“For the very first time, we will have an Everson/Nooksack Celebration Station,” event organizer Mary Cole said. “We haven’t had one this far out in the county before.”

Located in front of Nooksack Valley Middle School, the station will include stickers and other goodies for cyclists who check in. The Celebration Station will also keep track of how many riders pass through.

Mary Cole, library volunteer and event organizer, said she has partnered with several Everson businesses to localize the event. She said most of the prizes pertain to Bellingham-based businesses. She will hold a few contests with prizes localized around Everson- and Nooksack-based businesses. This not only awards prizes closer to home for Nooksack Valley students, but it also increases their odds of winning, as these local prizes will only be available to local students.

Other Celebration Station prizes will be open to all Whatcom County students who bike to a celebration station on their way to school that day. The Nooksack Valley Middle School Celebration Station will be open from 7 to 9:30 a.m.

Bike to Work and School Day has been a mainstay on the alternative transportation scene for about 15 years now. More than 10,000 people rode their bikes to work and school in last year’s event. Bike to Work and School Day is promoted by EverybodyBIKE, a program of Whatcom Smart Trips.

Several local businesses are providing their support for Bike to Work and School Day. One of these, Fanatik Bike Company in Bellingham, happens to have a cycling connection very close to the Nooksack and Everson community.

Emily Smith

For 2007 Nooksack Valley High School graduate Emily Smith, a love for cycling runs in the family. It wasn’t her first choice, however.

“(My dad) rode all through my childhood,” Smith said. “Cycling was never my first choice of sports. Growing up, I competed in show-jumping.”

She competed in equestrian show-jumping from about age 7 to 19. She traveled to compete every year.

“After I went to university and got a little bit busier, I switched gears,” Smith said. “I got a little burnt out on the horses thing, and I started riding with my dad more and more when I transferred back to Western.”

She found a thriving offroad biking community at Fanatik Bike shop in Bellingham, a Bike to Work and School Day sponsor and Smith’s place of work.

“A bunch of the guys there raced growing up,” Smith said. “They guided me throughout he early stages of the sport.”

She entered the downhill racing circuit for the first time in June 2010 and she hasn’t looked back.

“The way that downhill works is you progress from category three to category one in the amateur rankings,” Smith said. “You have to get a certain number of top-three finishes. My movement up through category three and two was in one year. I then moved to category one, which was the top level of the amateurs.”

Smith obviously performed very well in the local circuit, which includes races in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. She also found success in races located in British Columbia.

For the past two years, Smith has competed successfully in the national expert class. This national success culminated with her taking first place at the U.S. National Championships in the women ages 19-29 expert class in Beech Mountain, N.C.

“When you win at nationals, they move you into the professional category,” Smith said. “This is my first year with the pros.”

As a professional cyclecross rider, Smith now moves on to competing primarily at the national and international levels. She said her practice regimen has definitely changed since she broke into a higher level of competition.

“I think as I have taken this a lot more seriously and as I’ve gained sponsorship, I’m not only riding for myself, but I’m representing companies. It has a different weight to it. I think the biggest change for me has been the mental aspect of it. It’s always just fun to ride your bike, and that’s a good way to approach it. But there’s a serious way to approach it, though.”

Smith said that, as an amateur, she got away with minimal race preparation. That is no longer the case.

“When you’re in the amateur categories, I got away with doing very well with a minimal amount of preparation. Now that I’ve gotten to the professional side of things, it’s a bit more of going to bed at 8 o’clock. I think that’s probably one of the hardest things to figure out. I’m lucky enough to work with a great trainer. It definitely is a bit overwhelming. It’s just about working hard to figure that out.”

She is sponsored by a variety of companies, including Cycles Devinci, Troy Lee Designs, Terrain Gym, Leatt, GoPro, Renthal Cycle Products, 100% and Fanatik Bike Company, where she works.

Smith will travel to nationals in Beech Mountain again in July. The best part of the sport, to her, is simple.

“My favorite part of the sport is probably winning,” she said.

Cole said Smith is a good example of where a passion for cycling can take a person. She will set up a display cabinet at Everson McBeath Community Library to celebrate Smith and her achievements for Bike to Work and School Day. Tha names of the businesses sponsoring Bike to Work and School Day will be listed with the display as well.

For more information on the various events occurring around the county on Bike to Work and School Day, visit BikeToWorkAndSchoolDay.org.

Email Brent Lindquist at foothills@lyndentribune.com.

