Progress 2019 by Lynden Tribune

PROGRESS 2019

Top Left Bottom Left Right Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Get to know Childcare Worldwide’s new president on C6 Learn how Taken Barstools got their name on C8 See how Cheeks’ staff managed to move in two weeks on C4 Supplement of the Lynden Tribune and Ferndale Record.

2019 PROGRESS

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

Over 90 Years of Continuous Ownership and Operation by the Adelstein Family.

Mel Adelstein Louis Adelstein

Louis Adelstein Sadie Adelstein

Carrie Adelstein

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2019 PROGRESS

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

Table of Contents

Cheeks Jeans finding ways to succeed in retail in downtown Lynden Childcare Worldwide has a new president, Lyndenite Bill Nienhuis

Taken Barstools, maybe an odd name — find out how and why

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Tim Newcomb, still rooted in Lynden although writing far beyond

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Scholten’s Equipment marks 30 years at Guide Meridian site

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Nami Asian Bistro, a story of persistence for a niche restaurant

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My Honest Story, sports guy Eric Trent tells of overcoming addiction

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The Thirsty Badger, culmination of Layne Brennick’s dream

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What’s Made Here: You might be surprised

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

2019 PROGRESS

A move in just two weeks — Cheeks does it

The staff team at Cheeks Jeans consists of, from left, top, Shannon Zylstra and Amy Thies; bottom, Jamie Williams, Laura Bouma and Elyssa Kuik.

(Courtesy

photo/Cheeks Jeans)

Big opportunity to relocate a retail boutique comes right during holidays By Elisa Claassen for the Lynden Tribune

LYNDEN — Business owner Laura

Bouma hadn’t planned to move her shop. But when an opportunity arises, and everyone on the team gives an enthusiastic “Yes,” then you do it — even during Christmas time in retail. Cheeks moved down and across Front Street almost before anyone knew it. Bouma, from being the graphic designer of the official Appaloosa Horse Club magazine, started the women’s clothing boutique initially with her sister

Wendi Parriera in 2011. It was Parriera’s idea. “My sister is brilliant,” says Bouma. They chose merchandise lines Hudson, 7 for All Mankind, Billabong and Toms Shoes and continued to add other offerings for different fits and body types. Their first location was on First Street for three years in a newly renovated area — in the midst of an economic downturn. The store was named Cheeks Jeans to focus on the well-fitting premium denim product that one would expect to find

in a Nordstrom store. Many lessons were learned there, Bouma said. The second spot was in Dutch Village Mall under the downtown windmill. Visibility was better, foot traffic was good and parades passed by. Other clothing items were added to the floor as well as jewelry and lotions from local producers. Now Cheeks Jeans is even more front and center, in the Waples Mercantile Building in space vacated by Drizzle. “God was working ahead of me,”

2019 PROGRESS Bouma said. A lifetime local resident, the 2000 Lynden Christian High School graduate was in the midst of sprucing up her 900-square-foot Dutch Village space when she took her 3-year-old son TJ shopping at Village Books to buy a gift on Nov. 18. While there, she glanced toward the soon-to-be vacated space next door. The sales clerk saw her glance, recognized her as the owner of Cheeks, and voiced what she was thinking. “My eyes wandered and I saw the space was empty … and started dreaming.” The clerk insisted “it would be perfect.” The pressure was on. “There was no time to dally or overthink. If this was not meant to be, doors would close.” She asked building owner Teri Treat, who also operates The Inn at Lynden on the upper levels, about availability. There was interest, but nothing locked in. Next thing she knew, Laura had asked her husband, Travis Bouma, who works full-time as an engineer for Whatcom County, and her staff, and professionals needed for renovating the space. All said yes. “Teri Treat is great,” Bouma said.

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

ReCreated got out her power tools and started to create room doors and the new checkout space. Builder Craig Shagren framed the dressing rooms in one day using Laura’s sketches. Cabinets ordered for the old space had not been started and were easily adjusted to be six inches higher. J&T Painters covered the whole two-story space in two days. John and Darren Heystek of Northwest Electric made sure light and power were available to the dressing rooms and checkout. Laura’s family came to apply shiplap boarding accent walls. Employee Shannon Zylstra came in on Monday with her family and had half of the shop moved over by 10 a.m. Employee Amy Thies staged the store. Bouma and Hernes put up fixtures they had made. In spite of the doubling in size to 2,000 square feet, everything seemed to fit so well. How? Bouma and her father, Bob Vander Hoek, had “overmade” new wooden fixtures, she said. She had also “over-bought” Christmas merchandise without realizing why. “I used it all and got creative.” Despite the late start and the need

to do inventory at the same time, the store was open to shoppers by the Lighted Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 1 — less than two weeks from start to finish. “God has been so good ... my staff, my family. The community totally backed this up. It was so much fun.” What is next? She is thinking of special events in the new larger space — which she didn’t have room for before. She is continuing to meet with neighboring businesses on that. Did she have time to do Christmas with her family? “I have kids (TJ and daughter Olivia, 11). Of course I did,” she laughed. More seriously, she emphasizes that as much as she loves her business, loved ones are more important, having lost several in painful ways: “People matter more — people God puts in your life.” Bouma also thanks Jay Grande, Janice Korthuis, Vander Griend Lumber, Andgar Corporation, the Waples businesses, her own mom and other relatives, friends and staff. And while Bouma studied art and visual technology in college, she now has employee Elyssa Kuik handling her busy social media accounts.

“She’s tackled so many projects herself.” A customer asked how long she had planned her move to double her space. Answer: “Five days.” “My staff are fantastic women — beautiful inside and out.” While a new tenant was found for her old location, the new lease was signed and everybody got to work — and fast — on Black Friday, Nov. 22. In the midst of the busy holiday season, they kept the other store location open except for two days. Customers watched the progress via her Instagram account. Suprisingly, Bouma managed to assemble a team among her acquaintances who were available to jump to it on short notice in spite of overbooked calendars. The kitchen remaining from Drizzle was removed. Designer Rachel Hernes of

2019 Progress Report Celebrating Years in Business Since 1884

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South Side of Front St., Lynden 360-647-4001 www.lyndencemetery.com

Since 1910

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Ebenezer

Muljat Group North Realtors

Sanitary Service Company, Inc (SSC)

Van’s Plumbing & Electric

Whatcom Veterinary Hospital

Christian School 9390 Guide Meridian, Lynden 360-354-2632 www.ebenezerchristianschool.org

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Oltman Insurance

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210 Main St, Lynden 360-354-2104

8123 Guide Meridian, Lynden 360-354-4468

2536 Valencia St., Bellingham 360-734-7700

Vander Giessen Nursery Family Owned for Four Generations. 401 E. Grover St., Lynden 360-354-3097

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

Lyndenite Bill Nienhuis takes lead of Childcare Worldwide Bellingham child sponsor organization was founded by Dr. Max Lange in 1981 By Calvin Bratt editor@lyndentribune.com

WHATCOM — Bill Nienhuis was on a mission and medical trip up the Amazon River in Brazil in 2011 when he was struck by the joy on the faces of the children and their mothers who came from surrounding villages to receive treatment. “They were so happy to see us and they loved singing songs praising our Lord Jesus Christ. That experience changed me and set me on a path to seek out an opportunity to serve in full-time ministry,” Nienhuis recalls. At the time the Lynden resident was working with the FaithLife Corporation, then a fledgling Bible software company in Bellingham. He held various roles across 25 years, eventually becoming the director of production services, managing more than 100 software developers and an international team of contractors. But a further call to serve was awaiting Nienhuis. He accepted an invitation to join the board of directors of Childcare Worldwide, also of Bellingham. This ministry of Christian child sponsorship was started as a vision of Dr. Max Lange in 1981, and it had flourished greatly in its mission, still operating from headquarters on Lakeway Drive. Nienhuis was impressed by Childcare’s impact in the world. Eventually, as the time came for Lange’s retirement, it was to Nienhuis that the organization turned to be his replacement as president.

