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🐹 Shucks, it’s 2025 🦪🦪

🐹 Shucks, it’s 2025 🦪🦪

January 01, 2025

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

The new year has arrived!! We are excited about a few new ideas for the newsletter we hope to roll out early this year. One is a Missed Connections section. We’re still sorting out the details, so send us your ideas about how we can give it a Bellingham flavor.

Have fun, and stay safe out there!!

~ Val & Evan

In today’s Hamster Wheel:

Drayton Harbor Oyster Company
Christmas Tree Pick-up
Food & Drink
Music & Nightlife

Nature, Community, Sasquatch, UAP

Photos From the Hoods

Manzanita at Fairhaven Lagoon - 📷 by Evan.

Trail at Hotel Bellwether - 📷 by Evan.

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

Weather Forecast

Wednesday: 45°F 🌡️ 35°F | 🌧️ Slight Chance of Rain | 🌧️ 30% | 💨 NE 3 mph

Thursday: 45°F 🌡️ 38°F | 🌧️ Rain Likely | 🌧️ 70% | 💨 ENE 6 mph

Bellingham Bay Tides

Day	Time	H/L	FT
Wed	4:37 AM	H	7.34
Wed	10:31 AM	L	2
Wed	4:40 PM	H	8.68
Wed	11:13 PM	L	.35
Thu	5:45 AM	H	7.9
Thu	11:17 AM	L	3.06
Thu	5:05 PM	H	8.82
Thu	11:54 PM	L	-.09

Moon Phases

Weather & Tides from NOAA. Moon data astronomyapi.

Events, Updates & News Around Town

Get off the Hamster Wheel

Shucks, it’s 2025!

Our family will use any excuse to eat oysters. New Year's oysters? We’ll take it!! 🦪 In fact, oyster (oyster stew in particular) is a holiday season staple in many parts of the country. This tradition may have originated from the availability of food during the colonial era, as well as Irish customs.

Irish immigrants brought their Catholic dietary traditions to the United States, which included not eating meat on Christmas. They combined oysters with other ingredients to create a readily available stew that fit their holiday dietary restrictions.

This year we’re hoping to grab a table at the Drayton Harbor Oyster Company which we confirmed will be open from 12-7 PM today. 🦪🦪 This Blaine, WA destination has a wonderful origin story. Founded in 2012 as a small Community Supported Aquaculture farm, Drayton Harbor Oyster Company began by offering fresh oysters through weekly pickups, then expanded to a retail location next to Tony’s Just a Bite.

Today, they’ve grown into a Oyster Bar where patrons can enjoy both shucked and cooked oysters, sip chilled wine, and take in stunning views of the Salish Sea.

The oysters they serve are farmed just down the road in Drayton Harbor which has a long history as a source of premium oysters. The conditions in the harbor are so ideal that east coast (Virginicas) were shipped to the original Drayton Harbor Oyster Company to be raised for local harvest and shipped back east once grown to size.

The 1909 Blaine Journal stated, “the oysters on Jersey’s coast have justly won a name, but we grow better flavored ones, Yes Sir, right here in Blaine.”

The wonderful photo above shows juvenile oysters being offloaded for outplanting in Drayton Harbor in 1907. 👆️

Bellingham Scouts Hauling Christmas Trees This Week

The Boy Scouts of America in Whatcom County are stepping up to help residents dispose of their Christmas trees this holiday season. On January 4th, local Scouting troops will collect Christmas trees left by the curb outside homes. To find out which troop serves your area or to check if your neighborhood is covered, visit the Boy Scouts’ online map.

Trees should placed by public streets by 8 AM. This service is exclusively for houses, so apartments and mobile home parks are not included. If your home has a gate, leave the tree outside the gate on a publicly accessible road. Additionally, areas where stopping is unsafe, such as parts of Chuckanut Drive without a shoulder, are not covered. While the pick-up service is free, Scouts gratefully accept donations to support their activities.

In other news…

🐳 Boater Alert!! Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has announced that starting today (Jan 1), boaters in Washington waters must maintain a distance of 1,000 yards from Southern Resident killer whales.

This new regulation aims to reduce vessel noise and disturbances, allowing these endangered orcas to forage and rest more effectively. The rule applies to all motorized and non-motorized vessels, including kayaks and paddleboards.

🏙️ This is an interesting time for the Bellingham Planning Commission. Changes in parking requirements and Mayor Kim Lund’s executive order committing the City to take immediate steps to increase housing opportunities will impact how zoning is enacted in 2025. The Planning Commission meets tomorrow (Jan 2) in City Council Chambers, located on the 2nd floor of Bellingham City Hall at 6 PM. Watch the meeting in person or via the City’s YouTube channel.

