Lynden keeps the windmill turning
Downtown, West Lynden booming

by Christopher Key

 

 

Mayor Jack Louws and Lynden Chamber of Commerce executive director Renee Reimer both gazed out onto Front Street and neither could recall a time when the heart of downtown was this close to 100 percent occupancy. It’s a sign that the north county town is back with a vengeance.

“There’s a new tea shop where Lynden Mercantile used to be,” Reimer said, “and that spot has been vacant for at least three years.”

The chamber now owns the building it occupies and just finished a $45,000 remodel of the space.

“It was a real community project,” Reimer said. “Our downtown plan was finished last year and we have a couple of projects on the drawing board. First is the public restrooms, designed to resemble the house of Phoebe Judson, the mother of Lynden. Then, we want to turn Sixth Street into a more plaza-like space that can be closed to traffic on special occasions.”

All the downtown activity, however, is not overshadowing the town’s agrarian roots.

“We want to capitalize on the idea of agricultural tourism,” Reimer said. “Edaleen Dairy and its dreamy ice cream, Apple Farms and its gourmet cheese, Samson Estates and its well-regarded wines are building on that concept.”

Lynden is very aware of growth issues.

“We are trying to make wise decisions;” Reimer said, “trying to achieve a balance between business and residential areas downtown. No more will there be growth at any cost. It has to be done in an orderly and planned manner. The costs on unchecked growth can be detrimental to what we want this town to become.”

There’s a big Flea Market in the S & H Building and lots of new businesses in West Lynden, anchored by the new Safeway complex. The old Christian Care Center was purchased and now houses several nonprofits.

“In 12 years, I’ve never seen so much moving and changing and growing,” Reimer said.

The town is also very sensitive to what is going on along the nearby border with Canada.

“We need to change the perception among Canadians that it’s difficult to cross the border,” Reimer said. “Some isolated incidents during the war with Iraq caused some friction. We cannot allow Canadians to get the idea that they are not welcome here. We’re working on that with our marketing budget.”

Bender Fields, Koa Kampground, Trendwest, and the Northwest Washington Fair are big factors in drawing people to Lynden.

“We have to turn those tourist visits into dollars,” Reimer said. “Homestead is planning a luxury timeshare/hotel project called Great Links that should help bring people here. We expect 3,000 people for the Washington State Square Dance Festival next year. Lynden is becoming a destination. The authentic Dutch character of the town gives us a marketing edge. It’s a small, safe, clean town that was a runner-up last year for America in Bloom. For many people, it’s a nostalgia trip.”

The mayor, interestingly enough, thinks the town is doing just fine.

“There are a couple of concerns,” Louws said. “We haven’t solved our water problems, but we’re working on it. Lynden has been working with the City of Bellingham on a proposal to buy water from them. They, of course, have the final say. It’s a long shot, but we’ve also applied for a permit to identify an aquifer and drill a deep well. Department of Ecology has control of all the solutions. The multi-faced approach seems best.”

That may be the biggest stumbling block in Lynden’s path, but the mayor is also addressing some others.

“I’ve sent a proposed multi-year street project to the city council,” Louws said. “We’ve sent a proposal for purchase of development rights to the county. We’ve completed a major expansion to our sewage treatment plant.”

He also digs the town’s agrarian roots.

“Lynden was, is, and will always be primarily an agriculture based community,” Louws said, “but it’s becoming other things along with that. It’s becoming the north county hub for retail activity. Bellingham continues to grow and still maintain community values. Lynden can follow that example. We have to hold true to our commitment to make Lynden a great place to live.”

Louws admits to some concern over the dairy industry.

“There is a ripple effect through the implement dealers,” he said. “It keeps everyone on their toes and gives everyone pause. How do we increase revenue and pay for things?”

The mayor prefers to see the challenges as opportunities.

“The West Lynden industrial area just behind the frontage strip on the Guide is close to being fully serviced. That’s an opportunity for county business to expand or relocate.”