Just this month, Childcare Worldwide president Bill Nienhuis was in Kenya helping dedicate a new water catchment and purification system in a slum. (Courtesy photo/Childcare Worldwide) That change was effective last Nov. 1. Nienhuis is now forging his way in the new role. Through Feb. 21, he was on a two-week tour through Kenya and Uganda in Africa, getting to know the people and places of the sponsorship ministry

there. Childcare also operates in Haiti, India, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Peru and Thailand. Nienhuis blogged as he was on the Africa trip his impressions of the beauty of the land and its people, as well as seeing

schools and other facilities made possible by Childcare’s giving. At Bavuni School in Kenya, Peter Horne has been an associate from the very beginning of the ministry. Childcare provides general schooling as a focal point, also Christian char-

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

2019 PROGRESS acter building, medical resources and sanitation systems. The overall goal is long-term change for the future among children helped. In Kenya, Nienhuis paid a visit to Kaptembwo Slum, “a humble place with wonderful people,” he blogged, where he participated in the dedication of a new water system. “The water catchment system helps a great deal. By collecting and filtering water, it becomes safe for consumption. It was a privilege to represent Childcare Worldwide, which funded and installed the system. After a ribbon-cutting ceremony, we ran the water and the kids washed and drank some of the clean water. I couldn’t stop smiling as I watched their faces light up with joy at the sight of the clean and clear water.” Already last fall in an introducory blog about himself on the Childcare website, Nienhuis shared how he hopes to lead Childcare Worldwide. He likes to be approachable and a good listener, and strives to remove obstacles to allow people surrounding him to do awesome work, he says. “I am confident that God has great plans for the ministry of Childcare Worldwide.” Also, since he has been at the center of the technology revolution in the last 25

Bill Nienhuis is getting acquainted directly with the thousands of people Childcare Worldwide aids in eight countries. He hopes to also speak to many supporters and donors in 2019. (Courtesy photo/Childcare Worldwide) years, he believe he can contribute those insights into the future direction of the organization. He will travel widely in 2019. He hopes to visit at least 100 U.S. churches to promote the work of Childcare Worldwide. The donors and sponsors who are scattered all over are what make the whole enterprise possible, he says. Sponsorship of a child is meant to

The Hinton Story

Top: Steve & Stephanie Joostens, current owner and manager, posing with their family Bottom: Hinton Chevrolet’s location for nearly three decades

cover all educational expenses as well as access to essential needs depending on situations. The basics are food, clean water and medical attention as needed. More than 10,000 children are served each year. Guidelines ensure the highest standards of child security. Bill and his wife Melissa have four grown children, two of them married, and one granddaughter.

FOOTNOTE: One well-known dimension of Childcare Worldwide is the Ugandan Kids Choir of 10 sponsored children that does singing tours in the United States. The 2019 schedule includes five concerts in Whatcom County May 31 through June 15. The stops in Lynden are June 2 at Second Christian Reformed Church and June 15 in the Jansen Art Center.

Hinton Chevrolet has been doing business right here in Lynden since its inception in 1947. The dealership was originally started by Dwight Hinton and Lawrence Reed, who were partners in a local community Texaco gas station. Eventually, Mr. Hinton moved the business into the old Ford dealership downtown after ending his partnership with Mr. Reed. It remained there until the move to the current location on the Guide Meridian in the early 1980s. Dwight and his son Mark ran the family business for years before Mark eventually took over the family business. In 2007, Steve Joostens became a partner in the business with Mark; Joostens would later purchase Hinton Chevrolet in January 2018. Steve and Stephanie Joostens now continue to run the only locally owned GM franchise dealership in Whatcom County and continue to run it with the old-fashioned and straightforward business practices with which it was founded. “I sell most of my customers on a handshake and love doing business this way,” Steve said. The Joostens have made a variety of improvements to the dealership, including new interior paint, remodels throughout, a new beverage kiosk, large televisions, new furniture, electronic charging stations and some new decorative items. “The local community is a very important part of what the business represents, and we wanted to continue to invest into it even more,” Steve said. “We wanted to update the building with our main concern being focused on our customers. We wanted a warmer environment that our customers could relax in and hope to continue more customer-centered improvements moving forward.” The Joostens plan to continue investing in the community and to grow their business in a slow, steady fashion in order to preserve a positive customer experience. Investing in the community brings customers in the doors, allowing Hinton Chevrolet to further invest in customer care and an experience to remember. “We are in business to make money,” Steve said, “but we make money in order to take care of our customers. It takes money to give and invest back into the community and we look forward to doing just that.” The Joostens were able to donate two cars so far since taking over the business, and they look forward to helping out when and where they can in the future.

Sales, Service & Parts

360-354-2129

8139 Guide Meridian • Lynden

Monday - Friday 7:30a.m. - 5p.m. service@hintonmotors.com

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

Taken Barstools provides vintage seating to businesses far and wide Buyers can customize barstools in many ways By Brent Lindquist brent@lyndentribune.com

LYNDEN — When Charles “Luke” and Dana Lukey needed to choose a name for their new barstool business, they felt all the good ones were taken. With that in mind, they named their business Taken Barstools. Taken Barstools can be found all over the place, from locally in Bellingham to the island of Manhattan. In fact, Luke said, most of Taken’s customers are located in New York City. Head to the world-famous Zucker’s Bagels and Smoked Fish near Manhattan’s Flatiron Building and you’ll find barstools made right from Lynden, he said. Luke’s background is in manufactur-

Taken Barstools co-owner Luke Lukey shows off one of the many barstools his shop is currently working on. (Brent Lindquist/Lynden Tribune)

ing. He worked for decades as a corporate trainer focusing on Toyota Production system methods. Dana worked in hospitality management and ran a daycare before they entered the barstool business. “The original designs were done by a guy named Louis Stuve down in Springfield, Oregon. He restored a few barstools, and people kind of liked what he was do-

ing, so he kept going with it,” Luke said. “He kind of aged out of the business. He hit about 80 years old and he decided to sell; this was about a year ago.” At the time, Dana was running the daycare and Luke was working for a marine generator firm as a shop production manager in the Seattle area. “We finally just said, 'You know,

