The Hamster Wheel
Posts
🐹 The Fastest Hamsters 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

🐹 The Fastest Hamsters 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

January 24, 2025

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

The festivities continue in Bellingham with new performances, dances, and workshops at the Fire & Story Festival and the Bellingham Folk Festival throughout the weekend. If the music, stories, flames, and cheery neighbors weren’t enough of a draw… Dick's Food Truck will be making an appearance tonight and tomorrow night at Fire and Story.

Joining Dick’s will be Bellingham’s own OVN Wood Fired Pizza, Outpost Eats, and delicious homemade cookies from GIRLnDOG out of Anacortes. How cute is that trailer!! 👇️

Have fun, and stay safe out there!

~ Val & Evan

In today’s Hamster Wheel:

The Fastest Hamsters
Wild Things
Food & Drink
Music & Nightlife

Nature, Community, Sasquatch, UAP

Photos From the Hoods

Misty Morning at Bellingham Cohousing - 📷 by Jaco ten Hove

Low Tide Under a Full Moon - 📷 by W S Taranow

Short Eared Owl at Fir Island - 📷 by Eduard Schwan

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

Weather Forecast

Friday: 45°F 🌡️ 28°F | ☀️ Sunny | 🌧️ 0% | 💨 NNE 1 to 6 mph

Saturday: 44°F 🌡️ 29°F | ☀️ Sunny | 🌧️ 0% | 💨 NNE 3 mph

Sunday: 45°F 🌡️ 30°F | ☀️ Sunny | 🌧️ 0% | 💨 NNE 2 mph

Bellingham Bay Tides

Day	Time	H/L	FT
Fri	4:16 AM	H	7.78
Fri	6:52 AM	L	7.24
Fri	10:55 AM	H	8.20
Fri	7:43 PM	L	0.04
Sat	4:45 AM	H	8.40
Sat	8:32 AM	L	7.50
Sat	11:32 AM	H	8.13
Sat	8:26 PM	L	-0.54
Sun	5:12 AM	H	8.79
Sun	9:34 AM	L	7.52
Sun	12:26 PM	H	8.14
Sun	9:09 PM	L	-1.09

Moon Phases

Weather & Tides from NOAA. Moon data astronomyapi.

Events, Updates & News Around Town

Get off the Hamster Wheel

Caitlyn Cheney Sets Indoor School Records Twice!

Senior sprinter Caitlyn Cheney, part of the 2025 Western Washington University Track & Field team, set a new indoor school record twice last week in the 60m dash, first with a 7.64-second run in the prelims and then an impressive 7.57-second finish in the finals. Both took place at the UW Preview in Seattle. Cheney also shattered the 200m school record with a time of 24.90 seconds, surpassing her teammate Bec Bennett’s previous mark.

The WWU Track & Field team has had an exceptional start to the season, setting eight school records and achieving 36 entries into the program’s all-time top 10 after just two indoor meets. Alongside Cheney’s achievements, teammate Bec Bennett broke her own 400m record and helped secure a new school record in the 4x400 relay. Freshman Jessica Polkinghorn made history in the shot put, becoming the first Viking to surpass the 14-meter mark, while the men’s team saw freshman Isaac Ford set a new school record in the 400m.

There are opportunities to watch this extraordinary group of young athletes, during the indoor season. Find dates and times for events in Seattle and Spokane on the WWU Vikings site.

TIMBRRR! ⛷️🏂️

Tomorrow (Jan 25), the Mt Baker Ski Area is hosting its annual TIMBRRR! Trick Contest where intermediate and advanced level freestyle skiers and snowboarders will show off their rail sliding skills in what they describe as “a best trick contest and an ode to The Sticks’ humble beginnings when the zone was made up of only a few wooden features.”

Registration is closed for this years event (I hear moms sighing with relief), but a spectator area outside the course will be available for noncompetitors to watch. The event runs from 10 AM-12 PM at the The Sticks Freestyle Feature Zone, near the top of Chairs ¾. Details.

Wild Things at Padden

If you have little ones (Ages 0-6) in the family, or just like “Discover[ing] nature at a slug’s pace and explor[ing] through a child’s eyes,” Wild Things outings are for you! Wild Whatcom hosts these outings each Friday and Saturday from 9:30-11 AM.

Wild Things meet at Lake Padden’s east entrance through January, then at a new Bellingham park destination each month throughout the year. Check the Wild Whatcom website for the schedule of parks and more details.

In other news…

📚️ The Friends of the Bellingham Public Library Book Sale is open today and tomorrow (Jan 24-25) in the Lecture Room at the Central Library. These sales are the best opportunity in town to stock up on reading material at reasonable prices and all proceeds benefit the Bellingham library system.

💎 Rockhounds & Jewelry Lovers alert!! Leah Meleski, jewelry instructor at Jansen Art Center, is holding a Stone Setting Basics 3-day workshop that starts today at 5:30 PM. I had the opportunity to take a class like this when I was a kid, and it’s one of my fondest childhood memories. This class is for age 16+, so take your big kids or make it a grown-up outing.

During this workshop, you’ll learn how to “create an original pendant featuring a cabochon gemstone” while learning “techniques include faux prongs, pedestal prongs and tab prongs.” Details and registration.

