Events & News
The Ferndale Heritage Society coordinates several annual special events throughout the year. Some of the events are in conjunction with the Old Settlers Association, the city of Ferndale, and the Ferndale Chamber of Commerce. Pioneer Park’s historic cabins are opened for public viewing during the Old Settlers Weekend, the last weekend in July. Other opportunities to view inside the log cabins for admission are during the summer tour season (May 15 through September 15) and during the Olde Fashioned Christmas event (first weekend in December) at the park. Special tours can be arranged by contacting the society. Heritage Society members volunteer during these events.
Plant Sale
Saturday, May 10, 2025 9:00am to 12:00pm
Annual Ferndale Heritage Society Plant Sale.
Selling vegetables, annuals, perennials, garden decorations, trees, and berries. Best prices you’ll find anywhere.
Spring Fashion Show
TBD 2025
TBD 2025
2025 TBD
Old Settlers Picnic at Pioneer Park
Fri, July 25, 2025 12:00 PM
Sat, July 26, 12:00 PM
Celebrating our 129th Old Settlers Picnic in Pioneer Park on July 25, 26, 2025.
Olde Fashioned Christmas in Pioneer Village
Fri, December 5, 2025 4:00 to 9:00PM
Sat, December 6, 2025 4:00 to 9:00PM
“2025 Theme TBD” during the first weekend in December. Located at Pioneer Park in Ferndale, the log cabins will be aglow like shimmery stars. Costumed volunteers will open the log cabin doors to greet you, so you feel the holiday cheer as it drifts into the winter air. Guests stroll around the ADA compliant sidewalks while enjoying Christmas music and over 90,000 lights that light your path. Inside the pavilion will be Santa, crafts for children, and refreshments. Adults $5, Children $3, Under 1 Free.
Non-member volunteers are welcome to help at the OFC setup sessions every Wed & Sat 9am-noon from now until the Event on the 6th.
Lighted Christmas Stroll Through Pioneer Village
Fri, December 12, 2025 5:00 to 8:00PM
Sat, December 13, 2025 5:00 to 8:00PM
Fri, December 19, 2025 5:00 to 8:00PM
Sat, December 20, 2025 5:00 to 8:00PM
Free
Admission
Volunteers of the Ferndale Heritage Society will again host a “Lighted Christmas Stroll Through Pioneer Village” event. This free event is a “giving back to our community” labor of love. The second and third weekends in December, Pioneer Village will be open Friday and Saturday evenings, 5-8pm.
Kids of all ages can participate in the Scavenger Hunt, in hopes of finding all the “Stars” around the stroll. Look hard and earn that prize at the end of the stroll.
2024 - A Year in Review
February 25, 2025
We would like to make you aware of the Ferndale Heritage Society’s activities for 2024.
The maintenance of the cabins in Pioneer Village was greatly enhanced in 2024 thanks in no small part to the Ferndale Heritage Society being granted $150,000.00 in ARPA funding from the City of Ferndale. Cascade Chinking Services was able to return to work after only a small amount was done in 2023. Chinking was completed on the Rodgers, Jenni & Parker Houses.
Our goal is for the chinker to complete the remaining cabins during 2025.
The Education Program under the Supervision of Julie Aamot hosted 362 students from the Ferndale School District and an additional 454 students from other county schools. This event helps us carry out our mission statement which reads: The purpose of the Ferndale Heritage Society is to educate the community on the history of Whatcom County, promote Pioneer Park and tourism in Ferndale, WA, and bring together those people interested in preserving history and maintaining the log cabins and collections at Pioneer Park.
The spring plant sale raised just over $1400 which allowed us to hire two seasonal gardeners to water and take care of the flower beds around the cabins and near the entrance to Pioneer Park.
Heritage Society Member Josh Andres refurbished the small Jail House Building as his Eagle Scout Project. He included a history of the building, a bench/cot and arranged with the City Park Maintenance Crew to fix both doors so they open easily.
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.
Our Olde Fashioned Christmas event had record numbers. We hosted over 2500 visitors over the two day (10 hour) 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. Weather was a factor in the low turnout but still over 1500 visitors came to enjoy the lights and hot cocoa. Special thanks to Mayor Hansen for helping all four evenings!
The set up, take down, and manning of the Olde Fashioned Christmas and Lighted Christmas Stoll events was completed with a total of 1441 volunteer hours.
A large project that was completed in 2024 was the completion of video histories of 12 of the cabins and the Barr Barn. The videos are narrated by Fred Sutcliffe and are his firsthand accounts of the history of the cabins. They are on our newly updated website www.ferndaleheritagesociety.com. One additional video speaks to the formation, history and mission of the Ferndale Heritage Society.
Currently Fred Sutcliffe is working to stabilize and re-stain the pews in the Log Cabin Church.
The pews were becoming a safety concern. He has completed over half of them.
In total the Ferndale Heritage Society logged over 5,100 volunteer hours in 2024.
We have appreciated the on going support from the City of Ferndale especially the new Facilities Manager position, Jeremy Salhus, and look forward to another successful year of preserving history at the Pioneer Village in Pioneer Park.
Ferndale Heritage Society Board