2025 Whatcom County Home & Lifestyle Show Preview ‘s
Published Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Friday, April 4 - Sunday, April 6 10 AM - 6 PM
Lynden Tribune & Ferndale Record
2025 WHATCOM HOME & LIFESTYLE SHOW
Premier Landscape ......... 5
Andrew Ziegenfus started Premier Landscape Co. six years ago as a lawn care side gig while Ziegenfus worked part-time as a middle school physical education teacher in the Meridian School District.
He had a background in the landscape industry since 2014 and working every other day as a teacher, said he felt it would be a good time to start his own venture ...
Marr's Heating ................ 8
Jacob Marr remembers growing up with the close-knit team of seven employees that was Marr’s Heating and Air Conditioning. He remembers asking one of the office ladies for graham crackers and making $0.25 per bucket of miscellaneous equipment. In middle school and high school Marr spent his time after school and in the summer working. Now he represents the third generation of Marr ownership ...
Cascade Ridge .............. 10
Born and raised in La Conner, Knute Olsen always knew he wanted to start his own business. In 2019, he got married and moved to Lynden, where his wife was born and raised.
In 2021, Olsen saw the demand for residential home painting and jumped on the opportunity to start his own business doing something he enjoys.
He said he loves the wow-factor a new color gives to a home ...
Cicchitti’s East Coast Pizza has been a family favorite since 1976 and it will be one of many food options at the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County’s Home & Lifestyle Show.
“My grandfather brought his family pizza recipes from the East Coast which are handmade down to the dough and sauce,” current owner Nakasha Kelly said. It started out as a restaurant in downtown Bellingham ...
Welcome to the 2025 Whatcom County Home and Lifestyle Show
Welcome to the largest home show north of Seattle. The Building Industry Association of Whatcom County presents the 2025 Whatcom Home & Lifestyle Show April 4-6 from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. This event is sponsored by Judd & Black Appliance.
Known to many as BIAWC, the association celebrates 44 years of serving Whatcom County with this special show. And attendance to this show is free each day.
With more than 250 exhibitors, the show is Whatcom County’s largest and most trusted destination for all design and home improvement information, inspiration and direct connections for you with local industry leaders and trendsetters.
The Weekend Seminar Series, PNWBA BBQ Competition, The Lego Masters Building Class, Reptile Show and Food Truck Round-up event make this a fun event for all ages.
The Building Industry Association of Whatcom County is a private, nonprofit trade organization of builders, remodelers and other businesses related to the home building and construction industry.
Founded in Bellingham in 1978, BIAWC has continued to be a voice for the construction industry in Whatcom County.
BIAWC offices are at 1650 Baker Creek Place, Bellingham. Call 360-671-4247 or email info@biawc.com for more information. More information at biawc.com/home-show-2025.
The Whatcom County Home and Lifestyle Show on the Northwest Washington Fairgrounds in Lynden is the largest home and garden show north of Seattle. This year’s event is April 4-6. (Photos courtesy BIAWC)
Here are some of the highlights of this year’s Whatcom County Home and Lifestyle Show:
Ribs & Roofs BBQ Competition: Igniting Futures sponsored by WECU & WRS
The 2025 Whatcom Home & Lifestyle Show again will partner with the Pacific Northwest BBQ Association to host the Ribs & Roofs professional BBQ competition.
This event raises money for free afterschool wood shop programs for elementary school children and Bellingham Technical College’s Pathways to the Trades Scholarship for building-focused trade school students.
Sampling is on Saturday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Sunday from 2-5 p.m. while supplies last. Grand Champion named at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Food Truck Roundup:
Taste your way through the Food Truck Roundup. Whatcom County food truck favorites including Feast, Cicchitti’s Pizza, Simmering Tava and El Tapatio Taco truck will cook a variety of amazing food.
Fun & Inspirational
Speakers such as HGTV’s Unsellable Houses Twins Lindsay Lamb and Leslie Davis, Ciscoe Morris, King5’s favorite garden expert, reptile man and others.
Kids Activities:
• Drop in Woodshop Area Friday from 3-6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
• Lego Masters Lego Competition with Brad Bergman on Sunday
• Spiderman & Moana appearance
• WECU Interactive Kids Area
• Face Painting Fairies from Art & Happiness
• Family day (Saturday) by Fairhaven Floors
• Young Entrepreneurs Market
• Gnome Scavenger Hunt with Treasure Chest Prizes by Dave’s Sports Shop
Outlaws Saloon Beer Garden
Ferndale’s watering hole, Outlaws will bring their wide selection of cold beer and signature cocktails to the BIAWC Home Show.