Honeybee colonies are an essential factor in the pollination of many of the world’s crops, and local berry crops are no different. Locally, that means beekeepers are essential as well.

Russell J. Deptuch has owned and operated Bees Choice Honey, located in north Ferndale, for about seven years.

“How I got started was, I bought two existing hives from another beekeeper,” he said. “Right now, I’ve got about 45 hives.”

Bees Choice Honey specializes in pollination services, swarm capture and local honey.

Pollination

Deptuch kicks off berry season by bringing his bees to local blueberry farms.

“What we do is, we wait until the grower is ready to move in,” Deptuch said. “Then I’ll figure out how many hives he needs. We do about one hive per acre for raspberries and three hives per acre for blueberries. They’ll call us up and we’ll arrange a time or a day to move the hives out and load them up on a flat to move them out to the blueberries.”

The hives are then left in the blueberries until the blooms drop off the plants. At that point, Deptuch moves his bees to local raspberry crops.

“We generally move them under cooler temperatures in the early morning or at night,” Deptuch said. “You want to keep all the bees inside the hive. We don’t want to lose any bees or leave any bee behind. No bee left behind.”

Deptuch said he gets most of his information on pollination levels from growers.

“I think (2012) is pretty much on par with most years,” he said. “We did have a little bit of a wet spring there, but I think it’s about right.”

Swarm capture

Deptuch said a healthy honeybee colony may contain 30,000 or more bees. Just 300 of these are male drones, and only one bee in each hive is the queen. The rest are the workers.

As a hive’s population increases and the colony becomes more and more crowded, the colony issues a swarm. Before swarming, the colony begins to raise new queen cells by feeding them a special jelly. The new swarm leaves about two days before the virgin queen emerges.

A new swarm consists of about half the old hive’s worker bees, a few male drones and the old queen.

Deptuch said these swarms appear as a wild, unsynchronized mass. However, swarms follow a predetermined plan that leads eventually to finding a place to rest.

This is often the stage at which local residents notice swarms. The solo queen and her swarm may rest on a tree, porch post, wall or stop sign. The resting swarm is usually about the size and shape of a bee-covered football. The resting swarm then sends out scout bees to find a suitable spot for a new home.

Deptuch said capturing a swarm at this time is the easiest for the beekeeper and best for the property owner. Once the bees swarm to the spot specified by their scouts, they establish themselves and cannot be easily removed without some demolition. Deptuch said the sooner a swarm is captured, the less likely it is that it will become established in an attic, the eaves of a house, a car or any other place considered suitable by the swarm- but unsuitable to you.

Local honey

Bees don’t make much honey from blueberries, Deptuch said, but they make plenty from raspberries. The three varieties of honey sold by Bees Choice Honey are raspberry, wildflower and fireweed.

“After we pollinate the raspberries, we bring our bees up to the foothills to Mosquito Lake Road to make fireweed honey,” Deptuch said.

The 2011 stock of Bees Choice honey ran out in December, but Deptuch hopes to have more to sell at the Ferndale, Lynden and Blaine farmers’ markets before the end of May.

Bees Choice Honey can be contacted at 815-3989 or via e-mail at russ@beeschoice.com.

Email Brent Lindquist at foothills@lyndentribune.com.

The play tells the story of Mrs. Savage, whose departed husband leaves her $10 million, which she intends to use to help others realize their hopes and dreams. Her greedy stepchildren step in, however, and attempt to obtain the money. The grown stepchildren commit Mrs. Savage to a sanitorium in an attempt to bring her to her senses.

At the institution, she meets a variety of social misfits who can’t adjust to a normal life, and she decides to help them. The stepchildren continue scheming to take Mrs. Savage’s inheritance, but the elderly heiress and her new friends lead the stepchildren on a comic chase to rid themselves of the greedy stepchildren and help Mrs. Savage live out her dream of helping others.

According to Nooksack Valley High School’s official synopsis, “The dominant mood is high comedy, and the audience is left with a feeling that the neglected virtues of kindness and affection have not been entirely lost in a world that seems motivated at times only by greed and dishonesty.”

Postma said she chose the play because it fit well with her goals for the Nooksack Valley spring production.

“We were looking for a comedy, and I know the play and liked it. It was a pretty easy fit. The show we did in the fall was pretty heavy, and we wanted something lighthearted,” she said.

Postma praised the cast she has assembled, which includes both veterans and first-time actors.

“It is a great bunch of kids, some really talented kids. A couple of kids are acting for the first time. I’m pleased. The kids always manage to step it up when they have an audience.”

