West Seattle, Washington
20 Thursday
From their holiday concert at Grace Church on Thursday night, it’s a hi-def West Seattle Big Band Christmas medley – 6 minutes packed with swingin’ sections of multiple holiday faves. (In the mood for more music of the season? Tomorrow’s the Fauntleroy Church [WSB sponsor] Christmas concert, 6 o’clock – one of many holiday events on the West Seattle Holidays page, which now stretches to New Year’s Eve/Day.)
This may be a “shop till you drop” day for many – in which case, your hometown West Seattle stores are thrilled to see you (take along these coupons! and remember the free stocking-stuffers) – and when you can take a break, you’ve got some options: 10:30 this morning, family gingerbread-house building at High Point Community Center ($5/person) … noon, Admiral Theater‘s free holiday movie “Elf” (trailer above), bring a food-bank donation to get in (and they’re also collecting toiletries for Navos clients) … noon-4 is the second-to-last day for Santa at Westwood Village (food donation’s also the “price” for a photo, and bring diapers for WestSide Baby while you’re at it, sizes 3-6 preferred) … Noon’s the Delridge Community Center holiday party, all welcome … 1-6, “Wrap It Up” giftwrapping at Shadow Land, Furry Faces Foundation animal-advocacy benefit (details here) … There’s wine-tasting 1-4 at West Seattle Cellars, with winemaker Ben Smith from Georgetown’s Cadence Winery … At 1:30, the relatively new West Seattle Film Forum screens and discusses “Confessions of a Shopaholic” at Southwest Branch Library … and at 3 and 7:30, it’s a very retro Christmas with “Plaid Tidings” at ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) in The Junction. More in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup!
Long list of awesome holiday events for The Weekend Before Christmas – and here’s one where you can combine giving and receiving: The Holiday Giving Tree and Feast event 6-8 pm tomorrow (Friday) at Hiawatha Community Center (2700 California SW; map). Bring a toy to donate, and you get dinner for free. Rebecca from sister community center High Point CC found out the Hiawatha menu for us – she says it’s the work of a professional chef:
Roasted Turkey
Gourmet Macaroni & Cheese w/6 different cheeses
Sweet Potato and Red Potato Rosemary Olive Oil Dish
Corn
Rolls
Green Salad
Various Pies for Dessert
Hot Apple Cider & Cran-Raspberry Juice
Satsumas
Fruit Cocktail
That’s at Hiawatha, 6-8 pm tomorrow. Meantime Rebecca’s checking on progress for the HP toy drive we told you about yesterday. She also says ALL community centers have been collecting toys – the next few days are the time to make sure all toy bins and giving trees are taken care of!
We featured this display last year – who could forget the distinctive Christmas cocktail on the roof? Now, its proud creators have shared a few new photos, with a change or two, so they’re back for an encore: It’s the Radas’ home in Westwood. Michael Rada says, “We moved the martini glass a little farther up the roof” for this year:
They’re at 8615 32nd SW — here’s a map. For the archive of other light displays we’ve featured so far this season, go here – and please let us know about the best and the brightest you’ve seen (or maybe you’ve put them up yourself!) addresses, with or without photos, are welcome – editor@westseattleblog.com.
This Sunday is the last of three special Sundays as part of the West Seattle Junction Association’s Hometown Holidays (co-sponsored by WSB) – with special events including mule-drawn carriage rides, as shown in our photo from Sunday before last – and we just got word from Susan Melrose of WSJA that the hours have changed: You can catch the carriage by the HH HQ booth in front of KeyBank between 11 am and 3 pm on Sunday. (The time period for Santa photos and gift wrap at the other HH HQ, in the storefront just east of Cupcake Royale, remains noon-4 pm.) The full scoop on Hometown Holidays, including the ongoing $6,500 Junction Giveaway (which has its final drawings on Sunday, so get your entries in before then) is here.
