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BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Bellingham’s beer scene often forms the background for events throughout the year in the city. From work parties and fundraisers to get-togethers with friends and family and community activities, beer and cider are part of the Bellingham community lifeblood. Someone who recognizes the engagement that comes with chilled pints shared between pals is Shanna Sheridan.
Sheridan found her way to her job as Brand Ambassador and Event Coordinator at Bellingham Cider Company shortly after Boundary Bay Brewing Company shuttered their doors last fall. Her time with Boundary Bay was only for a few years, preceded by a career in communications and radio. Her transition to the brewery scene came after she founded PNW Beer Moms, an online group that centered around providing beer drinking community for moms in Bellingham.
“It was really a way to create a community that needed to be there, like for myself and for other moms that were also feeling lonely, but to go out to the breweries, because that’s for me, in Bellingham, that’s the third space,” Sheridan said.
Within a month of the first official beer meetup, the group had 24 moms show up at Elizabeth Station and quickly grew from there according to Sheridan. PNW Beer Moms started its collaborative work with local breweries with a limited-time brew with Stemma Brewing.
“I don’t trust an epiphany, but I trust a shower idea. So, suddenly I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh. What if we did a beer? What if Beer Moms made a beer with somebody?'” Sheridan said. Within 20 minutes of approaching fellow mom and Stemma co-owner Kimberly Harper, PNW Beer Moms was on their way to producing their own nonprofit-benefitting brew.
Sheridan was on the board for the local chapter of Pink Boots Society, a nonprofit that promotes women joining the brewing industry, for a few years as well.
“I really feel like Bellingham’s nonprofit [numbers], like having so many successful nonprofits, is because of the breweries and their third placeness and being able to raise money for these people and make it fun for people,” she said.
Nearly 100 nonprofits operate within Bellingham, the majority of which are locally founded and run. Sheridan said that the practice of short-run charity beers began with pint night events at Boundary Bay, and the practice caught on.
Since founding in 2019, PNW Beer Moms expanded to several chapters throughout the Pacific Northwest, including Snohomish, Spokane and Portland. Sheridan used the connections she made with the group to become more engaged with local brewers, which culminated in a job with Boundary Bay. In pursuit of wanting a job in the craft beer industry, Sheridan emailed Janet Lightner one day asking if they had work for her.
Lightner responded promptly that the brewery’s communications director and marketing person was retiring after a decade working for Boundary.
“I was just looking for a little side gig or something,” Sheridan said. “And the next thing I know, I finally got the chance, [I] found a place that I really fit. I was a marketing director; I was events coordinator. I was getting to be creative. I was getting to do it with beer and cider and all the people.”
With Boundary Bay work came collaboration with other brewers in the city, county and region. Sheridan represented Boundary Bay at what would later become the Bellingham Beer Alliance. The group oversaw Bellingham Beer Week after Tap Trail passed responsibility to the LLC in 2024.
While her tenure with Boundary ended as the business shuttered, she transitioned to Bellingham Cider Company in when she called “kismet.”
“[Co-founders of Bellingham Cider Company] Bryce [Serface] and Josh [Hamilton] are really community oriented. Just like Boundary is, they really want to be involved with everything. They want to be helpful to everybody, they’re first responders,” Sheridan said. “So, I think community is really the heart of what they do.”
Her new role with the cidery and restaurant is a little different than at the brewery, now overseeing lending trailers to events and no longer organizing events in “Bellingham’s Backyard,” but Sheridan still describes the new role as a good fit.
The Bellingham Beer Alliance currently provides a point of coordination between the 15 breweries in and around the city, putting on events throughout the year. Most notable is Beer Week and April Brews Day, which celebrate what Sheridan finds so special about the brewery scene in Bellingham.
Beer Week includes over two dozen events ranging from trivia nights and games to tastings, running from April 10 through 19. April Brews Day falls on April 18 this year, held at the Civic Stadium parking lot this year. The new location provides accessibility for mobility-challenged attendants. The Max Higbee Center continues to be the long-time beneficiary of the all-day beer fest.
From beer events and participating in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade organization to engaging with her neighbors in Nooksack, Sheridan builds community where she can. Sheridan is a mom to two girls and considers her role as a parent to be important part of her life.
We are Whatcom is a weekly column featuring Whatcom County residents making a positive impact on the community. To submit a Whatcom County resident to be featured, click here.