This production marks Postma’s sixth year as a director.

“The Curious Savage” will be on the stage of the Nooksack Valley High School Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. on May 10, 11, 12, 17, 19 and 19. Matinee shows will be at 2 p.m. on May 13 and 20.

Tickets will be available at the door, costing $6 for students and $8 for adults.

Email Brent Lindquist at foothills@lyndentribune.com.

As usual, the relay race will cover seven different sports and about 93 miles. The race goes from Mount Baker to Bellingham Bay.

The race begins with a four-mile loop of cross-country skiing followed by a 2.5-mile downhill skiing/snowboarding loop.

After the snow portion, competitors take on the running leg, which takes them eight miles down the Mt. Baker Highway, on a 2,200-foot drop in elevation.

Near Glacier and the North Fork of the Nooksack River, competitors begin the 42-mile bicycle leg, which ends in Everson. Teams then begin the 18.5-mile canoe leg down the Nooksack to Hovander Park in Ferndale, where the 13-mile mountain biking portion begins.

Teams finish the race with a 5-mile/4.3-nautical-mile sea kayaking portion, finishing up in Fairhaven’s Marine Park.

A logjam in the canoeing portion of the race was recently reported on the Ski to Sea Facebook page, but it shouldn’t affect the race, officials say.

“The log jam mostly cleared on its own, but the sweepers have persisted,” the page reports. “The top half of the river from Everson is still a very technical section, so any newer paddlers should go out in groups, hug the right side of the channel and preferably go with some experienced paddlers.”

The snags are at a spot called Mix Master about 2.5 miles from launch at Riverside Park.

Westside Pizza and Subway will open new locations in the Marketplace Business Center building at 102 W. Main St., which also houses Everson Physical Therapy, Ruiz Family Martial Arts and Farmers Insurance.

“On the main floor, the Subway and Westside Pizza restaurants are going into the corner space, but the balance of the space is taken up by Everson Physical Therapy,” said Chad Simmons, who owns the structure under Sucia Bay Development L.L.C.

Simmons said he is looking forward to helping bring some new dining options to town.

“We’re excited to get Westside and Subway going. After working out there for a few years, there are other good options to eat in town for lunch, but not much else,” he said.

Lynden Westside Pizza owner Brian McCurdy said his business will bring much-needed pizza delivery service to Everson.

“I originally looked in Everson a few years back, and I just always thought it was an area that didn’t have delivery service and didn’t have a whole lot of choices,” McCurdy said.

McCurdy first worked at Westside Pizza in high school in Colville, Wash., and opened his first store the day after Halloween in 2008. In the decade that preceded that, he opened stores with the chain’s original owner.

He estimated that there are currently 19 Westside Pizza restaurants in operation. The Everson location will be his second solo-owned store.

Subway co-owner Dorice Wolden said she and her husband first considered opening an Everson store when their idea for a Nugent’s Corner location was looking like it wouldn’t pan out.

“We live up the Nooksack River, so Everson is one of the towns that we go through,” Wolden said. “We first opened our Burlington store in 1994. We’ve been expanding in Skagit, and we moved up here three years ago. We started working on our Everson store when they thought Nugent’s Corner wouldn’t go through.”

Wolden said she is looking forward to adding to the dining variety in Everson.

“I think it’s good that we’re sharing the space with Westside,” she said. “We thought it would be best to come up with something that would accommodate both of us. It’s nice to have multiple food places because there’s a kind of synergy that you don’t get otherwise.”

The Woldens are looking forward to using the store to support local schools, as they do with their other Subway locations.

Like Westside, Subway is set to open in about two months.

Simmons said people might be surprised at how much traffic passes by the building on a daily basis. He and his business partner, Rich Carter, own two commercial buildings in Bellingham as well.

“We decided that Bellingham was getting a little overpriced,” Simmons said. “We felt we could find something reasonable enough so that we could remodel the building. For this one, the traffic surprisingly is approximately an 8,000-trip count per day. That was verified by the city of Everson. On Cornwall Avenue, where our other two buildings are, I don’t believe has more than a 5,000-trip count.”

Simmons and Carter bought the building in November 2007, and they have spent the time since then remodeling the space.

“We’ve spent the last almost five years now remodeling the entire building,” Simmons said. “It only had about three tenants in the entire space. When we inherited it, it only had two.”

McCurdy said Westside Pizza will open in July, depending on permitting. A Subway will also open in the same building, and the two restaurants will share a hallway and restrooms.

