West Seattle, Washington
14 Sunday
Headlining these next three days is The Junction’s “Wonderful Weekend,” starting tonight with the open house involving many Junction stores and restaurants, continuing tomorrow night with the Tree Lighting, and wrapping up Sunday with wagon rides and Santa Photos @ Coffee to a Tea with Sugar. Also this weekend in The Junction, “Voices of Christmas” continues @ ArtsWest. We’ve got a ton of other holiday notes, including nonprofit wreath sales, on our WS Holiday Stuff page. (And if your weekend includes putting up Christmas lights, remember that we plan to list the biggest WS displays on that same page, so send us your address if yours qualifies, or that of anything else big, bright ‘n’ beautiful that you see ’round here.) Also this weekend — it’s Bingo Night tonight as part of the Fabulous Family Fridays series at High Point Community Center, volunteers are welcome Saturday at a Camp Long work party.
-West Seattle’s most famous Christmas display, at the Menashe house on Beach Drive (a mile or so south of Me-Kwa-Mooks), is up and running. Drove by tonight and noted a feature we don’t recall from previous years — a big star in one of the trees.
-The official WS Christmas tree is in place at the site of Saturday night’s big festivities on the north side of Alaska between Cali and 42nd (just east of the Cupcake Royale/Swee Swee Paperie/etc. building). This site is currently dubbed “Junction Plaza” but its official city page says they’re soliciting suggestions for what to name it — you’ve got about six weeks to throw your idea into the hopper.
-Confirmed a visitor’s tip that there is another WS Christmas-tree lot we hadn’t listed (till now) on our Holiday Stuff page — south side of Westwood Village, next to Sally’s Beauty Supply, where a couple more restaurants are set to be built next year.
Even as another snowburst headed our way, intrepid decorating crews toiled in the Junction, wrapping poles with white garlands leading up to illuminated … what else … snowflakes.
… the really bad weather should be done by this weekend, so we can all enjoy the 2nd annual West Seattle Tree Lighting (this time it’s going to be at 42nd & Alaska, and county councilguy Dow C will be the MC) on Saturday. But in the meantime, we’ve got near-record cold in the works for tonight (here at WS Blog World HQ it’s a three-cat night … oh wait, we need another cat for that) and supposedly some more snow to smack us all tomorrow night into Thursday morning, with a chaser of rain, just like the big melt of ’96 (remember that one? that’s the worst memory we can muster, having not been here for Bridge Sinking ’90).
This near-winter time of year, it’s tougher to get a chance to tour the town in daylight. So here’s what we spotted today while catching up:
-A new pedestrian stoplight is up (though the crosswalk’s not painted yet) at Fauntleroy & Kenyon, around midway down the east side of Lincoln Park. About time; without it, you’re taking your life into your hands if you try crossing Fauntleroy anywhere between the 76 station and the park’s southernmost parking lot. Looks like the Fauntleroy Community Association’s been campaigning about this problem for a long time, so perhaps we have them to thank. (Speaking of pedestrian safety, here’s your chance to make a BIG difference: The city’s Pedestrian Advisory Board needs new members, and Monday’s the application deadline.)
-What was Fauntleroy Auto Works (Cali Ave just north of Fauntleroy), future site of what we think of as the Monorail Memorial Park, is now a pile of rubble.
-We found six seven places to buy Christmas trees in West Seattle, so far. (All are now listed on our ever-evolving West Seattle Holiday Stuff page.) Seems like fewer than years past, but as we realized while driving around, we’ve got fewer empty lots these days. P.S. The P-I mentioned the Holy Rosary lot today in a story about nonprofit tree sales.
Soon as you are … check out the latest additions to our WS Holiday Stuff page. And as soon as you (or your neighbors) turn your house into a light-encrusted showplace, send us the address … we plan to list the coolest decorations, too, for all to see.
