Photos: Lynden’s Lighted Christmas Parade 2015

By

Joel VanderHoek

-

December 7, 2015

1

Photos: Lynden’s Lighted Christmas Parade 2015 — Maberry Packing's 'Best of Parade' float, with a live ice skater!

The 25th Annual Lighted Christmas Parade this last weekend lit up thousands of smiles!

From Fairway Center down Front Street through Downtown Lynden, more than 40 well-lit floats including everything from classic tractors to modern farming equipment, ATVs to horse-drawn carriages, passed thousands of onlookers on Saturday evening, December 5th. Light rain and relatively warm temperatures (compared to past years) provided a great setting for this year’s parade, sponsored by Edaleen Dairy and put on by the Lynden Chamber of Commerce.

HOEK Photography of Lynden provided us lots of great parade pictures to enjoy! While every float isn’t included, these twenty pictures provide a wonderful glimpse into the evening. Click the gallery pictures below and arrow through them to enjoy! (Then, continue reading for a bit more story).

As always, Lynden Police Department cleared the way for the Lighted Christmas Parade with their bright red and blue!

Maberry Packing earned this year’s “Best of Parade” award with their amazing bright float!

Maberry Packing’s ‘Best of Parade’, with a live ice skater, snowman and Santa!

Bedlington’s “Powered by Potatoes”: as always, many floats reflect our strong agricultural heritage.

The parade is always a favorite for kids, like these girls with their big smiles and waves.

The Lynden Christian 2015 Volleyball State Champions rode through town on this great float. Good work ladies!

The Boy Scouts of America are always prepared, here in their rain-protected float!

SimpleBox storage helped promote our community’s “Be The One Mentoring Program”.

Several classic fire trucks lit up the faces of adults and children in this year’s parade, like years past.

A few horse-drawn carriages were sure to please the pony-loving young girls and their families as well.

As always, LTI pleased with their amazing tanker truck, built right here in town, winning “Best Commercial Entry”.

Santa appears to have gotten stuck in the chimney on the LTI milk tank — or perhaps he’s just getting his fill of milk!

Another angle on the LTI Milky Way truck.

Another beautiful horse-drawn entry by Cramer Classics and Stremler Gravel.

Snydar Farms of Everson showed off a bright John Deere tractor.

“Big green tractors” have a rich history in this town, and have been a part of this parade for countless years.

A Littau Harvester berry picker built here in Lynden was in the Christmas spirit for the parade!

A classic truck from S&H Auto Parts featured plenty of cheer this year!

Another angle on the S&H Auto Parts lighted float.

In stark contrast to the S&H classic truck, this modern ride could have won the category “Best Lit Wheels” hands down!

Several homes on Front Street were beautifully lit, too!

Well after the parade ended, there’s a line for Dutch Poffertjes in front of Dutch Mothers!

The Lynden Dutch Bakery stayed open and busy well after the parade ended.

Village Books at Waples Mercantile hosted The Grinch, and was busy after the parade.

My wife Lindsey VanderHoek, of HOEK Photography, who took parade photos!

Continue

Lynden in Lights 2015: what’s on this weekend?

By

Joel VanderHoek

-

December 2, 2015

0

Lynden in Lights 2015: what’s on this weekend?

Lynden’s popular Annual Lighted Christmas Parade is this Saturday, and the weekend is full of fun events you won’t want to miss! The 25th Annual Parade is sponsored by Edaleen Dairy, and is put on by the Lynden Chamber of Commerce. Whether this is your first time or you’ve been to all 25, you’ll be glad you went!

The below clip is from a few years ago by Lynden Tribune, to give you just a hint of what you’ll find at the Parade:

A few tips for this year’s Lighted Christmas Parade:

arrive early and allow extra time for parking — the parade seems to be more popular this year, and with moderate temperatures in the forecast it should be busy! Front Street will be closed from around 3:00pm onward so getting around town will take extra time.
dress warm (of course!) and dry — there is potential rain in the forecast (which is certainly no reason to miss this awesome parade), so a raincoat layer and umbrella on hand is a good idea.
check out one of the ‘hot spots’ provided by North County Christ the King Church — either in the Fairway Center parking lot by the church, or at the Windmill downtown, grab a cup of hot chocolate and hand warmers to stay warm!
keep a close eye on kids — while this is a wonderful event for children, it can be difficult for the drivers of the giant tractors and floats to see well, so be sure to keep your kids off the street and in your reach for the best experience!

Continue

Poll: What was the biggest news in Lynden during 2015?

By

Joel VanderHoek

-

December 1, 2015

0

Poll: What was the biggest news in Lynden during 2015?

It’s already December, and before we know it 2015 will be behind us.

