West Seattle, Washington
17 Wednesday
We’re at SODO Sears – where that video shows the bustling scene in just one room where the Rotary Club of West Seattle‘s Christmas Shopping Spree is in full swing right now. It’s an annual holiday tradition for the Rotarians, who gather dozens of volunteers – today, including students from Mercer Island High School and the University of Washington — to share a fun morning with kids from local schools. As Rotary’s Josh Sutton explained, they rotate the participating schools year to year – this morning, kids are here from Alki, Concord, Gatewood and Roxhill Elementary Schools, plus Pathfinder K-8 (whose principal David Dockendorf was here to help greet them). Kids are matched with volunteers; their shopping spree is bookended by breakfast and lunch in the store’s cafe. First they get coats, jackets and socks, in the room shown in our first clip – then it’s off to shop in the store, up to $100/child (and Sears provides a discount). Santa and a singalong will be part of the fun too. (added 9:26 am, Santa with a student and volunteer)
Even if you’re not here – LOTS of ways you can make this a merrier Christmas for others – the West Seattle Holidays page has a long list of giving trees and donation drives. ADDED 8:50 AM: We talked with the leader of the MI student group about the goodie bags they made, filled and donated:
We told you about the vote last month – this morning the winner’s been announced: Admiral Theater will show “Elf” (trailer above) as its free Christmas movie (with a donated item, as listed on that page) at noon December 19th. Also announced by The Admiral: A New Year’s Eve party – with the singalong version of “West Side Story” and a champagne toast at midnight, $20. More here. (Tonight at The Admiral, it’s the Christmas Jug Band, 8 pm.)
Tonight, and for most of the weekend, the holiday celebrations kick into high gear. The West Seattle Weekend Lineup is in the works, but first – one of the highlights from tonight’s 
calendar could be called the greenest holiday party in West Seattle – Sustainable West Seattle, Solar Washington, NW Ecobuilding Guild, EOS Alliance, Seattle Electric Vehicle Association, BALLE, CoolMom and the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition invite you to their celebration, 6-10 pm at the Duwamish Tribe Longhouse and Cultural Center. The party includes a potluck, so bring something to share; all ages are welcome – kids’ activities are planned, as well as music, dancing and prizes. Tonight also includes holiday open houses (Wyatt’s Jewelers [WSB sponsor] and Husky Deli among them) – check the WSB West Seattle Holidays page for the full rundown.
That’s what it looks like when the lights come on each night at the Menashe Family‘s Beach Drive home – where you’ll find West Seattle’s biggest and brightest Christmas lights display. You won’t usually hear that loud set of oohs and aahs, though – tonight, the lights had a special audience: Family and friends there for the videotaping of a cable TV show. They had to throw the switch a few times to get extra angles, like this:
Here’s the camera crew:
Really important to note – the show, which we’re told features several spectacular holiday homes around the country including the Menashes’, won’t air until NEXT holiday season – as in, late 2010; it’ll be on TLC. Too much production required to put it together in time for air this holiday season. But you can go see the Menashes’ display any night in person; as has now become an annual WSB tradition, we asked Josh Menashe to give us the 2-minute tour of what’s new in the display this year:
The Menashe display is along the southern stretch of Beach Drive – no direct access from the east but you can either hit Beach Drive from the Lowman Beach area and head north, or from the Jacobsen Road end and drive south. Here’s a map. Meantime, we’ll be spotlighting lots of light displays – let us know about yours, or something cool you’ve seen – here’s the archive so far, from this year and the past few years.
Quality’s not big enough to blow it up full width, but while heading home from downtown on 35th SW (no sign of The Missing Totem Pole yet), we passed historic Fire Station 37 and noticed it’s got Christmas lights again this year – so we stopped for a quick photo. Not a giant display, but this is probably the last year that the landmark building will be in service as a fire station, as the new one (under construction a few blocks south) is scheduled to be finished in the middle of next year, at which time the old one will be put up for sale. FS 37 is at 35th/Othello; here’s a map. And we’re ready to showcase YOUR Christmas light photos – editor@westseattleblog.com or add ’em to the WSB Flickr group – what we have so far (plus past years) is archived here (and find other holiday haps here).