Email Brent Lindquist at foothills@lyndentribune.com.

The Nooksack Valley School District has been awarded two grants that will assist the district in adopting various new mandates across the educational spectrum.

Kellogg Grant

A $500,000 W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant will help the Nooksack Valley and Anacortes school districts implement a unique system of new teacher/principal evaluation processes and a staff development model.

The grant will allow Nooksack Valley and Anacortes to combine their respective areas of expertise to help schools toward bettering themselves as academic institutions.

Nooksack Valley brings to the table a job-embedded professional development system that goes against the common job development model used by many school districts.

“We’ve been focused on providing very targeted professional development for our teachers in literacy, math and math-science for a long time, as opposed to what you’d call a traditional model where folks sign up for a conference someplace around a specific topic they’re particularly interested in as an individual but not necessarily related to any district focus,” said Cindy Stockwell, Nooksack Valley assistant superintendent. “For example, if we’re focusing on literacy, then we’re going to bring forward the best professional literacy development we can.”

The system uses a cycle-of-inquiry approach in which teachers examine their own practices and strengths, treating their on-the-job experience like an “action research project,” Stockwell said. In this examination, teachers determine the areas in which they can improve. The process relies heavily on providing actual evidence that these procedures foster measurable change in classroom performance.

“It is pretty organic,” Stockwell said. “It’s continuous improvement, and it’s something that can be replicated over time. That’s what we’re bringing to this partnership. There are two pieces and we kind of meld them together.”

The Anacortes district has set itself apart as somewhat of a pioneer in the area of teacher/principal evaluation.

“Anacortes has been part of the pilot work at the state level to develop the new teacher evaluation system,” Stockwell said. “They’re a little bit ahead of the game in that sense.”

The grant money will go toward supporting the development of these models and the necessary staff development to support them in both districts. Nooksack Valley and Anacortes will also be working with the University of Washington, which will provide a new teacher leadership certification program and evaluation of the project as a whole.

CCSS Grant

Nooksack Valley will also receive a $4,500 grant to assist in the implementation of the state’s new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for language arts and math during the spring and summer of 2012.

Nooksack Valley is one of 50 schools selected to receive a grant; Ferndale is the only other local district.

According to the state’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) website, the funds “will be used for travel and other costs related to participation in standards workshops that are hosted by Educational Service Districts throughout the state.”

Grant recipients must designate an implementation team of four to six people to participate in the project. This team will attend regional 2012 content training and CCSS district team workshops in May and August. These workshops will help engage the teams in learning opportunities to build an understanding of the standards, considering the implications they have on professional learning for educators and providing support in creating district-specific implementation plans and identifying the support needed at various educational levels.

“We have two district leadership teams, one in math and one in literacy,” Stockwell said. “Those are the two main components of the Common Core. From those two teams, I’ve drafted a team that’ll work with me to do the advanced training. They have training dates scheduled. We’ll go and be the advanced learners for those components and bring them back to the district and then share that with the larger leadership teams, who will then work with everybody across the district. These 50 districts will also share strategies for implementation.”

Stockwell said the timelines for both the CCSS and teacher/principal evaluation implementations are almost parallel, which adds up to a long list of tasks for the district to complete. For that reason, Nooksack Valley started early.

“We kind of like to be ahead of the game,” she said.

Funding for the CCSS grants comes from a federal program, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, that aims to augment the number of low-income students in preparation for college.

The standards are for both the K-5 and 6-12 grade levels.

The CCSS for English language arts focuses more heavily on increasing the complexity of student-read texts and developing students’ skills in argumentative writing and research. The standards emphasize speaking and listening skills as avenues for evaluation and presentation of information. They also call for an increased emphasis on the use of technology and multimedia for information gathering and publishing.

The CCSS for mathematics focuses on preparation for careers and college and include STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) standards for students planning careers in science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics. In addition, students at all levels should develop expertise in eight Standards for Mathematical Practice, including reasoning abstractly and modeling with mathematics.

Email Brent Lindquist at reporter@lyndentribune.com.

The draft Capital Facilities Plan will be available for viewing on the district’s website at http:/www.wcfd14.org/ and at the Kendall Fire Station.

The plan presents an inventory of the current capital facilities of Fire District 14, the anticipated future needs for capital facilities to maintain the adopted levels of service for fire protection based upon projected growth over the planning period, and financing for proposed capital improvement projects. The commissioner will consider adopting the Capital Facilities Plan after receiving public comments at the hearing.

