🐹 Fiddles, Punchlines & Oysters 🎻🤣🦪

Good morning, Bellingham. This is your Friday update from The Hamster Wheel.

Have fun, and stay safe out there!

~ Evan

Or, hit reply to send me photos via email. 📧

Spend this weekend learning a little Scottish Gaelic, catching a stand-up set, then attempt your best seagull call in downtown Blaine while slurping oysters. October has tossed subtlety to the wind. The Bellingham Celtic Festival and Laughing Hamster Comedy Festival are both underway, and Saturday adds Blaine’s OysterFest to the mix.

The Celtic Festival is the biggest of the three, with four days of concerts, workshops, pub sings, dances, and informal music sessions scattered through a roughly six-block chunk of downtown Bellingham. The festival started back in 2015 as the Bellingham Irish Festival, when it was basically a single Saturday of workshops and a performance. It has since broadened to include traditions from across the Celtic world and grown into something you can wander in and out of all weekend. Many events are free, including Irish music sessions at Uisce and Brandywine, concerts at Jackalope and Honey Moon, and Saturday evening’s all-ages pub sing. Check the full schedule.

Laughing Hamster debuted last year as the city’s first stand-up comedy festival and has already grown from seven shows over six nights to 13 shows spread across ten days. This weekend includes Cara Rosellini at Wander Brewing tonight, Scott Losse at Mercato delle Bontà tomorrow, and Lynette Manning at Aslan Depot on Sunday. The festival keeps rolling all next week through recurring shows at places like Uisce, Beach Cat, The Upfront, El Capitan’s, Larrabee Lager, and JUXT, before wrapping up Oct. 17 at New Prospect Theatre with Sam Miller and Jaci Terjeson. Festival schedule.

Blaine’s OysterFest runs Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm around H Street Plaza, directly across from Drayton Harbor Oyster Co. Along with oysters and other seafood, the schedule includes Hot Damn Scandal, Step Stool, and The Penny Stinkers, plus oyster and corn shucking contests, a dog-and-owner lookalike competition, pie eating, and the aforementioned seagull calling contest.

Home Business Owner Alert: The information posted by the city a few days ago was sparse, but promising. Bellingham is considering a rewrite of its home-business rules that would allow businesses to operate from detached accessory buildings, employ up to three people, and sell goods made on-site. The draft contemplates things like salons and massage practices, counseling and professional offices, household repair shops, art or music lessons, tutoring, and makers selling jewelry, ceramics, photography, and other goods produced at home. As someone who has operated one home business or another almost my entire life, I’m very glad to see the city moving in a direction that supports home-based entrepreneurship. Something to keep an eye on. 👀

Hopefully you’ve been able to catch some of the fun Bird Week happenings around town this week. This one jumped out to me as particularly interesting: on Sunday evening, Village Books is hosting nature writer Marina Richie for a conversation about her new book, Feathered Forest: Aloft with Birds in Ancient Trees. The book follows birds through the vertical world of old forests, from the lower layers of the canopy to the tops of 200-foot Douglas firs, with a particular focus on the ancient forests of Cascadia.

Richie will be joined by Bellingham author and naturalist Lyanda Lynn Haupt, whose own work has long explored the relationship between people and the natural world. Their conversation runs from 6 to 7 pm this Sunday, Oct. 11, at Village Books in Fairhaven. Grab a seat or two.

I have mixed feelings about this one, that said, it seemed worth mentioning. Bellingham Police has launched a new Drone as First Responder program, with small remotely piloted drones stationed at three locations around the city. The idea is to get a camera over an emergency within a minute or two of a 911 call, giving officers a live view before they arrive and, in some cases, helping them figure out what kind of response is actually needed. I absolutely see how that could make things safer for responding officers, and I’m 100% in favor of tools that reduce the chances of our BPD officers walking into a dangerous situation.

At the same time, it is hard not to be overwhelmed by the advancements in new technology and I find myself uncomfortable with the rate of change and worried for where this is all going. For now, the City says flights are piloted by an officer, logged on a public dashboard, and flown with the camera facing the horizon until it reaches the scene. The drones also do not use automated license plate readers. It all sounds reasonable, but I suspect in the not to distant future someone will suggest that an AI is sophisticated enough to fly them, identify things, or make decisions on its own. Maybe I’ve watched The Terminator too many times... 🤖

LOCAL READS

‘In And Out’ of History: The Stories Behind Bellingham’s Convenience Stores
By Anna Diehl · WhatcomTalk
Several Bellingham convenience stores occupy sites with grocery histories stretching back decades, including Cornwall Corner Store’s roots in 1910 and Elm Street Market’s lineage beginning in 1939. Anna details how changing owners, names and neighborhood roles kept these small stores woven into daily life across the city. Read more →

· · · · · · · · · · · · ·

Volunteers work to solve Washington’s kelp mystery
By Sydnee Chapman · Salish Current
Volunteer kayakers survey bull kelp beds in Skagit County each summer, recording their size, water conditions and marine life as scientists investigate why some forests disappear and later return. Sydnee explains how those repeated observations fill important gaps in regional data and help researchers track changing nearshore conditions. Read more →

