July 4 - 10, 2019
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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
Q&A with Blaine’s new chief of police, page 7
July 4 book sale to be biggest ever, page 10
Tony’s Tavern in Custer turns 70 years old, page 13
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Happy Fourth of July! Birch Bay man rescues infant who wandered into traffic, water By Jami Makan A Birch Bay man rescued an unattended infant who wandered away from home and darted across Birch Bay Drive into the waters of Birch Bay. On the morning of June 21, Kelvin Barton, 63, was at home on Lora Lane when he looked out the window and saw an infant unattended in a neighbor’s yard. He knew his neighbor wasn’t home and that the child didn’t belong to this neighbor, so he became concerned. “I thought there must be a mom around somewhere, but that I better go out and take a look,” he said. The young boy was wearing a diaper, a T-shirt and a sweatshirt but no shoes, and he was carrying a blanket. When Barton went outside, he looked in his neighbor’s yard and didn’t see any adults around. Meanwhile, the toddler had started wandering down the road. Concerned for the infant’s safety, Barton hurried over to nearby Francis Lane, where he believed the toddler’s parents lived. “I knew the lady there had a small child, so I went over to knock on the door. They had a child fence up, so I knocked on the window,” he said. There was no answer. Barton then had a tough choice to make. “It was either watch the child or find the parents, and I went with the child,” he said. As Barton tried to keep up with the wandering infant, he called 911 on his cell phone. “The child was pretty fast,” he said. “The child actually covered several blocks, and went out onto Birch Bay Drive.” Barton, who has back problems and sometimes uses a mobility scooter, did his best to catch up with the infant, who came dangerously close to traffic on Birch Bay Drive. The traffic was “jamming up” on the drive, said Barton, and at one point, a charter bus came to a halt near the toddler. Suddenly, Barton lost his cell phone connection, and the call with 911 dropped. As he observed the infant dart across the road and go straight into the waters of Birch (See Infant, page 6)
s Get ready to enjoy Independence Day with Blaine’s annual Old Fashioned Fourth of July celebration. The festivities are expected to attract thousands of people, and will feature a fireworks display at 10:15 p.m. at Blaine Marine Park.
Photo by Walter Selden
Meeting to focus on bringing passenger rail to Blaine By Jami Makan An upcoming meeting in Blaine will focus on bringing an Amtrak passenger rail stop to the city. Hosted by All Aboard Washington (AAWA), the meeting is scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 13 at the Semiahmoo Resort. An AAWA board meeting will occur at 11 a.m. and a luncheon will start at noon, featuring a panel discussion and presentations. The luncheon is open to the public, but attendees will be responsible for the cost of their own lunch. AAWA is an organization dedicated to promoting the development of Washington’s passenger rail system. One of the organization’s priorities is to bring an Am-
trak passenger rail stop to Blaine. On the Amtrak Cascades service, there are currently no stops between Fairhaven Station in Bellingham and Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, B.C. Organizers believe a rail stop in Blaine would not only serve north Whatcom County, but would also serve those living in southern B.C. “For those who live in Surrey and White Rock, our theory is that it would be a lot easier for them to come across the border,” said Lloyd Flem, AAWA’s former director. For this reason, organizers have invited officials from B.C. to the meeting, in addition to local elected officials. “Local legislators from Whatcom County plus city officials from Blaine have to be
the pushers,” said Flem. “As a statewide rail organization, we are infamous for wanting more service and more stops, but what would be helpful is to get support from local elected officials, along with the municipalities of Surrey and White Rock.” Many businesses in downtown Blaine support the idea of having a station here, which would increase tourism and sales. “This is going to be an important meeting,” said Bill Becht of Horseshoe Coins and Antiques, 810 Peace Portal Drive, who emailed state senator Doug Ericksen on June 10 to invite him to attend. For more information, contact Luis Moscoso, AAWA’s government affairs director, at luism@allaboardwashington.org or 206/200-8663.
By Zoe Deal The Blaine Harbor Music Festival, a week-long celebration of music, is returning for its 17th year this summer. From July 7 to 13, a hand-picked selection of faculty from across the country will gather in Blaine to educate the next generation of young musicians. Organized by the Pacific Arts Association (PAA), the festival is unique; it is both a music camp and a community music festival.
The music education program includes a collection of lessons and workshops attended by up to 100 students from around the region. Students from ages 12 to 19 will register for a spot in one of four programs: instrumental jazz, vocal jazz, “let’s rock!” and “new directions.” They have the option of staying at Camp Horizon for the duration of the program. These students will train to join worldclass musicians and local artists at noontime and evening concerts held each day of the week.
These performances are unticketed, along with many other concerts from professional musicians. There are two ticketed events: master pianist Jovino Santos Neto on Monday, July 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the Jansen Art Center in Lynden, and the Big Band Benefit on Wednesday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. at Semiahmoo Resort. “It’s a pretty intense week of learning for the students,” PAA co-president Kitty King said. (See Festival, page 5)
INSIDE
Annual week-long music festival returns to Blaine Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Classifieds . . . . . 11 Coming Up . . . . . 14 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
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