The district is inviting and encouraging the public to submit written comments and/or to attend the hearing to provide oral comments. Written comments may be submitted to:

Whatcom County Fire District 14

P.O. Box 482

Sumas, WA 98295

Email: denise@wcfd14.org

The council voted 4-3 to approve the plan, with council members Bill Knutzen, Barbara Brenner and Kathy Kershner opposed.

The site contains three separate land parcels southeast of Acme—the Nesset Farm and homestead, the Overby Farm and the Galbraith Farm.

“Public access will be provided from an entrance off Mosquito Lake Road,” a Whatcom County Parks & Recreation press release states. “Two trailheads are proposed with a 20-vehicle parking area and restroom for general trail users and a 10-vehicle parking area and restroom for equestrians. A 4-mile multi-use trail for hikers, equestrians and bicyclists utilizing existing trails and roads will lead park visitors through the park to the historic Nesset Farm located on the southern portion of the property. The Nesset Farm is proposed for restoration and will showcase pioneer life in the valley through the collection of original buildings and artifacts.”

Four of the 603 acres will be impacted by trailhead development. The rest will remain naturally forested.

Several proponents and opponents spoke out at the May 8 meeting. Council member Ken Mann voted in favor of the plan after holding off in March. He said he is still not entirely comfortable with the issue of timber rights on the property, but also said the council has taken adequate time to make the decision.

“It’s not a perfect history, but I don’t think it’s fair to be pointing fingers and making innuendos about back-room deals and dishonesty and conspiracy, especially with our parks department leadership who wasn’t even here when a lot of this happened,” Mann said. “I believe it’s extremely low-impact, and it’s not going to cost a lot of money to implement.”

He said he cannot find any evidence that past county councils did not know what they were voting on.

Cost figures on the park’s improvements have ranged from $750,000 to $1.6 million.

Knutzen has been a vocal opponent of the park. He said the original purpose of the park has been pushed aside.

“I don’t know how we’ve gotten to this point,” Knutzen said. “It started out as the Nessets wanting to give Whatcom County their property so school kids could come and view a turn-of-the-century farm in action. How did it become a 690-acre playground for the backcountry horsemen? It just seems like the original vision that the Nessets were sold has been morphed into something that has no resemblance to what it originally was.”

Brenner said the construction of a new park is not fiscally responsible now. She emphasized the high ongoing costs of operating the park in addition to the initial funds needed to build it.

“At some point, this council is going to have to make a decision as to what our essential public service is and what are nice things to have,” she said. “I think there has been a lot of money spent on all of this. That is the same argument that we have gotten with all kinds of things.”

Natalie Everett, spokeswoman for the South Fork Heritage Association, said the community was not adequately consulted before the plan was introduced in 2007. Her family owns 120 acres between the Nesset and Overby properties.

Concerns raised by the Heritage Association include the potentially harmful effects of the park on local wildlife habitats, an increase in tubing on the river, and a lack of police and fire support for the influx of people that is expected to occur.

Everett said that despite this setback, the Heritage Association will stay involved and will focus on other heritage-related projects as well.

We will stay engaged,” Everett said. “We have not decided on a specific action. We definitely will be engaged.”

Email Brent Lindquist at foothills@lyndentribune.com.

EVERSON — Jody Sorenson and Joan “Dody” Rice took their hobby sewing to a new level with the launch of their cooperative business, The Sewing Room, one year ago. The April 1, 2011 opening was “purely selfish,” Sorenson said. “We got off our butts, away from the fridge, and back to work.”

According to Sorenson, the endeavor has been a success. In its first year, the cooperative on Main Street has established a unique clientele and provided rewarding occupation for its founders as well as for full-time seamstress Debi Alsobrook and part-time seamstresses Beth Ahrens and Jill Davis. The business has also provided learning opportunities within the community, offering classes through Whatcom Folk School and inviting students in to the shop to learn the craft.

One standout feature of The Sewing Room is its adaptability to unique challenges. Civil war-era flak jackets? They can do that. Timeless Stitches, owned by Lynne and Norman Harriman of Everson, retails recreated Civil-War era patterns, clothes, and equipment. Lynne Harriman, who hires work out to sewing shops across the country, found The Sewing Room during a drive down Main Street. She said that the Everson-based seamstresses have been able to follow her unusual patterns and produce authentically stitched products, and that the face-to-face communication and excellent results keep her coming back. “Civil War sewing is very unique,” said Harriman. “My business is reproducing garments with authentic sewing using the techniques of the era. The girls at The Sewing Room strive to follow my mandate, which I really appreciate.”

