bras fly out of the store. Photo credit: Patricia Herlevi.
“The non-profit gives them a problem pertaining to organizational change and they work in teams to solve the issue. They have helped me with training outlines, identifying our target customer and communication between volunteers,” explains Nancy.
And speaking of school programs, Nancy mentioned a teacher from Nooksack Valley High School who reached out to her. “She was setting up a class similar to the one at the college for high school students as a way to learn about something they were interested in and help the community at the same time.”
So far the project reaped beautiful results. “After a few trials of various ideas, the one that has worked the best is jewelry making. I send them all our broken jewelry and miscellaneous beads and they make jewelry for us to sell. I had a full display out of their work in July with the names of each artist. They really did some amazing work!”
Wise Buys landed at its current location in recent years and was purchased by Lydia Place from the YWCA in the late 1980s. With sales from the shop, Lydia Place paid off the mortgage in its first year of the store’s operation. The store brings in $80,000 a year, which accounts for 10 percent of Lydia Place’s budget. In addition, the store includes four case worker offices upstairs.
The original Y’s Buys sign. Photo courtesy: Patricia Herlevi.
Originally, the YWCA opened the thrift store in 1967. At that time the store was called Y’s Buys and opened on Champion Street. At one point the store moved to Commercial Street, then later to Holly Street and, after a fire, moved to its current location at 1224 North State Street.
Together with Buffalo Exchange and the hospice thrift store, North State Street acts as a hub for bargain and vintage shoppers. This bodes well for quirky fashionistas searching for blue tag finds. And let’s toss in a few good deeds revolving around recycled goods while we’re at it.
Today area residents enjoy great performances at Mount Baker Theatre. Photo courtesy: Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism.
A favorite answer to the question, “What kind of music do you listen to?” that we’ve heard is, “Good. Oh, and live.” This person didn’t care what sort of music it was as long as the musical prowess was evident.
There are also musicians who echo this “genius across genres” sentiment in their capabilities: Wynton Marsalis holds Grammy Awards in both jazz and classical categories — no small achievement. Ben Folds roves like a bee picking up pollen from pop, punk, a capella — and classical chamber music. And like bees, the thread across all excellent cross-genre musicians seems to be that they explore, and they work.
Mount Baker Theatre hosts a variety of renowned acts to its stage throughout the year. For a look at this season’s upcoming shows visit Mount Baker Theatre online. Photo courtesy: Mount Baker Theatre.
“There are three musical and guitar traditions in my background,” says flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook. “I was a classical guitarist as a kid, and I studied flamenco, and then I studied jazz. One of the forms I use, rumba flamenco, is itself a hybrid created in the 1800s when sailors were coming back to Spain from Cuba having heard these Cuban rhythms. And here I am, 150 years later, taking it and mixing it back with modern music and seeing where it takes me. Music is a constantly evolving thing.”
So instead of exploring cul de sacs of music — flamenco, classical, rumba, world beat, pop, blues or jazz — Jesse Cook unites them. Cook is coming back to Mount Baker Theatre by popular demand from patrons thrilled with his previous local live performance.
Internationally acclaimed jazz musician Wynton Marsalis is a composer, bandleader, and educator — and the world’s first jazz artist to perform and compose across the full jazz spectrum. From its New Orleans roots to bebop to modern stylings, jazz is the mission of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Marsalis is a dynamic leader, raising the artform and the people it touches simultaneously through the outreach and institutions he’s had a hand in.
Primarily known for his contributions to jazz, Marsalis’ love for Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart led to him to pursue a career in classical music, recording trumpet concertos at the age of 20. Over the years, his recordings consistently incorporate blues, jazz, swing as the primary rhythm, American popular song, individual and collective improvisation, and a panoramic vision of compositional styles from ditties to dynamic call and response patterns.
Collaborating with artists such as Regina Spektor, Weird Al Yankovic, Sara Bareilles, and William Shatner, as well as some of the world’s foremost symphony orchestras, Ben Folds is endlessly curious. While planning a rock tour, he also played two sold-out shows this month at the Sydney Opera house with a Brooklyn-based classical sextet.
There’s something for everyone at Mount Baker Theatre this season. Photo credit: Yvonne Vaughan Photography.
For five seasons he was a judge on NBC’s hit “The Sing Off,” a show that put a capella in the national spotlight, and before that was the front man of the Ben Folds Five (described in jest as “punk rock for sissies”). Folds has created an enormous body of genre-bending musical art that includes pop albums, multiple solo rock albums, classical or “chamber rock,” and other collaborative records. Mount Baker Theatre presents Ben Folds this fall alone with a grand piano and his off-beat wit.
Put musical mastery on your calendars now with these upcoming live performances by multi-talented artists: Silent Films with Live Scores featuring the 1920s film “Peter Pan” and cross-over film historian and organ aficionado Dennis James (October 9), Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis (October 14), Ben Folds (October 28), the Time Jumpers with ten Nashville greats and multi-Grammy winner Vince Gill (January 15), Jesse Cook (January 26), and the guitar as used by four different musical cultures in International Guitar Night (February 24).
Coming to Pickford Film Center on September 11 at 6:00 p.m. is another chapter in the You’re Lookin’ at Country series, hosted by Elizabeth Shepherd with live musical stylings by Stephen Ray Leslie. This will be a night of vintage montage of country music videos and TV performances from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.
For the sake of the children, we urge you to attend this night class with parenting experts, such as Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, George Jones and the late and great Merle Haggard. These classic video performances will be centered around “an instructive evening of tales about philandering dads, depressive mamas, heartbroken kiddos, and above all, alcoholfueled destruction of the family unit.”
You’re Lookin’ at Country: Tough Love will be a night of musical fun and tuneful tips from your favorite country stars. Tickets are at regular pricing, but be sure to snag yours ahead of time. You’ll leave the show uplifted, realizing that your own childhood was perhaps not quite so bad as you remember it.
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