Tide to Table '24 - An Old Hollywood Success

Tide to Table '24 - An Old Hollywood Success

Drayton Harbor Oyster Company hosted their oyster bar with fresh, local oysters right from Blaine, while the Monk Slippers band, led by Seafood Producer's Co-op's own Kendall Whitney set the mood, filling the hall with smooth jazz that evoked the elegance of Old Hollywood as it drifted across the silent auction tables. Guests enjoyed the bar where a few of our own Bellingham Tender vessel operators were mixing and pouring drinks for the crowd at 'The Tender Bar' (they even made a custom lit sign just for the event!).  This year we proudly featured Samson Winery's Syrah and Chardonnay, and UnCruise Adventures' own Bubblenet Brut Cava for guests arriving to the event, as a premiere toast. Also helping to provide libation was Stones Throw Brewing from Fairhaven, and Kulshan Brewing.

Thank you to our food and beverage sponsors!

The Silent Auction featured many exciting items, from paintings by local artists, to excursions on Bellingham Bay for crabbing and paddling. The auction was diverse, and our donors came from many places throughout our region. The scope of our outreach has grown, and that also was evident with our live auction. This year featured professional auctioneer Shannon Day as our MC creating enthusiasm and energy as we showcased several exciting items from all around Bellingham, to as far away as Hawaii. The Coalition sends Shannon a sincere thank you as well, for her  support and insight in planning the timing and program for the evening. We would also like to thank our generous item donors for their contributions to the auctions. Their support also helps drive our mission and makes our event special. 

We'd also like to give a special thank you to Ovn Pizza in Fairhaven for helping us take care of our volunteers with a generous gift of pizza for lunch. Our volunteer crew was well-sustained and we appreciate the recognition of time and dedication that Ovn showed our Tide to Table team with their donation.

These are just a few of the silent and live auction donors and activities represented in this year's auction.

This year, we raised our paddles in support of the Northwest Maritime Apprenticeship Program. The workforce training program just completed its second year and has achieved permanent status as an official registered apprenticeship program. The program, training our next generation of trained Marine Service Technicians, uses an industry-developed curriculum that has been successfully deployed in Canada for 30 years. We are the first to bring this program to the United States and are working hard to professionalize the Marine Service Technician occupation.

As our apprenticeship moves into the 3rd year, it continues to grow and every day we have companies and individuals inquiring about how they can be a part of it.  We are thankful to all those who raised their paddle and donated to the Apprenticeship. These donations are vital to help launch more programming and cover overhead costs that do not fall into grant categories. The Working Waterfront Foundation sends a very humble and sincere thank you to everyone who donated to the Paddle-Raise this year. Your support means we can continue to provide training for the next generation of technicians who ensure vessels are maintained safely and well, run efficiently, and are environmentally sound.

The Coalition surpassed our goals for Tide to Table thanks to the engagement and support of our community. We saw many new faces at the event this year, and we hope to continue growing our network as we grow our scope and programming. The proceeds raised from the evening go to support our advocacy and community activities as we work to promote the economic vitality of our working waterfronts. A few of our programs include:

• Representing our waterfront businesses in important stakeholder groups with the County, City and Port entities
• Advising waterfront development and use;
• Hosting networking meetings for the public to learn and share about the waterfront;
• Creating newsletters, blog posts, website updates, and radio programs;
• Helping connect our maritime economy to important opportunities such as the DERA program for commercial fishermen and vessel operators to upgrade their diesel engines, or connecting them to national-led efforts to create policy and regulation around low-carbon emissions so that their voice can be heard, and their concerns be seen in the ongoing discussions of how to design that transition.

All this work is only possible with our community's support - and Tide to Table '24 was not only a wonderful time to celebrate our maritime economy, our waterfronts, friends and peers, but was also a reaffirmation of the dedication and interest our community has in our mission, our goals, and our programming. We'd like to specially thank our Sponsors for Tide to Table, to whom much credit is due!

To all who came to be a part of it, donated their time, their products, or their services, volunteered, and helped - the Coalition sends a very heartfelt thank you. If you missed the event this year, stay tuned for next year's Tide to Table and look for our other exciting events throughout the year via our website calendar!