As mentioned earlier, the Halloween/Harvest festivities are gearing up bigtime as of today. Many family activities are at your friendly neighborhood city-operated community centers, like High Point CC, where we dropped in on Toddler Pumpkinpalooza this morning. Above, some of the young artists, ready for their close-up(s) – and here are some of the finished creations:
Tomorrow night, High Point and several other community centers have carnival-style events – all listed on the WSB Halloween page, where you’ll get the full rundown, from trick-or-treating to trunk-or-treating to 21+-only revelry. (And if you have a jack-o-lantern or decorations pic you’d love to share with thousands of your neighbors, send it this way or add to the WSB Flickr group!)
1st short update from tonight’s Highland Park Action Committee meeting: Never too soon to think New Year’s Eve, even with Halloween yet to come. This year, there’s talk of a parade to precede the annual New Year’s Eve party at the Highland Park Improvement Club building (site of tonight’s HPAC meeting) – walking through area neighborhoods (on the sidewalks), with drums and noisemakers, along a pre-mapped route, inviting neighbors to join in along the way, then returning to HPIC for the party, potentially with Cirque de Flambe‘ performing in the HPIC parking lot. HPAC chair Dan Mullins says the idea came from ex-HPAC officer Rory Denovan, inspired by New Year’s Eve revelry seen in Spain. The plan’s still taking shape but sounds like HP might be the fun place to be December 31st. Also discussed at tonight’s meeting, the impending start of design work for the West Seattle (Westcrest) Reservoir park project, with design consultants to be chosen soon (now that the application window is closed; first public meeting is set for Dec. 3), area crime trends and a semi-surprise appearance by one of the crews from Fire Station 11 – more later.
Just a few nights till Halloween – and the fun really gets into gear tonight at 6 pm, with pumpkin-carving and a monster-movie double feature at Freshy’s Coffee. That’s one of many events on the WSB Halloween page. There are of course the events ON Halloween – such as the one where you might find characters such as those at left; the guy in the horns, second from right, is one of our fellow Seattle neighborhood newsies, Jordan from Wallingford’s own Wallyhood, who will be over here on the peninsula Saturday night as mastermind of “Hive Mind Halloween XV: Things That Go Bump in the Night” (that’s his wife in the pic sporting the then-bump who has since debuted as Baby Z). HMH starts at 9 pm Saturday at Youngstown Arts Center, costumes REQUIRED, 21+, $20 at the door, all proceeds benefit Youngstown and Room to Read, which builds schools and libraries in countries including Nepal and Cambodia, providing scholarships for girls there too. The Halloween page also includes the trick-or-treating lowdown – Admiral on Friday (check the map with the list of participants), The Junction and Westwood on Saturday, with lots of other players too. (And remember you get an extra hour for revelry Saturday night, since Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 am Sunday, when we’ll “fall back” an hour.)
(Referendum 71 supporters demonstrated in The Junction again Sunday – from left, WSUU members Rose Fitzpatrick with her dog Rivet, Cynthia Townsend, and president Paula vanHaagen)
You can’t have a say on Referendum 71, Initiative 1033, King County Executive and Seattle Mayor – among other hot issues – if you’re not registered to vote. Today is your absolute last chance – if you’re not registered in this state but want to be, today’s the deadline but you have to go to the King County Elections office in Tukwila – here are the directions; they’re open till 4:30 pm.
Another big West Seattle real-estate deal reported by McQuaid Real Estate: The Halcyon Apartments on Lincoln Park Way (Google Street View above) have sold for $2.8 million. The 23-unit building had never been up for sale before – the sellers were the couple who built it more than 40 years ago, according to McQuaid’s announcement of the deal.
That’s Seattle Parks HQ at Denny Park downtown – and it’s the place to be at 7 pm tonight for the next meeting of the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee, which has reviewed a LOT of West Seattle projects in recent months. Tonight’s big agenda item – draft criteria for use of the levy’s Opportunity Fund (once the draft criteria get approval, they’ll be published tomorrow, and a public hearing is set for November 9, as reported here).
(Twitpic from @springhill_ws, showing the winner in Spring Hill‘s staff pumpkin-carving contest, by Xuan)
A quick reminder that it is now The Week Before Halloween, and you can scare up all the fun that’s leading up to the big night, as well as what’s happening on Halloween itself, by checking out the WSB Halloween page. Two October 31st notes that have nothing to do with Halloween, but we should mention them now so they don’t sneak up on you – 1. Saturday’s the last day of the season for the King County Water Taxi‘s West Seattle run; 2. Daylight Saving Time ends that night (technically 2 am Sunday – you’ll “fall back” an hour).
