The Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce has partnered with game vendor Late for the Sky Production Company to create BELLINGHAM-OPOLY, a Bellingham-themed monopoly game which features local businesses, events and parks!
The game will be available for purchase in August 2018 at Whatcom County Haggen locations, Woods Coffee shops, Village Books, and the Western Washington University student bookstore on campus.
Haggen and Woods Coffee are major sponsors of BELLINGHAM-OPOLY.
The game pieces are inspired by icons of the Bellingham community; tokens include a coffee cup from Woods Coffee, a book from Village Books, a Viking Helmet from Western Washington University, a Haggen shopping cart, a statue from Mount Baker Theatre with the final token being chosen by the community with a social media contest.
The Facebook and instagram contest encourages users to vote on their top favorite out of four options: a ski, a bike, a backpack and an anchor. This contest will run in early May 2018. You can find it on Facebook @bellinghamchamber and on Instagram @bham_chamber. The hash tag will be #bellinghamopoly.
Board spaces are sponsored by iconic member businesses, events and parks. “We planned the game board intentionally to focus on places and events that people would recognize. We want it to be attractive to locals, tourists, students, former students and former residents. That guided our decision-making and led us to make strategic choices about who and what should be on the game board, said Shelli Jones, Marketing Coordinator for the chamber of commerce.
The community cards—traditionally known as “chance/community chest” cards—are represented by local nonprofits and community organizations. The customizable cards feature logos and verbiage to reinforce the local identity of the game. One example is:
You adopted a pet from the Whatcom Humane Society! Move ahead to the park and take a walk! If you pass start, collect $200.
The idea for creating this community-focused game came from Bellingham City Councilwoman Pinky Vargas who had been inspired by the 2017 Lynden-opoly game. “Pinky recommended that the chamber of commerce look into a Bellingham-themed monopoly game. The chamber staff were enthusiastic about the idea and we started working on it several months ago. The Lynden Chamber of Commerce provided assistance and helped us in the planning stages.”
“We were encouraged to learn that the games are made in the USA and are earth-friendly,” said Jones.
Proceeds of the game will benefit the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Late for the Sky is the game design company based in Cincinnati, Ohio which specializes in creating custom “opoly” games.
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Late for the Sky Production Company began making specialty board games in 1984.
Late for the Sky is dedicated to working toward the manufacturing of completely earth-friendly games. 100% of the unused paper involved in making our games is recycled. The fiberboard used in making the set-up boxes and game boards is all recycled material. Late for the Sky is an alcohol free printing operation that uses only soy based inks. Corn based shrink wrap is currently being used and will soon replace all petroleum based shrink film. Plastic game trays that hold game parts, currently a high impact styrene, are being replaced by a water bottle grade #1 recyclable material. Metal game tokens are being transitioned from lead-free pewter to zinc. Recycled glass is becoming an alternative to styrene “house and hotel” game pieces. All of our games are made in the USA – produced in Late for the Sky’s Cincinnati facility. The game parts are all domestic, and most are produced less than 50 miles from the operation.
The Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce has been serving its members and the local business community for more than 100 years as the voice of business in Bellingham and Whatcom County. The Chamber is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit that promotes the community and a strong economy; provides programs and events for its members; facilitates factually based dialog between business, the government and the community; and represent business interests with government and the community.