Among this week’s holiday highlights, with Christmas getting closer, are concerts big and small. Providence Mount St. Vincent has been hosting music groups almost nightly (schedule’s on our West Seattle Holidays page) – tonight, we stopped by to see/hear the Endolyne Children’s Choir (if you don’t recognize the song in our clip, it’s “Fum, Fum, Fum“). Endolyne also performed at the West Seattle Junction Hometown Holidays Tree Lighting (here’s our package of video highlights from that night). Still to come this week: West Seattle Big Band holiday concert at Grace Church on Thursday night and Northwest Boychoir at Holy Rosary on Friday night.
Ten nights till Christmas, counting tonight, so we’re stepping up the holiday lights spotlight – the ones we’ve featured already are archived here (newest to oldest), and tonight, we have a photo from the famous Ducky Reserve on the south edge of Lowman Beach (map) – Dr. Ron Sterling is well-known for his year-round displays of toy ducks in seasonal garb, but this year the Christmas ducks are more must-see than ever – they’re best viewed by parking and walking up, so tonight you’d need an umbrella. The ducks, as you can see, already have one. And if you can’t get down for a look, here’s a Sterling-produced video with an up-close view of every ducky detail:
The main ducky display faces Beach Drive, but the side facing Lowman Beach Park is festively lit too – and there are some nice lights across Beach Drive as well.
Yes, at long last it’s another video from the creators of one of West Seattle’s most-talked-about Christmas-lights displays this season, the synchronized-to-music Helmstetler Family show across from the Charlestown water tower. (Here’s our original report, with the first video from the show.) Jim Winder has actually published three more videos in all – they’re all linked here. And that’s just one option for your Tuesday night (and beyond) – here’s our West Seattle Holidays page with tons more, including live holiday music tonight at The Mount (and planning ahead, check out the West Seattle Big Band plan for a Thursday night holiday concert at Grace Church.) Back to tonight, a non-holiday highlight: The monthly “Alauda” belly-dance showcase at Skylark Cafe and Club (WSB sponsor), 7:30 pm.
Bainbridge Island-based SoundWave caroled it from the Christmas Ship – “Let It Snow.” Didn’t happen during the Spirit of Seattle‘s final visit of the season to West Seattle shores, though, at Don Armeni Boat Ramp tonight – just a little mist – latest “forecast discussion” isn’t very snow-hopeful, either. The night also saw the weekend’s only Christmas Ship bonfire, since the now-ended burn ban was still in effect last night:
The Parks Department also set up the traditional tent with cookies and beverages (they apologize that the hot water was a little late) – and added extra decorations, including some luminarias along the shore, and the inflatables you see alongside Gayle, Rebecca, Mulryan and Jim from Parks:
(photo courtesy Rebecca Hall – substituted 12:41 am for our original photo which just had 1 Parks person)
One other sight from tonight – in addition to the lighted boats accompanying the Christmas Ship, two kayakers paddled out to watch (also seen in the top video clip):
While that’s it for the West Seattle stops this year, the Christmas Ship continues nightly trips to various Puget Sound/Lake Washington/Lake Union beaches through Dec. 23 – the schedule’s here; you can buy tickets to ride along, with part of the proceeds going to the Seattle Times (WSB partner) Fund for the Needy (donations welcome here). We also covered the Christmas Ship’s Seacrest (here) and Lowman Beach (here) stops last night (it also visited Alki) – thanks to everyone who contributed photos to enhance the coverage (don’t miss these).
Santa Claus is managing that amazing trick again this afternoon … multiple places at once … here in West Seattle. Above, the 4218 SW Alaska storefront (east of Cupcake Royale) transformed into Hometown Holidays Headquarters, where you will find him noon-4 pm (suggested $10 donation for photos, goes to West Seattle Helpline, WestSide Baby and West Seattle Food Bank), along with gift wrapping (if you buy $50+ from participating Junction merchants, it’s free), and Pathfinder K-8 wreath sales in the HH booth at California/Alaska. Santa’s also at Westwood Village noon-4 pm — photo’s free with nonperishable food donation for food banks (also bring diapers for the WestSide Baby diaper drive). Or for an Italian Christmas experience, go meet Babbo Natale:
Lunch at Cafe Revo (WSB sponsor) 1-3 pm includes Babbo Natale (aka Nonno) telling Italian Christmas stories and taking photos — scooter included!