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who needs it? We’re going to do our own thing,'” Luke said. They considered a few different options, specifically in the service industry. They toyed with the idea of running an RV park or a convenience store, but they couldn’t find anything that fit with what they wanted to do. They heard about a house available

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2019 PROGRESS in the Lynden area with a big barn, and they jumped at the chance — with Stuve in mind. “So, we decided to buy the company from him. They had two major products, and we purchased the company and have been busier than heck ever since,” Luke said. The original name, Sass Barstools, didn’t suit them, but Luke and Dana couldn’t come up with another one that wasn’t already being used. A friend, Larry Clark, proved to be helpful in coming up with the name they eventually went with. “We tried Acme, Liberty, Victory, OldTime, Old-Fashioned, Bacon, anything you can think of, and the web domains were already taken. Finally, Larry Clark looked up and said, ‘All the good names are taken. And I said, ‘Well, how about ‘Taken’?” Their unofficial motto became “All the good ones are Taken.” Taken offers cast metal barstools, very much in the classic cast-iron style, which were commonplace in cafes, diners and ice cream parlors a century ago. Their presence in New York is due to the dominance of fast casual dining there. Taken Barstools offers two primary products: the Seattle Classic Style and Ballard Roman Style, both of which are

Taken Barstools' products can be found all over the country in a wide variety of businesses. (Courtesy photo/Taken Barstools) authentic, hand-cast bolt-to-floor aluminum pedestal barstools. They come in a variety of base color options and seat color options, and everything is custom-

izable according to what the customer wants. “We offer tremendous value for the money,” Luke said. “I think that’s what

drives the business. We’ve made a few subtle changes on the engineering of the barstools. They’re a lot more durable than they used to be.” Luke said working directly with customers is the best part of running Taken Barstools. “Working with the people is my favorite part of the business,” he said. “The designers are a lot of fun to work with because they’re perfect customers. Price doesn’t bother them. Delivery doesn’t bother them. But (customers) want to make sure that we heard what they said when it comes to what they want. To us, it doesn’t matter. We’ll get you exactly what you want.” One customer, for example, requested a set of hot pink barstools. “They were wild. They made your teeth hurt to look at. But that’s what we do,” he said. “It’s a joy.” Taken ships barstools everywhere, but they can be found locally as well. Jack’s on Holly Street in Bellingham will soon have some installed, along with a new Fairhaven oyster bar called Southside. Taken recently installed stools in the new Zeek’s Pizza location on Capitol Hill of Seattle. For more information about Taken Barstools, visit www.TakenBarstools.com.

Proudly ...

Supporting Whatcom County since 1947.

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

It’s not often he comes to an interview without a laptop or notepad

Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia, was not only the place to further his education, but to meet his now-wife Helen, who was on the women’s basketball team. Tim served as the school’s assistant sports information director for two years, and he also announced games. Fortune smiled and Tim landed his first job a week after college graduation as sports editor at the Tribune in May 2000. When the opportunity to be assistant editor and page designer opened up, Tim moved into those roles. He also covered business and development. He threw himself into extensive reporting both leading up to and during the Vancouver/Whistler Winter Olympics of 2010. By the time Tim wrote an eloquent good-bye to readers of the Tribune in July 2016, he had actually reduced his hours to part-time for several years. He was building up his growing side business of freelance writing. His first piece about 10 years ago was in Garden Design magazine. He had been to the Northwest Flower & Garden Show in Seattle and noticed the emphasis on living walls. He broached the idea to the magazine, and was accepted. Before leaving the Tribune, Tim had also gotten into producing the communication of the Lynden and Nooksack Valley school districts, and he continues to do this, keeping local connections.

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Tim Newcomb, still rooted in Lynden but writing far beyond

By Elisa Claassen for the Lynden Tribune

LYNDEN — This time, it’s Tim Newcomb’s opportunity to be written about. He sits at a table by the window in Avenue Bread, ready to talk. To be clear, there are at least two Tim Newcombs in the publishing world. The non-local one is a cartoonist and graphic artist in Vermont. We are meeting with the one who was a 16-year reporter, sports writer and assistant editor for the Lynden Tribune. That Tim Newcomb, even before leaving the Tribune, actually had a bit of a secret sideline, a discreet additional life of a roving reporter for things far beyond Whatcom County. Often budding journalists will start at a small operation, stay for a year or two and learn what they can, then move up to a larger publication in a larger market. Since Tim and his family have enjoyed the Lynden community, they didn’t want to move. Back to the beginning Tim was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. His large high school had a good school newspaper. Well-known Christian author Randy Alcorn, also of Portland, was a mentor to him. From an early age Tim knew he wanted to be a journalist, so not only did he write for the school newspaper but he also started freelancing for a monthly community newspaper.

Venturing out But he has reached far beyond now. His words have appeared in a bundle of other national media outlets: Sports Illustrated/SI.com, Forbes, Popular Mechanics, HOW, Baseball America, Tennis, 74 Million, ENR, Wired, Dwell, Four-

Glad to be part of the Lynden Community! Dan Shuler, General Manager • 360-319-3274 Ron Viola, Sales Manager • 310-749-4654 604 Curt Maberry Rd., Lynden, WA 98264

For one of his stories Tim Newcomb tries his hand at making a tennis racquet at Wilson headquarters in Chicago. (Courtesy photo/Tim Newcomb)

FourTwo, TIME Entertainment, TIME Newsfeed, Esquire, Runner’s World, The Atlantic, Fast Company and other trade publications.

“I pitched anybody and everybody,” he said. With each pitch comes the possibility of rejection — a fact of life for anyone operating a business. While he

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

2019 PROGRESS had started by focusing on gardening and architecture, he expanded out into niches relating to stadiums, building design, sports gear and public works infrastructure. If he thought he could provide needed coverage, he was interested. Is this fun? “Yes, I enjoy writing and learning about a lot of different areas,” he said. At first, travel ventures seemed exciting — especially since Tim had never been international beyond Canada before. Freelance assignments took him to Japan, Brazil, Italy and France. It is harder to be efficient, he said, while dealing with red-eye scheduling, flight delays, jet lag and sitting on the floor in airports typing on a laptop. In the past decade, he has been to four continents, about 12 countries, and back and forth to New York City and Portland far too many times to count to Nike headquarters or for publishing meetings. Memories have been made: running in the mountains of ski resort Chamonix, France; watching soccer cleats being made in Italy for Nike’s top lines; writing about the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil; and going to the ASICS shoe labs in Kobe, Japan. Tim said he appreciates Tribune publisher Mike Lewis and editor Cal

This is a shot of the Tokyo skyline Tim took during some down time there. (Courtesy photo/Tim Newcomb)

2019 Progress Report Celebrating Years in Business Since 1946

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Since 1953

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Vanderpol & Maas Inc. Truck & Automotive Service 228 Bay Lyn Dr., Lynden 360-354-3000

Wagter’s Automotive Service

8747 Northwood Rd. • Lynden 360-354-2500

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Ferndale Ready Everson Auction Market LLC Mix & Gravel Inc.

