February 16, 2023

Dear Mayor Hansen & Council Members

 2022 saw the Ferndale Heritage Society being able to revive some programs and continue some projects that had been on hold because of the pandemic. The Education Program under the Supervision of Julie Aamot was able to begin again in a small way. They were able to host about 100 students and adults from private schools.

The spring plant sale (since it’s an outdoor event) was held, and the proceeds were used to hire a seasonal gardener to take care of the flower beds around the cabins and near the entrance to Pioneer Park.

In July we again helped the Old Settlers Association host the cabins during the Pioneer Days event. Cabins were open a limited number of hours each day and only cabins that had volunteers were open.

The Tillicum House and Log Church rentals are again available. The Heritage Society has limited the rentals to daytime (8:am – 6:pm) use only.

Louise Sager was able to finally complete a “100 years of Fashion Show” which had been originally scheduled for spring of 2020.

Our biggest expense/project this year was the finalization of the repairs and remodel of the Mountain View Schoolhouse. Bonnie Wiesen headed the project which began almost 10 years ago with moving the building into the park. She spent many hours coordinating and researching how to restore the building back to a one-room school house, teacher residence and library. Over $69,000.00, mostly from dedicated donations, was spent to complete the project. Some of the items included in the renovation were roof repairs, electrical connections, new ceiling fans, replacing individual glass panes, new shelves, and painting. Although the building is not a log cabin, it is over 100 years old has a place in the history of Whatcom County. If you weren’t able to attend the open house in September, stop by and see it during the next Pioneer Days or Old Fashioned Christmas. A small porch area was built for the back door of the Jenni House. This sturdy structure is ADA compliant and built to facilitate a wheelchair ramp in the future.

Our Olde Fashion Christmas event was held the first weekend in December. Some of the modifications from last year worked so well, we incorporated them permanently. The children’s craft tables, refreshments, entertainment, and visits with Santa are now in the Pioneer Pavilion. Over 1300 people attended this event. We appreciated the support from the City of Ferndale and the Ferndale Chamber of Commerce. Special thanks to Mayor Hansen and Council Members, Herb Porter and Erin Gunter for volunteering.

The Lighted Christmas Stroll was held the 2nd and 3rd weekends in December. This event receives a great response from the community and draws many people from out of town. Nearly 3,000 people attended over the four evenings. Special thanks to Mayor Hansen for helping all four evenings! Olde Fashioned Christmas and the Lighted Christmas Stroll are the events that push the limits of our volunteers. Set up takes almost 1000 hours over 8 - 10 work parties in November. Olde Fashioned Christmas takes over 400 volunteer hours to run and the Lighted Christmas Stroll takes over 200 hours.

In total the Ferndale Heritage Society logged over 4,452 volunteer hours in 2022. We have appreciated the increase support from the City of Ferndale and look forward to another successful year of preserving history at the Pioneer Village in Pioneer Park.

Sincerely,

Ferndale Heritage Society Board