Louws suggested that if I wanted to document a downtown success story, I should check out the Homespun General Store on Front Street. I followed his advice.

Lorraine Patterson has been in Lynden for nine years and in Whatcom County since 1984. She was an administrative secretary for years before starting the business a year ago.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” she asked. “I could always go back to being a secretary. It’s something that has been in my head for years. Subconsciously, I was collecting ideas and they were just sitting there ticking away. The original idea was an antique and consignment shop with espresso, but that went out the window quickly. There was no business plan. The store just seemed to have a mind of its own. The espresso bar is the only thing that survived the process.”

Shortly after Patterson opened, Lynden’s World Colors toy store decided to close.

“People were begging her not close,” Patterson said, “so I bought her inventory. That’s the biggest and best thing that happened to me. World Colors was a very small shop and couldn’t always display things to the best advantage. Then I saw some beautiful umbrellas at a store in Bothell and liked that idea.”

She agrees with the contention that Lynden has become a destination.

“People come in from Seattle, Mt. Vernon, Canada,” Patterson said. “It’s easy to find, but not really on the way to anywhere.”

Community response to the store, according to Patterson, has been “tremendous.”

“Kids call it The Thomas Store,” she said, referring to the popular line of Tank Engine toys. “Parents use the store as a reward for kids’ good behavior.”

Homespun General Store is far more than just a kids’ place. It’s a magical labyrinth of fascinating stuff for all ages.

“The Nickleodeon is a hugely popular feature,” Patterson said. “People just come in and feed nickels into it. It’s a great experience for kids; something they’re not likely to see even in a museum. I’ve started keeping a box of stuff that kids under 12 can afford, mostly one-of-a-kind items and things that have been opened. I mark the stuff way down so kids can spend their allowance or birthday money on it”

Old-fashioned candies help emphasize the general store theme along with an antique cash register and scale. Most of the merchandise is modern, but the look is retro. Colorful flags, windsocks and banners are everywhere.

“The momentum of the store is fun to watch,” Patterson said, “especially among the toys. We have the best selection of games and puzzles in the county and some of them are always out on the tables where you can play them while having coffee. You can sit by the fire in the winter or play checkers out on the sidewalk in the summer.”

Patterson has developed some theories about customer service.

“I like to greet every customer and make eye contact,” Patterson said, “but don’t hang on them. I want them to feel they’ve been treated fairly and that we have good prices on our merchandise. I don’t want them to feel like they’re in a museum.”

The store doesn’t have any employees yet, unless you count Judy, one of Patterson’s friends who comes in to give her a break and help out during busy times. Just being able to hang out in the store and watch people have fun seems to be sufficient pay.

“I think I will probably need help this summer,” Patterson said, “but I wanted to give it a year on my own before I hired anyone. This store is a very personal statement, but it’s a lot of ground to cover.”

The background music is from the 1940s and 50s and old soft drink ads line the walls. Norman Rockwell would definitely paint this store.

“I wanted to be part of historic downtown Lynden,” Patterson said, “not in a strip mall. I originally planned to open sooner, but then 9/11 happened. Then this larger space became available and I’m glad I waited. The rent was a stretch, but I got a good deal. At first, the size of the space intimidated me. I wanted to fill the front of the store, but it took off like a shot and suddenly expanded into the back and upstairs.”

That’s reminiscent of how another downtown Lynden attraction grew. Fred Polinder was a successful farmer who came to Lynden from Nebraska. He loved horse-drawn buggies so much that he started collecting them. People heard about his hobby and began giving him their old ones.

Polinder kept the collection in a barn, part of which was destroyed by a fire. When he retired in the 1970s, Polinder approached the city of Lynden with the idea of sharing his collection. When the John Deere dealership moved out of a downtown building in 1974, some locals thought a museum might be a good project for the upcoming bicentennial. The Lynden Heritage Foundation was established and a call was put out for pieces of pioneer history. The resulting 7,000 items became the core of what is now the Lynden Pioneer Museum.

