Country Life Special Section • Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Community
Gardening • CL2 Dairy • CL3 Community • CL3
Community
Camels a local attraction, soon near Vegas Farmers Equip. tallies a year of helping fight cancer Caps for Cancer raised more than $8,000, added to Tough Enough to Wear Pink $30,000 effort By Calvin Bratt editor@lyndentribune.com
A family gets acquainted with a Bactrian (two-humped) camel at Beldar Haven Farm. (Elisa Claassen/Lynden Tribune)
Sand Road farm of Guy Seeklus offers ‘camel experience’ year-round, rides at Lynden fair By Elisa Claassen for the Lynden Tribune
WHATCOM — At this year’s Northwest Washington Fair alongside the carnival rides, children and adults were “boarding” a different kind of ride — climbing aboard camels. Soon the experience may be offered 1,200 miles away. Fairly new not only to the fair but also Whatcom County, Camel Safari is based at Beldar Haven Farm on Sand Road. The 105-
acre farm, easily visible with a large sign and barns and arenas, is a fully organic operation that is also home to horses, alpacas, goats and dogs. Guy Seeklus, owner and president and a self-proclaimed “animal person,” grew up surrounded by cattle and other farm animals in Saskatchewan, Canada. This property had been on the market near his home for a while. In June 2013, Beldar Haven Farms opened “camel experience” to the public. Camel Encounter sessions of one hour for $25 don’t involve riding, but you do get to tour the farm and learn about camel culture by getting up close, and petting and feeding camels. “If you like kids and animals, it is a great thing to do,” Seeklus said. During a tour of the stables, all is quiet initially and then head after head appear — and extend out a distance from their stalls at the footsteps. Lodi is the alpha male of the
camel group, and the largest. He is seven and a half feet tall at the hump. Seeklus enthusiastically greets each camel in the spacious barn with a pat and a treat. All of the camels, whether with one or two humps, have different and distinct personalities. They are well fed, Seeklus said, with a diet that includes treats such as watermelon, apples, carrots and cucumbers. Since few veterinarians in the Northwest are versed in camel care, local horse vet Don Beckman of Mt. Baker Veterinary has worked with Dr. Ahmed Tibary of Washington State University, who specializes in large animals, including cows, camels and horses. “He did his homework through Vetnet, talked with WSU and is now a pro,” Seeklus said. Barn manager and trainer Ginger Widner
LYNDEN — Over the past year, as the fight against cancer got personal at Farmers Equipment Co., the company responded. It was at about this time in 2014, said CFO Kevin Pawlowski, when parts manager Junior Stacey shared the difficult news that his Caps for daughter-inCancer law Amy had • Farmers Equipment been diagnosed matched every $10 with stage 3 donation and gave breast cancer. the donor a Caps for Amidst the Cancer hat as a thanknatural feeling you. of “what can we do to help?” an idea was born. A cap was designed in both the distinctive pink of the Tough Enough to Wear Pink movement and bearing the logo of Farmers Equipment, which was on the verge of celebrating its 80th year. “We wanted to commemorate our 80th year in business by giving something back to the community,” said Pawlowski, “and to let Amy and everyone else who is battling cancer know that we’re standing with them.” The idea was to raise $2,500 by getting $10 donations from 250 people. Farmers Equipment would match each $10 donation, and give the donor a ‘Caps for Cancer’ hat as a thank-you gift. The goal was to be able to send a total of
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Cows make more than you think. Washington’s dairy cows are the proud producers of nature’s best fertilizer, which helps to grow crops and vineyards, restore soil and even generate electricity for farms and homes. To learn more about our state’s dairy cows and the families who raise them, visit akeyingredient.com.
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