August 3 - 9, 2023
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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
New Blaine bakery serves sweets, page 3
Lady Washington tall ship returns to Blaine Harbor for maritime festival
Youth crisis center to open in Everson, page 8
Blaine book club, page 15
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Sandcastles and classic cars take over Birch Bay
By Madisun Tobisch
(See Festival page 10)
s Birch Bay had a busy weekend full of impressive sand sculptures and classic vehicles for the 40th annual Sand Sculpture Competition on July 29 and Rollback Weekend on July 30. Crowds packed Birch Bay Drive to participate in the festivities, which included a vendors market, live music, pancake breakfast and family-friendly poker run. More photos on pages 6-7. Photo by Chuck Kinzer/ckimageart.com
Early August primary results show Sidhu in lead for Whatcom County Executive By Grace McCarthy Preliminary August 1 primary election results give insight into what is to come for the November 2023 general election, including the Whatcom County executive race, where incumbent Satpal Sidhu and Dan Purdy are the top two finishers so far. The two candidates who receive the most votes in the August primary will move onto the November 7 election. The following results are updated as of 8 p.m. Election Day: Six candidates vied for the county executive seat in the primary. Sidhu, who is finishing his first four-year term as executive, led the race with 34.9 per-
cent. Dan Purdy, a first-time candidate, followed in second with 28 percent of the votes. State representative Alicia Rule received 17.6 percent, county council chair Barry Buchanan received 13.9 percent, Misty Flowers received 3.2 percent and Sukhwant Gill received 2.3 percent of votes. The Blaine school board race shows Ben Lazarus in the lead at 43 percent. Dean Berkeley was in second at 33.3 percent. Tana Perkins Reneau, who was charged with nearly a dozen counts of child abuse in June, received 23.1 percent, or 875 votes. As for the Whatcom County Council (See Election, page 2)
INSIDE
Blaine’s annual Drayton Harbor Maritime Festival is back Saturday, August 5 and Sunday, August 6 for a pirate-themed weekend with events for the whole family (pets included). The Lady Washington tall ship will make its post-pandemic return to Blaine, which will be its only stop in Whatcom County for the year. The Lady Washington will arrive before the festival on Thursday, August 3 and remain docked at Blaine Harbor through Sunday, August 6. The crew aboard Lady Washington will offer self-directed dockside tours open to the public by donation. For a more immersive experience, tickets are available online for a two-hour trip around Boundary Bay or longer voyages ranging from seven to 16 hours. For more information or to get tickets, visit historicalseaport.org. The official festival begins at 10 a.m. Saturday. The Blaine Chamber of Commerce will sponsor two days of crafts, vendors, games, and a scavenger hunt from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Blaine Harbor Boating Center, 235 Marine Drive. Members of the Northwest Steam Society will be in attendance with their collection of steamboats available for public viewing at Blaine Harbor. A few steam cars may be spotted going up and down Marine Drive. Travel across the street to the Marine Park Playground on Saturday for the Pirate Daze children’s celebration sponsored by the Blaine-Birch Bay Park and Recreation District 2. Concessions will be sold for $1 and there will be a photo opportunity with a mermaid. The annual pirate parade and costume contest will start around noon. The Blaine Community Theater will present the “Pirates of Penzance” water balloon show in 30-minute intervals, sharing the stage with Blaine Public Library’s storytime. The Pirate Daze finale water balloon fight will start at 2 p.m. Attendees can return to the boating center on Sunday for more arts, crafts and food vendors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Pirate Pet contest, a community favorite, will start at 1 p.m. To register, participants can visit the Blaine Chamber
Coming Up . . . . . 14 Classifieds . . . 11,12 Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
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