Another satisfied customer, North County Fire Department assistant chief Henry Hollander, a similarly unusual request to The Sewing Room. In his case, he needed the seamstresses to stock and use a particular fireproof thread for repairs and reinforcement of heavy bunker gear. “There are other companies with the correct supplies,” he said, “but they’re in Seattle or Spokane.” Hollander said that his department now uses The Sewing Room for heavy-duty work as well as for more mundane jobs such as altering uniforms.

In order to sew everything from silk suits to firefighting equipment, Sorenson said that The Sewing Room proprietors have had to run a well-equipped shop. Their 18 machines include light and heavy sewing machines, sergers, an industrial quilting machine, and a leather sewing machine. Peter Rice, Dody’s husband, has been helpful in equipping the shop, fixing the broken machines that come from thrift shops like Value Village and Goodwill. “We’ve got beautiful 50-year-old Singers,” Sorenson said.

The machines are only part of the equation: Without skilled operators, they’re useless. “Nothing second-rate leaves our place, ever,” Sorenson said. “We’re just phenomenal seamstresses.” Sorenson said each seamstress in the business has her own interests and specialties, and that works out. When Timeless Stitches needed wool trousers, for instance, they turned to Rice. “Dody loves working with wool,” Sorenson said. “I didn’t want anything to do with that.”

While The Sewing Room does have the equipment to handle industrial-scale challenges, Sorenson said that she and her fellow seamstresses are also happy to help the average off-the-street customer. “We can sew ladies’ brassieres or fire department bunker gear,” she said. “We can hem men’s trousers. A lot of men have pants that are too long.”

In the meantime, they’re also doing something even more important. According to Sorenson, she and her fellow business owners are helping themselves. Getting back to work doing something they love has been good for all of the cooperative members, Sorenson said. “We’ve all been working really hard to take care of ourselves, physically and mentally. We’ve lost close to 160 pounds, between us, and we’re having fun! How lucky we are.”

To reach The Sewing Room in Everson, call (360) 319-1773.

To reach Marnie Jones, email bentbarrow@gmail.com.

EVERSON – Holly Bumford, the owner of Good to Go Meat Pies, is excited about her new business. “I just wanted to do something different,” Bumford said. “I have two grown-up kids and I thought it was time to try something new.”

Holly Bumford prepares a meat pie at her new Everson location. PHOTO BY CAMERON DEUEL

Bumford, a house cleaner for the past 20 years, said she noticed through her experiences how active families are in need of quick, healthy meals. “At first I wanted to start a home delivery service,” she said.  “But I needed a lot of permits in order for that to happen and it seemed very daunting.” The logical step was to find a storefront for her business. “I wanted to start a business where I could interact with people and my journey led me to Everson.”

Her husband, Bo, built her kitchen and they finished putting their store together about five minutes before opening in January.

Good to Go Meat Pies offers what Bumford calls “a variation of the classic Cornish pastry.” The Michigan native noted how the Cornish pasty was the primary lunch for miners in the 1800s and 1900s. Similar to a pot-pie, a Cornish pasty is rolled on one edge to form a crust, like a handle. The miners held the handle while they ate, so as to not ingest any of the dirt on their hands.

“It’s the ultimate comfort food,” she said. “Once customers try a meat pie they’re hooked.”

Good to Go Meat Pies can be purchased hot, cool, or frozen, and are available in several varieties. Bumford said they’re working on new recipes for the future.

In addition to the meat pies and homemade soups, the store offers local goods such as Black Market Hot Sauce and Casey’s Coffee. Also, Bumford said, the nearby Field of Greens farmstand will provide a prepackaged salad mix in the spring.

Bumford likes to speak to customers about the importance of using local ingredients. “I have strong feelings about it, especially after reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” she noted.

Among the local ingredients used includes vegetables from Field of Greens as well as meat from Farmer Ben’s in Lynden and cheese from Appel Farms in Ferndale. Fairhaven Flour Mill’s organic flour is used for the meat pie crust.

The store posts information about local businesses for their customers to become more informed about the ingredients they use.

“We’re extremely grateful for the attention and I’m thankful for the people who’ve stepped up to help me,” she said. “Right now I’m just trying to keep up with the demand and trying out new recipes.”

Good To Go Meat Pies is located at 128 W. Main Street in Everson. Hours are 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 .m. on Saturdays. Call (360) 966-2400 or visit www.goodtogomeatpies.com.