West Seattle, Washington
16 Sunday
We’re still putting the finishing touches on our Holidays page (Halloween through New Year’s; but all the events we know about are already on the WSB Events page, if you can’t wait for a sneak peek) – and we have word that the West Seattle Eagles still have room for vendors at their holiday bazaar THIS Saturday – and at a turkey dinner afterward!
The West Seattle Eagles are having a holiday bazaar Saturday, October 18th, from 10 AM-5 PM. The Eagles are located at 4426 California Ave SW.
We are currently looking for vendors. Cost for a table is $15. We would like to keep the bazaar for arts, crafts, gift items, and baked goods for the holiday season. There will be no “White Elephant” or “Garage Sale” tables allowed. If interested in a table rental, or for general questions about the event, please contact Mary Lou Wilkerson at (206) 938-4426.
The Children’s Orthopedic Guild will be preparing a wonderful turkey dinner with all the trimmings to follow the bazaar at 5:30 PM. Both the bazaar and dinner are open to the public.
You can find the Eagles online at westseattleeagles.org.
Our first WSB’er jack-o-lantern photo of 2008 – and appropriately enough, it’s a political pumpkin. Thanks to HunterG and family, who report this is their way of combining their excitement about Halloween and the election. Yes, if you send a Palin or McCain pumpkin, we’ll show that too, not to mention pumpkins that have nothing to do with politics. We featured West Seattle jack-o-lanterns this time last year, both the photos you sent and the ones we picked up around town, and we’re doing it again this year, so if you’ve got a pic to share or a location to report, please e-mail us. Meantime, back to politics — first-time events listing so it’s a special shoutout: The West Seattle Democratic Women invite all to their October 23 lunch, 11:15 am at the West Seattle Golf Course, with a program including King County Democrats Chair Susan Sheary speaking on I-26/Non-Partisan Elections (perhaps the most complicated measure on the November ballot, and we’ll be writing separately about it later this week), as well as West Seattle school-board rep Steve Sundquist and the Democrat running for state treasurer, Jim McIntire. To make a lunch reservation, e-mail wsdwomen@yahoo.com or call (206) 935-3216 before 10/22. More election info later today (and here, anytime) – if you vote by mail, start watching your mailbox, because ballots are going out this week.
BANKS: Most if not all closed
MAIL: Regular delivery, no; Express Mail, yes.
SCHOOLS: Open (public schools had Friday off for a “professional development day”)
STATE GOVERNMENT: Open
LOCAL GOVERNMENT: Open (including courts)
PARKING: Regular weekday rates/hours
TRANSIT: Regular
LIBRARIES: Open
Didn’t want to wait too late to share these, since so many folks nail down Halloween plans early. First – while at West Seattle Bowl this afternoon, we found out about half a dozen lanes are left for Halloween Family Glow Zone bowling on Sunday 10/26, 5:30-7:30 pm – $70/lane, up to 6 people, shoe rental, pizza, and soda included – plus there’ll be a costume contest, with prizes. Call 932-3731 to ask about reservations. Second – a P-I blog points us to this nefarious plan for that same day; looks like the 4th annual Seattle Zombie Walk is targeting West Seattle. (No known relation to the Thrill the World-West Seattle zombies who’ll be dancing in the world-record attempt downtown on Saturday 10/25, with a Junction encore at 2 pm that day during Junction trick-or-treating.)
That’s one of our clips from the 2007 edition of Skeleton Theatre, the intricately staged animatronic Halloween show in a West Seattle yard, mobbed last year – just checked back on their Web site to see what’s in store this year, and it seems they’re plotting “a bigger concept … the 7 animatronic creatures this year (including a parrot) will be on two large pirate ships.” They’re planning shows 6-9 pm Halloween night and the night after.
Halloween’s just four weeks away, pumpkins are at the stores and produce stands, and you might be starting to think jack-o-lantern. We want to showcase your creations like we did last year (see some examples here), so once you get around to it, be sure to get pix and send them to us — editor@westseattleblog.com — so we can share.