🌲 The Greenways Advisory Committee is meeting tomorrow (Jan 2) at City Hall in the Mayor’s Board Room at 7 PM. Greenways has been active lately announcing several land acquisitions including 116+ acres north of Mount Baker Highway between Hannegan Road and Dewey Road. Recommendations made by the Greenways Committee impact how green spaces are preserved and made accessible for hamsters. Meeting details.

💲 In September of last year, the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries announced that Washington’s minimum wage would rise by $0.38, bringing it to $16.66 an hour starting today (Jan 1). Bellingham has set its minimum wage at $1.00 greater than the state’s, so the new minimum for “all hours worked by employees within the geographic boundaries of the city of Bellingham” is $17.66. In May of this year the City has legislated an additional dollar increase to $2 above the state minimum.

Local Business Updates

Haggling With Local Folk

The Bagelry Turns 40!!

Forty years ago this week, Ken and Marguerite Ryan opened the doors to The Bagelry, bringing classic New York-style bagels to Bellingham. The Bagelry has been a downtown fixture ever since in its cozy Railroad Ave location.

The Wayback Bagelry

The Bagelry of old had a few quirks (cash only, no toaster), but for us OG Hamsters it became part of the fabric of life in Bellingham. These days, the bagels come toasted upon request, and cards are accepted. 🙂

Ken Ryan

Congrats to The Bagelry for reaching this impressive milestone!! Lots of fun memories and gratitude on The Bagelry’s Facebook announcement.

Food & Drinks

Hamsters Gotta Eat

Wednesday Food Trucks
A Que Tacos @ Goods Local Brews
Big Stick Barbecue @ Stemma Brewery
Burnt Side Down @ Stemma Brewery
Dumpling Girls @ Goods Local Brews
El Pollo Feo @ Kulshan Brewery (Roosevelt K2)
El Tapatio @ 4124 Strider Loop Rd
Galley 2 Go @ Stones Throw Brewery
Luchadora @ Wander Brewing
Mobile Mouth Hole @ Lowes Parking Lot
Outpost Eats @ Kulshan Brewery (James St. K1)
Sammies Vegan @ Wander Brewing
Tacos El Tule @ West Marine (Meridian St)
The Galley @ Ponderosa Beer + Books

Thursday Food Trucks
A Que Tacos @ Goods Local Brews
Big Stick Barbecue @ Stemma Brewery
Burnt Side Down @ Stemma Brewery
Dumpling Girls @ Goods Local Brews
El Pollo Feo @ Kulshan Brewery (Roosevelt K2)
El Tapatio @ 4124 Strider Loop Rd
Galley 2 Go @ Stones Throw Brewery
Greektown @ Kulshan Brewery (James St. K1)
Luchadora @ Wander Brewing
Mobile Mouth Hole @ Lowes Parking Lot
Nana J’s @ Kulshan Brewery (James St. K1)
Sammies Vegan @ Wander Brewing
Tacos El Tule @ West Marine (Meridian St)
Tam Tam Pizza @ Lost Giants Cider Co.
The Galley @ Ponderosa Beer + Books

Harbor & Maritime

Whatever Floats Your Boat

1975 Port Townsend built Skookum 34
We’ve often walked past this 34-foot, Ed Monk Jr.-designed sailboat down at the Squalicum Harbor, and it’s cute!! I can imagine touring around the San Juan Islands under the PNW sun with the kiddos playing on deck. ⛵️ Listing.

2023 Bennington SX Series Pontoon Boat
I laughed out loud when I stumbled into this one 😆… then I started to think about those long summer days, lounging on the pontoon boat between dips in the ocean… now I get it. 🐬😀🐬 Listing.

Performance Arts This Week

Dance of The Hamsters

LIVE THEATRE & EVENT

48 Hour Theater Festival :
iDiOM Theater | Fri, Sat 7 PM; Fri, Sat 9 PM

PARTICIPATORY DANCE

Salsa : The Salsa Collective @ The Majestic Ballroom | Sun 5:30 PM Details.
Tango : Tango Practica @ The Majestic Ballroom | Wed 6:30 PM.
Tango : Tango Milonga @ The Majestic Ballroom | Sat 6 PM.
Jazz : Trad Jazz Society Dance @ VFW Hall | Sat 2 PM Details.
Party : NYE Dance Party @ Uisce Irish Pub | Tue 9 PM Details.
Party : NYE Dance Party @ The Thirsty Badger | Tue 8 PM Details.

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

Thursday Games & Trivia
Dungeons & Dragons @ CHeBA Hut | 6 PM
Trivia Night @ Stones Throw Brewery | 7 PM
Trivia Night @ Great Northern Bottle Shop | 7 PM
Trivia Night @ Bayou on Bay | 6:30 PM

Hakuna matata

To All Our Readers

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Have a great Wednesday!!