Here’s another reason to be at the West Seattle Junction Hometown Holidays Tree Lighting (at left, The Tree, photographed this afternoon) this Saturday night: The latest winners of West Seattle Volunteer Recognition honors will be introduced and, with your help, cheered mightily! Today we’re giving them an advance shoutout, now that the application-review committee has announced its decision and gotten the news to the winners (in hopes they all can be there). It’s another star-studded group:
COMMUNITY
Chas Redmond
Pete Spalding
Both are involved with too many groups to list here (we’ll have a more detailed report on the winners this weekend). Just a quick sampling: Chas co-chairs the Southwest District Council and leads the West Seattle Trails project; Pete leads the West Seattle Food Bank Board of Directors and is a WS rep on the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee.
ENVIRONMENT
Jay Mirro
Judy Pickens
Both are involved in a variety of community efforts but are being recognized in this case as active stewards of revitalized West Seattle waterways: Jay, Longfellow Creek; Judy, Fauntleroy Creek.
YOUTH
Janet Hillier (Chief Sealth High School PTSA)
Paul Leonardo (Southwest Seattle PONY Baseball president)
GROUP
Volunteers at Providence Mount St. Vincent (as the nomination form pointed out: The Mount has more than 200 active volunteers ranging in age from 14 to 92!)
Congratulations to all these hardworking volunteers, and thanks to everyone who nominated someone for the honor – this is the second group this year (meet the first group here), and there’ll be another chance in the new year to get recognition for more of the hardworking volunteers who help make West Seattle a very special place. And back to the Tree Lighting, where they’ll get their turn in the spotlight – it all starts at 5 pm Saturday, Farmers’ Market parking lot at 44th/Alaska, including music, caroling, and more, as the kickoff to Hometown Holidays (co-sponsored again this year by WSB) – and remember to enter the $6,500 Junction giveaway BEFORE Saturday, so you’ll be in the first drawing during the tree-lighting event!
From Liz at the West Seattle Junction Association: They’re looking for donations totaling about a quarter-cord of “clean-burning wood like cedar” for bonfires at Saturday night’s Hometown Holidays Tree Lighting in The Junction. They’d be happy to get multiple small donations totaling a quarter-cord, or if anyone can donate the entire amount, that’s great too. They need it by 2 pm Saturday. Please call the WSJA office at 206-935-0904 or e-mail Liz@wsjunction.org. (The tree lighting is in the Farmers’ Market parking lot at 5 pm Saturday, emceed by Marty Riemer, featuring music by the Endolyne Children’s Choir.)
ADMIRAL KIOSKS: Another meeting tonight about the wayfinding markers you’ll see in the Admiral District soon (part of the West Seattle Trails series around the peninsula). Chas Redmond reports, “We’ve made some headway with basic navigation and location of the on-street stanchions, and we’ve made some headway into the kinds of material to go on the historic/geographic/cultural/wildlife back side of the kiosks. There’s still a lot of work and ideas which are needed but the project is actually well along for the short time since we began.” Never too late to get involved, and in fact, tonight’s meeting is later than the last one, to accommodate more schedules. 6:30 pm at Hiawatha Community Center.
“DANGER”-OUS GIFT WRAP: Love to shop, love to gift, but just not into wrapping? Want to be able to say Rat City Rollergirls wrapped your packages? From the RCRGs’ newest e-mail newsletter: Grave Danger skaters will be at Westwood Village Barnes & Noble three nights this week – 7-10 tonight, 7-11 Friday, 8-11 Saturday – to wrap your presents. Their invite: “Come say hi! Tips are appreciated.” (Their sixth season, by the way, is getting closer, with the first bout at KeyArena on January 31st.)
Wise holiday decorators are getting their lights up early – who knows how many more mostly dry days you’ll see before Christmas? Putting them up early, however, is one thing – planning your display for months, another. But that’s the story behind the lights-synchronized-to-music display in that real-time video shared by Jim Winder – who worked at the home of friends to make The Helmstetler Family Holiday Spectacular happen at 3908 SW Charlestown (across from the water tower; here’s a map). The video clip is just ONE song – Jim says it’s a six-song set Sundays-Thursdays, 6-8 pm, and they’re planning between 10 and 15 on Fridays and Saturdays, 5-9 pm. Go watch the show — and listen to the soundtrack on 101.9 FM — and you’ll find out from Santa and elves just how many lights this took (Jim does reveal there’s ONE MILE of extension cords involved, with “56 individual channels controlled by my laptop”). As impressive as the video seems, Jim insists, “It is MUCH better in person. The video does not do it justice at all. I use all LED lights, and they are quite vivid.” Thanks, Jim, for sending early word of this seasonal show; we’re spotlighting Christmas lights every night – you can send your own photos/video OR let us know where to find photogenic lights to photograph ourselves (here’s all the ways to connect with WSB) – and will keep a running list of addresses on the West Seattle Holidays page.