ZOMBIES, AKA “THRILL THE WORLD WEST SEATTLE”: An update from Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) proprietor Lora Lewis and her Thrill the World/West Seattle corps of dancers practicing to join the world-record attempt on October 25th: For the actual performance counting toward the record, they’ve joined up with the Seattle Thrillers, and will be in the 200-plus crowd dancing that day at Westlake, with an encore to follow during Trick or Treat in The Junction the same day and at Admiral Theater later that night. You can still join the dancers at the next edition of what Lora calls the “newbie zombie” class – tomorrow (Wednesday), 8:15 pm, West Seattle Christian Church (the full list of rehearsal times and places is on the Thrill the World/West Seattle blog home page).
GHOSTS AND WITCHES: West Seattle-based The Anunnaki Project has announced its annual Halloween event: “The Ghost Game: Tales of 13 Witches,” 8:30 pm Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at Youngstown Arts Center, described as follows: “This year’s production, which focuses on tales of witches from world folklore and mythology, features performances by members of The Cabiri performance troupe along with several guest artists including aerialist and butoh dancer Mary Cutrera and Courtnee Papastathis (aka Zita the Aerialist). Steffon Moody, an outrageously engaging humorist, physical performer and songster who has entertained audiences regionally and nationally for the past 20 years, will be playing Guto, the horribly charming yet sinister master of ceremonies. Steffon is a founding member of the UMO Ensemble (Vashon) and is currently a performer with the Big Apple Circus (NYC). Guests at the event will be woven into the evening’s festivities as storytellers, soothsayers, and supplicants as a procession of witches both entrancing and terrifying is presented. On Halloween night, the performances will be followed by a costume contest and reception with the artists.” Dessert too. Age 16 and up. Tickets are being sold by tables of 5, online via Brown Paper Tickets.
Even though Christmas decorations are on sale at Costco already (anywhere else? no, wait, we don’t want to know) – it’s not that we’re trying to rush you into holiday mode too soon – we just happened to notice King County is inviting businesses to sign up RIGHT NOW to be part of “Waste-Free Holidays” – here’s the link.
-Trash/recycling is on a normal schedule
-Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth ferry runs are on the holiday schedule; other routes vary (get details here)
-The Elliott Bay Water Taxi and its shuttle buses (Route 773) will be on the Saturday schedule
–Metro and Sound Transit buses will run on the Sunday schedule (per this Metro infopage and this Sound Transit alert)
-Most City of Seattle facilities, including libraries and community centers, are closed
-State-run liquor stores are closed (reminder, as reported here last week, the Morgan Junction shop shuts down for good 9/20)
-If you’re going into a parking-meter/pay-station zone (downtown etc.), today is a “free” day
-If you’re driving state highways, WSDOT has put up one of its cool “worst/best times to drive” pages based on past stats.
-Today’s the last scheduled day of wading-pool season (Hiawatha and Lincoln Park are open) and the last weekday for Colman Pool (which will end the year with a final “post-season” weekend next Sat.-Sun.)
In case you’re taking off for a long holiday weekend shortly, we wanted to mention some of this now: Seattle Public Utilities just sent a reminder that trash/recycling is on a normal schedule for Labor Day pickups next Monday, but many other services are NOT on a normal schedule: Ferry schedules differ depending on route (all listed here; Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth is on the holiday schedule); the Elliott Bay Water Taxi and its shuttle buses (Route 773) will be on a Saturday schedule and Metro buses will run a Sunday schedule (both per this Metro infopage); libraries and community centers are closed. We’ll add more as we get it; by the way, if you’re driving state highways, WSDOT has put up one of its cool “worst/best times to drive” pages based on past stats.