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2019 PROGRESS

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

Bratt for allowing him the flexibility in the first place to get into this gig. “It was key.” Another key to the transition to fulltime freelancing was, and is, being “crazy organized.” He uses an online Trello board system for arranging his projects. An app on his phone links to it. Without an assistant, he can easily see the status of the projects he is on. While he got up at 5 a.m. during his Tribune days to get started on projects, he now starts at 6 a.m. and finds it easier to be more efficient in his home office with fewer interruptions. While Helen is home-schooling their three daughters — Adia, 14, Kalanie, 12, and Rilanna, 10 — he is pursuing options, making sure to not only research and write but to continue to “pitch” new story ideas each day. It is no longer a hobby, but a business. Publications, and writing budgets, come and go, he said. He needs to not solely depend on current opportunities, but also look for new ones. Staying locally rooted A benefit of starting early is being able to finish his day early as well. That leaves more time for the things important to him: community, family, and sports.

Tim attended the World Series in Los Angeles in 2017. Right, he interviews a sports gear designer at Nike in Portland. (Courtesy photos/Tim Newcomb)

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2019 PROGRESS Aside from writing, Tim and his family have led the young adult group at their Calvary Creekside church for three years. Both Tim and Helen have coached youth sports teams (tennis, soccer and basketball between them), and Tim announces games for Lynden High School varsity volleyball and girls basketball. While he doesn’t always know what is “next,” he says, “I trust God.” Instead of stressing, he works harder. He is also very grateful to do what he enjoys. While at the Tribune he wrote thousands of articles. Ones just in 2015, to pick a year, involved the E. coli outbreak at the Northwest Washington Fairgrounds, the opening of a new Lynden water treatment plant, Preferred Freezer’s quick construction of a new large warehouse, the Lynden School District finally passing a bond for new schools, and vibrant businesses coming back into the restored Waples Mercantile Building. “My favorite will always be covering the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver for the Tribune, although a close second is any part I have had in sharing the stories of local high school sports teams that capture state titles, as there is so much emotion, joy and drama involved

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

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in those quests. And I appreciate the opportunity to meld into the community and tell its stories,” he wrote in his last column. Now that community is also the nation and the world. He continued: “I may no longer pull into that same parking space (at the Tribune) and I may even get a window to look out when I choose (versus a windowless cubicle), but I still get to live and work in Lynden and Whatcom County. I still get to write. I still get to tell stories. I still get to participate in community.” Writing tips from Tim Newcomb: • Be brave. Pitch everybody. • Have a broad knowledge, but likewise develop niches. His are stadiums, design, gear and infrastructure. • Most articles come by pitching. Only a small percentage are assigned. You have to be “okay” with being rejected. “I have been rejected more than I have been accepted. It still happens.” • Develop relationships with editors. You want to continue to get work. • Be aware that jobs — and publications — can come and go. Continue to seek new outlets.

This is a view upward into the bulwark and cables of the 150-year-old Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. (Courtesy photo/Tim Newcomb)

We’re Proud to Celebrate 37 Years of Providing Quality Tax, Estate and Accounting Services to our Business and Individual Clients! “Professional Accounting Services with Personal Care.” 400 Fifth Street, Lynden, WA 98264

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

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2019 PROGRESS

Scholten’s Equipment celebrates 30 years in Lynden Company began as used John Deere dealer in Clearbrook By Brent Lindquist brent@lyndentribune.com

Dan Kuiper is one of several Scholten's Equipment employees who has worked there since the beginning in 1988. (Brent Lindquist/Lynden Tribune)

Visit Historical Downtown Lynden Early Pioneer Exhibits • Historic Vehicles & Tractors

“Discover What Makes Lynden Special” 217 Front St. • Lynden 360-354-3675 Mon.-Sat. 10am-4pm www.lyndenpioneermuseum.com

LYNDEN — Duane Scholten was something of an underdog when he first purchased the Lynden location of Scholten’s Equipment back in 1988. Scholten bought the business from Bob Kiel, who had owned the property on Guide Meridian Road for the Agriculture Division of Kiels Inc. Scholten was already in the used equipment business, having owned Scholten's Equipment out of Clearbrook for several years at that point. “When I started, I was really only concerned with being in the used equipment business,” he said. “I really wasn’t looking to buy Kiels at the time.”

Buying and selling used equipment, however, came with its own specific set of challenges. Specifically, these challenges involved insurance, Scholten said. Insurance companies were far less likely to provide insurance for used tractors, a fact that made buying a dealership specializing in new tractors appealing. So Scholten decided to enter the new equipment business — with reservations. “I wasn’t crazy about the new equipment business,” Scholten said. “I wasn’t crazy about being in Lynden.” To this point, Scholten had primarily sold used John Deere tractors, and he had a close working relationship with farmers in the east county, especially Sumas. Lynden wasn’t on his radar much at the time, but he jumped headlong into the competitive tractor business. Buying the business and its inventory was one hurdle. Another came with negotiating the property lease. Kiel wanted Scholten to sign a 10-year lease,

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

2019 PROGRESS but Scholten found that to be too expensive. “I just wanted to buy the business, and I was going to take it over to Everson. Why would I want to pay this humongous rent payment every month? So I talked him down to three years with the intention to take the business to Nooksack,” Scholten said. Those intentions changed rather quickly, Scholten said. In a Lynden Tribune article detailing the sale back then, Scholten said he didn’t plan to change much. “I, for the most part, plan on keeping things the same here,” he said then. “There will be changes, but relatively minor, I’d guess.” Change would prove more necessary than he expected. Kiels Inc. wasn’t doing well financially, and he needed to figure out how to get the business in order. “I started changing things,” he said. “I changed a lot of stuff right off the bat. I changed the way they did business. Then, suddenly, I realized that being in Lynden was a big deal.” Scholten found that Lynden was a more central location for many people looking to buy equipment. He lost some east-county customers, but he gained

quite a few as well. The popularity of Kubota tractors also proved very beneficial to his business, Scholten said. “Kubota wasn’t real big then, nothing like it is today,” he said. “That’s the single biggest change, how Kubota took off. It gradually became something. When we became a Kubota dealer, they didn’t even have excavators. They didn’t have skid-steers. They didn’t have any construction equipment to speak of. When they started getting into that, we jumped onto the excavator bandwagon right away. That proved to be a big deal.” Scholten’s Equipment became a licensed Claas dealer in 2004, another big turning point for the business. Scholten said his company essentially populated Whatcom County with Claas self-propelled forage harvesters at the time. One of the major keys to success, Scholten said, has been treating his employees like family. “You’ve just got to be interested in what they’re doing,” Scholten said. “Very few days go by that I don’t walk around the shop.” Scholten has coffee with his Lynden employees almost every weekday he’s there, and he spends Thursdays at the company’s Burlington location, hav-

This Lynden Tribune news clipping from 1988 shows Duane Scholten accepting the keys to the business from former owner Bob Kiel. ing breakfast with his employees there before work. That weekly breakfast has proven very beneficial to employee morale there, Scholten said. “I can’t even imagine having that store without doing that,” he said. Scholten said his favorite part of running the business is really two-fold: his employees and his customers. “For me, it’s a toss-up between the people I work with who are here and the customers I’ve dealt with for a lot of years,” he said.