🔥 A burn ban has been announced by the Northwest Clean Air Agency for the Columbia Valley urban growth area (including the Peaceful Valley and Paradise Lakes developments) in Whatcom County. They note that “continued air stagnation is preventing harmful wood smoke from clearing out” and that “fine particles in wood smoke are harmful because they can be inhaled deeply into lungs and damage delicate tissues.” This ban prohibits all indoor and outdoor burning unless a woodstove is your only adequate heat source.

Food & Drinks

Hamsters Gotta Eat

Friday Food Trucks
A Que Tacos @ Goods Local Brews
Back East BBQ @ Wander Brewing
Big Stick Barbecue @ Stemma Brewery
Burnt Side Down @ Stemma Brewery
Calcutta by Simmering Tava @ K2
Dumpling Girls @ Goods Local Brews
El Pollo Feo @ Kulshan Brewery (Roosevelt K2)
El Tapatio @ 4124 Strider Loop Rd
Falafel Feast @ 4370 Meridian St
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)
New Public Vegan @ Evil Bikes (700 Harris Ave)
Tacos El Tule @ West Marine (Meridian St)
Tam Tam Pizza @ Lost Giants Cider Co.
The Galley @ Ponderosa Beer + Books

Saturday Food Trucks
A Que Tacos @ Goods Local Brews
Back East BBQ @ Wander Brewing
Big Stick Barbecue @ Stemma Brewery
Burnt Side Down @ Stemma Brewery
Calcutta by Simmering Tava @ K2
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
Nana J’s @ Kulshan Brewery (James St. K1)
New Public Vegan @ Evil Bikes (700 Harris Ave)
Sammies Vegan @ Bellingham Farmers Mkt.
Tam Tam Pizza @ Bellingham Farmers Mkt.
Tam Tam Pizza @ Dockside Mkt.
Tam Tam Pizza @ Lost Giants Cider Co.
The Galley @ Ponderosa Beer + Books

Sunday Food Trucks
Back East BBQ @ Wander Brewing
Big Stick Barbecue @ Stemma Brewery
Burnt Side Down @ Stemma Brewery
Calcutta by Simmering Tava @ K2
Dumpling Girls @ Goods Local Brews
El Pollo Feo @ Kulshan Brewery (Roosevelt K2)
Greektown @ Kulshan Brewery (James St. K1)
Luchadora @ Wander Brewing
Nana J’s @ Kulshan Brewery (James St. K1)
New Public Vegan @ Evil Bikes (700 Harris Ave)
Tam Tam Pizza @ Lost Giants Cider Co.

Because it’s fun to be a lookie-loo

Crash an Open House

3231 S Bay Drive, Sedro Woolley (Open Sat 1-3 PM)
This house fascinates me. It’s on the south end of Lake Whatcom with a view up the length of the lake. It sports a modern style exterior, and an interesting mix of contemporary, natural, and farmhouse inside. I remember seeing this home on a recent drive and wondered about it. Now’s the time to check it out. Listing.

1302 34th Street (Open Sat 11-1 PM, Sun 12-2 PM)
Someone did a nice job renovating this cute Southside rancher. The interior looks bright and open, which is not always true in mid-last-century homes. I'm not sure what's going on with all the mulched yard, but it screams "room to garden" to me. 🌻 Listing.

Performance Arts This Week

Dance of The Hamsters

Miss Behaved @ Wink-Wink

LIVE THEATRE & EVENT

New Prospect Theatre:
Into the Woods | Fri, Sat, Sun 7 PM; Sat, Sun 2 PM; understudies Fri 2 PM

iDiOM Theater:
Tower of Air | Thurs, Fri, Sat 7:30 PM

Bellingham TheatreWorks:
Deep Blue Sound | Thurs, Fri, Sat 7:30 PM

Wink-Wink:
Miss Behaved | Fri, Sat, Sun 7 PM

Lynden Christian High School:
High School Musical | Sat 7 PM

The Upfront Theatre:
Murder at Mortlake Manor | Fri 7:30 PM
Fifty Shades of Velvet | Fri 9:30 PM
Punch Line | Sat 9:30 PM

PARTICIPATORY DANCE

Square Dance : Dear Crow & Friends, Bex Bee calling @ Orion | Fri 8 PM
Square Dance : Square Dance Workshop @ The Blue Room | Sat 2 PM
Square Dance : All-Ages Square Dance @ The Blue Room | Sat 7 PM
Samba : Mastering the Art of Rebolado @ Cof& | Sat 6 PM
Cuban Salsa : Technique and Partnerwork in Rueda de Casino @ Cof& | Sat 7 PM
Contra/Country : Contra/Country + Yiddish Squares @ Norway Hall | Sat 7 PM
Morris : Morris Dance Workshop @ BAAY | Sun 1 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

Friday Games & Trivia
None Scheduled

Saturday Games & Trivia
None Scheduled

Sunday Games & Trivia
Bingo @ Paws For A Beer | 3 PM
Trivia Night @ Stemma Brewing Co. | 5:30 PM

Hakuna matata

To All Our Readers

Thanks for reading today’s edition. If you found something helpful, please forward it to a friend 🙏, and tell them to follow this 👉️ link to sign up.

You can reply to this email if you have something we should know about or want to send us a love note.

Have a great weekend!!