Thanks to Susan Grossman of Singing Pixel Photography (who contributed the Space Needle lightning shot the other day) for that shot from Harbor Ave. And thanks to Amy, who answered the request in the comment thread from last night’s Alki post, and sent these photos of that unusual sight in the sky:
(Now the obvious question before we launch an extensive round of Googling … what exactly is that? Hang-glider with pontoons? Ultralight?) ADDED LATER: A look at neighborhood chaos after dark, further northeasti – this is from Meredith:
She wrote in part, “… the FUN went on for about 2.5 hours. You can see the pileup. The pedestrians, the family getting out at the road closed sign. The silver SUV (Lexus LX, I think), just parked there as the driver walks away. This left the incoming traffic STUCK between Admiral and Grayson, Grayson St. traffic couldn’t get out, and no emergency vehicle could get into the area AT ALL if needed.”
That was the Beach Fire From Hell. As the evening progressed, its stokers started throwing in the furniture they brought for their day at the beach. A chair, another chair, a table. Flames roared skyward. Black smoke billowed seaward. Embers danced toward nearby log-sitters’ backs. Parks crew came over immediately after the fireworks and doused it, about the same time two officers broke up a simmering squabble nearby. Speaking of officers:
They wasted no time clearing the beach as soon as both fireworks shows (Jul-Ivar’s started first, followed by Lake Union, both quite clearly visible from our spot toward the west end of the sand) ended. “LET’S GO, LET’S GO, TIME TO GO, PEOPLE, BEACH IS CLOSED, SIDEWALK TOO,” they shouted (and loudspeakered from a slow-moving car). 10:40 pm is earlier than the usual beach-closing time, a few people were heard grumbling. (We stopped briefly to send a Twitter message for the previous post and we were quickly told in no uncertain terms to get a move on.) Now, the pre-fireworks sights:
Brief appearance by the crescent moon, visible over Bainbridge before clouds moved in from the south. Nice sunset too:
Long night ahead; our windows are open and it still sounds fairly thunderous out there.
We’re computerless for a few hours but able to update Twitter via mobile phone, so we’ll post updates (particularly breaking news, but maybe some Alki observations too) this way. Otherwise, check out our coverage from earlier, and HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!
(Early Saturday note: The “live” Twitter feed has gone back to its home in the sidebar. What’s below is a screengrab of the four updates we posted while away)
The space above this line will show our four most recent updates. Doesn’t look like there’s a way to go to the archives from there but the Twitter “what am I doing” box halfway down the right sidebar does access archives via the lower-right arrow (if necessary).
On the north side of west Admiral, we caught these scenes around 6:30:
A few minutes later, we noticed the entrance to Harbor wasn’t blocked off yet, but we had traveled it around 6:15 and it looked like the detour up California Way was being readied (downhill traffic on that street already was being stopped). The police presence was very much in evidence just about everywhere we traveled in the area, including a group of bicycle officers conferring near the Harbor 7-11 just after 6. Our most recent update on police’s Alki-area traffic plans is here; we’ll be offline for a while later this evening to go see the fireworks ourselves (guessing we won’t be able to park any closer than Cormorant Cove, the way things were looking during our drive-by) but as mentioned earlier, we’ll post any breaking news via Twitter (if you’re not a Twitter member you can still see our most recent posts on any WSB page, in the blue box halfway down the right sidebar – the little arrows in the lower-right corner of the box click through previous updates – update, looks like we’ll be able to add a Twitter area to the top of this page for a while so you may not have to use the sidebar).
A party’s under way celebrating the official opening of High Point’s Commons Park; we went up the knoll on its southwest side for these views that show how sweeping the park is:
The mini-amphitheater on the south side of the knoll had live entertainment – we were there for the end of a jazz combo and the start of these young performers:
Commons Park is most easily reached from Graham, at 31st (map).
That’s just a small stretch of the hundreds of kids (and grownups!) who participated in this morning’s Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade. Despite 17 years of living in West Seattle, we have to admit we’d never been before – but it’s unquestionably the biggest West Seattle event of the holiday aside from fireworks viewing. Here’s a photo of organizer Sherri Chun just before the parade, with Mayor (and Admiral resident) Nickels and West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival court members off to the left.