Several employees are celebrating big anniversaries with the company this year and in the years to come, some of whom worked with Kiels prior to Scholten acquiring the store. Dale TerWisscha retired recently after hitting his 30-year mark, and Scholten said it took TerWisscha reminding him of the 30 years for him to even remember the anniversary himself. Time flies when you’re having fun, he said. “It helps to love what you do,” Scholten said.

2019 Progress Report Celebrating Years in Business Since 1961 Vavra Auto Body

Since 1962 Littau Harvester

Since 1966

J. Calman Industries, LLC

Since 1966

LFS Marine & Outdoor

Valley Plumbing & Electric

411 Nooksack Ave., Nooksack 360-966-4444

6881 E. 5th Place • Lynden 360-398-9845 Cell: 360-410-0064 daves@littauharvester.com

Spray Foam / Specialty Coatings Fiberglass / Foam Planers P 360-398-1932 • M 360-739-0272 F 360-398-1962 • calmanindustries.com

851 Coho Way, Bellingham www.LFSmarineoutdoor.com 360-734-3336

Since 1967

Since 1968

Since 1969

Since 1971

Van Loo’s Auto Service

Schouten Construction LLC

Al’s Electric & Plumbing

Pete’s Auto Repair

DeYoung & Roosma

Construction Inc. 141 Wood Creek Dr. • Lynden 360-354-3374

Since 1975

205 Liberty St., Lynden 360-354-4277

237 Rosemary Way • Lynden 360-354-2595

302 Hawley St., Lynden 360-354-2187

6209 Portal Way, Bldg. 2 • Ferndale www.petesautorepair.net 360-380-2277

Since 1971

Since 1974

Nooksack Valley Disposal

Windsor Plywood

Tiger Construction Ltd.

250 Birch Bay-Lynden Rd. Lynden 360-354-3400

1208 Iowa St. • Bellingham windsorplywood.com 360-676-1025

6280 Everson Goshen Rd. Everson 360-966-7252

Whatcom County

Cemetery District 10 360-647-4001

Greenwood Cemetery

www.thegreenwoodcemetery.com

Lynden Cemetery

www.lyndencemetery.com

910 W. Front St. • Sumas 360-988-9631

Boice Raplee & Ross Accounting & Tax Service 304 Front St. • Lynden 360-354-4565

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

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2019 PROGRESS

Nami Asian Bistro finally finds a niche It was hard at first, but now the skills and a clientele for sushi are there for couple By Hailey Palmer Hailey@lyndentribune.com

Shinae Kim and her husband, Adoune Inthavong, have been in the restaurant business for over a decade and have owned NAMI Asian Bistro in Lynden since 2011. (Courtesy photo/Shinae Kim)

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LYNDEN — Shinae Kim and her husband Adoune Inthavong had no experience in making sushi when they opened their Nami Asian Bistro in 2011. They owned a restaurant in Birch Bay at the time that had been run by Kim’s parents. They got a call from the owner of the Bender Plaza building telling them about the opening for a new sushi restaurant. Kim says they were skeptical at first because of their lack of experience with sushi, but they decided to go for it anyway. “The only problem was that my husband had no experience in sushi,” Kim said. “Neither did I, but we went ahead and were just like ‘OK, we can just find someone.’” The first year of operating the restaurant on Lynden’s north side was a hard one, Kim said. Nobody in the area really seemed to be interested in Asian cuisine in a Dutch-heritage town. The economy also felt very much like slow recovery from recession. Business started to pick around the second or third year they were open, but the sushi chef they hired no longer wanted to work there. “The first sushi chef had to move away and ended up opening his own sushi restaurant and we ended up having other sushi chefs coming in, and during that time my husband was just observing and trying to learn,” Kim said. “These sushi chefs did not want to teach my husband anything. It’s like a secret or something. He really had to look over the shoulder.” In addition to watching and learning, Kim said her husband also read books and watched videos on YouTube on how to make sushi until he became skilled at it. It was a process that took a couple of years because while trying to learn it, they still had all the other parts of the restaurant to operate. “By the third or fourth year we went through four or five sushi chefs,” Kim said. “We hit a hard time where I had to cook and then my husband had to do the sushi. It was kind of messy in the beginning, but after practice and practice we eventually just started doing really, really good. It was a mir-

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

2019 PROGRESS acle because we had no experience in sushi.” Gradually, Kim said, word of the restaurant really started to spread in the Lynden area. She said Nami kept getting busier and busier. People come into the restaurant today who say they had never eaten sushi before. “Lynden is a pretty tight community,” Kim said. “They really support their local businesses.” Her favorite part about owning the restaurant is seeing the regular customers who come in. They start to feel like family. Kim said one of the best things about having the restaurant do so well now is realizing that there was quite a struggle to begin with. “It was just so difficult for us in the beginning,” she said. “We had to work out the rent with the landowner because we weren’t doing so well. In September it will be our eighth year and we’re doing really good. For most restaurants, it fluctuates. I think we’ve been pretty established.” Kim and her husband hadn’t always chosen to work in the restaurant sector. She said Inthavong left his family to help hers for the first 18 years of their marriage, where they had to work for her parents. But now having their own successful restaurant makes it all worth it.

After losing multiple sushi chefs, Inthavong took it upon himself to learn how to make sushi for the restaurant and has been doing so for the last five years. (Courtesy photo/Shinae Kim)

Choose Local- Choose Cowden

Since 1945

Gravel • Concrete • Topsoil • Quarry Rock • Tools & More!

cowdeninc.com • 360-592-4200

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2019 PROGRESS

My honest story — from drug addict to the sports writer Eric: ‘Six years ago, I never thought I’d be living the life I am now’ By Eric Trent sports@lyndentribune.com

Editor’s Note: The Tribune asked Eric Trent, our hard-working sports writer since September 2018, to tell his remarkable personal story, and this is what he writes. It was the middle of the night in a run-down trailer park in South Bend, Washington, in 2007 where I began crying. At 21 years old, I was curled up in a ball in the cargo area of my run-down SUV, alone and scared. For the first time in my life, the realization had suddenly hit me that I was an addict. It felt like an inescapable nightmare. I thought there was no way I would ever be able to make it another day in my life without getting high. I was a slave to drugs and alcohol — and I was finally admitting it. I had no idea at the time, but I hadn’t even hit rock bottom yet. Not even close. My nightmare would get much worse before it ended. In my hometown of Bay Center, a rural fishing village of 300 people on the southwest coast of Washington state, is where my 12-year drug addiction first took hold. I grew up with my mom, Jerri, my stepdad, Ray, and my brother, Ethan. We lived 10 miles from the nearest school and grocery store and might as well have been a million miles away from civilization.