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With the first Hometown Holidays weekend coming up, The Junction is getting its holiday trimmings today. (See wsjunction.org for full details on Saturday’s tree lighting, Sunday’s HH fun – including Santa photos – and the ongoing $6,500 giveaway). Meantime, from Fauntleroy, we have a post-Thanksgiving thanks to share, from Carol at Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering:
I would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who donated pies and desserts to the Free Community Thanksgiving Dinner at the Hall at Fauntleroy. We served over 250 people this year. The many delicious desserts were enjoyed by everyone. The room was warm, appetites were satisfied and the spirit of the season was all around. We really appreciate the community support.
Along Beach Drive just before sunset, we caught this scene – West Seattle’s most famous holiday light display, in the process of being put up, all the way up to the big star on the tallest tree. If you’re new to the area – it’s the Menashe Family display; we’ve done video profiles each of the past two years (2008 here, 2007 here) and will be checking in with them this year as soon as the display is done. We’ll also feature Christmas lights from all around West Seattle, as we’ve done the past few years (here are our archives; last year was sidetracked in mid-December by snow) – we welcome your photos and/or addresses if no pix – if you’ve already shared the pix via Flickr, Facebook or somewhere else public, just let us know (and tell us it’s OK to republish) – we’ll include the list on the West Seattle Holidays page, too.
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm as always. New items include parsnips, pears and matsutake mushrooms, according to the new Ripe ‘n’ Ready list.
HOTWIRE FREEBIES: The first two of four new coupons from Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) runs through tomorrow – free latte’ or americano – get the coupons here, then hop up the street while you’re in The Junction for the Farmers’ Market.
CONTEST ENTRIES: Hotwire’s among the more than three dozen places you can enter (no purchase necessary) the $6,500 Junction holiday giveaway. First drawing’s at the tree lighting next Saturday night!
Note the barrel in the foreground of our shot from Santa’s House in Westwood Village – it’s not just a place for the little ones to share their holiday wishes, it’s also a place for you to help make somebody else’s holiday dreams come true – Santa photos are free with a nonperishable food donation; there’s also a diaper drive for WestSide Baby, and giving trees large and small:
Noon-4 pm, Saturdays and Sundays till Christmas, you’ll find Santa in his own storefront on the Westwood Village breezeway across from 24 Hour Fitness. (Santa photo opportunities start in The Junction next weekend; info on that, and lots more holiday happenings, abounds here.)
The gate swung open at noon, though the final touches are still in progress, for the Holy Rosary School Christmas Tree Lot behind Admiral Safeway (map). Through December 20th, it’s open 9 am-9 pm Saturdays and Sundays, 3 pm-9 pm Mondays-Fridays. Holy Rosary’s official announcement notes, “As in years past, 15% of the proceeds support local charities including the West Seattle Food Bank, West Seattle Helpline and Hickman House of West Seattle.” For your full range of options, we’ve listed all the local treesellers we know of on the WSB West Seattle Holidays page, plus a link to U-Cut tree info (outside the area), which came up in the WSB Forums. Plus lots of new listings for other holiday events – tree lightings, Santa, Hometown Holidays in The Junction (co-sponsored by WSB), concerts, plays, bazaars, more – have been added too. (Click “Holidays” in the tabs atop any WSB page, any time.)
Compared to the next three pre-Christmas weekends, this one is relatively quiet. Nonetheless, if you’re ready to start emerging from the post-Thanksgiving/Black Friday haze, you’ve got some choices today and tomorrow: Some are holiday-related – the Holy Rosary Christmas Tree Lot opens today, as does Santa’s House at Westwood Village. Some are changes: Marination Mobile is taking the long weekend off, so no West Seattle visit today. Some are charitable: There’s another “Turkey Bowl” fundraiser at West Seattle Bowl today, and this afternoon, you can make holiday cards at a unique fundraiser that also includes dessert! More than 20 events/activities today and tomorrow, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club:Read More
WEST SEATTLEITES IN MACY’S HOLIDAY PARADE DOWNTOWN: Reminder, if you’re going downtown to see it (here’s the official parade-route map; it’s NOT on TV this year), look for the Denny International Middle School and Chief Sealth High School bands marching together (they’re scheduled to be the 22nd entry in the parade). And it’ll be West Seattleite Greg Nickels‘ last parade as mayor.
