Author Archives: nataliemcclendon

By Arlene Feld

Derek Long may live among the historic dwellings of the Lettered Streets, but his life is thoroughly wrapped around building a distinctly different future. For the past nine years he has carefully nudged, forward thinking Bellingham towards the next era. We are crawling out of the Industrial Age into the Caring Conservers’ Age (credit to Jack Lessinger, economist, for the name). The future world begins at the core of everything: You and I, then our street, our neighborhood, our town, our food sources, our businesses, social services and schools, etc. The coming era must heal the side effects of the Industrial age, the pollution of the air, the water, the earth and society. Continue reading →

Tuesday October 12, 2010, 7 pm
Washington Square Highrise 2501 E Street

PROGRAM: Come meet Chief Jason Napier, Fire Marshall.  Our latest large fire  devastated Whatcom Middle School.  We need to know how to protect  our older homes.  Chief Napier is a highly trained expert in prevention services.  He has experience in  the FEMA Search and Rescue Task Force.  He has worked closely with the Life Safety Division to decrease the incidence of and the severity of fires.  Bring your questions to this discussion.

Have extra fruit or vegetables in your garden? Anticipate a bumper crop on your old apple tree? When the bounty comes at you faster than you can pick it, consider donating to the Bellingham Food Bank through the Small Potatoes Gleaning Project! They will also come do the harvesting for you, if necessary.

Partnering with farms, home gardeners, and farmers markets,  Small Potatoes harvests excess produce that would otherwise go to waste. From the scale of a single apple tree to an entire farm field of vegetables, gleaning volunteers work to collect unused produce and distribute it to 27 different emergency food programs in Whatcom Co. Last year 135,000 lbs of produce.  This year the program is expanding into the neighborhoods to harvest home produce.

LSNA board member, Kate Ramsden is the glean captain for the Lettered Streets, Sunnyland and Roosevelt neighborhoods.  If you have extra fruit or vegetables to donate, please call the Gleaning Coordinator at 360.739.5274. More information at their WEBSITE.

June 8 neighborhood meeting
7:00 pm
Washington Square Highrise 2501 E Street Please enter through one of the doors on the Logan Street side, off the side patio.

It’s almost impossible not to live in a historic home in the Lettered Streets, whose blocks are graced by scores of bungalows and Victorians dating back to the early 1900s or before. Of course, that means those of us who reside in them are always looking for ways to keep our houses in good shape without detracting from their historic nature.

On June 8 the following speakers will share their expertise on this topic:

Jim Gunsolus is a contractor who has specialized in historic homes. He lives in the Columbia neighborhood and has been very involved in planning for the Fountain district. He has given a number of talks on the topic of maintaining and restoring historic houses.

Anna Booker has done some renovation on her own historic home. She also participated in the historic home training provided by the Historic Resource Survey and Inventory project.

by Rae Edwards

If you’ve walked the native plant teaching trail that runs along the south side of Whatcom Creek in Maritime Heritage Park, you’ve probably noticed that the current plant identification signs are, well, a bit battered. Originally created by Columbia Elementary students, the signs have reached retirement age. Fortunately, the Komo Kulshan chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society (WNPS) is teaming with Whatcom Middle School 8th-graders to create new plant identification markers.

The Whatcom students will contribute the art for the signs, and the WNPS is compiling key information such as the Lummi and Nooksack names for the plants, plant ethnobotany (how the plants have been used by native and other cultures in the area), plant characteristics and habitat value. The cost to fabricate the signs will be covered by community donations, grants from the state and local chapters of the WNPS, and a Clean Water Centennial Grant from the Washington Department of Ecology through the City of Bellingham. Look for these new signs early this summer.

by Rae Edwards

The City of Bellingham is looking at updating the rather dilapidated playground near the salmon hatchery at Maritime Heritage Park, and potentially moving it to another location within the park.

At the April Lettered Streets Neighborhood Association (LSNA) meeting, Jonathan Schlik from the city Parks and Recreation Dept. presented the idea of updating and moving the playground from its present spot. The current playground equipment does not meet current city safety standards, is not wheelchair accessible and does not have good visibility lines into or out of the play area.

The plans are still in the scoping phase and Jonathan Schlik is looking for members of the neighborhood to sit on the steering committee. So far, Lettered Streets residents Earl Hutchins, Mike Kimmich and Rae Edwards have volunteered to be on the steering committee. Changes to the playground area would likely trigger a change to the Master Plan.

As one of the people who agreed to help with this process, I would love to get input from Lettered Streets residents who might make use of the playground. We will share details on this website and Facebook page to get your thoughts!

Jonathan offered to return to another LSNA meeting in early summer for further discussion of this idea.

In 2007, residents from the Columbia, Cornwall Park, and Lettered Streets Neighborhoods launched an outreach and visioning initiative for the commercial area commonly known as the “Fountain District.” The Fountain District encompasses the area of Meridian Street beginning at the intersections of Girard and Broadway at the southern end, and extending to Illinois at the northern end.

The Bellingham Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the Fountain District Urban Village, on Thursday, May 20th, 7 pm, City Council Chambers, 210 Lottie Street. Hearing Notice

The City was able to initiate the Fountain District Urban Village Master Plan project in 2009 because the three neighborhoods were successful in engaging residents, property and business owners in the initial planning process. The project goal is to develop a master plan and development regulations for an urban village.

More information and official planning documents HERE.

LSNA Monthly Meeting
Tuesday March 9^th, 2010, 7pm
Washington Square Highrise 2501 E Street

PROGRAM:  Gardening

The following five topics and speakers will be presenting brief introductions and then be available for questions. Bring your gardening questions and they will bring answers. Spring is just around the corner!

Permaculture:  Gary Koch lives in the Birchwood neighborhood on a .4 acre property and developing it according to permacultural principles. He attended the permaculture class in 2006 given on Orcas Island by the Bullock brothers. He is interested in neighborhood self suffiency in most staples, but also interdependence based on barter among like-minded groups and individuals.

Community First! Gardens:  Becky Curtis, Program Coordinator, will discuss this program. WSU and The Mary Redman Foundation are collaborating to form Community First! Gardens. These gardens will provide opportunities for neighbors to work side-by-side tending their individual garden plots, while building a sense of self-reliance as they learn to grow their own food. Besides making nutritious, locally-grown food available to more people, these neighborhood gardens will provide an environment in which a strong sense of community can flourish.

Composting & Garden in clay: Elsa King is a Master Composter, a WSU Extension program. She describes herself as “I am one of those people who dug up my lawn (miserable clay fill) and planted a (incredibly productive!) food garden right by the sidewalk. So I can certainly speak to the issues of improving miserable soil, dealing with deer, and just doing it. As a master composter I have many tips for the backyard gardener.”

Backyard Habitat: Ronalee Kincaid is an active gardener and has training at a Habitat Steward with the National Wildlife Federation and has completed the Backyard Habitat Mentor training. She will share ways to attract wildlife to your yard by providing four basic elements of food, water, shelter and a place to raise young.

Bellingham Urban Garden Syndicate: Chris Elder will share information about BUGS and their projects. BUGS is dedicated to assisting with the design, implementation, and ongoing maintenance of the urban food revolution. The groups mission statement is “To promote, sustain, and advocate for urban agriculture in Bellingham through education, garden support, community action, and making local healthy food accessible.”