Among many other blessings, we are thankful for you taking the time to stop by this site and see what’s up. (Otherwise, we’d be talking to ourselves, and heaven knows, we’ve done enough of that in our time on this planet so far.) We are also thankful to still be here in wondrous West Seattle … where you can see sunsets like this (photo by Lisa) and this (photo by Michelle) … where you can go for a summer swim at a pool like this … where you can find community groups like this and this, spending their “spare time” to nurture our neighborhoods … others banding together to caretake precious bits of urban wildness between the condos and the concrete … yet others who do what they can to share with those in need … We could go on all day, but we’ve got other things to do and so do you. Again — thanks.
Just got a note from Tony, longtime proprietor of West Seattle’s most illustrious coffeehouse brand, Java Bean. Tony is (#1) thanking everyone who donated to JB’s just-completed food drive — 200 pounds of food on its way to Northwest Harvest! — and (#2) offering to take turkeys over to the White Center Food Bank (urgently needed, as we mentioned a couple posts down). Tony says that if you drop a turkey donation off at Java Bean (on Avalon, just south of the bridge; here’s a map) BY NOON TODAY (Wednesday), he will take it to the food bank. Three cheers for Tony! (And for Java Bean, whose old cart at the pre-’97-fire Thriftway is where we first truly fell in love with lattes, guzzling intense triple-grande-nonfat from our old-school saucer-bottom reusable mug. Ah, the memories …)
Or two. Or even three … We mentioned the White Center Food Bank’s need for turkey donations. We hope at least someone out there heeded the call; we took a few down ourselves. Well, ’tis two days before Thanksgiving, and we just got a note from the WCFB saying they’ve got fewer than 20 turkeys left, but hundreds more families to serve. C’mon, you can get turkeys REALLY cheap at Safeway or Fred Meyer. Open your wallet, open your heart. (And if you know of anyplace else in our area that needs last-minute donations, please leave a comment for all to see!)
The folks at Holy Rosary must have a heck of a web team. Even their famous Christmas tree lot (we just added it to our Holiday Stuff page since it’s opening this Saturday!) has its own site.
We know you’ll be slugging your way thru the supermarket aisles sometime this weekend, looking ahead to the cookingest holiday of them all. One more pitch for turkey donations to local food banks … the White Center Food Bank still needs ’em; a reasonably sized frozen turkey won’t set you back much scratch, and you can drop it off Monday 8:30-5. (Don’t know about the WS Food Bank; tried calling, nobody answered.) By the way, for your shopping convenience, here are links to nearby grocery stores’ latest ad flyers: Morgan Junction Thriftway … Westwood Village QFC … Metropolitan Market … Safeway … Burien Fred Meyer.
Took us several years as homeowners to realize this undying truth of November: If you want to put up Christmas lights, seize any rainless spell you can. You’ve probably noticed that our current reprieve has led to a sudden pre-Thanksgiving blast of decorations around the neighborhoods. We’ve seen at least half a dozen homes and “multi-family” buildings suddenly sporting lights along the stretch of Fauntleroy between Alaska and California. One more day till the next storm hits, or so they say.
Another excuse to mention our holiday page: In the Junction, the wreaths have been hung from the light poles with care, in hopes more holiday shoppers soon will be there … Tonight there seemed to be a fete at Menashe & Sons, perhaps in honor of the retiree? With valet parking outside! (We just got a flyer in the mail about the big sale starting Thursday.) Meantime, also on a holiday note, Santa arrives at Westwood Village a week from Saturday. (The reindeer near his hideaway next to Bed-Bath-n-Beyond have already landed.)
Big sign in the Menashe & Sons Jewelers window in The Junction — Jack Menashe’s retiring after 30-plus years. Since it’s “… and Sons,” we’re assuming the business will go on. But what about the Christmas lights at the Menashe house on Beach Drive? Please tell us they’re not going into retirement yet! We’re still reeling from the loss of the Gai display long ago. (Not to mention the little old guy in Burien, may he rest in peace.)
Didn’t get to do this last year ’cause we didn’t launch WSB till Christmas Eve. But this year, we’re rarin’ to go. Our “WS holiday stuff” page is up — just a couple entries so far, but many more to come. When you’ve got a big public holiday event planned, or when you see a spectacular decoration display — something to rival the Menashe house, for example — be sure to let us know, so we can add the info to the holiday page and share it with everyone.