Other holiday highlights today include the Admiral Sings Christmas singalong at 4:30 pm, Admiral UCC church (California/Hill) and a holiday open house at Bridge Park in High Point (3204 SW Morgan), with 11-year-old piano prodigy Val Wold playing, 2-4:30 pm.
Two non-holiday highlights: The Esoterics perform their winter concert at Holy Rosary, 3 pm; and tonight at Kenyon Hall, Donald Sosin plays along with “Chicago,” the classic 1927 silent movie that inspired the more recent movie/musical, 7 pm. More events in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup!
Thanks to Michelle Edwards for that photo of the Christmas Ship sailing toward West Seattle at dusk Saturday, before its first stop (at Seacrest – here’s our report on that). After three Saturday stops, it’s back tonight for one more West Seattle stop, Don Armeni Boat Ramp at 7:15 pm. Its second Saturday stop, at Lowman Beach, drew a crowd that stretched out onto the rocky low-tide-exposed shore. Linda Ann Cox, whose snow-dusted photo from last year graced our previews this year, photographed the Lowman visit again last night:
As Linda Ann noted in her e-mail – and as we saw for ourselves – the Lowman Beach visit ended with fireworks (not an official part of the program, but fired in notable quantity from both the north side of the crowd and what looked to be somewhere in the residential area to the south). Even better, though, astro-expert Alice Enevoldsen says there was a meteor show too; she wrote about it on her Alice’s Astro Info website, and included photos – click here to see the tiny dots in the sky, captured by Jason Gift Enevoldsen, and then click here to see a labeled version of the photo. And one more look at the ship itself, which the rest of the year is the Spirit of Seattle, run by Argosy Cruises:
That photo was taken by Ian McKay, who has a few others in a Flickr gallery you can see here. From Lowman, the Christmas Ship and seven accompanying vessels moved on to Alki before returning downtown. Again, it’s at Don Armeni at 7:10 tonight; here’s a map. (Many more holiday events today/tonight – all on the West Seattle Holidays page – we’ll preview some of them later this morning, too.)
(Photo from Jim Edwards)
Less than an hour ago, the Christmas Ship, with Northwest Girlchoir Vivace on board, serenaded a goodnatured crowd along the shore at Seacrest:
It’ll be back later with Canterbury Belles on board, 8:50 pm at Lowman Beach (north of Lincoln Park), 9:40 pm at Alki. No bonfires tonight, because of the ongoing Stage 2 Burn Ban, but warm camaraderie (and the temperature’s higher than the last several nights!). And since Santa is everywhere, it wasn’t surprising that he showed up for the Christmas Ship … with a 2-wheeled “sleigh”:
Friendly Parks Department staffers are at every stop tonight, with free cookies and hot beverages, so be sure to say “hi”:
(That’s Ryan Spencer, assistant coordinator from Delridge Community Center.) If you missed it tonight, the Christmas Ship (and whatever boats decide to tag along) has one more West Seattle stop this season – Don Armeni Boat Ramp tomorrow night at 7:10 pm.
CANAPE CHEF SERVICES AT JF HENRY: Via Twitter (@canapechef), WSB sponsor Canape Specialty Chef Services invites you to stop by JF Henry in The Junction till 4 pm (4445 California SW) and meet Chef Jay DeLong – offering carrot-ginger soup samples. They’re also offering discount gift certificates – which is one of the coupons you’ll find on the WSB Coupons page. (And if you’ve had trouble printing them before because the entire page sidebar prints too, taking extra pages, we’ve fixed that – printing the page should get you JUST the header and the coupons – it includes coupons from our sponsors in the Admiral District, another place to Shop Local this holiday season, and beyond.)
“TEAM TRACY” 3DAY FUNDRAISER TONIGHT ON ALKI: Earlier, we mentioned several events you can check out while enjoying the Christmas Ship‘s three West Seattle stops tonight (there’s one tomorrow too if you miss it – or want to see/hear it again). Here’s another, from the West Seattle Weekend Lineup: The Team Tracy Breast Cancer 3Day Fundraiser at Christo’s on Alki! Silent auction and raffle for the team led by breast-cancer survivor Tracy Dart, going for their third year in the 3Day in 2010. Tracy says Christo’s will have food/drink specials too – great place to watch the Christmas Ship’s 9:40 pm Alki stop and/or to warm up before/after.