We also have video of what Hizzoner had to say (including a presidential-campaign joke), plus a local pediatrician singing the national anthem (he’s good!), a click ahead:Read More
Lots of folks working today – like Seattle Police. Not just the ones on the bridge mentioned earlier, but the car shown above and other officers who kept the Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade safe. We’re showing you that car from the end of the parade because of something we overheard a few minutes later – as it passed a home further west on Sunset, a man yelled out to the officer(s) in the car, “NICE JOB ON THAT BANK ROBBERY!” The car paused, and the man continued, “Really! Great job! You guys deserve those raises you just got!” (WSB coverage of the incident in question is here.) Now, speaking of people working today:
That’s John and Frances Smersh at Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) in Admiral, having a 4th of July sale till 3 pm, including some items you’ll see outside the store:
More shopping and other events, on the 4th of July page. Now a photo not taken on the 4th, but we just received it this afternoon, and it fits in the Admiral theme since it was taken from Hamilton Viewpoint, so what the heck: Another great view of this week’s lightning – this one from Kris at szimages.com:
Tonight’s forecast sounds a bit chilly.
That’s video of participants gathering for the start of the informal “parade around the park” this morning at brand-new Ercolini Park west of The Junction (map). The neighborhood volunteers who worked so hard to make the park a reality (here’s our coverage of the playground installation in April) are understandably busting with pride today, plus they have another big celebration ahead – the official dedication ceremony is scheduled for 10:30 am July 12th, one week from tomorrow. Here are some other Ercolini parade pix, courtesy of Scott Cronk:
(Meantime, our West Seattle 4th of July coverage continues — Admiral Kids’ Parade video coming up next; tons of helpful holiday info can be found on our 4th of July page.)
That’s the festive scene at Hamilton Viewpoint a short time ago, right after the Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade ended there — food and fun (our parade video will be up in a bit, along with coverage of the first-ever Ercolini Park parade) ensued. On our way there, we noticed a parade detail that we hadn’t caught in our video – along the route (44th and Sunset, heading west, then up to Atlantic, heading east, across California, down Palm to Hamilton VP), several houses put out speakers with Sousa marches and other parade-perfect music, like this one at California/Atlantic:
Other scenes: Here’s Alki, BEFORE the crowds – thanks to Dan E for these shots (don’t forget the traffic restrictions kick in at 6 pm; also we just got a text message that speed patrols are in action on The Bridge right now):
And now, completely unrelated to the holiday but we happened to spot it while driving through Morgan Junction on the way home — these signs are tacked up on poles along both street sides of the MJ Starbucks:
Still no official word on which stores are closing, by the way. ADDED 12:30 PM: Thanks to Joe Follansbee for a shot of West Seattle’s own tall ship Yankee Clipper (based at the marina under The Bridge) – proclaimed the city’s official tall ship by Hizzoner (who you’ll see in our upcoming Admiral parade coverage) – Joe photographed crew members and Sea Scouts relaxing on board yesterday afternoon as Tall Ships Tacoma geared up:
Joe also sent those beautiful pix of tall ships sailing from Elliott Bay toward Tacoma the other day.
That cot under a semitruck trailer is where 4th of Jul-Ivar’s fireworks show — that’s the one on Elliott Bay, the main one you’ll see from West Seattle — operator Gary Louderback sleeps the night before and the night after. He just talked to us a short time ago at the semi-secret (they asked us not to say) site in West Seattle waters where he and about 20 other people are working right now to put together the show on the 240-foot barge that will be towed into the bay later today — here’s a quick video clip panning across the scene:
Click ahead for a closer look at a row of fireworks, plus we have a quick clip with Gary talking about the biggest effect you’ll see:Read More
The full lineup is on the WSB 4th of July page, with lots more holiday-related info. A few quick highlights:
10:30 am: Admiral Kids’ Parade
11 am: Ercolini Park neighbors’ parade
5 pm: High Point Commons Park celebration
6 pm: Alki Ave/Harbor Ave. restrictions kick in
Between 10 and 10:30 pm: fireworks start (many West Seattleites will see part of the Lake Union show behind the Jul-Ivar’s Elliott Bay show)
If you’re planning on checking online at any point today, don’t worry, we’ll be updating all day long. (Our first scheduled stop, the 4th of Jul-Ivar’s fireworks barge, which is in West Seattle waters, with loading scheduled to have begun a few hours ago, and media tours starting a few hours from now.) During tonight’s fireworks, we will likely be offline BUT if there is breaking news, we will update it from our phone via Twitter – any such updates will appear here on WSB in the blue Twitter box in the right sidebar, or you can track Twitter online/on your phone (go to twitter.com, and be sure you’re “following” westseattleblog).