The city owns and maintains the building and the Heritage Foundation raises money through the gift shop and charging admission to the museum. The Polinder buggy collection finally arrived in 1982 when an addition provided sufficient space. Troy Luginbill is the curator of the museum.

“Hank Jansen (founder of LTI, Inc.) was a real believer in the museum project,” Luginbill said, “and he fronted the money to get it going. When this building was originally constructed, Hank hauled the Nooksack River gravel that went into the foundation.”

Piecing together the museum required a few miracles, according to Luginbill.

“We used 100 year old trusses from an old fish cannery that was torn down in Bellingham,” he said. “They were donated by the contractor who was razing the building. We eventually cleaned out the basement and that’s when we had room for the buggies. The authentic storefront displays were finished in 1993.”

The museum continues to grow, but Luginbill notes that it’s often a hand-to-mouth existence, especially in a struggling economy. Like most nonprofits, the museum needs operating reserves. Any extra revenue goes into rescue or endowment funds.

“Most of our visitors are weekend travelers,” Luginbill said. “We definitely saw a downturn after 9/11, but things are back to normal now. We’re not the heart and soul of Lynden yet. Private schools and churches get most of the town’s charitable funds, so it’s hard to raise money. This town has more nonprofits per capita than Seattle and somehow they all survive.”

Luginbill agrees that growth is a huge challenge for Lynden.

“Newcomers use the resources of the town,” he said, “but generally they don’t start giving back until they’ve been here about three years. That means there’s a lag time. We have to integrate expectations into our planning. People move here for the small town ambiance and don’t want that to change. There is a tension between the town’s agricultural past and its commercial present. We’re seeing a huge effect from the problems in the dairy industry.”

Lynden has to work together with the county to preserve agriculture, according to Luginbill.

“The more progress we face, the more we yearn for the good old days,” he said. “Using technology can be stressful. People are looking for simpler times. That leads them to seek out their heritage and a history industry is born. You see historical movies, antique reproductions, war reenactments. Technology thus helps disseminate history.”

The Lynden Pioneer Museum benefits from this trend.

“People are starting to realize how we can help them connect with that heritage,” Luginbill said. “People can come here, learn, discover, be enriched. Grandparents and grandchildren can connect. Our exhibits validate the grandparents’ stories and make them meaningful. It’s a great way for a family to spend an afternoon.”

Brandon Rutledge and his Dad wanted to start a business a couple of years ago and thought Lynden was the ideal place to do it. They did some research into embroidered products and found a gap between businesses that could handle huge orders and those that did individual pieces. Dad fronted the money, Brandon did all the work and RECO, Rutledge Embroidery Company, was born.

“We’ve been pretty successful so far,” Brandon said. “We can do orders of several thousand, or just a few. We continuously evaluate our performance to keep us on track with our goals.”

RECO didn’t need a location with high foot traffic, so they located just off the alley that runs behind Front Street. That kept the overhead down. It’s a capital-intensive business and Brandon keeps expenses down by using lease-to-own equipment.

“It’s good to be in a smaller community,” Rutledge said, “because everyone backs you. People like to do business locally. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride, but if you’re willing to work hard and take care of costs, you’ll succeed.”

Brandon believes firmly in going the extra mile for customers.

“People don’t want to spend time ordering sportswear,” Rutledge said. “So, I go to them and make it as convenient as possible.”

He’s had some part time help in both sales and embroidery, but for the most part, it’s a one-man show.

“We’re just getting ready to expand,” Rutledge said. “We’ve got a new location near Lynden Christian High School that will give us showroom space along with a separate shop and office. We just want to help people, take the time to make it work for them, and stay flexible.”

Lynden is attracting an intriguing mix of businesses. That, along with its strong sense of identity, makes visiting Lynden a real Dutch treat.