New Blaine chamber executive director

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New Blaine Chamber of Commerce director looks ahead to Blaine events

s The Blaine Chamber of Commerce recently hired Sheila Wood as its new executive director.

Photo by Grace McCarthy

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Blaine Chamber of Commerce welcomes Sheila Wood as its new executive director. Wood brings in an array of experience, from her family’s event planning business in Woodinville to being part of the team that transformed Spokane’s Riverfront Park.

“A lot of the time people won’t get together unless there’s someone to host, and I love being the person to host,” she said. “This job is like that. I love being the person to help other people have fun and have an enjoyable experience.”

Wood grew up in Woodinville and watched her mom rent out their house as a wedding venue, which she said embedded a love for party planning in her from a young age. At Washington State University, Wood earned degrees in psychology and sociology, before returning to the Seattle area to work in the restaurant industry.

Spokane City Park and Recreation Department hired Wood for a two-year contract position, where she helped redevelop the city’s main park, Riverfront Park. In that position, she designed the pavilion’s interior, among other responsibilities.

Wood moved to Birch Bay at the beginning of 2021 after her fiancé was hired as a pharmacist in Everson. Wood said she had never visited Blaine or Birch Bay, but was immediately drawn to working in the area.

Wood said she looks forward to becoming active in the community and meeting more business leaders. On Wood’s itinerary for events this year is the annual scarecrow competition and the Holiday Harbor Lights that dress up downtown Blaine.

Although Wood is still transitioning to the new role, she said she has many ideas for the future – including a winter holiday bazaar.

“Blaine is such a cute town and I didn’t really know it existed until I moved here,” Wood said. “Especially in the summer, it’s a destination. People come on vacation here. It’s really cute. There’s lots of opportunities for more events in Blaine.”

When not working, Wood enjoys remodeling her Birch Bay home, running and going on walks with her 1-year-old German shepherd, Josie.

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IN THIS ISSUE

Here comes the 100th Concert Celebration, page 11

Whatcom County Council mandates curbside pickup

Take the Garden Tour, page 15

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Get ready for the 4th of July, page 17 The folks who brought back the 4th of July

ECRWSS PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 14 Point Roberts, WA 98281 Postal Patron Local36 YEARS

B y M eg O ls O n

Whatcom County Council has approved changes to county code that will eliminate exemptions to mandatory garbage pickup in Point Roberts.

At their June 5 meeting, council heard from an almost evenly split 15 community members on the proposal, which would establish a mandatory minimum service level of a 32-gallon can of garbage to be picked up twice-monthly and billed through the property tax roll.

Opponents of the proposal cited a number of reasons for their opposition, primarily that the minimum service level was too high. “This exceeds the needs of 80 percent of those surveyed (in a 2016 online survey sponsored by the county solid waste division) who self-haul or use tags,” Kimberly Butts said. Ken Calder, also opposed to the changes, submitted a petition signed by 364 seas Back in 1976, a group of civic-minded people got together to plan a 4th of July celebration, the first since 1916. On June 20, they had a reunion at Ruby White’s house. See story, page 16. Standing, from l.: Fred DeHaan, Rosy Negron, Carla Scherer, Pauli DeHaan, George Scherer, Pat Jorgensen, Doreen Peltier. Seated: Norma Peltier, Ruby White, Kris Manning. Photo by Shelley Damewoodsonal and full-time residents asking that council delay the decision until September to allow a recently formed solid waste subcommittee of the Point Roberts Commu- Unity Care NW decides against renewing clinic contract nity Advisory Committee to continue to look at the issue.

Those in favor of the change as well as county staff pointed out that PRCAC had been pondering the garbage collection B y M eg O ls O n for over two years, held numerous public meetings, sponsored an online survey and and P at g ru BB sent out a mailer.