We’ve had a slew of Halloween-related events on the Events Calendar pagefor a while but have finally organized them onto one special West Seattle Halloween page. The events start this week and run through the day after Halloween; we’ve grouped them by type (trick-or-treat events, etc.). Besides including the ones we’ve received notes about, we’ve looked around online, but realize we may not have found everything, so if yours is missing, we appreciate a note (e-mail, Facebook, whatever works for you) with a bit of information, even if it’s just a weblink – we’ll continue updating this as the listings come in. Now through Halloween, you can find the list any time by clicking the Halloween tab in the navigation bar below our header.
We’ve been adding Halloween events to the WSB Events calendar as fast as they come in – and here’s another: The Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) now has two bashes Halloween week – 6 pm Thursday 10/29 it’s the “Nightmare on Morgan Street” masquerade ball (poster) to benefit West Seattle Helpline; 8 pm Friday 10/30, it’s the “Zombie Dance Party” (poster) benefiting teams from the Rat City Rollergirls and Jet City Rollergirls. (Halloween-style fun starts heating up this weekend – if you have an event, make sure it’s on our calendar – editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!)
ADDED 12:33 PM: Another announcement has come in: 2:30-4:30 pm Halloween afternoon at Hiawatha Community Center, West Seattle Dawg, Muttley Crew Cuts and The Wash Dog are presenting a pet-friendly event, Halloween Howl, including a dog costume contest and pet psychics. Rex at WS Dawg says they’re selling tickets now – it’s a benefit for West Seattle Food Bank.
The huge highlight of tonight’sAdmiral Neighborhood Association meeting was an update on the Admiral Safeway redevelopment project – sneak peek of what the Southwest Design Review Board will see/hear a week from Thursday. That’ll take us a while to put together so first, 4 short notes from the meeting:
SUMMER CONCERTS AT HIAWATHA: The success of this series (which we were proud to co-sponsor) left no question that ANA would do it again next year. Katy Walum said they’re planning a six-concert series again, but to avoid bumping too close to the West Seattle Hi-Yu Concert in the Park, which will be later than usual in 2010, they will start the Thursday night series on 7/29/2010 and continue it till 9/2/2010.
ADMIRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT TRICK-OR-TREATING: Parris Sadow from Max and Quinn’s Atomic Boys Shop-O-Rama is spearheading the event – as noted here a month ago, the date/time is set for the day before Halloween, Friday 10/30, 3-6 pm, but she had a few additional details, such as, 31 businesses are signed up to participate – centered around Admiral/California (no further south than Wiseman’s Appliance, and as far north as the building just past Click! Design That Fits [WSB sponsor]).
ANA OFFICER ELECTIONS: The current officers have to step down because of term limits – three one-year terms – so nominations are being taken now for elections at next month’s meeting. Nominees so far include Jim Del Ciello and Katy Walum for president and Ann Limbaugh for vice president.
MAYORAL ELECTION STRAW POLL: It’s been a tradition for ANA president Mark Wainwright to get each meeting going with an icebreaker – asking a question, then going around the room to get everyone’s answer. Tonight, it was “who do you back for mayor?” No winner emerged — Mallahan/McGinn/undecided virtually tied. (As Karl de Jong pointed out, ballots go into the mail tomorrow, so voting will start by the end of the week.)
West Seattle artist Karen Lyons shares news of an “online studio tour” in which she’s participating, to celebrate Halloween and to raise money for bat conservation. It’s a fun site to wander if you have at least a few minutes to spare – halloweenstudiotour.com – and you can contact Karen at woosel@wildmail.com if you want to know more.
Two more big Halloween-vicinity events have just been announced. First, a Halloween edition of Indoor Movies on the Wall:
Just got word from Lora at Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) that “Nightmare Before Christmas” will be shown at the West Seattle Christian Church Activity Center (site of last winter’s indoor movies, and steps away from the summer outdoor-movie site), 7 pm Friday, October 30th – free! B/Y/O chair/blanket. Lora adds, “We’re also collecting food for the food banks – bring in a can and get a raffle ticket for one of our spooktacular prizes.” One other Halloween-week event just unveiled:
NIGHTMARE ON MORGAN STREET: Well, actually, on California SW – where the Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) has just announced this masquerade ball for 6 pm Thursday, October 29, to raise money for West Seattle Helpline. Suggested donation $10; costume contest, raffle, live DJ, food and drink specials. (And the Feedback will get you in the Halloween mood a week from tonight with Punk Rock Pumpkin-Carving, 7-9 pm during the monthly West Seattle Art Walk, Thursday 10/8 – the “punk-ins” will be sold afterward.)
