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Needed:  host families for students this summer

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Note:  The following is not strictly Fairhaven, but seems so worthwhile and I hope it helps find host families for these students. 

Take part in an opportunity of a lifetime! Create a long-lasting international friendship!  This summer, a small group of Japanese junior high girls will be coming to Bellingham to experience all of the wonderful things this community has to offer. You can help make their visit memorable by hosting!

The students will be here from July 13th-July 31st. During the week, they will attend English classes and cultural field trips. The host family will be primarily responsible for transportation to the Academic Center, which will be located in Bellingham.  However, carpooling can also be arranged.  On the weekends, the student will be spending time with their host families to bond and learn about American families. Many people who host create long-lasting friendships with their student.

The program is part of Compass USA, a Colorado based company that provides educational and cultural opportunities throughout the United States. It is a wonderful company that provides a lot of support for the students and the host families.

The goals of this summer’s program are to encourage personal intercultural experiences and to build friendships that last a lifetime.

If you are interested in being a hosting a student, or have any questions at all, please contact Celeste Connors at: 360-220-0469 or email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Fairhaven scores in business awards

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Fairnaven businesses garnered three of the four awards tonight at the annual business awards banquet sponsored by the Northwest Business Monthly magazine, formerly the Business Pulse.  Ken Imus was given the Lifetime Achievement award for his 30 plus years work of restoring historic Fairhaven buildings and helping businesses prosper.  Larry Wieber, the founder of Aluminum Chambered Boats, was named business person of the year for Whatcom County.  And the two owners of Fairhaven Candy Company, Laura Sanderson and David Nelson, were named the startup business persons of the year - especially for their new crumble peanut brittle candy.

The fourth award went to Anne-Marie Faiola.  Her Bramble Berry soap supply company won as the small business of the year.  Her business is on the north side of Bellingham but we will be checking to see if she enjoys coming to Fairhaven.  Check back.

Larry Wieber’s ACB company has been building high tech boats for sport, fishing and government agencies.  They are unique and the design is still evolving.  Laura and David opened their candy store off the Village Green a couple years ago and have enjoyed a modest success until their new candy concoction caught on with some big national retailers.  They have now closed their shop and are focused on making enough bags of the peanut butter candy. 

Ken - at 80 years old - is planning his crystal gallery for north of Mill Avenue.  The guy really enjoys planning and building or restoring.  He is currently involved with his two sons, Brad and Tim, on the Three Is building on 11th next to Fairhaven Bikes.  His frustrations with Bellingham city hall have him looking at the potential in Blaine these days.  But perhaps city hall will change this November and Ken will be able to start seriously planning his crystal project in Fairhaven.

Major tenant for McKenzie Square

Friday, March 9, 2007

Seems our little Fairhaven Village is getting a major office tenant this summer.  The Washington Department of Ecology will move their Bellingham office to the new McKenzie Square building in June.  Troy Muljat, one of the building owners, has confirmed that the DOE has signed a lease agreement for just over 12,000 square feet of commercial space.  Currently, the DOE rents an office suite on Railroad Avenue in downtown Bellingham.  The move will give DOE considerably more office space. 

A couple prime retail spaces are available

Saturday, March 3, 2007

In Home, a furniture and home decor shop, is closing.  This makes a retail space available and they have asked if I would post the info.  Sorry to see them go, but here is an opportunity for someone looking for rare retail space in Fairhaven. 

Prime retail space available April 1st 2007. 2300 sq.ft. at 1105 11th street in old historic Fairhaven. For more information please call 360-715-1285 or 360-708-7166 or 360-815-4492.

Also, Tim Imus has a prime space available on Harris Avenue.  You can click the link to Fairhaven Land Development to read more and view a couple photos. 

Fairhaven Body Works = fine massage

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Just opened at 907 Harris Avenue, this new studio provides soothing massage therapy to help you relax and reduce stress.  Photo shows a member of the Fairhaven Bowler Hat Society receiving a sample massage from Teresa Dalton, a Licensed Massage Practioner.  She had an Open House today and welcomed many folks to her second floor suite with two therapy rooms plus a waiting area.  Call her for an appointment at 360-305-9858.  My thanks to Wayne K for the fine photo.

Fairhaven Market to open a pharmacy

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

The Fairhaven Market will have an in store pharmacy opening for business about mid February.  Construction is taking place where the shopping carts used to be parked - and the carts are now just outside the doors under a temporary tent.  This will give our district two pharmacies, with the 100 plus years old Fairhaven Pharmacy being the other.  Actually, three on the southside if we count the pharmacy in the Food Pavillion by the I-5 exit. 

New TV ad running during holiday seaso

Saturday, December 9, 2006

Here is the ad that is running during the December Holidays on Comcast Cable in select NW markets.

Note:  Sat afternoon - some browsers are not downloading this video correctly. 



Click to view the 1.7 Mbytes mp4 file video.

The ad was created for the Fairhaven Association Marketing Committee, chaired by Connie Shannon.  The production was headed up by Ed Wilson with video and editing by Max Kaiser and artwork by Kevin Kelliher.  Max has Hand Crank Films, a video production firm located right here in Fairhaven in the Sycamore Square. 

