Lynden Prepares for a Massive Community Picnic
A multi-band parade, athletic contests, and the installation of a giant wooden axe are set to draw a massive crowd of excursionists from Bellingham.
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R. E. Hawley has spent most of the week on the grounds, with a crew of men, preparing seats, refreshment stands, and more. The Bellingham M.W.A. Camp expects to have a train load of excursionists arriving at 9:45. They will be greeted by the fraternal welcome of the 125 members of the local camp, while the Ferndale Band will discourse sweet music, responded to by a selection from the Bellingham Band. Wednesday night, the ponderous wooden axe, the helve of which was made of a 16-foot plank, was suspended over Front street. All the farmers are planning to take a day off next Saturday and join in the fun with a parade, speaking, baseball, sawing contests, chopping contests, running, jumping, kicking, wrestling, tug of war, competitive team drill, and dancing in the evening.
“Wednesday night the ponderous wooden ax, the helve of which was made of a 16 foot plank, was suspended over Front street.”
In 1908, civic identity was forged through massive, day-long public spectacles involving local bands and fraternal orders. While modern Lynden retains its sense of community, the scale of these early 'Big Picnics' defined the town's social calendar in a way that has largely faded into history.
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