The rain stopped. The voting’s over. I waited all the way up till what looks to be the very last vote-count update of the night morning, for one last pounding of proof that I voted out of the mainstream. (Go enjoy your lap dances with abandon, kids.) So now let’s talk about something cheerier. Thanksgiving is two weeks from tomorrow. If you can spare a turkey or two, the White Center Food Bank needs 1,500 of ’em. (We found this out at the Gathering of Neighbors last weekend; a nice lady from the 34th District Dems told a friend of ours that she volunteers at the WCFB and was sad to see last year that they only had turkey “quarters” to hand out to families in need.) Also, you can get some immediate return on your generosity at Southwest Pool tonight and tomorrow night, when Public Swim admission is only two bucks if you bring at least one can o’food for their food drive.
Only two little groups of trick-or-treaters at our house. One commenter a couple posts down says her neighborhood on the north end of WS (we’re on the south end) got more than a hundred. What happened at your place?
Bundle up for a cold Halloween night (latest forecast here). After your trick-or-treating is done, this West Seattle house sounds like THE haunt of the night. Perhaps a close second — this guy’s house.
So many Halloween happenings this past weekend, you might feel as if the actual holiday has come and gone. Don’t pack that costume away just yet! Here’s some of what’s happening around WS tonight and tomorrow … TONIGHT: Fall Festival at Southwest Community Center, 6-8:30 pm … HALLOWEEN: Alki business-district trick-or-treating, 1-6 pm … Admiral business-district trick-or-treating, 3-6 pm … Cooper Artists’ Housing trick-or-treating (back of the old Cooper School aka Youngstown), 5-7 pm … Westwood Village trick-or-treating, 5-7 pm … Fall Fun Festival @ Delridge Community Center, 6-8 pm … E-mail us if we’re missing something! P.S. Check the weather forecast here. Brrrr!
One last reminder … Junction trick-or-treating 1-3 pm today. Given the influx of young parents into WS, I predict a surge of people carrying babies and toddlers in pumpkin suits. Have a blast!
Not enough time at the moment to post ALL the stuff that’s happening this pre-Halloween weekend — we’ll get to that first thing in the morning. But we’ve gotten some notes asking about, and telling us about, the business district trick-or-treat events, so here’s the full scoop lowdown on those: Junction trick-or-treating is Saturday afternoon, 1-3 pm (the nice folks down there say “don’t let the road work keep you away,” and honestly, there’s not much of it left anyway); Admiral trick-or-treating is 3-6 pm on Halloween (Tuesday, if you’ve lost track); Alki trick-or-treating is also on Halloween, 1-6 pm (the WS Chamber site has all three of those on one convenient page); and what a coincidence (oddly NOT listed by the WS C&C, or are they and WV on the outs?), Westwood Village has trick-or-treating 5-7 pm on Halloween night.
Christmas stuff keeps coming out earlier and earlier every year. This year seems more out-o-control than ever. Three examples are in full force at Westwood Village as we write: The Rite-Aid Halloween stuff is already on sale, with Christmas creeping into the aisles; in the “seasonal” section @ Target, it’s already gotten to the point where cute-n-cuddly Animated Lighted Sea Lions (for your yard) are rubbing elbows, er, flippers with the Animated Teeth-Chattering Skeletons; and Pier 1’s window signs proclaim this to be Ornament Preview time. WAIT UNTIL HALLOWEEN’S BODY IS COLD, FOR GOD’S SAKE! ISN’T NOVEMBER FIRST EARLY ENOUGH?
Meantime, if you are doing early holiday shopping anyway, here’s a sincere recommendation: The 2007 West Seattle Calendar. Here’s where you can buy it. (Honestly, who needs “16 Months of Precious Pugs” when you can represent for WS Pride!)
In the seasonal aisles of Westwood Village Target: costumes to transform your dog into Darth Vader or Yoda on Halloween.
Hmph. Cats are generally too dignified for a stunt like that.
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