RIGHT NOW: West Seattle Tiger Scouts collecting donations for families of the Lakewood Police 
officers killed two weeks ago, 9 am-5 pm at a table at Holy Rosary Tree Lot (more details here) – they also were scheduled to have a “thank you” card for people to sign.
RIGHT NOW: “Santa Paws” at Windermere Real Estate in The Junction (4526 California SW) – go get your dog’s photo taken with Santa! Till 2 pm. (Thanks to Windermere’s Doug Baldwin for sending the in-progress photo you see at right!)
THIS AFTERNOON: Holiday wine sale at South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) Northwest Wine Academy, noon-4 pm, discounted prices on wine, gift baskets on sale too. (Here’s a campus map – WWB marks the spot where you’ll find the sale.)
(2008 photo from Lowman Beach, courtesy Linda Ann)
CHRISTMAS SHIPS TONIGHT! Can’t say it enough. They’re a must-see (and must-hear). Here’s the full schedule for tonight’s West Seattle stops, from our WS Holidays page:
FIRST SAILING
CHOIR: Northwest Girlchoir – Vivace
5:15-5:35 Seacrest (map)
SECOND SAILING
CHOIR: Canterbury Belles
8:50-9:10 Lowman Beach (map)
9:40-10:00 Alki Beach
There are a few special events in connection with their visit – the Log House Museum on Alki is open extended hours today, noon-9:30 pm, and offering cookies, cider, and free museum tours. 61st/Stevens (map) – walk a block south from the Alki Bakery corner. Also on Alki, Coastal Boutique is having a 20% evening sale, 7-10 pm. And at Lowman Beach, Sterling Images Gallery alongside the park’s south edge – whose proprietor is also creator of the renowned Ducky Reserve – is open late.
“PRINCESS ANGELINE” MOVIE AT DUWAMISH LONGHOUSE: Tonight at 7 pm at the almost-year-old longhouse in West Seattle, the new film that tells the story of Chief Sealth’s daughter, and explores the tribe’s ongoing fight for federal recognition. More here.
And this is STILL only part of what’s happening. Shop local – have fun, local – West Seattle Weekend Lineup list is here, West Seattle Holidays (grouped by type of activity/event) is here.
Thanks to Rick for sending photos of the bazaar/gift fair under way right now at C&P Coffee – continuing till 3 pm. He says, “C&P is full of locals and local vendors selling a wide variety of cool, artful holiday wares. Come on by and join the event!” C&P is at 5612 California SW (map). A bazaar’s also under way till 4 pm at Southwest Community Center, 2801 SW Thistle (map):
(Photo from SW Community Center bazaar added 12:35 – knit cactuses by BriAnna – who also has warm hats – some unique stuff there, we stopped by while making the rounds)
And in The Junction, shopping opportunities today include a trunk show at CAPERS, where Lisa sent the image at right, explaining: “Haute Goat Recycled Cashmere Trunkshow is today (till) 6. This collection of scarves and accessories fashioned from recycled cashmere is proof that looking good and doing good go hand in hand. Meet the artist today 11-1 …” And Lisa invites you to check out the Hickman House giving tree at the store. While you’re in The Junction, the Windermere Real Estate office is about to start its annual “Santa Paws” event — 11-2, get your dog’s photo taken with Santa! More of the day and night’s highlights coming up – but you can find the full list in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup.
That’s Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) proprietor Lora Lewis with some of the items that have come in for the Pet Giving Tree at Hotwire. Teri Ensley from Furry Faces Foundation says two-thirds of the tree’s 24 tags have been taken, and the presents are now starting to come in – including more than 100 pounds of donated pet food. Teri says, “We took (the) first load of ‘pet gifts’ to White Center Food Bank. Both Rick Jump and Audrey Zemke were there so they helped unload with big smiles on their faces. Since some of the items came in Christmas gift bags, they are going to give them to their clients in the bags–so it truly is a pet gift. The next load of pet gifts will be taken to West Seattle Food Bank. Thanks again to Lora Lewis of Hotwire for coming up with this brilliant giving tree and thanks to everyone that is taking their time and money to help animal companions be able to stay with their people.” This is just one of MANY Giving Trees around West Seattle – and this weekend is PRIME TIME to go see which one still have unclaimed tags, so that you can help make this a merrier Christmas for somebody – go to the West Seattle Holidays page and look for the Giving Trees/Fundraisers list. (Also, re: Furry Faces, note their Wrap It Up wrapping fundraiser at Shadow Land 1-6 pm today!)
