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🐹 Bohemian Shrooms 🍄🍄

🐹 Bohemian Shrooms 🍄🍄

March 31, 2025

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

What a gorgeous weekend it was! We hit the archery range, spent some time in the woods, and generally soaked up as much spring as we could. Thank goodness for the return of the sun!!! ☀️

Have fun, and stay safe out there!

~ Val & Evan

Nature, Community, Sasquatch, UAP

Photos From the Hoods

Red Current in Early Bloom - 📷 by David Fayram

Lake Padden Foggy Morning - 📷 by Jessica Turner

Spring Flowers - 📷 by Cathy Miller

Tag @bellinghamsterwheel on Instagram or reply to this email to get your photos in The Hamster Wheel.

Bellingham Festival of Music

Host a Symphony Musician

2025 Season

Hosting a musician for the Bellingham Festival of Music is a unique chance to support live music-making, and build lasting friendships—many hosts have done it for years! This 31-year tradition fosters deep bonds, with musicians often returning to the same homes season after season.

Hosting is simpler than you might think: no cooking or driving required, just a bedroom and bathroom. Musicians are self-sufficient, with busy schedules of rehearsals and performances. It’s a rewarding way to engage with the arts—sharing meals and stories with players can become a highlight of your year.

This season, we need more hosts than ever—66 beds total, with 20 still open. Interested? Contact Barbara Young at [email protected] to learn more or sign up.

Weather Forecast

Monday: 56°F 🌡️ 43°F | 🌧️ Rain Showers Likely | 🌧️ 60% | 💨 S 7 to 10 mph

Tuesday: 54°F 🌡️ 43°F | 🌧️ Rain Showers Likely | 🌧️ 80% | 💨 S 2 to 7 mph

Bellingham Bay Tides

Day	Time	H/L	FT
Mon	12:44 AM	L	3.38
Mon	6:30 AM	H	8.76
Mon	1:23 PM	L	-1.15
Mon	8:20 PM	H	8.07
Tue	1:31 AM	L	4.49
Tue	6:58 AM	H	8.68
Tue	2:10 PM	L	-1.71
Tue	9:31 PM	H	8.07

Moon Phases

Weather & Tides from NOAA. Moon data astronomyapi.

Events, Updates & News Around Town

Get off the Hamster Wheel

False Morels Flush in Abundance

The spring mushroom season is kicking off a few weeks early this year, and one of my favorite fungi, which typically flush in the second half of April, is already appearing in abundance throughout the Nooksack Valley. The Verpa bohemica is also called the early morel because it’s often the first of the morel-looking species to flush.

Verpa bohemica is a wildly successful species that grow throughout the northern half of the US, much of Europe, and as far south as India and Turkey.

In Whatcom County, they grow in abundance near cottonwood stands. Look for these beautiful fungi alongside the Nooksack River, its tributaries, and wherever deciduous trees have taken root at the edge of forested land. I've found them in huge numbers near Lake Padden Park.

While Verpas are colloquially referred to as morels, they are in fact a, false-morel. They share the characteristic wrinkled, honeycomb-like cap with true-morels, but unlike true-morels, the base of the cap is not attached to the stem. See the photo above for an example. 👆️

As with any wild mushroom, care should be taken to correctly identify this species, and even then, be cautious when consuming them. I've always enjoyed Verpas and have not had issues, but others report gastrointestinal upset or even a lack of muscular coordination. Mostly they are beautiful, and a joy to behold in the wild!!!

Brews & Bingo for Roosevelt Elementary

The Roosevelt Elementary PTA invites the community to sip on a pint and stamp a bingo card or two at the Brews & Bingo fundraiser at Wander tomorrow! This event features $2 bingo cards, $1 donated per pint sold, and a food truck on-site. Win prizes donated by local businesses like Pickford, Lakeline, Menchies, Sirena’s Gelato, Pure Bliss, Summit Trampoline, Launching Success, Comics Place, and Village Books, all while supporting the After-School Enrichment Scholarship Fund.

Funds raised help provide scholarships for Roosevelt students to join programs like art, music, martial arts, dance, chess, and improv. Financial support is crucial, with 41% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch. The PTA awarded $6,566 to 94 students this year, but many more need assistance for the spring session. Your participation helps close the funding gap, ensuring more kids can access these valuable activities.

In other news…

🎨 The Bellingham Arts Commission meets tomorrow (April 1) in the Mayor’s Boardroom on the 2nd floor of Bellingham City Hall at 5 PM. The agenda includes votes to approve the new Lettered Streets Neighborhood sign that we looked at a few weeks ago, the Setting Sun alley activation concept review, and the Railroad Avenue mural concept.

Additionally, the commission will vote to approve the Lakeway Drive Overpass Intersection Mural, bringing some much-needed color to both sides of Lakeway. 👇️

And, vote on a concept for “Nocturnal Lanterns” to bring light to the dimly lit alleyway behind the Lightcatcher Museum. 👇️ I love these and hope this idea catches on. 😍 Downtown’s alleys have become unwelcoming. Lets fill all of them with color and light.

Read more about these projects on the Agenda Packet for this meeting which you can attend in person or via Zoom.

