Selected stories

Photo by Santiago Ochoa/Cascadia Daily News

In Edison, a century-old women’s club guides civic life

The Edison Women’s Club formed around 1910, a time when the town was little more than a dark, muddy enclave along the Samish flats, and women’s clubs were vital to civic life. Its primary mission — to keep the street lamps alight — hasn’t changed in 115 years. Meanwhile, Edison itself has evolved from a quiet, working-class farm community into an artists’ haven and foodie destination, lauded by outlets from Food & Wine to AFAR.

Through these economic highs and lows, Women’s Club members have stewarded their community with care (plus the occasional bingo fundraiser). In Edison, it’s technically nobody’s job to call a town meeting, host community picnics or pay the Puget Sound Energy bill — but neighbors care enough to step in regardless. READ MORE

Photo by Cocoa Laney/Cascadia Daily News

For mother and son, making kimchi is a labor of ‘science and spirit’ (part of CDN’s Made in Cascadia series)

In a kitchen off Commercial Avenue, Su Jin Jo coats cucumbers and carrots in vibrant red pepper sauce, fingers seemingly aflame. The Anacortes local is preparing one of her signature kimchis, the salty, tangy condiment integral to Korean culture.

Su Jin has made the dish as a hobby since her childhood in South Korea — but these days, she preps it in much larger batches. Her kimchi can be found everywhere from farmers markets to food co-ops, though Korean food’s popularity is a relatively recent development in Skagit County. In the ’90s, the Jo family opened Tokyo Japanese Restaurant, one of the Anacortes’ first Asian restaurants. READ MORE

Bellingham’s unsung genius a pioneer of science history, kayaks, the digital universe

The workshop formerly known as Dick’s Tavern is unlike anywhere else in downtown Bellingham. Long gone are the days of bar stools, pool tables and pints; today, the building is home to nautical maps and lofty bookshelves. Even more peculiar are the kayak frames. Their sleek aluminum skeletons, each in varied stages of completion, lend dreamlike contrast to the shop’s wooden finishings.

Since 1989, this tavern has functioned as the workshop of George Dyson, a science historian also known for crafting kayaks. From bestselling author to university lecturer and waterfront activist, he plays a near-comical amount of roles: “Some people think I’m a kayak designer,” George added earnestly. “My daughter thinks I’m her dad.” READ MORE

What it takes to preserve and revitalize the Nooksack language, Lhéchelesem

As a child, Joshua Olsen always paid attention to foreign languages. When strangers would speak Spanish, or Punjabi, or any other language native to their country, he’d think: “I only have English — and I know that English was forced on the Native people.”

Olsen is a member of the Nooksack Tribe, whose language is Lhéchelesem, one of many Indigenous languages spoken in the Americas prior to European colonization. But when its last native speaker passed away in 1977, Lhéchelesem was classified as extinct, so Olsen didn’t hear it growing up.

Efforts over the last century, however, have helped preserve knowledge of Lhéchelesem for future generations. READ MORE

Artists transform gas station property into communal home for seven people

If you find yourself exploring Whatcom County’s backroads, you might come across an unusual gas station off Bay Road northwest of Ferndale. You’d be forgiven for assuming the place to be abandoned — until you notice the adjacent residence, its well-tended garden and perhaps a roaring bonfire in the adjoining courtyard.

That’s because the property isn’t a gas station at all, at least not anymore. For painter Kelly Hoekema, it’s both a communal home and ongoing project. She didn’t set out to live in such an unusual situation — but breaking into Whatcom County’s increasingly inaccessible housing market required sacrifice, as well as creativity. READ MORE

Drag ‘kings and things’ talk identity, self-acceptance — onstage and off

Axe Andros saw his first-ever drag show when he was 16. The performance was part of a youth Pride event at a library, which he’d attended behind his parents’ backs. After the show, a friend asked: Is it possible to do drag, but in a masculine way?

“They (the performers) were like: Oh yeah, drag kings!” he recalled. “Then I started looking them up, and I became obsessed. I was like: I’m gonna do this.”

Andros has now poured countless hours into refining his drag persona: an over-the-top, punk-inspired heartthrob who’s “evolved into trying to be the sort of masculinity that I wish to see in the world,” he said. READ MORE

Late-in-life love at Bellingham’s Senior Activity Center

The Bellingham Senior Activity Center offers a wide range of classes and activities — but for many community members, lunch was the initial attraction. Robert Rome is no exception. After his wife of 53 years died of a lung disorder, he began having meals outside the house as a way to socialize.

“I had some friends say, ‘Go down to the senior center, they have a really good lunch there,’” Rome said. He followed their advice — and, in addition to enjoying a hot meal, Rome met Joan Armstrong for the first time.

Armstrong, 76, had recently moved to Bellingham and also began frequenting BSAC to build community. On the day she met Rome, “I was volunteering in the dining area, serving coffee and tea and all of that,” she said. “He was this tall, good-looking guy that just said, ‘Do you want to text?” READ MORE

‘Sisterhood’ of volunteer singers offer comfort, company to individuals at life’s end

Eight years ago, Kate Fallon’s mother died after a protracted struggle with dementia. Fallon found herself at a loss for words. There were “so many things that I couldn’t say,” she recalled — so in the years to come, Fallon started singing.

Fallon is now a member of the Threshold Choir: an unorthodox, volunteer chorus whose members sing to the critically ill and dying. Whatcom County’s chapter, the Bellingham Threshold Singers, shares its songs at bedsides in hospitals, hospices, senior and memory care facilities, and even personal residences.

For Fallon, learning how to offer comfort through music felt like “coming home.” READ MORE

Bringing holiday cheer to WA island children aboard the ‘Christmas Ship’

It’s 7 a.m. two Saturdays before Christmas, and I’m scanning the cruise terminal for the most festive ship on Bellingham Bay. In 30 minutes I’m due to embark on an assignment — albeit not strictly as a reporter. Today, I am a reindeer named Prancer. I’m helping the Lions Club bring holiday cheer to children on the San Juan Islands, as they’ve done every year since the late ‘90s.

Aboard the so-called “Christmas Ship,” I’m joined by more than 25 other passengers in various states of merry: elves, carolers, pirates and Santa himself. A former music teacher practices “Jingle Bell Rock” as day breaks over the Salish Sea. Mrs. Claus tucks into a plate of bacon and eggs.

Over the loudspeaker, project lead Sandra Ball sets expectations: “Thank you for being part of the greatest adventure of all time,” she announces, a twinkle of childlike glee in her voice. READ MORE

Photo by Santiago Ochoa/Cascadia Daily New

Writer and poet Rena Priest finds refuge, resilience in storytelling

Even as the former Washington state poet laureate, Rena Priest wants you to know that she’s still a work in progress.

“We have, in our language, a phrase that I use often, especially when I feel like I’m struggling with something or encountering something new,” said Priest, an enrolled member of the Lhaq’temish (Lummi) Nation. “The phrase is: estitem’sen, which is, ‘I’m doing my best.’ And tu’totest’sen: ‘I’m still learning.’”

The Whatcom County local, 46, describes her work as “place-based.” Her new book of essays, “Positively Uncivilized,” references locations from Lummi Nation to Whatcom Creek and even the Lettered Streets. The essay collection debuted in September 2025 and was a finalist for the 2026 Washington State Book Award. READ MORE