METRO: “Reduced service” – explained here.
MOST GOVERNMENT OFFICES: Closed.
TRASH/RECYCLING/YARD WASTE: If you have Friday pickup, it’ll be on Saturday, as crews catch up from the holiday.
LIBRARIES: Open.
STREET PARKING: Where there are city pay stations/meters, this is NOT a holiday, so be sure to pay up.
MAIL DELIVERY: Yes.
BANKS: Open.
CHRISTMAS TREES: We’re working on our official list. So far, we’ve seen them at West Seattle Nursery, Tony’s (35th/Barton), TrueValue in The Junction, and both RiteAid stores. (The Holy Rosary lot opens tomorrow.)
Our biggest trip away from HQ on this quiet (so far, knock wood) Thanksgiving took us to The Junction, where the Easy Street Records marquee carried the traditional message. Two blocks up California SW, we peeked in on the West Seattle Eagles reviving their free-holiday-dinner tradition:
We have a tradition of not photographing people who likely would prefer to enjoy holiday dinner without a camera in their face, so we don’t have a view of the dining room, but if we did, you would have seen a HUGE screen showing football. A few doors north of the Eagles’ aerie, we visited one of the many West Seattle coffee entrepreneurs working the holiday, charter sponsor Hotwire Coffee‘s proprietor Lora Lewis, who incidentally makes a mean Mexican Mocha:
Now on to Black Friday – we’ll have a few West Seattle-specific notes in our next update.
One more pitch, Hotwire’s holiday coupons are still good – first two through Sunday, the other two for longer; here’s a direct easy-print link.
One of many things we can be thankful for – spectacular scenery like that image David Hutchinson captured a few weeks ago from Seacrest. Here we are, on Thanksgiving Day – the first of the Major Winter Holidays is here. So is our compilation of information that might be helpful today – all previously published, but today, all in one place:
And then we have word of FOUR free Thanksgiving feasts, open to EVERYONE:
*The Hall at Fauntleroy (map), noon-3 pm (more details here)
*West Seattle Eagles (map), 2-5 pm (more details here)
*Freedom Church (map), 3 pm
*Admiral Pub (map), starting at noon
But perhaps you’d like to work out first? See our West Seattle Holidays page‘s Thanksgiving section for workout opportunities this morning at the West Seattle/Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsor) and 8 Limbs Yoga.
As for what/who else is open – we didn’t catalog businesses beyond the categories mentioned above, but there are some. For example, Easy Street Records‘ retail store is open 9 am-1 pm, while their cafe is open for *coffee only* 7 am-noon; some local drug stores are open, in case all the holiday hoopla gives you a headache … and if you still need dessert, Shoofly Pie in The Junction was planning to have a limited amount available for walk-in customers 10 am-noon today – note there was a line when they opened yesterday with the same plan:
As for the rest of the news – we hope you’ll be able to unplug today, at least for a while. We’re going to try to, too. But if you feel the need to read, no worries, we’ll be publishing several feature stories as the day goes on, and we are on standby for breaking news – we’re committed to 24/7/365 coverage.
Have a HAPPY holiday! And THANK YOU for being part of WSB – your collaboration, participation and support keep the information flowing.
Coffee and cooking just seem to go together. So once again this year, we’ve compiled a list of which coffee shops will be open Thanksgiving (and when). Click any spot on the map and you’ll see the name, address, and hours. These are the ones we have confirmed – by phone or in-person visit – are OPEN tomorrow; those we know are closed, are not listed. Note that the green arrow marks WSB sponsor Hotwire Online Coffeehouse, which is offering coupons for freebies during the 4-day holiday weekend (see them, and print them from, our Coupons page). Use the plus sign on the left side of the map to zoom in, and to go to the fullpage Google Map (including a text list on the left side), click the VIEW LARGER MAP link under the map above. Thanks yet again to Sue Scharff (who works with the zesty Zippy Dogs) for research assistance. There are a few places that didn’t pick up the phone and didn’t have hours posted – so if you know of one we missed, please leave a comment or e-mail us, and we’ll add it. This will also be linked from the WSB West Seattle Holidays page, where you’ll also find standing links (through tomorrow, anyway!) to the list of West Seattle restaurants open tomorrow and the list of West Seattle grocery stores open tomorrow.