The business-district trick-or-treat trifecta for West Seattle is now locked in – as noted in the past week or so, the Admiral District will be handing out treats 3-6 pm Friday 10/30, The Junction will welcome trick-or-treaters 1-3 pm Saturday 10/31, and Westwood Village manager Stuart Crandall has just announced their trick-or-treat session will be 4-7 pm 10/31. It’s all on the WSB Events calendar now in case you lose track and want to check back!
As reported recently, The Junction is having its trick-or-treating event 1-3 pm on Halloween (Saturday 10/31) … and now we know that the Admiral District merchants will offer theirs the day before, Friday 10/30, 3-6 pm – that word just in from Kent and Parris Sadow at Max and Quinn’s Atomic Boys Shop-O-Rama, this year’s event coordinators. Haven’t heard from Westwood Village yet if/when they’re having one, but we’ll be checking.
EAT LOCAL NOW: This event celebrating locally grown food, with sponsors including Sustainable West Seattle and CoolMom.org, is now just a month away, and tickets are on sale: 5 pm October 11th at the Alki Masonic Hall in The Junction. Read more about it here; buy tickets here.
SPEAKING OF FOOD: Just this morning, we noted The Swinery (taking over 3207 California SW) was chronicling its push toward an expected opening next week. Tonight WSB contributor Christopher Boffoli has learned from Swinery proprietor Gabriel Claycamp that last-minute renovation challenges have pushed that date back to September 21st.
JUNCTION TRICK-OR-TREATING: Jennifer e-mailed tonight to ask whether this megapopular annual event will be on Halloween itself, since it’s a Saturday this year, or the week before. The West Seattle Junction Association has scheduled it for 1-3 pm Saturday, October 31st, so go ahead and mark your calendars. We’re also asking Admiral merchants what they’re planning to do and will share that information when we get it.
(photo of Sunday afternoon rainbow, courtesy of Babs) BUSES: Metro is on a Sunday schedule; Sound Transit is also on a Sunday schedule (same for ST light rail, but Sounder trains are NOT running) KING COUNTY WATER TAXI: West Seattle-downtown route, and its land shuttles, are on a Saturday schedule STATE FERRIES: Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth is on a “holiday weekend” schedule MAIL DELIVERY?No TRASH/RECYCLING/YARD WASTE PICKUP?Regular schedule, if you are usually on Mondays LIBRARIES: Not till tomorrow LIQUOR STORES: Most are open 11 am-7 pm, including West Seattle and White Center MOST GOVERNMENT AGENCIES: Closed FREE STREET PARKING IN PAY STATION/METER ZONES?Yes COFFEE: Labor Day doesn’t usually have as many closures as the winter holidays so we don’t have a complete list, but we can tell you that the two coffee providers on the WSB sponsor roster are both open: Hotwire Online Coffeehouse 7 am-6 pm, Coffee at the Heights 7 am-2 pm
Some people like to plan ahead. Way ahead. The WSB Events calendar, in fact, has a few 2010 entries already. And with Christmas Eve “just” four months from today … we happen to have received the Christmas Ship schedule from Argosy Cruises, and thought we’d share the West Seattle dates – four stops during the second weekend in December. (Our video above is from the only visit we made it to last year – December 14, 2008 at Seacrest – hours before The Snow moved in.)
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, SECOND SAILING
CHOIR: Canterbury Belles
Depart: Pier 55 8:00pm, Return: 10:20pm
8:50-9:10 Lowman Beach*
9:40-10:00 Alki Beach*
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13
CHOIR: Soundwave
Depart: Pier 55 5:00pm, Return: 7:50pm
6:00-6:20 Winslow Waterfront Beach
7:10-7:30 Don Armeni*
The asterisk means a beach bonfire is planned. And as usual, they sell tickets for passengers to be on the boats, if you’d rather enjoy it that way instead of from shore – more info here, including the full regional schedule.