The West Seattle 4th of July page is the one-stop holiday shop, but we have a few additional details right now, from answers to some questions about the Alki traffic restrictions tomorrow night, to some fireworks facts you might find fun if you are info-nuts like us. First, we talked to Lt. Norm James – who wanted you to have first word of the Alki restrictions in mid-June (original WSB report here) – and he answered a few of the questions we’d been asked:
–Admiral: It will stay open. But the streets that head west toward Alki will all be involved in the traffic restriction when it kicks in around 6 pm.
-Buses: They will continue to go through along Alki/Harbor. (Links to the holiday bus/Water Taxi schedules on on the 4th of July page.)
-Who gets through: As previously stated in the police advisory, residents’ “guests” will be allowed through – Lt. James says he’s been advising that people who fit into that category get a note from their host(s) that they can show police, or have a phone number ready for officers to check.
Lt. James said few complaints have come in about the plan to reinstitute these restrictions (which were used some years back) and they expect everything to go smoothly.
Now, the parade reminder – Sherri Chun sends a reminder that the Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade is definitely on for tomorrow, starting @ 10:30 am at 44th/Sunset, followed by picnicking and games at Hamilton Viewpoint. The only other 4th of July parade in West Seattle is an informal neighborhood parade planned around the new Ercolini Park (which is looking ahead to its formal dedication on July 12th). Other events here.
Last but by no means least – THE FIREWORKS! Most of the fireworks you’ll see from north- and east-facing West Seattle are from the 4th of Jul-Ivar’s show, which traces its history back to legendary West Seattleite Ivar Haglund (seafood-eatery namesake). We’re planning to join the media tour of the fireworks barge in the morning as part of our holiday coverage (we’ll continue updating through the day). But before that, here are some fun facts about this year’s show, from the Ivar’s PR team:Read More
That’s a scene from a past Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade – and as mentioned previously, the next one is coming up on Friday, and you’re invited to participate/watch – 10:30 am, 44th/Sunset, with picnic and games at Hamilton Viewpoint afterward. One of the organizers, Sherri Chun, also says some help is still needed: “We’re still looking for games helpers. If you or someone you know can help out, please send me an email. The concession stand is also taking donations of baked goods.” (TUESDAY UPDATE: Sherri advises they have all the baked goods they need now; thanks!) Click to send her a note. (More West Seattle 4th of July info here.) Meantime, the West Seattle Grand Parade on July 19th (want to be in it? check out this post) needs some help – you may have the advice Jim Edwards is looking for – to help out a band (the Calgary Round-Up Band) that’s coming here all the way from Calgary for the West Seattle Grand Parade and the Torchlight Parade. And the problem is, according to Jim, they have two 55-passenger coaches that’ll have full sewage tanks by then and they need someplace to offload – got any ideas where?
Not much out there in this part of town. I have not had success calling Grayline, can’t get past the automated messages, to see if they could hit their service station on West Marginal. The idea is to offload during the short period between dropping off at the assembly area (10:00 or so) and picking up at dispersal (11:30 or so). Short of an Aurora station up north and Salt Water State Park to the south I just can’t find anything.
Any suggestions from your readers would be appreciated.
Please leave a comment if you have a suggestion!
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