Continuing our pre-Thanksgiving info roundups (yesterday, we published the restaurant list — and have made some additions/changes since then; thanks to everyone for collaborating!) – now, here’s the West Seattle grocery store list, with who’s open/who’s not on Thanksgiving:
METROPOLITAN MARKET , Admiral
Open till 2 pm Thanksgiving Day
PCC NATURAL MARKET, West Seattle (WSB sponsor)
Closed on Thanksgiving Day
QFC in The Junction
Open till 6 pm Thanksgiving Day
QFC in Westwood Village
Open till 6:30 pm
SAFEWAY (all 3 West Seattle locations)
Open 24 hours as usual
WEST SEATTLE THRIFTWAY
Open 5 am-6 pm on Thanksgiving
P.S. Amazon Fresh (WSB sponsor) is NOT making Thanksgiving Day deliveries. Still to come – the coffee map; all Thanksgiving info will be linked from the WSB West Seattle Holidays page too (as well as the growing-daily array of other activities between now and New Year’s!).
Didn’t get to photograph the most spectacular intervals of fog this morning, but this view looking south from the top of Genesee Hill shows some of the lingering fog as it drifted over the water. Nothing extraordinary in the holiday weekend forecast – a break right now, but then some rain, some breezy conditions, according to the “forecast discussion”. (If you’re going downtown for the Macy’s Holiday Parade on Friday morning (the Chief Sealth High School and Denny International Middle School marching bands are in it! here’s the route map), looks like rain is possible.)
Guaranteed to make you want to stand in the middle of Walk-All-Ways, join hands with your fellow West Seattleites and sway gently (or not-so-gently depending on what you’ve been up to) while singing along … it’s “We Are The Junction” – as announced/explained by Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) proprietor Jeff Gilbert:
A Christmas album compilation made by West Seattle musicians for West Seattle
CD Release Party, Saturday, December 5th, 8 PM, The Feedback Lounge, right after the West Seattle Tree Lighting Ceremony.
Conceived by Jeff Gilbert, Steve Adams and Dave Blackburn, “We Are The Junction” is a West Seattle Christmas compilation featuring West Seattle musicians/bands. All proceeds from sales of the album are being donated to the West Seattle Food Bank.
Featuring all original holiday songs, the participating artists/musicians are…
Kirk Dubb/Dynomite D
The Pleasure Elite
Urban Squirrel
The Bend
Stumbletown Steve Adams
Gunn & The Damage Done
Jay Cates & Jefferson Bennett
Mr. Holmes
Earth, Wind & SteveThe album will be for sale at Easy Street Records, West 5, Shadowland, and The Feedback Lounge December 5th and will sell for $10.
We Are The Junction continues with two more charity albums planned for 2010, including a two-disc summer CD.
We’re still checking around so this is probably NOT the final list. But this is who we know so far will be open at least part of the time on Thursday – at least as of our research done Monday. Thank you to Sue Scharff for volunteering to help with research! (Sue, by the way, is with the lively Zippy Dogs. No, not a hot-dog cart, not pet-walkers, rather, “your logo on fun stuff.”)
Admiral Pub: Serving a FREE DINNER from noon ‘til 5 pm!
Be’s Restaurant: 7 am ‘til 2 pm
Brickyard BBQ: 5 pm ‘til close
Charlestown Café: 7 am ‘til 5 pm
Christo’s on Alki: 8 am-3 pm (breakfast/lunch)
Easy Street Café: COFFEE ONLY 7 am ‘til noon
Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor): 4 pm till close (limited food menu)
Mac’s Triangle Pub (Delridge/16th/Roxbury): opening 7 pm, serving food till 1 am
Taco del Mar (Junction): 10 am ‘til 5 pm (depending on customers; may be open later)
Tacos Guaymas: 11 am ‘til 3 pm
Tha Thaitan: 11 am ‘til 9:30 pm (formerly Boontin/Olarn, across from West Seattle Nursery)
Salty’s on Alki: (call to check if reservations are still available)
Note, we are NOT listing who’s closed – just who’s open. Anybody else serving on Thanksgiving? Please let us know (or add a comment here). We’re also just about done with the Thanksgiving coffee map and will have that on the Holidays page later today. And another reminder – there are also two FREE community meals in West Seattle on Thursday: The traditional Fauntleroy gathering at The Hall at Fauntleroy (old schoolhouse), noon-3 pm; West Seattle Eagles in The Junction, reviving an old tradition, 2-5 pm, plus Full Tilt Ice Cream in White Center is having a community potluck Thanksgiving at 4 (announced in the WSB Forums).
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