On the corner of 11th St. and Mill Ave. in Fairhaven, stands Village Books, a 34-year-old book store that's been described as the heart of Bellingham and has everything an avid reader would want: the Book Fare Cafe, shirts with classic novel designs on the front, an extra side-shop that provides quirky home decorations and clothing, and - most importantly - three floors that provide thousands of new, used, and bargain books.
As employee Sam Kaas puts it: "Village Books has always been a kind of community hub that people flock to, we always have people coming in no matter what."
And he isn't wrong.
Even with heavy, continuous snow falling this last Sunday, the bookstore was brimming with people; little kids playing looking through the children's section, college students pouring over their laptops and books in secluded corners and older gentlemen enjoying historical texts while their dogs people-watch (the store is dog-friendly and proud of it).
Founded by Chuck and Dee Robinson in 1980, the store has built a very loyal customer base in the Fairhaven-Bellingham area and boasts a membership deal that promises one credit for every 20 books a customer buys. Other perks the store provides is a book reading area on the first floor where authors can discuss their publications and do readings, online e-books as well as 99 cent shipping from the store to wherever you want to mail a book.
People who still have a deep passion for paper-bound books are lucky to have a safe haven to go to when they want to escape the e-readers, tablets, and any other digital device out there. Village Books provides this nostalgic service, and Fairhaven is better off because of it.
Fairhaven Village Fish n Chips
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Friday, February 14, 2014
Just shy of its 125th anniversary, the Larrabee Elementary School in Fairhaven will be shutting down and its 187 students will be transferred to the neighboring Lowell and Happy Valley Elementary Schools for the 2014-2015 school year.
After two years of meetings, coalitions and the concerns of Fairhaven parents and families clashing with Bellingham School Board members and other officials, the school’s permanent closure was announced in May 2013 after a vote of 4-1.
On Jan. 9, families attended a meeting explaining the boundaries of the neighborhoods that will dictate whether soon-to-be-former Larrabee students will attend Lowell Elementary on 14th St. and Douglas Ave. or Happy Valley Elementary, which is located on 24th St. A map of the area details the boundaries for current Lowell and Happy Valley students, along with a visual proposal for how Larrabee students will be divided up.
The map shows students living west of 21st St., south of Knox Ave., and then east and running southeast of Padden Creek would attend Larrabee Elementary. Students who live east and south of these borders - ending at the southern Whatcom County line - and along I-5 to the east, will attend Happy Valley Elementary.
Since the initial vote and then progression of the project, many parents of students who attend Larrabee have spoken out against the closure and transfer; their reasons ranging from safety and traffic concerns to overcrowded classrooms to the fact that Lowell and Happy Valley have renovations that are expected to be completed by 2015 and 2016.
One vocal parent is Brian Sullivan, whose son is a second grader at Larrabee. Sullivan lives a block away from Larrabee Elementary and has written several letters and emails explaining his disapproval of the transfer of the students, and his appeal to others to see things from his and many other parents’ perspectives:
“I implore [everyone] to heed the recommendation of the Facilities Planning Task Force and close the school only after the new school opens at Happy Valley and upgrades are completed at Lowell [...] I moved from Seattle to Bellingham in 2006, and like many in this neighborhood, I bought my specific home, in large part, because of its proximity to the school.”
The Facilities Planning Task Force in Bellingham is made up of 29 community
members who operate “within a specific timeline and then dissolves when the work is completed.” They essentially work to make the school district safer by evaluating school buildings and fundings, and then work to recommend projects that help maintain the schools to the superintendent. This could mean either renovating or repurposing existing buildings, building new schools, or buying land.
So far, the Bellingham School Board members and superintendent have sided with the evaluations and research of the Task Force as opposed to the concerns of families. Despite the concerns of their families, students are moving forward into the progression and from March 17 to the 20, they will have a “Larrabee History Week”, four days that will consist of a celebration of “the 124th Day of the 124th Year.” On the last day, students and parents will have a "Now and Then" Story Slam and Art Night from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Sources
http://bellinghamschools.org/
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Focus on Fairhaven: An introduction
Settled south of Downtown along the waterfront, Fairhaven is a beloved neighborhood of Bellingham, Wash. that is home to pedestrian-friendly streets, a lot of history, and a fish n' chip stand made out of a British Double Decker bus.
For the 2014 winter quarter of Reporting 307 here at Western Washington University, this news site will report various news stories that happen in the small urban village of Fairhaven as well as report on the well-being and challenges its inhabitants and visitors may face and experience.
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