Scarce retail space available on Harris Ave.

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

It does not happen often - so I thought it worth noting that Tim Imus has a retail space on historic Harris Avenue that will be available in January.  For those who have wondered about opening up a retail shop here, this is about 2,000 square feet - and Tim is showing his desired monthly lease right on his web page for you to see.  For those who think Fairhaven has gentrified and leases are too high, this should counter such rumors.  To view all this, just click on the ‘Fairhaven Land Dev. Co.’ ad in the right side column of this page - or any page on this site.  You need to scroll down his page, past the two office spaces he has listed, to see the retail space lease info.

Quel Fromage - cheese shop opens this week

Monday, December 4, 2006

Rachel Riggs opens her long planned specialty cheese shop this Thursday in the 12th Street Village.  She will have over 125 types of cheeses to choose from and will provide sizes for home and commercial needs.  Plus she will carry items for enjoying cheese, such a spreaders, knives, etc and foods such as pate, chocolates and - yes - cheese stuffed olives.  Rachel has plans for tastings and guest cheesemakers.  Her business hours will be 10 am to 6 pm daily.  The 12th Street Village is kitty corner from Stanellos, on the Fairhaven Parkway with a large convenient parking lot. 

New holiday ads - radio and poster

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

A new holiday radio ad is playing on KAFE at select drive times during November and December. It is a full minute long and was crafted by Ed Wilson, a consultant contracted by our Marketing Committee. You can listen to it here.  This is an MP3 file and should play on most browsers. 

And the above 11 by 17 inch poster will be distributed to merchants at a reception in early December.  For a small version now, you can download a pdf file and print it on your personal computer.  It prints on a normal letter size paper.  Connie Shannon, Chair of the Marketing Committee, and her committee members have just unveiled these.  The poster was created by Ed Wilson and Kevin Kelliher.  The announcement on the reception will be sent out next week to all Fairhaven Association members.

Bob’s Southside Auto Service closes

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

It has served Fairhaven for over 50 years and it closed today.  Left to right - Al, Bob and RC give us a wave good by as they pack up their stuff and move out.  The property has been sold and the future is unknown.  Bob’s Southside Service is named after Bob Middleton who owned it from the 50s until he sold it to RC in the 70s.  They serviced any type of car or truck and for many years were the Richfield and then the Arco fuel station.  They specialized in VW repairs for decades - with a special room for working on the engines.

In recent years the fellows have gotten more into selling gold prospecting equipment - as any of us know who have brought our cars to them for servicing.  Metal detectors competed with fan belts for a hanging spot on the walls.  They will continue this business from a new store location on the north side of town. 

We won’t wax poetic here, but it is too bad that we are losing our only auto service shop.  John Erickson services German cars at his shop down by the waterfront on McKenzie and there is the Parkway Chevron by the freeway - but we will probably not have another service shop in our Historic District.  It will seem strange with them gone.  It is strange to be writing this.  I will bring you news of future plans for this prime location when I can. 

VIE Boutique celebrates by giving

Monday, November 13, 2006

The shops on the edges of our Historic District don’t get the advantage of many people walking by their door and it is a bit more difficult to attract business.  It is no secret the 12th Street Village has had this challenge.  Carol Beecher of VIE has a beautiful womens clothing shop right on the corner in that complex and has worked very hard for this past year to attract shoppers. This weekend she celebrates her 1st anniversary of business - and is doing it by helping less fortunate women who cannot afford the clothes they would like. 

Here is the deal - bring in a bag of back to work clothing for the YWCA ” Back to Work” program and receive 20% off all purchases on Saturday and Sunday, Nov 18 & 19, this coming weekend.  As Carol says, “You can make someone else feel good, and in return, we will make you feel good!”  And I will add - there is great parking in the lot next to the complex and right next to her shop. 

The future of this complex is good as April McAllister is bringing in new tenants.  We posted some of this news back in the Oct 19 post on the Buzz.  Just scroll down a bit, if you missed it.

Krista Williams new manager at 12th Street Shoes

Monday, November 6, 2006

She’s been there for almost 8 years, starting when Donna Varner first opened 12th Street Shoes.  Now Krista Williams has been promoted to manager by owner Jody Finnegan.  Jody is opening a second store north of Bellingham and will be focused on that shop.  Krista has worked closely with Jody as they doubled the size of this store and expanded into men’s shoes over the past couple years.  Jody said of her, “She is an amazing employee and we are so lucky to have her at 12th Street Shoes.”  We all congratulate both women on their business moves.

New hotel rumored to be in the works

Thursday, November 2, 2006

A new hotel may be in the planning stages for our historic district.  Currently, we have two hotels - the Chrysalis Inn and the Village Inn.  Less than 10 years ago we had no hotels and visitors had to go to Samish Way for the nearest lodging.  With our district growing dramatically these past four years, perhaps there is now room for another lodging place.  More people are making Fairhaven a destination.  For now this is a rumored hotel, but hopefully the next post about this will have solid information. 