🚢 The Port of Bellingham Board of Commissioners meets tomorrow (April 1) at 9 AM. Attend in person at the Harbor Center or stream live on the port’s YouTube channel. The board will also be meeting at 9 AM the same day for a Special Commission Meeting to discuss the development of industrial properties at the Bellingham International Airport. This meeting will take place in the Chuckanut North Room at the Holiday Inn.

🚜 You've likely read about the termination of Erika Lautenbach as the director of Whatcom County's Health and Community Services. This action, taken by County Executive Satpal Sidhu in late March, seemingly caught many people off guard, including council members. Council member Todd Donovan was quoted in the Cascadia saying “I’m in the dark, again, here.” So tomorrow's meeting of the County Council as the Health Board will be an opportunity to hear from Executive Satpal Sidhu on this topic, and it has the potential to be an interesting discussion. The meeting is scheduled for 10 AM. Attend in person in the Council Chambers at the County Courthouse or watch via Zoom.

Food & Drinks

Hamsters Gotta Eat

Test Your Knowledge

Bellingham & Whatcom Trivia

At what Whatcom County fire lookout was Beat Generation poet Gary Snyder stationed in the summer of 1953

The correct answer to the last question: “The name of what local body of water comes from the Nooksack word meaning "place of noisy rumbling waters?” was Whatcom Creek.

Whatcom Creek, named “X̌’wótqwem” by the North Straits Salish, meaning “noisy, rumbling water,” supported abundant salmon and shellfish harvests at the base of its falls. European explorers arrived in the 1700s, with Captain George Vancouver naming Bellingham Bay in 1792, but it was not until 1852 that Henry Roeder and Russell Peabody, Bellingham’s first European settlers, established a lumber mill at the falls, guided by Lummi Chief Chow’it’sut, marking the creek as the heart of the area’s first permanent European settlement.

The creek’s role shifted over time as Bellingham grew. By the 1920s, its estuary had been filled with waste to create buildable land, turning the creek into an open sewer and city dump until 1953. Dredging allowed deeper access for ships, but environmental decline prompted action in the 1970s. Restoration efforts reclaimed former landfills as riparian zones and parkland, with the old sewage treatment plant repurposed as a fish hatchery. Today, the 4-mile creek, running from Lake Whatcom through Whatcom Falls Park to Bellingham Bay, supports a small fishery, with trout and salmon below the falls.

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Performance Arts This Week

Dance of The Hamsters

THEATRE - DANCE - FILM

BAAY Theatre:
Farewell to the Hundred Acre Wood | Fri, Sat 7 PM; Sat, Sun 2 PM

iDiOM Theater:
Serial Killers | Sat 7 & 9 PM

Bellingham Theatre Guild:
Play On! | Fri, Sat 7 PM; Sun 2 PM

Pacific Northwest Opera:
Rusalka | Fri 7:30 PM; Sun 1:30 PM

New Prospect Theatre:
New Play Cafe | Fri, Sat, Sun 7 PM

FireHouse Arts & Events Center:
Trail Running Film Festival | Thur 7 PM

COMEDY

Uisce Irish Pub:
Guffawingham | Mon 8:30 PM

Greene's Corner:
Comedy Open Mic | Wed 7 PM

PARTICIPATORY DANCE

Bachata : WWU Salsa and Bachata Club @ Viking Union MPR | Mon 7 PM
Tango : Urban Salon Tango @ The Majestic Ballroom | Mon 7 PM
Swing : B’ham Hop @ Hotel Leo Crystal Ballroom | Tues 7 PM
Cuban Salsa : Beginning Cuban Salsa @ Cof& | Tues 6 PM
Cuban Salsa : Intermediate Cuban Salsa @ Cof& | Tues 7:15 PM
Tango : Tango Practica @ The Majestic Ballroom | Wed 6:30 PM
Bachata : Bham Bachata @ ‘ONO Kitchen & Bar | Thurs 7:30 PM
Social Partner Dance : Flow Fusion @ Karate Church | Thurs 7 PM
Babywearceing Belly Dance: @ Boom Elite Martial Arts | Thurs 9:30 AM
Party : Dance Romance @ Wild Buffalo | Fri 8:30 PM
Party : Crank That @ Wild Buffalo | Sat 9 PM
Line Dancing : Boot Scootin Fun’Raiser @ Firehouse A&E Center | Sat 2 PM
Salsa : The Salsa Collective @ The Majestic Ballroom | Sun 5:30 PM

Help Spread The Word

Refer three Bellingham friends to join our newsletter community, and we’ll include a birthday callout to one person you specify on their B’day 🎂. Get your referral link here. Your current referral count is: 0. You’re so close!.

Music & Nightlife

Spinning Into The Night

Monday Games & Trivia
Trivia Night @ Ono Kitchen & Bar | 7 PM
Trivia Night @ Paws for a Beer | 6:15 PM
Trivia Night @ Zeeks Pizza & Fountain Brewing | 6 PM
Trivia Night @ Overflow Taps | 6:30 PM

Tuesday Games & Trivia
Cribbage Tournament @ Kulshan Brewing K2 | 6 PM
Trivia Night @ Corner Taphouse | 7 PM
Trivia Night @ Uisce Irish Pub | 7 PM
Trivia Night @ Thirsty Badger | 7 PM

Hakuna matata

To All Our Readers

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Have a great Monday!!