Other Activities
• Cooking Demo with Kevin Forrester of SEAFEAST
• Live Music
• Interactive, inspirational displays
• Tractors & Equipment
• Young Entrepreneurs Makers Market
• “Home is Where you Park it” Conversion Van Rally
Premier Landscape Co. gets creative
Build and Create with landscape design
By Racquel Muncy Staff Reporter
WHATCOM — Andrew Ziegenfus started Premier Landscape Co. six years ago as a lawn care side gig while Ziegenfus worked part-time as a middle school physical education teacher in the Meridian School District.
He had a background in the landscape industry since 2014 and working every other day as a teacher, said he felt it would be a good time to start his own venture.
Ziegenfus said it started with lawn care maintenance and then he learned how to put in irrigation systems. From there he began to take on a variety of projects.
He said over the years he has had a couple of homes and each one turned into a practice run for projects, never wanting a client’s home to be the first time he has tried out a new project.
“It’s fun,” he said. “I like the creative aspect of what we get to build.”
The business quickly grew and three years into the business became a full-time venture and has morphed largely into custom hardscape projects.
It has also grown to include three fulltime employees.
“It’s a great group of guys,” he said. “We’re all equally capable of doing everything.”
Ziegenfus is involved in everything from meeting with clients to creating designs to hopping into the excavator.
Now they handle a variety of projects. Premier Landscape Co. not only completes the project, but also does the design work as well.
“I have a desire to build and create,” he said. “Every day is a new challenge, but a new thing to build or create.”
Ziegenfus said paver patios have become the business’ “bread and butter,” but water features are what has really piqued his interest currently.
While he enjoys the efficiency his team has created in quickly completing a quality paver patio, the water features are “more unique and creative.”
“We like to specialize in the things that other companies don’t,” he said. “We want
to specialize in the hard things.”
Services include: outdoor living, paver patios and hardscapes, landscaping, pools and spas, landscape lighting, retaining walls, fire and water features, planting and maintenance, irrigation systems and irrigation service.
Recent projects Premier Landscape Co. has taken on include a fiber glass spa, water feature and outdoor kitchen. All vastly different projects that not any company would be able to take on.
Ziegenfus said there is very little repetition in the work they do and he enjoys that. While the type of project may be different, clients may want their own twist or the landscape may require some tweaks to a design or the layout work.
“We have the eye (for design) and the ability to blend the eye with the functionality needed,” he said.
At the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County’s Home and Lifestyle Show attendees can see that eye thanks to a large TV Ziegenfus will have a slideshow playing through a variety of projects.
He said he knows the average person attending the Home and Lifestyle Show will not be for him as adding a backyard feature isn’t exactly a spur of the moment decision.
“It’s a very niche thing,” he said. “People aren’t just going to impulse buy a water feature.”
However, those who have been thinking about a project already will find his booth benefi-
cial. He said people often stop to watch the slideshow of projects and ask questions about projects. This may not lead to immediate clients but can get the ball rolling on attendees thinking about the possibilities of their properties.
“We want to be known as the company that can do anything,” he said.
Ziegenfus will be at his booth at the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County's 2025 Whatcom Home & Lifestyle Show, April 4-6 at the Northwest Washington Fair and Event Center, 1775 Front St., Lynden.
More information about Premier Landscape Co. can be found at premierlandscapecompany.com. Questions can be directed to the business at 360-815-8211.
-- Contact Racquel Muncy at racquel@lyndentribune. com.
Third generation owner expands business
Marr's Heating grows, changes
By Racquel Muncy Staff Reporter
WHATCOM — Jacob Marr remembers growing up with the close-knit team of seven employees that was Marr’s Heating and Air Conditioning. He remembers asking one of the office ladies for graham crackers and making $0.25 per bucket of miscellaneous equipment.
In middle school and high school Marr spent his time after school and in the summer working.
“I didn’t really enjoy it at the time,” he said, adding it’s rare for any teenager to particularly enjoy trade labor.
After high school Marr went off to Wenatchee for college.
“At a certain point I realized I didn’t want to finish,” he said.
Marr came back home and started back at the family company as an installer.
“I started over at the bottom,” he said.
Now 10 years later he represents the third generation of Marr ownership.
“It felt surreal,” he said of taking over the family business at 23. “It was pretty difficult.”
Up until Marr took over, Marr’s Heating and Cooling had about seven employees, now it has about 50.
Marr said rather than focus on growth, his predecessors brought in technology to the company that is still used today.
The minimal growth was intentional but coming in as a young owner he said he has the energy and the time to make changes and grow the company.
“I plan to be here a long time,” Marr said. “Being young is a pretty big advantage to me.”
Jumping in he immediately started to organize and upgrade the facility, brand the vehicles and add uniforms to the repertoire.
“You find out really quickly that you need operational procedures in place,” he said, adding that as the number of employees grows the need for well written procedures becomes more important.
