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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
December 17 - 30, 2015
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IN THIS
ISSUE
Blaine family memorialized, page 9
Nooksack Casino goes under, page 8
Pet Care special section, page 12
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Western students report on Blaine train stop By Steve Guntli
(See Rail, page 5)
s A nativity scene at the corner of C Street and 6th Street. The display has had a long history in Blaine.
Photo by Steve Guntli
Nativity scene speaks to Blaine’s past By Steve Guntli An old wooden nativity scene has been set up on the corner of C and 6th streets. It is there to promote a living nativity pageant at Northwoods Alliance Church on December 18, but for one Blaine family, the scene is more than a festive advertisement; it represents the family’s introduction to the warmth and uniqueness that define Blaine. Margaret Gibson and her family moved to Blaine from New Mexico in 1992, in order for Gibson’s husband to attend graduate school in Vancouver. Gibson, now school nurse for the Blaine school district, quickly fell in love with the town and thought it would make a great place to raise her family. But there was one decidedly family-unfriendly element to downtown Blaine that gave her pause. Blaine Bookstore, which used to sit
on the corner of H Street and Peace Portal Drive, was more commonly known in Blaine as simply “the dirty bookstore.” By the 1990s, it was something of a relic, a leftover element from Blaine’s seedier past as a bustling fishing port and haven for Canadians looking to cut loose. Gibson recalls seeing the adult bookstore in its prominent place along the city’s main strip and being a little taken aback. It seemed bluntly out of place with the small-town atmosphere the other downtown businesses were working to promote. “It had gray walls and iron bars on the windows and resembled a jail in a frontier town,” she said. “It was very out of place, but before long I just learned to ignore it and enjoy the views of the harbor.” As the holiday season approached, one detail about the bookstore struck her as particularly unusual: a large Christmas nativity scene, assembled by city employees
just next to the bookstore in what is now H Street Plaza. She found the incongruity between the beautiful wooden crèche and (See Nativity, page 8)
INSIDE
Three Western Washington University (WWU) students spoke to a crowd of curious residents about the feasibility of a passenger train stop in Blaine. Michelle Anderson-Irons, Joe Glithero and Lora Sonnen, three students in WWU’s international business program, presented their evaluation in Blaine City Council chambers on December 3. The students, under the guidance of professor Tom Roehl, conducted a market analysis, compiled target demographics for ridership, proposed some marketing strategies and developed a list of pros and cons for the station stop. The students emphasized that the report was not an official feasibility study, but was a valid representation of the questions an actual feasibility study would examine. The students will repeat the presentation before the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) later this month. A passenger stop in Blaine would mostly serve Canadians in the lower mainland of B.C., which has a population of around 1.1 million people. Glithero said he rode the train from Portland to Vancouver and spoke with commuters along the way, polling Canadians about the possibility of a closer train stop. “The general attitude was positive, especially among people in the Fraser Valley,” he said. Blaine would offer riders living south of the Fraser River flexibility and a shorter commute than the Vancouver station, which is often subject to heavy traffic. Riding the train is more eco-friendly, which is a major concern of the growing number of millennials entering the workforce. A train stop in Blaine could be a boon for the local economy, as riders waiting for the train can shop in nearby stores or eat in local restaurants. The students concluded that a train stop in Blaine could be beneficial to the local economy, but it would come with a few drawbacks. Firstly, the uncertain border times could impact ridership among people without a NEXUS pass. Only two passenger trains would pass through per day, and Sonnen said she was still working with
Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 6 Classifieds . . . . . 15 Police . . . . . . . . . 18 Coming Up . . . . . 18 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 18
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Mike & Rose Kent invite you to join in Birch Bay’s annual Ring of Fire & Hope Thursday, December 31 at 7 pm. www.BirchBayChamber.com for more information