Year in Review: Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce

As we prepare to turn the calendar on 2021, we reflect on the year past and are thrilled with all that we accomplished. Entering 2020 there were a number of uncertainties including the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, continuing construction of the pedestrian facility, or berm project, and the availability of the Birch Bay Beach Park. The Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors together with newly appointed executive director Danielle Gaughen and new event coordinator Sacha Sanguinetti were able to put together a calendar of events this year that was exciting and engaging.

Our annual summer events: Kite Festival, Sand Sculpture Competition, Rollback Weekend and Discover Birch Bay Days are time-honored traditions, which highlight the best of what Birch Bay has to offer. While these events were modified in 2020 and 2021 they continue to draw large crowds of locals, and visitors from near and far. Though the Birch Bay Beach Park remained unavailable to us this year we enjoyed partnering with Friends of Birch Bay Library and Whatcom County Library System to enjoy our events at the site of the future Birch Bay Vogt Community Library.

In addition to our traditional summer events, we got to continue our outdoor movie nights at the Birch Bay Waterslides and thank them for their continued partnership and helping us bring this fun summer tradition back to Birch Bay for another safe family-friendly activity. Also new to the 2021 event calendar was our launch of Trick-or-Treat on the Berm. We lucked out with amazing weather, and are excited to host this fun community event again in 2022 – this time with more candy!

We want to take a moment to thank each of our members (139 at the time of writing this); Whatcom County Lodging Tax Advisory Committee; Blaine-Birch Bay Park and Recreation District 2; our Platinum Sponsors: Phillips 66 Ferndale Refinery; Silver Reef Casino Resort/Loomis Trail Golf Course; Yes! Whatcom Libraries; our Gold Sponsors: Banner Bank & Billy Brown Windermere Realtor. We are honored to support, partner and work with each of you and we can’t wait to “Join the Fun in Birch Bay” in 2022.

Danielle Gaughen, Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce executive director