There’s plenty to celebrate this month, but as we look back at all that’s happened locally in 2015, we want to know what YOU think was the biggest and best news in Lynden during 2015. Vote below (once per person) and share so your friends can vote too!

Simply click your choice, then press “Vote” to submit your vote, then see the results so far! No need to register for anything, just vote!

Thanksgiving in Lynden, 2015

By

Joel VanderHoek

-

November 26, 2015

0

Today is a holiday celebrated across the country with the main focus being Thankfulness. Families and friends will gather in Lynden today over tables with copious amounts of delicious food. Many with history in Lynden will make the trek home to join family here, while others will make the trek away to join family elsewhere.

Regardless of your particular circumstance this Thanksgiving, it is our hope and prayer that you can find much to be thankful for this year. It may sound strange to focus on being thankful if you’re in a season of difficulty, but it is truly like medicine for the soul.

Continue

Lynden Bolt: specialty fasteners & more coming soon to downtown Lynden

By

Joel VanderHoek

-

November 24, 2015

0

Lynden Bolt: specialty fasteners & more coming soon to downtown Lynden

Many have wondered what the ‘Lynden Bolt – Coming Soon’ signs at 404 Front Street mean exactly.

Some speculated that it could be a sewing shop selling bolts of fabric, while the more creative thinker might have imagined a gun parts store selling rifle bolts. Neither would be correct, as Lynden Bolt is the in-progress retail establishment of Mobile Hardware, Inc. which has sold wholesale fasteners locally for nearly 30 years.

Brothers Jesse and Tim Clark (pictured above) were busy setting up in the store when we dropped by Monday evening. With a friendly and upbeat attitude they explained their specialization in fasteners that other shops in the region don’t carry.

Continue

Fairway Center Update: What’s new?

By

Joel VanderHoek

-

November 23, 2015

0

Fairway Center Update: What’s new? — Photo Courtesy Toly Musatov, October 2012

What’s happening with the old bakery? And on the corner?

Since the 1970’s, Fairway Shopping Center has been a key player in Lynden’s retail economy. Much has changed over the years – many will remember that only a decade ago a Chevron gas station stood where the Woods Coffee under the windmill is now. A J.C. Penney store for many years occupied the present Ace Hardware location, and much of the North County Christ the King Church property was for many years a grocery store.

The Fairway Center was started by Harold and Sarah Kooy, and is now primarily managed by their son Byron Kooy. Many have wondered what exactly is going on with the old ‘Doris Jean Bakery’, and what’s happening in the corner spot next to Marta’s Cocina that for many years was part of Time Keepers.

Today we have an update for you on both of these fronts:

Marta’s Cocina is expanding, and the NEW Lynden Dutch Bakery AT FAIRWAY CENTER is still (hopefully) coming soon!

Continue

Village Books Lynden is Open!

By

Joel VanderHoek

-

November 22, 2015

2

Today, Sunday November 22nd, 2015 marks the silent opening of the first tenant to open their doors in the fully remodeled Waples Mercantile Building on Front Street in downtown Lynden. Village Books has long been promising a November opening which many saw as unlikely, but they’ve pulled it off! While the interior (and exterior for that matter) are clearly not completely finished, the store has a warm feel and had a dozen or so people checking it out around 5pm this evening (they first opened at noon today). There’s no exterior signage on the building yet, but a large “Open Now!” banner across the window invites in any passerby.

A number of staff, including the Lynden store manager as well as owner Chuck Robinson were at the store, in addition to Waples Mercantile developers Teri Treat and Debra McClure.

Continue

Stoney Ridge Farm’s Last Day Ever of Fall Harvest Festival: Oct. 31st, 2015

By

Joel VanderHoek

-

October 31, 2015

0

Stoney Ridge Farm’s Last Day Ever of Fall Harvest Festival: Oct. 31st, 2015 — (Photo by Stacee Sledge, courtesy of WhatcomTalk.com)

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.

Continue

Lynden City-Wide ‘Dutch Treat’: Halloween Trick or Treat 2015

Events
News

By

Joel VanderHoek

-

October 31, 2015

0

Lynden City-Wide ‘Dutch Treat’: Halloween Trick or Treat 2015

The Lynden Chamber of Commerce members are hosting their annual “Dutch Treat” city-wide trick-or-treating for kids for Halloween today from 3-5pm. Look for the orange balloon outside of participating members!

Continue

Welcome to ourLynden.com!

By

Joel VanderHoek

-

October 31, 2015

1

ourLynden is a place for our community, both near and far, to connect over the ideals that make Lynden such a special place. You’ll find bits of hyper-local news, interesting insights into our community and stories of the people that call Lynden home. You’ll be encouraged, reminded and called to action. Welkom!

Continue