On the 4th of July, we mentioned the online 911 log just jumping with brush-fire calls, including more than half a dozen here in West Seattle (such as the one near Morgan Junction Park; photo at left shows an Engine 37 crew member soaking the park afterward). Called SFD today to ask if they had some final stats. Here’s the citywide count, from spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen: 320 total SFD responses on the 4th of July, “about 100 more than usual.” (Here’s the archived log.) 34 of those were brush fires – no official cause on many of them, but, she says, “you can safely assume a lot were because of fireworks.” Three bigger fires were definitely linked to fireworks – one house, one near a community swimming pool, one school portable – none of those was in West Seattle but damage from all three tallied more than $76,000. P.S. The Fire Department just announced it’s launched a new blog-format site, The Fire Line – see it here.
Even without Elliott Bay fireworks, the 4th of July view from parts of West Seattle turned out to be splendid anyway. Thanks to Gilbert for sending these photos of the Lake Union fireworks show as seen from Hamilton Viewpoint.
… remember that we have a West Seattle-specific Pets page primarily featuring lost/found pets (more than a year’s worth). We’ve already received one report of a pet found on the run (it’s atop the page). Hope all others are OK but if you do lose or find one, e-mail us the info (pic too if you have one) at editor@westseattleblog.com. The Pets page is here.
We happened onto that playground-side performance during a quick visit to the High Point Diversity Festival earlier this evening. The fun and food stretched across five hours at Commons Park, which officially opened one year ago today. Right after that, around 6 pm, we drove along Harbor Ave to see what the no-fireworks-on-Elliott-Bay crowd looked like this year. As this video from our passenger-held Flip shows, not too different from years gone by (except that, unlike last year, the road was open to all) – still plenty of RVs and tents – hope there aren’t too many who missed the no-fireworks news (and you CAN see parts of the Lake Union fireworks from there):
If you see this before 10 pm, note that KING5 is broadcasting the Lake Union fireworks live as usual, on the air and online at king5.com.
(If you’d rather watch that on YouTube – slightly shorter because of YT upload limits – click here)
From the pickup truck and medic unit leading the way, right ahead of the West Seattle Hi-Yu Junior Court carrying the banner, that 11-minute video clip shows the entirety of this morning’s Admiral 4th of July Parade, after the traditional kickoff speech by Mayor Nickels, who lives a few blocks from the parade route, as you’re about to hear parade organizer Sherri Chun note while introducing him:
When we spoke with Sherri just before the parade, she wondered if the crowd would be as big as last year, given that the 4th fell on a Saturday and more people seemed to be out of town. By our unofficial estimate, it might actually have been larger – though we didn’t take a head count, we can tell you that it took longer this year for the entire parade to go by! It was preceded by the national anthem, sung this year by Jonathan Rosoff. Sherri also offered a special thanks to folks including Dave Weitzel from Weitzel Construction (WSB sponsor), who underwrote the cost of the porta-potties at Hamilton Viewpoint Park, where fun contests and games follow the parade. Thanks to Luckie for sharing a photo of today’s wheelbarrow races:
(added 8:32 pm) Almost forgot – Lisa sent us this photo via Twitter. TOTALLY made our day – we didn’t see her during the parade, as we got our video/photos from in front of the participants:
Next West Seattle parade is a doubleheader – the Rotary Club Kiddies Parade (all welcome!) and American Legion Post 160-presented West Seattle Grand Parade, both on Saturday, July 18 (two weeks from today!); the Kiddies’ Parade leaves California/Genesee at 10:30 am, the Grand Parade leaves California/Lander at 11 – with both concluding at the southern end of The Junction (California/Edmunds).