I tried alcohol for the first time at age 15 and was instantly hooked. For the first time in my life, all my problems and anxieties melted away. Before long, I began experimenting with marijuana, prescription painkillers and hallucinogenic mushrooms, which unfortunately grew in the nearby cow fields. My entire high school career was spent getting drunk, high and occasionally participating in sports and doing what little schoolwork I could do to barely pass each class. I was held back half a year my senior year. At the time I was still a somewhat functioning person. I wouldn’t admit I was an addict until much later. At 21 is when I found myself homeless, living either in the back of my SUV or in a derelict flophouse in a trailer park filled with other addicts just like me. It’s the same year I would try meth for the first time and my life would take a terrible plunge. For the next six years, my life was a series of misery, sadness and confusion. Meth and heroin were the main culprits in the never-ending cycle of addiction I found myself in. Although I never spent a single night sleeping outside on the streets — thankfully due to living in a small area where I had many friends and family who took me in at various times — my life was that of a homeless person. I scrounged around for meals, slept in a different house or in the back of my SUV — while I still had it — night after night. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I would never spend a single day of my life sober. I had to keep chasing this high; it was the only thing in the world that made all my fears and worries vanish

Eric Trent into thin air. I had a lot of pent-up anger and resentment toward my birth father, also named Eric, who left me and my mom when I was 2. I grew up with those hurt feelings and expressed it by being a misfit in school. Many of my elementary school recesses were spent in detention.

It wasn’t until I found drugs and alcohol that those feelings went away, temporarily. The problem was, each time the high wore off, I was worse off than before. And it was this vicious cycle that became my life. Until about 25, I did work off and

2019 PROGRESS on in the oyster or fishing industries, just enough time to get a few paychecks. Then the addiction would take over and I’d blow all my money on drugs, not show up for work and quit or get fired. Ages 26 and 27 were full-blown meth addiction, living in meth houses, not working a single day and putting all my resources into obtaining more drugs. It was then that I began using drugs intravenously to get high. At one point I stole two firearms from my parents and sold them for meth. Of course, my parents found out, called the police and I was arrested for the first time in my life, and charged with two counts of theft of a firearm. As a firsttime offender, I was put in drug court, a drug offender sentencing alternative where I agreed to be put on supervision, stay clean and sober and attend out-patient sessions and make a weekly court appearance. The next two years were spent in and out of jails, in-patient and out-patient addiction treatment centers as I relapsed again and again. I spent a total of nine months in in-patient facilities and about two months in jail before I finally went on the run for good. I skipped out on my legal obligations and hid from the police, which gave me a felony warrant.

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

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Stefanie lived. Before long, we rented a house together and I enrolled into Peninsula College. I wanted to be a sportswriter. I liked writing, I liked sports and I figured if I could get paid to watch sports, it was a good deal. I eventually became editor-in-chief of Peninsula College’s student newspaper, and under the tutorship of the adviser, Rich Riski, I gained the confidence I needed to keep pushing forward. Stefanie and I moved to Bellingham where I transferred to Western Washington University, and in journalism I eventually worked my way up to the editorin-chief position of The Western Front paper. I began freelancing for professional newspapers as much as I could, with the help of freelance Associated Press sportswriter Jim Hoehn, who passed along gigs to me and provided instrumental mentorship. Barely six months ago, I began freelancing for the Lynden Tribune, where there was an opening and I was hired as the sports reporter. I now have six years of sobriety. Six years ago, I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I’d be living the life I am now. I used to think I’d either end up dead or in prison. It’s hard to believe I was ever the addict Eric; it seems so far

in the past now. And I know it can still end up that way if I don’t stay vigilant. I’m still an addict deep down. I still get cravings every now and then and still have usingdreams. I used to wake up in the middle of the night from a using-nightmare, scared and worried that I had relapsed. I make sure not to put myself in positions where I will think about wanting to use. I don’t go to parties, bars or really any places where alcohol is being drunk by the majority of people there. I can’t take the risk of having even one drink or even one hit of marijuana. Relapsing dozens of times has taught me that even one time leads down the same road: fullblown relapse back into meth. Now I take joy in the little things in life; drinking coffee on a quiet weekend morning; co-ed softball tournaments every summer; watching movies; playing video games; cooking; digging steamer clams at the beach; visiting my hometown in Pacific County to see family and old high school friends. Those things keep me content with life in my spare time. And I get to enjoy all those things with Stefanie — going six years strong — who taught me there is love and life without drugs.

During this time, I met my current girlfriend, Stefanie, who gave me the hope and courage that I could change my life for the better. We had grown up about 20 miles apart and went to rival high schools, but we met online for the first time. So she wasn’t aware, at first, that I was an addict. It didn’t take her long to figure it out, however. Thankfully for me, she didn’t run for the hills. She stuck by my side. For the first time in my life, I turned myself in to the police. I knew if I didn’t I would lose the one person in my life who saw something bigger in me. I was sentenced to three months in county jail and two years of state Corrections supervision. Stefanie wrote me letters and visited me during those three months, giving me hope that I would have something better to look forward to once I got out. And when I was finally released, instead of running to my drug dealers’ house like I had done so many times before, I ran to my grandmother’s house and called Stefanie. I was done with drugs. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I was finally ready for change. I moved to an Oxford House — a clean and sober house for recovering addicts — in Port Angeles, near where

2019 Progress Report Celebrating Years in Business Since 1976

Salmonson Construction

Since 1979

RoosendaalHoncoop Construction

General Contractor Since 1976 Lynden • 360-354-4395

5977 Guide Meridian • Bellingham 360-398-2800

Since 1980

Since 1982

Westlyn Feed 910 H Street Rd Lynden 360-354-0799 www.westlynfeed.com

Telgenhoff & Oetgen, PS.

Since 1980

Ferndale Mini Storage

Since 1980

Lynden Paint & Decorating

Since 1980

Portal Way Farm & Garden 6100 Portal Way • Ferndale 360-384-3688

5480 Nielsen Ave., Ferndale 360-384-3022

417 Front St., Lynden 360-354-5858

portalwayfarmandgarden.com

Since 1982

Since 1984

Walls & Windows

Northwest Surveying & GPS

Stremler Gravel

400 5th St. • Lynden 360-354-5545

4131 Hannegan Rd., Suite 104 Bellingham 360-676-5223

407 5th St. • Lynden • 360-354-1950

250 Bay Lyn Dr., Lynden 360-354-8585

Since 1985

Since 1988

Lynden Service Center

Roger Jobs Motors

Since 1990

700 Grover St., Lynden 360-354-2611

2200 Iowa St. • Bellingham 360-734-5230

Rose Construction Inc.