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Saturday
Terrell Creek: Join NSEA and the Whatcom Conservation District to clear invasive blackberry along Terrell Creek at a long-term restoration site. You will help restore stream habitat that supports local salmon and wildlife. Register
Big Rock Garden Park: Join the Bellingham Parks Volunteer Program and Friends of Big Rock Garden Park to clean sculptures and tidy this Bellingham park. You can help care for the grounds in a family-friendly work party. Details

Sunday
Whatcom Humane Society: Join Whatcom Million Trees Project to finish planting trees at the Whatcom Humane Society dog-walking field. You will help prepare the seedlings for winter as part of the planting project. Register
King Mountain Victory Garden: Join Bellingham Parks Community Gardens at King Mountain Victory Garden. You will gather final harvests, prepare garden beds for winter, and plant cover crop to grow food for the Bellingham Food Bank. Register

1359 Welling Road (Open Sun 12-2 pm)
How cute is this house. I’m not sure why, but it gives me a “home on the prairie” vibe. Just darling. Maybe it’s the front porch and modern take on the classic powder blue. 🤷‍♂ Listing

2303 30th Street (Open Sat 1:30-3 pm)
This one caught my eye because of the interesting stone columns. I’m sure they are a cut stone façade but the the way the stone is stacked gives it the look of gabion walls. I’ve been looking for a reason to build something with gabion walls. So it’s been on my mind. 😆 Listing

Silver Reef Casino
Howie Mandel (comedy) | Fri

Wander Brewing
Cara Roselinni (comedy) | Fri

New Prospect Theatre
I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire (theatre) | Fri, Sat, Sun

Mount Baker Theatre
An Evening with Peter Sagal (theatre) | Fri, Sat, Sun

WinkWink
The Rocky Horror Picture Show! (theatre) | Fri, Sat, Sun

Mercato Delle Bonta
Scott Losse (comedy) | Sat

Aslan Depot
Lynette Manning (comedy) | Sun

FireHouse Arts & Events Center
Breaking Form (film) | Sun

The Upfront Theatre
Various performances

Foundations: Hip Hop, House, Shuffle - Lost Giants - Fri 5:45 pm
Contra - CTK Downtown (Norway Hall) - Sat 7 pm
Sunset Silent Disco - Zuanich - Sat 5:30 pm
Beginner Ballet - Karate Church - Sat 10 am
Beginner Contemporary - Karate Church - Sat 11:30 am
Dance Fusion - BSAC - 10:30 am
Salsa Collective - The Majestic - Sun 5:30 pm
Open Floor Conscious Dance - Bellingham Fitness - Sun 10:30 am

Namoli Brennet brings more than two decades of touring and songwriting to Van Zandt Community Hall tonight, October 9, from 7 to 9 pm. The singer-songwriter is known for introspective folk-rock and acoustic music built around storytelling and a long-running independent career.

Silent Cowboy plays a free 21+ show at Aslan Depot tonight, October 9, from 8 to 11 pm. The Bellingham-area rock band has been a regular presence on local stages, including earlier Depot appearances, and released a five-song self-titled EP in 2024 featuring Wasted All the Same, Grass Is Greener, and Too Soon.

Jean Mann Trio and Cabin Fever NW Trio share the FireHouse Arts & Events Center tonight, October 9, from 7 to 9 pm for an evening spanning Americana, bluesy-grass, bluegrass, country, and folk. Mann, who grew up along Lake Whatcom, performs with percussionist Michael Bauer and violinist Greg Ensminger.

Linnea DeVange performs at Skylark’s tomorrow, October 10, from 6 to 8 pm, bringing a mix of jazz and neo-soul to a venue with a personal connection. DeVange grew up in Fairhaven and is now based in New Orleans, where she works as a jazz and neo-soul vocalist.

Laura Joy Lloyd: Far From Unremarkable, Village Books in Fairhaven – Author Laura Joy Lloyd discusses her latest Wren Island novel at 6 pm, followed by a Q&A about storytelling, the Salish Sea, and her interactive serialized fiction process. Reserve a seat

Skip Hamilton Live, Rustler's Front Street Grill – Whatcom singer-songwriter Skip Hamilton performs original and interpretive folk, rock, and country from 7 to 11 pm as a one-man band without backing tracks.

Friday Music & Trivia →

Ferndale Harvest Festival, Pavilion Community Center – A free, family-friendly fall gathering from 12 to 5 pm with performances, cultural activities, community resources, food, and seasonal activities. Details

Harvest, Hops, & Hope, Stemma West Beer Garden – A free fall fundraiser from 10 am to 6 pm features a Sunnyland scavenger hunt, activity fair, flower crown making, pumpkin decorating, a pet costume contest, raffles, and an evening adult carve-and-sip supporting Blue Skies for Children. Tickets

Saturday Music & Trivia →

Trails to Taps Relay, Bellingham – Teams of eight runners cover 30-plus miles from 9 am to 4 pm, with 3-to-6-mile legs connecting eight local breweries and cideries before an after-party at Kulshan Trackside benefiting Lydia Place. Register

Sunday Music & Trivia →

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