As Q13 FOX reporter (and West Seattleite) Brian Callanan noted toward the end of that clip, Our Lady of Guadalupe’s outdoor Christmas tree has a new look this year – LED lights in a cool pale blue (compare to last year). The tree now shines from the highest spot in the city – a bit more than 500 feet up – at 35th and Myrtle, after tonight’s lighting ceremony. From our informal count, looked like about 200 people gathered on Myrtle (blocked off for the evening) to watch the lighting and share in carols afterward. OLG is about to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Here’s Father Jack Walmsley (just back from traveling) delivering the pre-lighting blessing:
Here’s a sample of tonight’s caroling:
(That’s Brian in the light-colored sweater under the tree, saying “Great job” at clip’s end.) Caroling was followed by holiday celebrating in the Parish Hall – a good place to warm up, considering the temperature was back below freezing by the time the tree lights came on.
Sure, you can buy a light-encrusted “reindeer” at the store and plop it in your yard. But how about carving and assembling your own reindeer? That’s what Dave did in Westwood, and proud girlfriend Oleana shares these photos — in progress, above, and here’s the final result:
Oleana explains:
We live in West Seattle and this is our 2nd x-mas here. This year my boyfriend really got into the decorations as in chainsaw, log, actual size reindeer with a 6 ft wreath hung from the trees in our yard. I also just for fun decorated with pink flamingos and a golden egg. It is a holiday scene—in the middle of a quiet neighborhood. Throughout the day I see dog walkers pointing and even coming in the yard to check out the reindeer.
She says he’s made a couple more, too. You can see them at 7926 30th SW (here’s a map).
It’s another WSB holiday tradition, along with keeping a list of holiday events (the West Seattle Holidays page) – we’ve surveyed local tree lots for a sampling of prices, in case you’re going out tree-shopping soon and undecided about where to go. Go here to see the list of lots and sample prices; it’s also linked from the Holidays page so you can find it fast any time.
SOUTH SEATTLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE WINE SALE: 4-8 pm today and noon-4 pm tomorrow, the Northwest Wine Academy at South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) offers another of its popular wine-tasting/sale events, with all their wine on sale at a 20 percent discount. More info here.
OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE TREE LIGHTING: 7 pm tonight at 35th/Myrtle, the highest point in Seattle, gather around the Our Lady of Guadalupe tree to see its 1,000 lights come on, and to join in Christmas carols. More here.
HANUKKAH: The eight-night Jewish Festival of Lights begins at sundown tonight. Here’s a guide to regional celebrations, from our partners at the Seattle Times.
Got something to sell that holiday bazaar shoppers might be interested in? The Southwest Community Center Holiday Bazaar tomorrow (Saturday) still has room for more vendors, Lisa tells us. $15 for one table, $20 for two, and the fees go to SWCC youth programs. Call 206-684-7638. Even if you’re not interested in selling, there’ll be entertainment and food along with craft activities for kids, 9 am-4 pm Saturday.
At Twilight Artist Collective, proprietors Mary, Erin and Allison celebrated “ugly sweater night” along with West Seattle Art Walk night. That’s one of 10 photos we’re sharing on a night that also saw the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce celebrate the season – read on for the quick tour:Read More
Thanks to Cheryl for the reminder that south West Seattle has its own version of Candy Cane Lane in the heart of Fauntlee Hills. Particularly SW Concord north of 41st SW (map), where we photographed this house (just one of many shining examples in the area). Just turn off SW Barton, left if you’re coming uphill from the ferry dock, right if you’re coming downhill from 35th/Westwood Village. (Our archives of previously featured light displays can be found here, newest to oldest.)
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