On Saturday June 4th, after the annual Farmer’s Day Parade, people from all around Lynden area came together to create a delicious 1,250 foot long (that’s 4 blocks!) strawberry shortcake.
Enjoy the videos above with footage from the ground, the nearby rooftops and even the air to give some perspective on the World’s Longest Strawberry Shortcake!
Editor’s Note: Bailee Mulder is a Lynden native and journalism student at the University of Oregon. You’ll see posts from her throughout the summer on ourLynden, and we’ll soon post an article to fully introduce our readers to Bailee. Welcome, Bailee!
The Fourth of July is a holiday loved by Lyndenites, where we celebrate America’s independence and our freedoms with family and friends in our community. Some go on camping trips, others enjoy backyard barbeques, many do fireworks, but however you decide to celebrate, a holiday spent with the ones we love on a beautiful day is always something special.
Wondering where to buy fireworks, the regulations on fireworks or where to celebrate on the Fourth of July holiday? Here’s your full guide to Independence Day in Lynden.
Lynden has four fireworks stands that will be open through the Fourth of July holiday, all on the west side of town.
The first stand can be found just past Safeway heading south on the Guide Meridian. Another stand is set up next to O’Reilly’s on Kok Road – a fundraiser for the Lynden Pioneer Museum that’s been going for about 15 years.
Today marks the 125th anniversary of Lynden’s official incorporation on March 16th, 1891 — and every 25 years since the men of Lynden have undertaken a beard growing challenge. For this year’s contest, around 40 men grew out their beards and mustaches over a 42-day period, culminating in a judging session this past Saturday at the Inn at Lynden.
Categories include ‘Overall Grand Champion’, ‘Best Heritage Hair’ (for those who did not start with a clean shave) and ‘Best Clean Shave’ (for those who did).
Participants were judged by Rose DeGroot (owner of Fairway Cafe) and Cliff Fast (long-time barber from Cliff’s Shear Design on the corner of 9th & Front Streets). Speaking of the judging process, Lynden 125 committee chair Karen Kildall said “They had a tough job — the competition was really, really tight. But, in the end, they were able to choose our winners.”
After many months and lots of hard work, the team behind the charity-supporting tap house is making final preparations for their opening this Sunday, February 14th. While Overflow Taps is super community-driven, aiming to be a place where locals gather for conversation, community and even board and card games, their reach is global through their partnership with charity:water. With a portion of the sale of each drink going to the cause, every time a keg is emptied one person will be provided with access to clean water.
Partners Jesse Nelson, Adam Stacey and Josh Libolt came up with the concept and plan many months ago and have been working on it since. ourLynden originally met with Nelson in the first part of December, when the space adjacent to the Inn at Lynden lobby off 5th Street was far from finished. At the time, Nelson shared the vision and plans for the space, and now nearly two months later the space has transformed into the vision that was described.
After 25 years of serving the local community with their annual Fall Harvest Festival, today marks the last day of the final year of Stoney Ridge Farm’s October festivities. For many Lynden-area families, Stoney Ridge Farm’s fall activities have been an annual tradition synonymous with autumn and the harvest season.
In mid-September of this year, Stoney Ridge announced via their Facebook page that this would be their last season opening their farm and home for the October harvest season.
After 14 years in business, the Woods Coffee has updated their logo and branding materials. The new logo (pictured below) is reflects the company’s Northwest roots and is designed to be cleaner and more simple than the historical brand mark. “The script font is a reminder to never take ourselves too seriously — to live out one of our core values which is to have fun,” explained Wes Herman, who founded the company along with his family in 2002.
The new branding will roll out across the stores over time, with the drink cups being one of the first elements to sport the new logo in their three Lynden coffee shops. The new cups each have a quote from John Muir, who is commonly referred to as the father of the National Park system, which celebrates 100 years this year.
Thanks to votes from all around the country, Lynden has been named the 1st Place winner in the “America’s Main Streets” competition. Thousands of ourLynden followers voted through the ourLynden Facebook page, and countless others voted all around the area.
$25,000 will be awarded to the Downtown Business Association (DBA), which plans to use the money for further improvements and investments around downtown Lynden. Ken Stap, president of the Lynden DBA, shared that the funds will be used in a few different ways.
The first funds will be used to update the watering equipment for Lynden’s famous hanging flower baskets, and then additional funding will help improve ‘wayfinding’ — signage to help visitors and locals alike find what they’re looking for in and around Lynden. Remaining money will likely be used to begin exploring options to increase and improve parking downtown — a great problem to have.
“We’re just so jazzed and honored for this award,” Stap said. “The organizers of the contest are planning to fly out a crew to throw a celebration ceremony in Lynden on the 4th of July, and will even be sending a film crew to the Farmer’s Day Parade this weekend.” Details about the July 4th ceremony will be shared on ourLynden as soon as they are available.
Nearly 30 years ago in 1987, people all around Lynden began playing Lyndenopoly for the first time. With the property spaces all represented by local organizations and companies, and the game cards unique to our community, it’s a fun local board game.
Today, planning officially began for the new-and-improved 2016 edition, slated to be ready this summer during Lynden’s 125th year as a city. Sales of the game will be a fundraiser for the Lynden Chamber of Commerce, a nonprofit which hosts popular community events such as Farmers Day Parade, Raspberry Festival and the Lighted Christmas Parade, among others.
More details will be available in the coming months, including a special pre-order opportunity. Chamber members will receive information on sponsorship opportunities in the coming weeks; interested parties can contact Lyndenopoly Committee Chair Joel VanderHoek by email at joel@ourLynden.com.
Devoted coffee drinkers in Lynden have likely noticed the recent closure of the Woods Coffee at Bender Plaza — the first of their now 17 locations. The closure is for a major remodel to bring the flagship store up to the current design and operational standards of the Woods Coffee.
The Lynden Clubhouse of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Whatcom County is holding their inaugural Day for Kids event on Saturday, September 17th starting at 5:00 PM. The event is a gathering for Lynden-area families to have fun, get to know the Boys & Girls Club, and maybe even leave with a sweet raffle prize.
Event tickets are $5 and can be purchased online in advance or at the door. Barbecue lunch is included, as well as a ticket to enter one of several raffles (one additional raffle ticket will be given for each $2 donated to the club at the event). Raffle prizes include an Edaleen Dairy punch card, Dave’s Sports Shop fishing gift basket, a beach house getaway, Nuthouse Grill gift card, E2 Fitness membership, Lynden Skateway $100 gift card, a vehicle detailing basket from S&H Auto parts, and a personalized t-shirt from Bellingham Baby Co.
The Lynden Clubhouse is located at 8800 Bender Road, in the Sonlight Community Church building. The Day for Kids will feature fun games such as tug-of-war, giant jenga, dodgeball, 3-legged race, 4-square and more. Families with kids of all ages are welcome to the event, while the Clubhouse’s regular weekday hours are designed for students in 1st grade and higher.
As another school year begins, it’s a great time to learn a bit about the Lynden Boys & Girls Club. The club hosts weekday ‘Early Bird’ hours from 7:00 A.M. until schools open (bus transportation is provided), and After School hours from 2:30 to 6:30 P.M. The goal is to provide a positive environment, quality programs and lifelong learning skills for school-age youth — a safe environment for kids to have fun and be themselves.