As the company has grown, Marr said customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction has grown as well, which is not often seen with such large growth. He said he has been careful to “not get over the front of our skis” and grow itself out of business.
Marr said he plans to continue to grow satisfaction as the company adds on services, especially for the employees.
“That’s the most important thing to me, that we build a place where employees can have a family, can earn a good wage,” he said.
As the team grows, the services expand.
Recently, Marr’s Heating and Air Conditioning has added plumbing and electrical to its repertoire.
Plumbing work includes tanked and tankless water heater installation, repair and maintenance. Elec-
Outside of this year's Home and Lifestyle Show, scheduled for April 4-6, Marr’s Heating and Air Conditioning can be found at 1677 Mt. Baker Highway or online at marrsheating.com. (All photos courtesy Marr’s Heating)
trical work includes generator installation and repair.
Marr said going to shows like the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County’s upcoming Home and Lifestyle Show helps to get the word out about the new services they offer.
However, Marr said it is more than that.
“Our goal is to be the people that everyone in the community recognizes as the name to be in your home,” he said. “We want to be the best education, so people can make the best call for themselves.”
The Home and Lifestyle Show provides the perfect opportunity to educate the community, so there will be professionals onsite throughout the show to answer questions.
“It’s not so much a sales pitch,” Marr said.
At the show they will also be giving away free Woods Coffee, running specials on plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems and will have display units on site for people to check out.
Looking to the future, at the ripe old age of 28, Marr said he has high hopes and big plans for the future.
They are quickly outgrowing their
building, despite the work Marr put into it, so the parcel of land next door was purchased and a new building will be built.
“We’re here to grow,” he said.
Marr said no amount of growth will lead to a compromise of customer or employee satisfaction. He said they keep metrics on everything, from number of uniforms worn to reviews gained to overall customer retention.
He said customer retention is critical, as in order to grow they need both new customers and people returning.
Long term, Marr said he looks forward to the day he’s able to walk around the office with a cup of coffee, helping to train employees rather than regularly being out in the van.
Outside of this year's Home and Lifestyle Show, scheduled for April 4-6, Marr’s Heating and Air Conditioning can be found at 1677 Mt. Baker Highway or online at marrsheating.com.
Marr’s serves all of Whatcom County and has financing options available.
-- Contact Racquel Muncy at racquel@lyndentribune.com.
Jacob Marr remembers growing up with the closeknit team of seven employees that was Marr’s Heating and Air Conditioning. Now he represents the third generation of Marr ownership.
(Photo courtesy Marr’s Heating)
Looking forward to painting season
Cascade Ridge Painting adds local color
By Racquel Muncy Staff Reporter
LYNDEN — Born and raised in La Conner, Knute Olsen always knew he wanted to start his own business. In 2019, he got married and moved to Lynden, where his wife was born and raised.
In 2021, Olsen saw the demand for residential home painting and jumped on the opportunity to start his own business doing something he enjoys.
He said he loves the wow-factor a new color gives to a home and the comfort in knowing the home is better protected from weather.
It started as a side gig and has grown into a business that supports Olsen along with four employees.
“It feels good,” he said. “It feels like it’s sustainable.”
Cascade Ridge Painting provides a variety of services such as exterior painting, interior painting, staining and managing exterior lead paint on older homes.
Exterior painting services also include pressure washing, caulking and sanding, in addition to the painting.
Interior painting work includes the prep work to repair holes and prime surfaces to ensure even finishes.
Staining works to protect the wood against weather, rot and UV damage, while enhancing the appearance.
Cascade Ridge Painting is a Lead-Safe Certified contractor, allowing them to work on homes built before 1978 and manage the hazard.
Exterior painting prices vary from $4,000 to $8,000 for a small home. Medium homes run between $8,000 and $15,000 and large homes start around $15,000.
Interior bedroom walls run between $500 and $650.
The past few years Olsen said his business has been about 95% residential, but he has recently started doing more commercial properties and said that is a side of the business he wants to continue to grow.
“It’s a different clientele,” he said. “It’s more transactional.”
This past year was Olsen’s first time at the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County’s Home and Lifestyle Show.
“I learned a lot,” he said.
While he may not have received many calls about new jobs immediately following the show last year, towards the end of the summer the calls started to come in.
See Cascade on 12
Knute Olsen saw the demand for residential home painting, so he started his own business doing something he enjoys. (All photos courtesy Cascade Ridge Painting)
He will be manning his booth, allowing the community to get to know him and the company he is working to build.
“It’s going to be me and it’s going to be authentic,” Olsen said.
He said there is two things he hopes people leave his booth knowing.
The first is that no matter how the job goes, he is going to do his best by his clients.
“I’m really going to take care of them,” he said. “I think my reviews show that.”
Cascade Ridge Painting has a 4.9 star rating out of five on Google, based on 59
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reviews and an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.