“There have been numerous opportunities for people to put in their two cents’ worth,” Arthur Reber said. “This process has been very thorough and collaborative,” said taxpayers’ association president Mark Online Robbins. Chamber of commerce president allpointbulletin.com Dee Gough said her association also supported the proposal, agreeing that mandafacebook.com/allpointbulletin tory trash pickup was the obvious solution to the perennial problem of dumping gar- Inside bage on the roadsides. Classifieds ........................................ 20 Jeff Hegedus with the Whatcom County Health Department said by establishing a Coming Up ...................................... 19 mandatory minimum service level for all Garden ............................................. 15 developed properties, as determined by Library ............................................ 18 which properties have a water connection, Obituaries ........................................ 22 it would lead to vendor stability because Opinion .............................................. 4 more users would support the system. Seniors ............................................ 18 (See Garbage, page 7) Tides ................................................ 10

Unity Care NW is done with the Point Roberts clinic. Citing declining use, a disproportionate (See Hospital, page 8) administrative burden and “community turmoil,” the board of directors of the non-profit health care provider voted at its June 25 meeting to discontinue the contract to operate the Point Roberts Clinic.

Notice was delivered to the Point Roberts hospital district on June 26 that Unity Care NW would end its contract to provide services on the Point as of December 31, 2018, but would provide services on a month-to-month basis if needed until June 30, 2019 and help with a possible transition to an alternative service provider. According to the June 25 resolution, the Point Roberts Clinic does not fit with the other clinics Unity Care NW operates in Ferndale and Bellingham, which it described as “patient centered medical homes.” Close to half of the visits to the Point Roberts clinic are for urgent care, and not for primary medical care,

Cites client base and “increasing according to Unity Care. community turmoil” The number of people being served at the Point Roberts Clinic, as well as the number of visits, have been declining, according to the resolution. The number of visits per year shrank from 1176 to 1033 between 2015 and 2017, which is de-

Arts and music fest makes a comeback

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“The Point Roberts Arts and Music Festival is back on the water,” says Arts Foundation founder and festival organizer Craig Jacks.

After being put on the shelf for a year, the festival will be back for its 23rd year, running three weekends in August. Kiniski’s Reef Tavern is partnering with the foundation, offering a location, planning assistance and funds for this year’s event. “We decided to make it longer so more people can enjoy it,” said tavern manager Allison Calder. The first weekend (See Arts & Music, page 14)

BEGIN THE DAY AT THE Community Center 1437 Gulf Rd. Pancake Breakfast 7:15-11:15 am PREP benefit Flag Raising Ceremony 11:30 am featuring PR Winds

September 9 - 15, 2021 Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay FREE

HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer PRSRT STD IN THIS Former BHS student Borderite sports U. S. Postage PAID ISSUE wins big with tuba, page 5 are back, page 7 Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230

Discover Birch Bay Days brings community fun

Point Roberts July 4 Happy Birthday USA s Birch Bay’s seaside festival offered another weekend of family fun September 3-5. The Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce hosted the fun-filled event, with help from Blaine-Birch Bay Park and Recreation District 2 and Friends of Birch Bay Library. Attendees enjoyed PARADE STARTS AT 12 NOON along Gulf Rd. from Marine Dr. to Tyee Dr. AFTER PARADE FAMILY ACTIVITIES: H Breakwaters Bar & Grill at Point Roberts Marina. H Kiniski’s Reef Tavern activities such as a pancake breakfast, outdoor kid games and rubber duck derby. More photos on page 16. Photo by Chuck Kinzer/CKimageart.com FIREWORKS: POINT ROBERTS MARINA AT 10:30 PM INSIDE Coming Up .... . Classifieds ..... . Letters ......... Police......... . Sports ......... Tides ......... . 14 11 . 4 14 . 7 14 TheNorthernLight @TNLreporter @TheNorthernLightNews TheNorthernLight.com

Blaine featured in new novel, page 10 Free financial literacy class offered in Blaine

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Over a year-and-a-half after the U.S./ Canada border closure and Blaine mailbox stores wait patiently for the return of loyal Canadian customers, all while they’ve settled into an adapted business routine.

