🐹 Shoreline Jester 🤡🤡

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

Have fun, and stay safe out there!

~ Evan

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

Last week the Bellingham Fire Department shared a wonderful collection of photographs from the opening of what was then Fire Station 4 on Alabama Street in 1960. “When the newer Station 4 opened on Yew Street, the Alabama Street building became and still is the home of the What-Comm 911 Dispatch Center.”

If you’re trying to picture where this is located, imagine driving north on Iron Street toward Alabama and looking to your left at what I think of as the live-fire training tower. It used to be visible from Alabama as well, though I’m not sure if that’s still the case.

I always get a kick out of photographs from the late ’50s into the ’60s. They still have some of the long-exposure posed-feel of earlier decades but it’s balanced with the casual (almost candid) product of the handheld 35mm SLRs. Check out the post for more photos and higher resolution versions.

Local Read: Over the last few months, the Department of Ecology published a series of interesting articles relating to the ongoing remediation and construction of the future Salish Landing Park on the Bellingham waterfront. Each time a new article dropped I bumped the topic to the top of my list of things to dig into, but today I’m striking it off the list entirely, because journalist Hope Rasa published a fabulous article called Construction of Salish Landing Park in the February issues of Whatcom Watch.

Hope does a great job laying out the complicated story behind Salish Landing, explaining how decades of industrial pollution, years of planning, and overlapping cleanup and construction efforts are finally converging into the work that’s happening now. Love that photo too 👆. Interesting to compare it to the city’s circa-1950 overhead photo of the same location.

CIVIC CORNER

Monday
Bellingham City Council, 7:00 pm, City Hall Council Chambers; agenda, YouTube
Blaine City Council, 6:00 pm, Council Chambers; agenda

Tuesday
Everson City Council, 7:00 pm, Everson Elementary Library; agenda
Whatcom County Council, 6:00 pm, Council Chambers; agenda, Zoom
Bellingham Historic Preservation Commission, 4:00 pm, City Hall, Zoom
Bellingham Transportation Commission, 6:00 pm, Pacific Street Operations Center, Zoom

Wednesday
Ferndale City Council, 8:00 pm, City Hall
Bellingham Parks and Rec. Advisory Board, 7:30 pm, Pacific Street Operations Center

Friday
Storybrook Park Ribbon Cutting, 2:30 pm, Storybrook Park

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Wednesday
Stream Team: Help Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA) maintain older sites that need love. Meet at NSEA’s campus by 8 am and your group leader will shuttle everyone to the site. You can expect to be back to NSEA at 12 pm. Register.

Saturday
Julianna Park: Join Bellingham Parks & Rec, and Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association in removing invasive species, planting native trees, and sprucing up one of Bellingham’s newest parks. Register to participate.
Locust Beach: Join RE Sources at Locust Beach to help ensure our beaches our clean and pollution stays out of Bellingham Bay! Impress your bae (or your friends) by showing them you care about protecting our local waters! Cleanup supplies and snacks from the Bagelry will be provided. Register to participate.

Uisce Irish Pub
Guffawingham (comedy) | Mon 8:30 pm

WWU Performing Arts Center
Fresh Plays From The Cascades (theater) | Thurs-Sat

Bellingham Theatre Guild
American Son (theater) | Thurs-Sun

Bellingham Circus Guild
My Circus Valentine (circus) | Thurs-Sat

The Claire
The Nerd (theater) | Fri-Sun

iDiOM Theater
Serial Killers (theater) | Sat

Mount Baker Theatre
Nick Offerman (comedy) | Sat

Bellingham Circus Guild
Vaudevillingham (circus) | Sun

The Upfront Theatre
Various performances

Salsa & Bachata - Viking Union - Mon 7 pm
Bellingham Embodiment Collective - Majestic Ballroom - Mon 6:30 pm
Contact Improv - Aikido Peace Education Center - Mon 7 pm
Beginning Cuban Salsa - Cof& - Tues 6 pm
B’ham Hop - Crystal Ballroom - Tues 8 pm
Taster Tuesdays (hip hop) - Lost Giants Cider Co - Tues 6 pm
Int. Cuban Salsa - Cof& - Tues 7:15 pm
Tango Practica - The Majestic - Wed 6:30 pm
Flow Fusion - Karate Church - Thurs 7 pm
Dance Fusion - BSAC - Sat 10:30 am
Contra - Fairhaven Library - Sat 7 pm
Sunset Silent Disco - Zuanich - Sat 4:30 pm
Salsa Collective - The Majestic - Sun 5:30 pm
Belly Dance - Karate Church - 1 pm

Alchemy’s Therapy Group + Book Club Series invites participants into a biweekly, therapist-facilitated reading and discussion group centered on Quarterlife by Satya Doyle Byock, meeting Mondays (starting today!) from 6:30–7:45 pm at Alchemy (100 Pine St, Bellingham). Three spots available.

Ceal performs at the Admiralty Lounge on Tuesday at 7–9 pm, bringing a solo set of indie-leaning songwriting rooted in wordplay and a blend of indie rock, DIY folk, pop, and offbeat influences.

Evening of Song: Love is in the Air, Performing Arts Center – A free concert featuring student vocal performances centered on love in all its forms, offering an evening of community, reflection, and live song as students gain stage experience, beginning at 7:30 pm.

Monday Music & Trivia →

Stranger Things Trivia, The Blue Abode Bar – A themed trivia night for fans of the hit series, featuring Stranger Things–focused questions, themed cocktails and appetizers, teams of up to four players, and a cash prize for the winner, starting at 6:00 pm.

Women-Led Avalanche Awareness Class, Backcountry Essentials – A free, beginner-friendly avalanche awareness class led by Cascade Mountain Ascents from 7–8:30 pm, covering foundational backcountry safety knowledge in an inclusive, women-led environment open to all.

Tuesday Music & Trivia →

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