Till 6 pm, you can enjoy the shade at the annual Fourth of July Barbecue/Potluck out back at C & P Coffee. Chicken, hot dogs and corn on the grills when we stopped by:
Earlier, we visited the Log House Museum/Southwest Seattle Historical Society membership picnic, where folks like Cal shared their personal stories of the peninsula’s past:
SWSHS director Andrea Mercado tells us the picnic turnout was great (by the way, just a few weeks till the organization presents its White Center History Tour – more info here). Not far from the Log House Museum, we saw lots of people with tents set up along the Alki/Harbor Ave waterfront – we hope they’re just there for the beautiful weather and NOT because they mistakenly believe there will be fireworks over the bay tonight:
The full list of fireworks shows that ARE happening is on our 4th of July page, but one we should single out is to the south, at Three Tree Point – folks in the very southern end of West Seattle, like Arbor Heights and the Arroyos, probably have a view without driving to that narrow beachfront neighborhood. Meantime, another of the several West Seattle shops with special 4th of July sales was Avalon Glassworks, where we stopped by to say hi to proprietor Shannon:
Among the more unusual items still left during our visit (after throngs picked up a lot of great finds earlier) – a set of goblets without bases (long story). The ultimate 4th of July scene, of course, is always the flag – here are a few of the dozens we’ve seen around town:
More coverage to come – our full report on the Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade is up next, and we’re also heading over to the High Point Diversity Festival in Commons Park, which continues till 8 pm – and watch our Twitter feed for quick immediate reports (with photos!) while we’re mobile. ADDED 5:08 PM: Speaking of Twitter, that’s where this photo of a 6-person “parade” in Lincoln Park just turned up, courtesy of @vbalasubramani.
Saw that wonderful sentiment chalked on the sidewalk, as we walked from the start of the Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade route toward its conclusion at Hamilton Viewpoint Park. Next, a couple parade pics – we’ll have a full separate report later after uploading our video of the entire parade. First, the iPhone photo we shared on Twitter an hour and a half ago during the parade:
Here’s parade organizer Sherri Chun with the West Seattle Hi-Yu Junior Court (as they reminded the crowd, July 14 is the deadline to apply to be in this year’s Junior Court – details, and the application, here):
Part of the parade, crossing California at Atlantic:
Even if you missed the parade, family fun continues at Hamilton Viewpoint – check it out. Also in Admiral,Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) has its annual 4th of July sale till 3 pm. Proprietors John and Frances Smersh shared a photo of their nephew Enzo, photographed on his way to the parade (visiting from Southern California, where we’re told they read our friend Tim‘s neighborhood-news website Altadena Blog!):
We asked what’s hot at the sale – Click! suggests these shelves, $154 after the half-off discount:
And then as we headed south toward WSB HQ – a stop at 35th/Graham as one of the city’s many hot new street-food trucks, Marination Mobile, set up – this is co-proprietor Roz:
They describe their food as Korean/Hawaiian (more details on their website) – they’re at HP till 2 pm (the Diversity Festival starts at 3 at Commons Park). Still to come, our complete parade report and more coverage of other events (the Log House Museum membership picnic – which you can attend even if you’re not a member yet, they’ll happily sign you up there! – runs noon-3 pm, and the C and P Coffee potluck/barbecue starts at 1), and check our Twitter feed online for the mobile updates we’re sending, with photos, as we make the rounds. Happy 4th!
We’ll be publishing updates on the major events throughout the day – and other news too – so do check in if you get a chance (or catch up later). Meantime, here’s the “everything 4th of July page,” with info about those events, plus a few open/closed notes (not comprehensive, however, just some notables that came to our attention), and a list of where you WILL find fireworks displays tonight (since, once again, Elliott Bay does NOT have fireworks this year). Have a great 4th! (And to check for the absolute latest at any time, see our Twitter feed – which we’ll be using while out and about, including photos, before publishing pix/video during brief returns to WSB HQ.) SATURDAY AFTERNOON NOTE: We accidentally deleted a comment from someone asking, “Didn’t Ivar intend for fireworks to continue on?” We checked on this when originally reporting the Elliott Bay fireworks cancellation three months ago – here’s the answer.
That was one of our favorite sights along the Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade route last year – a bunting-bedecked house with stereo speakers blasting classic patriotic Sousa marching music, to accompany the kids as they strolled and wheeled by (see video in our 2008 report). If you missed it before, or you’re new to West Seattle, reminder that all kids are welcome to join the parade — and the family fun at Hamilton Viewpoint afterward. Mayor Nickels, an Admiral resident himself, will make his traditional appearance to get the parade started. Be at 44th/Sunset (map) at 10 am, and remember to bring $1 donation per child if you can, since the neighborhood organizers’ previous fund is running out and they want to make sure they can keep this going in future years (permits cost money, among other expenses). See you there (or if you’re not going, remember there will be some traffic effects, as noted in this roundup).
This year, there’s talk of a parade to precede the annual New Year’s Eve party at the 
That’s one of many events on 
for a while but have finally organized them onto one special 
We’ve been adding Halloween events to the 
The huge highlight of tonight’s 
On the 4th of July, 
| 1 COMMENT