1708 High Noon Rd. • Bellingham 360-398-7000

Little Caesars of Whatcom County

DariTech 8540 Benson Rd. Lynden 360-354-6900 www.daritech.com

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

The Thirsty Badger is the culmination of a dream Brennick sees this spot as a community gathering place By Hailey Palmer Hailey@lyndentribune.com

The Thirsty Badger opened last fall after construction took place over the summer. (Hailey Palmer/Lynden Tribune)

LYNDEN — Owning a beer garden has been part of Layne Brennick’s dream for more than a decade. He and his wife were visiting some friends in Berlin when he decided he wanted to open a Germaninspired bistro himself. That dream didn’t become a reality right away. First, Brennick and his wife bought the Northwood Market at the busy tight corner of Northwood and Badger roads, and remodeled it. Then the property directly next door to the east came up for sale last winter, and the couple bought it with a few ideas in mind of what to do with it. “We were thinking about doing a gas station, and then I just said, ‘Let’s make a beer garden out of it,” Brennick said. “My wife, at first, was kind of against it, but I kept pushing and pretty soon this happened. It was kind of just out of my head.” Construction started last June and lasted until August. This past fall, The Thirsty Badger, decorated with local art on the walls, opened for business at 1501 E. Badger Rd. and so far the community has embraced the new establishment. “It’s been really good,” Brennick said. “At first, people were a little skeptical of a beer joint, but it’s more than that. It’s a community beer garden and that’s what we really are trying to establish ourselves as. It’s a community place.” Brennick said he and his wife wanted The Thirsty Badger to be a place that brought people in to talk and where every-

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

2019 PROGRESS body could feel comfortable. Putting all the pieces together of creating Brennick’s dream was no easy feat. He said working with the city and government officials to get construction started was a learning process. Another difficult part was taking something that he had held in his head for so long and actually turning it into something real, he said. He had a friend from California come and set up all the electrical and plumbing, while he and a crew worked from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. seven days a week for two and a half months. “It was a gratifying experience to put all that hard work into it and then to see it start coming to life,” Brennick said. “We first opened and to see all of these people come in and not just enjoy the space, but enjoy each other. I think that was the big thing, just enjoying each other.” Having people enjoy each other’s company and the space was something Brennick was hoping for when The Thirsty Badger opened for business. Seeing it happen has been one of the most satisfying things he has done, he said. “It’s become this place where people can hang out, have a beer or just talk in this community,” he said. “That’s what we’re all about, the community aspect.”

Art and memorabilia from local artists decorate the walls of the Thirsty Badger. (Hailey Palmer/Lynden Tribune)

2019 Progress Report Celebrating Years in Business Since 1991 City Hair

Since 1992

Cruisin Coffee

Since 1993 Cascade Ambulance

Since 1993

Cedarwoods K-9 School

Since 1993 Northwest Electric

309 Grover St., Lynden 360-354-0538

1976 Kok Road, Lynden, 360-318-1919 5885 Portal Way, Ferndale, 360-384-8100 www.cruisincoffee.com

1482 Slater Rd, Ferndale 360-380-3144

6497 Woodlyn Rd. • Ferndale Most recommended dog trainer 360-384-6955

1518 Abbott Rd., Lynden 360-354-7021

Since 1995

Since 1999

Since 2000

Since 2005

617 Cherry St. • Sumas 360-988-6101

www.intlgraphicsdesign.com Lynden • 360-318-1125

Bellingham 360-384-3636

Since 2009

Since 2010

Since 2011

2869 W. 63rd Ln. • Ferndale Over 30 years in automotive experience 360-393-8938

411 West Front Street Sumas, WA 98295 • (800) 821-6288 2098 W. McManamon Rd. Othello, WA 99344 • (800) 572-6454 www.eplfeed.com

More Than Antiques 400 Front St. • Lynden 360-354-7576 facebook.com/morethananteeks

Since 2006

Heston Hauling Service/Hertz Rentals 6397 Portal Way • Ferndale Towing Service Available 360-312-8697 • hestonhaulingwa.com

RCI Construction Inc.

Final Touch Auto Spa 1916 Iowa St. • Bellingham 360-392-8676

International Axton Graphics & Northwest Market Design 5692 Northwest Dr.

Imhof Automotive

EPL Feed

Sorensen Truck Repair & Equipment 8195 Hannegan Rd. • Lynden 360-318-1000

Congratulations to these businesses on their years of service to the community!

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2019 PROGRESS

You might be surprised at what all is made here Port puts a long list together, from boats to beer, cookies to milk powder By Elisa Claassen for the Lynden Tribune

WHATCOM — The County continues to change and to grow. While many businesses and services are quite visible, others spring up and thrive out of the public eye, especially in the manufacturing sector. Their clientele could be local, or thousands of miles away. The Port of Bellingham has put together a list identifying 100 different types of product made within the bounds of Whatcom. Those highlighted here represent only a small sampling. The array is diverse. The county is especially strong in the “edibles” category, foods both raw and processed. A number of products are oriented to technology or transportation. Some operations are local outposts of larger conglomerates, but most of these manufacturers are businesses owned and operated by local families, with sustainable practices and a social consciousness as core values. Aircraft interiors It was Heath Tecna that originally came to Bellingham’s Barkley district, operating in a vast 245,000 feet of work space. The place was bought by Zodiac Aerospace and, as of February 2018, is now part of Safran, a French aerospace manufacturing company. In fact, there are three new companies within the group: Safran Aerosystems, Safran Cabin and Safran Seats. Broken down, that means products are made for airplane safety, storage, waste and water management, in-flight entertainment and seats, to name a few. It includes all parts of an aircraft’s cabin, from overhead bins to toilets. Aluminum boats Bellingham has a long history of building marine vessels. All American Marine is one such maker. It can work on high-speed catamaran passenger ferries, monohull cruise boats and university research vessels. Its team is capable of working with clients on unique hull

shapes and vessel configurations. In 2017, AAM moved from Fairhaven into a brand-new, purpose-built 57,000-square-foot boat construction facility on the Squalicum Harbor waterfront, allowing for multiple vessels of different sizes to be in construction simultaneously. The Port of Bellingham lists these boat-crafting companies of the past or present: United Boatbuilders, ChrisCraft, Tolly-Craft Yacht and Padden Creek Marine. Barcode refurbishing We mostly take for granted the barcodes that track items sold. The machine-scanned representation of data quickly helps clerks check out customers while often updating inventory. A bit of trivia: Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver invented the barcode back in 1952. It is based on Morse code by using thick and thin lines. Barcode Resourcing Inc. of Bellingham has been in business for 20 years. Its mission is to cut the costs of barcoding technology by service and support of the industry. The goal is to implement new barcoding systems or to replace or add devices at a competitive cost or to source products no longer manufactured. Beer Beer ranks behind water and tea as the most popular drink — in the world. It is brewed from cereal grains. According to Bellingham’s tourism gurus, Bellingham and Whatcom County now have 15 craft breweries, including one named FrinGe coming soon to Ferndale. In 2018, Bellingham breweries won a total of 55 awards in seven major beer competitions. Of special note, the county can boast of a brewery with a beer shrine (North Fork), a tide-to-table brewery (Atwood Ales), a unique co-licensed winery/ brewery (Illuminati), and a Cozy Microbrew Airbnb (Stone’s Throw). There is a map for beer “tourism.” A number of the breweries also feature family and dogfriendly outside areas for dining. Breakfast cookies Back in 1994, Erin Baker rented a 4-H kitchen on Whidbey Island to “bake my way to a better life.” Inspired by her mother’s healthy baking, and also possessing some business sense, she developed a hearty breakfast cookie using a