Mail Boxes International owner Brant Baron said his parcel store has changed its business strategy to stay busy during the border closure.

To deal with parcels yet to be picked up, the H Street business rented a 4,800-squarefoot warehouse in September 2020 that allowed it to store over 20,000 boxes awaiting cross-border customers.

“We used up all of the creativity we had to maximize the space we had, which is what prompted renting the warehouse,” Baron said.

Baron and other mailbox operators are mostly catering to Canadian companies that need products from the U.S. forwarded. Although business has been better, he emphasized his situation is not detrimental and he has leaned into his faith and fo-

Blaine mailbox stores use creativity as they wait for the U.S. to open Canada border

cused on what he can control. Todd Robinson, Security Mail Services manager, echoed Baron’s sentiments. The last year-and-a-half has been hard but with boxes stacked high around him, he said he’s in a much better place than he would have predicted. “When [the border] first closed down, I would have never anticipated being closed this long. I thought three months, maybe, tops,” Robinson said. “I’m pleased with (See Box stores, page 2) B y e M ily F eek

Sales of single-use plastic bags will be banned in Washington state beginning on October 1 after governor Jay Inslee rescinded the proclamation delaying the original January 1, 2021 start date.

The ban prohibits the sale of single-use plastic bags for grocery stores, restaurants, small vendors and retail businesses, according to a department of ecology (DOE) press release. Instead of using these bags, businesses can either sell customers bags that are compliant with the ban or customers can bring reusable bags.

Stores can sell paper bags or more durable plastic bags for eight cents. The eight-cent charge, mandated by law, is not a tax, but is kept by the merchant both to encourage customers to bring their own bags and to account for the increased cost of compliant bags.

While the ban goes into effect on October 1, businesses can implement changes sooner, said Dave Bennett, DOE solid waste management program spokesperson.

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(See Financial classes, page 4)

Single-use plastic bags ban starts October 1

“Nothing is preventing a business from charging a fee and using compliant bags right now,” Bennett said. “We encourage those businesses to do that and start making those changes now.” The bag ban is intended to cut down on pollution caused by plastic bags, which are difficult to recycle and can clog recycling sorting machines, according to the DOE. In addition to the ban, Inslee signed a new state law regarding plastics use and (See Plastic bags, page 4)

If you struggle to balance a healthy budget, local nonprofits are here to help.

Financial literacy nonprofit Whatcom Dream will offer six money management classes from Tuesday, September 28 until Tuesday, November 2 at the new Community Assistance Program (CAP) building, 508 G Street. Classes will be held 6:307:30 p.m. every Tuesday.

Whatcom Dream is a nonprofit that started in Bellingham in 1999 to educate residents struggling with finances. The nonprofit’s founders realized the reason why their working low-income neighbors remained in poverty was because they didn’t know how to manage money properly, said Kevin Stray, a Whatcom Dream volunteer who will teach the Blaine classes this fall.

“We think finances are an important slice of everyone’s life and if we can handle [money] well, we can make everyone’s lives better,” he said.

The classes will teach budgeting, handling new and old debt, credit scores and history, achieving and maintaining financial stability, retirement planning and the psychology behind money.

Stray, who has a business degree from St. Martin’s University, said he sees people struggle the most with debt, long-term planning and responsible spending.

Financial classes are geared toward people earning low incomes, but Stray said all are welcome.

Classes will be offered to about 20 people, but there’s not a set limit. Scheduling in advance is recommended, but attendees can also show up to the classes.

“We hope a lot of people will be interested, come out, learn more about money and how to deal with it,” Stray said. “We’re always excited to put on another class in Blaine.”

The program will offer free financial mentoring to people who finish the course. No childcare is available during the evening classes, so people will need to plan 26 YEARS This Week’s FLYERS Rite Aid

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