Halloween fills the streets of Fairhaven

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Yes, there are a lot of kids in this photo but they are much shorter than the adults and hard to see.  While this is not a truly typical scene from our streets this evening, it is also not an aberration.  Our streets were packed.  Shops with 1,000 pieces of candy were running out at 5:30 pm.  And the streets were still crowded with little goblins and parents enjoying themselves even though the sun had set at 5 pm and it was getting quite chilly.  In only our fourth year of organizing this, we have a magic event.  Credit and thanks to Shannon of Peoples Bank in the Fairhaven Market for a fine job and to Taimi Gorman for helping her publicize this.  Just over 85 businesses participated this year - up from 57 last year.  We started with 35 businesses in 2002. 

Lots of winners here - the kids who had a short distance from treat to treat, the parents who had a safe and fun place to take their kids, and the merchants who had a lot of parents check out their shops and restaurants and who will probably return this holiday season.

Organized Halloween is simple and fun

Monday, October 30, 2006

Gordy Tweit has been taking photos of the little kids for many years - and some Fairhaven businesses have always had treats ready for little tricksters.  But it was the fall of 2002 that the Fairhaven Association decided to organize and publicize Fairhaven as a safe and fun place for parents to bring their kids.  Going door to door in neighborhoods was no longer popular as rare incidents caused parents to be more careful.  With the invite from Fairhaven merchants, parents brought their kids here.

And it worked great - for merchants and parents.  The old historic buildings, the leaves falling from the trees and all the shops decorated make for a great feeling in the air.  We had about 200 kids that first year, about 400 the second, then 600, 800 and we expect 1,000 for this year.  How do we count?  By how many treats different shops give out.  Shannon of Peoples Bank in the Fairhaven Market is the organizer of this year’s event.  If your busines is participating and you have any questions, contact her at 650-1059. 

Chuck and Dee Robinson with Meg Tilly

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

One of the huge marketing success stories of Fairhaven is the Literature Live program at Village Books.  Sunday evening, Meg Tilly read from her new book and answered questions from an appreciative and large audience.  The program brings potential customers into the store several times a week for what are free events that cost Village Books time and effort and space and some minor expenses.  They started the program when they opened in 1980, have steadily grown it over the years and today it is an important part of their marketing effort.  As Chuck says, they “... connect people with authors…”  and people are able to add value to their reading experience.  And on Fairhaven.com we give good links to the program as well as list some of the more notable readings on the Events page.  We encourage other shops that support Fairhaven.com to let us know of special events in their businesses that give a good experience to the public. 

12th St. Village buildings have new future

Friday, October 20, 2006

Patrick Uy, owner of Sycamore Square, has bought the 12th Street Village complex of three commercial buildings from Mike Blackburn.  April McAllister, manager of Sycamore Square, is now also the leasing manager for the new complex.  The Village complex is new, being completed only last spring, and still has several offices available.  Already some new tenants are preparing to sign or even move in.  Asset Advisors, under the management of Dick Donahue, are taking the third floor corner suite with the view of the bay.  Harbour Pointe Mortgage, under the management of Amy Wilson, will be taking a suite on the second floor.  Windemere Real Estate will expand their present offices with additional office space on the second floor.  And an insurance organization is seriously looking at office space.  To top off all this action, Woods Coffee is talking about taking the restaurant space in the center of the complex. 

F’hvn boutiques help organize Project B’ham

Thursday, October 19, 2006

While it is not happening in Fairhaven, this event is unique - and several Fairhaven businesses are leading organizers of Project B’ham.  Danielle Starr and Shultzie Fay, owners of Four Starr Boutique and The Paperdoll are helping to organize a style show at the Market Depot in, sigh, downtown Bellingham.  The show will feature Northwest styles for autumn and winter.  It all take place this Saturday from 8 pm to 11 pm, with a $5 entry fee.  Tickets and more information are available at either shop - Four Starrs Boutique in Harris Square at 910 Harris Ave, and Paperdoll in the Sycamore Square building at 12th and Harris.  Other participating Fairhaven businesses are: The Bunch, Oh! Fun to Shop, Whimsey and Studio 910.

Port and Fairhaven folks start planning

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Several Fairhaven business owners attended this informal meeting with Port of Bellingham top officials and leaders of the five southside neighborhoods at the Fairhaven Library last night.  It was a friendly meeting with an open exchange of views, visions, hopes, concerns and questions about process with candid answers from the Port folks.  No city officials were there, but the city will be an integral part of whatever happens.  The Coalition of Southside Neighborhoods - CSN - organized the meeting and led the discussion. 

The Port will begin an estimated eight month planning process for the future of our Fairhaven waterfront starting with a public meeting on October 23 at 4 pm.  Place and more information will be reported here when I have it.  The process will update the current plan that was updated in 1992 after a series of three meetings in Fairhaven.  The CSN will be taking an active role in the process.  The five neighborhoods they represent are:  South Hill, Happy Valley, South, Edgemoor and Fairhaven.  This is everything south of the University and west of Interstate 5.  We will try to keep you posted on the process here on the Buzz. 

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At New Location - 1307 11th

Across street from Skylarks. More seating, including outside tables. Now open for lunch every day except Mondays.

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