Olsen offers a five-year warranty on all jobs and does not require deposits or payments until the customer is satisfied.
“Our work speaks for itself,” he said.
The second thing Olsen said he hopes the community knows about him is that while he may still be considered new to Lynden, his family is here to stay, grow the company and give back to the community.
He said his family of five, made of his wife and three foster children, is involved in local sports including basketball and Little League. He gives back to the community through foster care and participating in his local church.
Rather than expand into other markets, Olsen said he wants to keep his business in Whatcom County and grow from within.
More information on Cascade Ridge Painting can be found at its website, cascaderidgepainting.com. Olsen can be reached at 360-362-5590 or at kolsen@cascaderidgepainting.com.
Cascade Ridge Painting is one of the many vendors who will be at the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County’s Home and Lifestyle Show, April 4-6.
-- Contact Racquel Muncy at racquel@ lyndentribune.com.
“Mt Baker Roofing did a excellent job on reroofing my house. I was so impressed in how they cleaned up every evening. They left a very clean worksite. The roofers worked so hard right before Christmas when the days are short and the weather unpredictable. They were fast but thorough. I would definitely hire again. Their price was quite reasonable. They are a well managed, excellent business. Great work everyone!”
Sandy H
“The crew showed up early and got to work immediately. It seemed like an army on the roof all working hard and getting the shingles off in a coordinated fast pace. We ended up needing sheeting over the entire roof but they took care of that in a day and then started on the new beautiful shingles!
These 6-7 men worked very hard and did a professional job in just 3 days! They continually kept our property cleared of debris and protected vulnerable plants. Highly recommend this company!”
Marci Plank
Food truck delights
Food trucks including Cicchitti's, El Tapatio Taco Truck, Simmering Tava and Feast will be at this year's Building Industry Association of Whatcom County’s Home & Lifestyle Show, April 4-6 in Lynden. (Courtesy photos)
Thinking of home improvement projects, upgrades at Home and Lifestyle Show can work up an appetite
By Racquel Muncy Staff Reporter
LYNDEN — Cicchitti’s East Coast Pizza has been a family favorite since 1976 and it will be one of many food options at the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County’s Home & Lifestyle Show.
“My grandfather brought his family pizza recipes from the East Coast which are handmade down to the dough and sauce,” current owner Nakasha Kelly said.
It started out as a restaurant in downtown Bellingham and has evolved into its current form as a food truck serving all of Whatcom County.
While it has stayed in the family, Chris and Nakasha Kelly have recently purchased the business from Nakasha’s parents. Kelly said it is the hope to keep it in the family for generations to come.
“Taking over the business was a challenging, but incredibly rewarding experi-
ence. It was a long process, but throughout we have learned so much about ourselves; our strong work ethic, resilience and ability to achieve more than we ever imagined,” Kelly said.
She said she was initially not interested in running the family business but found that changes to the food or the truck was a real fear for her.
“I felt like I had a duty, and I am so happy with the decision we made,” Kelly said.
Cicchitti’s offers New York style pizza and made-to-order calzones.
“We are a great place to stop by for all ages and demographics, you can feed your whole family or feed your whole family,” Kelly said. “People should stop by the event and enjoy good food while supporting the businesses at the event, it is also a great place to network with potential business contacts and learn about new items that you didn’t know you needed or wanted.”
For more information on Cicchitti’s Piz-
za, visit cicchittis.com.
Thinking of all the home improvement projects, imagining the upgrades and walking from booth to booth at the Home and Lifestyle Show can work up an appetite. For those not in the mood for pizza, there are plenty of food options available from some of Whatcom County’s favorite food trucks, ensuring that everyone in the family can find something tasty.
Other options include El Tapatio Taco Truck, Simmering Tava and Feast.
El Tapatio serves authentic Mexican cuisine. Established in 2005 it is another family business with a passion for serving customers and is influenced by the Guadalajara region.
More about El Tapatio can be found at tapationw.com
Simmering Tava specializes in authentic Indian street food and homestyle cooking. According to its website, at the heart of Simmering Tava is Rajat Damani and his
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mom Tara Damani, who is known in her circle for her addictive cooking. When Rajat moved to the U.S. he found he was missing the food his mom made and he quickly found his own passion for cooking.
That passion is on full display with Simmering Tava.
More information on Simmering Tava can be found at simmeringtava.com. Last, but certainly not least, is Feast Food Truck.
Feast was started by Casey and Shayle DenBlayker and is all about food made with love. It has an eclectic menu with something for everyone, ranging from a Reuben sandwich or buttermilk fried chicken sandwich to a Buddha bowl or friend cauliflower.
For more information on Feast, visit cometofeast.com
-- Contact Racquel Muncy at racquel@ lyndentribune.com.
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