Barlean's Fishery out of Ferndale sells a variety of fish and seafood products, as well as supplements and more. (Courtesy photo/Barlean's Fishery) variety of oats and fruits. Her company, now on Iowa Street in Bellingham, makes more than cookies. How about sprouted snacks and ultra-protein granola? Baker sold her car years ago to purchase her first commercial oven — then relied on a bicycle to make her first deliveries. By 2001 she had 60 employees in a 15,000-square-foot building. The products have been featured in Oprah magazine, available on American Airlines flights and awarded by Women’s Health for best packaged foods. Cheesecakes Chuckanut Bay Foods is actually now located in Ferndale, though the cheesecake did originate in 1992 in south Bellingham. The family-owned operation uses fresh, natural ingredients locally sourced, such as butter, pure cream cheese, and pure vanilla. Each cake is made individually, not via an assembly line. In addition to cheesecake, Chuckanut also makes tiramisu and fruitcake sold in many grocery stores. Chocolates Chocolate Necessities. Forte Chocolates. Fresco Chocolate. Evolve Chocolate. They’re all tantalizing palates in

Whatcom County. Chocolate Necessities has led the way in making quality truffles and having a public sweet eatery from a kitchen on the Guide Meridian. Forte moved from Fairhaven to Bellis Fair Mall. Fresco, from a Lynden location, sells primarily globally in smaller batches at a higher price point to connoisseurs. Last year, Evolve, which had pop-up locations for holidays and a set spot in Bellingham Farmers Market, took over the former Book Café location upstairs in Fairhaven Village Books. In addition to bean-to-bar gourmet chocolatiers, Totally Chocolate of Blaine focuses on corporate gifts using chocolate molding, with logos and branding for special events. Lynden Chocolate & Candy Shoppe closed on Front Street in the past year, but continues to use a commercial kitchen to produce wholesale gift sets, selling through locations such as Connections Christian Store in the Fairway Center this past Valentine’s Day. Powdered milk Lynden's Darigold milk drying tower is the tallest building in town, producing skim milk powder and nonfat dry milk in vast amounts for many multina-

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

2019 PROGRESS tional food brands. One specific application is baby formula. Darigold is a farmer-owned cooperative that celebrated 100 years of existence in 2018. Whatcom has about 100 dairy farms. Exercise equipment Shuttle Systems, which originated in Glacier, now has offices in Bellingham’s Cordata district. Inventor/engineer Gary Graham, who grew up locally, returned after working on special projects such as equipment used by astronauts in a classified space program. These discoveries give physical therapists the ability to target treatment, strengthen athletes and provide doable rehab for seniors. Fish oil, fish and flax health products Barlean’s Fishery, established in 1972, sells alder-smoked products, canned goods, frozen salmon and custom processed fish. Barlean’s also has a facility for manufacturing best-selling Omega-3 supplements. While Dave Barlean went from pipe-fitting to harvesting the freshest fish, his wife Barb set up a direct-order system for selling the salmon. Their son

Bruce moved toward flax oil. Now this family company has oils, fibers, seeds and assorted “supplements for healthy living." They are especially known for their colorful “swirls” incorporating fish and flax oils that resemble milkshakes with flavors of whatever type you can imagine. Highway poles Founded by West Coast Engineering of Canada, the facility off Grandview Road north of Ferndale was acquired several years later by Nebraska-based international Valmont Industries, with 84 plants on six continents. While the company is a global leader in support structures and services for civil infrastructure and water management for agriculture, the local team makes light poles used primarily by U.S. transportation departments and municipalities. Natural cereals Family-owned Nature’s Path was begun in Vancouver, B.C., in 1985 by Arran and Ratana Stephens. The U.S. plant in Blaine produces organic cereals, granolas, oatmeals and snacks. Arran grew up on an organic berry farm and later opened the first vegetar-

ian restaurant in Canada. Over the last 30 years, Nature’s Path has grown to be North America’s largest certified organic breakfast and snack food company, with a product line of over 150 items. Peanut butter Down the street from Nature’s Path, Golden Nut of Blaine is part of Golden Boy Foods, founded in 1979 as a familyowned company selling roasted nuts, raw nuts and dried fruit. Today, Golden Boy Foods is a leading manufacturer, marketer and distributor of private-label and branded food products. Peanut butters can be flavored with honey, dark chocolate, white chocolate, maple, cinnamon, chia and flax, coconut, omega-3 oil, and spicy flavoring. Software Dealer Information Systems Corporation and Faithlife Corporation (formerly Logos Bible Software) are based in downtown Bellingham. DIS, which saw its original office become part of Whatcom Community College’s campus, now has more than 900 dealers — in ag, truck and refrigeration industries — running

their systems with DIS and 19,000-plus users across North America. Faithlife’s CEO Bob Pritchett started the precursor to Logos in 1986. Five years later, Pritchett and another Microsoft coworker begin to write a Bible software products. In 1992, both of them and Pritchett’s dad Dale quit their day jobs, raised capital from friends and family, and incorporated. Wood doors Lynden Door, a market leader in interior doors both residential and commercial, has a 52-acre site at the edge of Lynden. Door choices are veneers, molded, and LDI modern styles. The family-run business started in British Columbia, dealt with a flood, and shifted operations south of the border. Founder John Bargen bought a large wooded farm near Sumas with a portable sawmill. Eventually parts of the farm became nonprofit Cedar Springs Christian Retreat Center and Lynden Door has continued to expand under current president Ted Bargen, John’s son. You can see Lynden Door trucks on the highways of North American delivering wooden doors to market.

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Clean Green items include: FOOD All foods including meat scraps, dairy, seafood, fish, shells & bones.

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NO Trash Bags, pet waste, plastics, painted material, lumber, metal or litter of any kind should be sent to composting …Thank You!

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Ferndale Record

2019 PROGRESS

30 Years

at our Lynden location!

We’d like to thank each and every one of our employees but especially the team members below who’ve been with us since the beginning.

From L-R: Ken Kleindel, Craig Wemp, Dan Kuiper, Bonnie DeBruin, Duane Scholten, Dale TerWisscha, Brent Postma and Rod Hoefakker

Check out their interviews here: bit.do/Scholtens Here’s a throwback photo of Duane Scholten accepting the keys after the purchase of the Agricultural Division of Kiels, Inc. in 1988.

8223 Guide Meridian Road Lynden, WA 98264 (360) 354-4071 www.scholtensequipment.com