A piece of history: Bellingham Graffiti Rock divided among the masses

I love it when a serendipitous moment completely alters the course of someone's day.

BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – I panicked when I got to Civic Field right around 9 a.m. Suppose that was my mistake for attempting to catch up on sleep, but I wasn’t all too concerned that WSDOT would run out of rock right at 9. I parked on Orleans Street, where the back the line inched ever closer to Lakeway, and hauled tail to the distribution zone.

Fortunately, there was plenty of rock left to go around.

WSDOT interns and volunteers in bright orange vests took turns dragging five-gallon buckets of rocks from the transport dumpster to the distribution lines. It felt a bit like COVID, as one person remarked, with steadily moving lines of cars snaking through the Civic Field parking lot towards two official-looking individuals with clipboards. No masks or PPEs, but plenty of extra waiver forms and—the main attraction itself—bits of the Bellingham Graffiti Rock.

WSDOT spokesperson David Rasbach told My Bellingham Now in an email that 742 people showed up to take a piece of the rock home with them. Over 1,200 people signed the waiver prior to the event, and over 120 people signed a waiver on site.

Rocks arranged on a white table at an outdoor parking-lot workshop; a person in a bright safety vest talks in the background.

City of Bellingham Communications Director Melissa Morin speaks to a person filling out a waiver in behind a table with piece of the Bellingham Graffiti Rock on it. Photo by Dianna Hawryluk

Utility worker in an orange safety vest and cap loads debris into a rusted dumpster in a parking lot.

A WSDOT employee pulls a piece of the Bellingham Graffiti Rock out of the storage trailer holding more rock. Photo by Dianna Hawryluk

Worker in a high-visibility vest hands a rock to a driver through a car window at a roadside safety checkpoint; cones and trees in the background.

A WSDOT employee hands a piece of the Bellingham Graffiti Rock to a passenger in a car. Photo by Dianna Hawryluk

Safety worker in a bright orange reflective vest hands a round item to a smiling driver in a silver car window. RGB scene in a parking lot or checkpoint area: a woman extends an object toward the car window while wearing a cap and high-visibility vest.

City of Bellingham Communications Director Melissa Morin hands a piece of the Bellingham Graffiti Rock to a driver in their car. Photo by Dianna Hawryluk

The average person, without context, could’ve taken one look at the dumpster full of rock chunks and wondered “Well, who cares? These look like any old rocks I can get in my own backyard.” And yet, the line of cars packed with nostalgic rock-lovers seemed to stretch off into the horizon, at least during that first hour.

Some folks were there to secure their spot in line at 6:15 that morning (again, the official operating hours were supposed to start at 9 sharp). KGMI’s Joe Teehan and KAFE’s Dave Walker said they were caught up in the rock line around 8:45. Rasbach said they started giving away rocks 15 minutes early.

Some folks got out of their cars to choose their own chunks and to take pictures of the dumpster full of rocky memories. Others happily shared stories of how often or when they painted the rock. One woman I spoke with had been going back to paint the rock every year for 25 years. She said during her last excursion, it was difficult to get any good layers on because the older layers were peeling right off.

Smiling boy in a white shirt holds up a rock in a parking lot, with photographers and a red car in the background.

A child shows off their piece of the Bellingham Graffiti Rock. Photo by Dianna Hawryluk

Rough, multi-colored rock resting on a table with construction workers in safety vests and jeans in the background, suggesting a geology or rock sample setting.

A piece of the Bellingham Graffiti Rock with remannts of paint on its surface. Photo by Dianna Hawryluk

Two men in a parking lot, one smiling while holds a large rock, the other raises a rock overhead in a playful moment

Two people show off their pieces of the Bellingham Graffiti Rock. Photo by Dianna Hawryluk

Tan dog on a leash wearing a harness sniffing a pile of gray rocks on a paved surface, beside a person’s legs and outdoor chairs behind.

Mabel the dog inspects the pieces of the Bellingham Graffiti Rock, helping their owner choose their own rock. Photo by Dianna Hawryluk

Smiling man in a gray t-shirt holding a large rock sample at an outdoor rock-collecting event, table of rocks in the foreground.

A bearded person holds up their piece of the Bellingham Graffiti Rock. Photo by Dianna Hawryluk

Person crouching to sort gray stones on asphalt next to a white folding table with rocks nearby

A person leans over to choose a piece of the Bellingham Graffiti Rock from a tcluster on the asphalt of the Civic Field parking lot. Photo by Dianna Hawryluk

Smiling older man in a cap and vest holds two rocks in a parking lot during a cleanup event.

A person poses with two pieces of the Bellingham Graffiti Rock. Photo by Dianna Hawryluk

Pile of gray rocks and rubble in a truck bed, with workers in high-visibility vests in the background.

Pieces of the Bellingham Graffiti Rock piled in the storage trough. Photo by Dianna Hawryluk

Older man in a Montana hoodie and blue shorts throws a gray rock in a parking lot; chain-link fence and sports field behind him.

A person gestures with a piece of the Bellingham Graffiti Rock in both of their hands. Photo by Dianna Hawryluk

Those hoping to get a paint-speckled slice of rock were flat out of luck. Most of the paint was removed prior to the rock’s implosion, and it obviously wouldn’t have left any marks on any internal pieces. Only one rock chunk I saw had even the slightest dabs of paint left on it. It was claimed pretty quickly.

What struck me the most about the rock distribution wasn’t the sense of unity over something fractured. (That was to be expected, in my opinion.) It wasn’t the kids running over to stake their claims on the funkiest-looking rock bits, and it wasn’t the few dogs who performed sniff inspections on prospective chunks for their owners to choose (shoutouts to Potato and Mabel).

A woman approached me, curious as to why people were getting excited about rocks. She had been walking through the Civic campus and wanted to know what all the hubbub was about. Her eyes lit up as I explained that it was fragments of the Bellingham Graffiti Rock. With a waiver signed on the spot and a shiny sticker to accompany her new piece of history, she trotted off with a renewed bounce in her step.

So sue me, I love it when a serendipitous moment completely alters the course of someone’s day. Much like when I learned the piece of rock I selected from the dumpster at random was a genuine part of the rock’s exterior.

Paint-free, but still cool to me.

Whatcom Wanderings is a personal essay series about experiencing and reflecting on events that are unique to the region. The events covered may not always happen in Whatcom County, but the perspective will be geared towards Whatcom interest.

A piece of history: Bellingham Graffiti Rock divided among the masses | Whatcom Wanderings