(WSB photos: Above, peninsula’s first tree arrivals, at West Seattle Nursery in mid-November)

Though some tree sellers started early – West Seattle Nursery (5275 California SW; WSB sponsor) had some when we covered their Open House two weeks ago, and the inventory has increased since! – today is the traditional start of Christmas tree season. Returning this year, as reported here earlier this month, Tony’s Trees at 35th SW and SW Barton:

Proprietor Anthony Morella says he’s a relative of the Genzale family, which had a tree lot here until last year (not to mention the renowned produce stand).

Tony’s is the southernmost West Seattle tree lot. The northernmost is Trees By The Sea, back at 2536 Alki SW this year, the spot that holds Wheel Fun Rentals during the warmer months:

Trees By The Sea’s Tiffany just told us their hours while the trees last will be 10-8 Fridays (though they opened at 8 today), 8-8 Saturdays, 8-7 Sundays, noon-7 Mondays-Thursdays. Also back this year, the Holy Rosary School Tree Lot:

It’s on the north side of the school, next to the playground, and a percentage of proceeds goes to nonprofits. Other tree sellers in West Seattle and White Center include hardware stores – Junction Hardware (44th SW and SW Edmunds), McLendon Hardware in White Center, and The Home Depot (Delridge Way SW and SW Orchard). Some years there are pop-ups – there was one at the Farmers’ Market, for example – so if you see a tree lot we haven’t mentioned, please let us know! (And we’ll keep updating the list in our West Seattle Holiday Guide.)

Thanks to MJ for the photo, and thanks to whoever keeps decking the Admiral Way Bridge railings each year with cheery red bows! MJ notes they “look new” this year – certainly the paint on the railings is.

(WSB photos)

The West Seattle Eagles‘ tradition of community giving extends every year to a free Thanksgiving dinner, open to all at their HQ in The Junction (4426 California SW). The feast awaiting you there includes a wide variety of pies:

No membership required, all ages welcome, until 5 pm.

(Hummingbird, photographed by Stewart L.)

Happy Thanksgiving! We are ever-thankful that you are here. As we do every major holiday, we’ve gathered information in hopes of being helpful:

GROCERY STORES OPEN TODAY: The list of what’s open and when is in the Thanksgiving section atop our West Seattle Holiday Guide.

COFFEE SHOPS OPEN TODAY: That list – including more than 15 local indies (as of our research calls – let us know if you find a change) – is here.

RESTAURANTS/BARS OPEN TODAY AND/OR TONIGHT: 20+ on the list – see it here.

PRE-TURKEY RUNNING : Three options in our guide, and the biggest is the West Seattle Runner Gobble Gobble Group Run, 8 am from Alki – bring food donations – enter a raffle for running shoes! Look for the sign pointing you to the WSR gathering place, and get full details here.

PRE-TURKEY DANCING: The West Seattle YMCA (36th SW and SW Snoqualmie) is open 7-11 am this morning (Fauntleroy is closed) and invites everyone 5+ to Zumba Shine Dance Turkey Trot, 8:30 am.

PRE-TURKEY WALKING: Walking for Well-Being decided again this year to change to a morning walk today. Meet by 10 am at 47th/Fauntleroy.

WHERE TO ENJOY A FREE COMMUNITY THANKSGIVING DINNER: Three options this year:
*As announced here, The Hall at Fauntleroy‘s legendary sit-down community dinner is happening again, all welcome, noon-3 pm. (9131 California SW)
*West Seattle Eagles are also again serving a sitdown community dinner for all, 2 pm-5 pm (4426 California SW)
*Admiral Pub, free Friendsgiving feast starts around 6 pm, followed by live music. 21+. (2306 California SW)

WANT TO HELP? You can drop off donations of gently used warm clothing, new blankets and socks, and desserts at The Hall at Fauntleroy, 10 am-1 pm, same address as above (south end of the historic schoolhouse).

WHAT TO DO AFTER (OR BEFORE) DINNER: The Admiral Theater is open this afternoon and evening – see the movies and showtimes here (2343 California SW).

THANKSGIVING TRANSPORTATION NOTES:
*Metro buses are on Sunday schedule
*No Water Taxi boat or shuttle service
*Sound Transit light rail and buses, Sunday schedules
*Washington State Ferries‘ Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run is on a holiday schedule
*No charge for parking today on city streets with pay stations
*Traffic cameras: West Seattle-relevant ones here; citywide views are available via this SDOT map

OTHER INFO:
*No trash/recycling/etc. pickup today – Thursday pickups will happen Friday; Friday pickups on Saturday (transfer station is closed today too)
*Seattle Parks‘ holiday closed-and-open list (including the West Seattle Golf Course, which is open until 2 pm)
*No Seattle Public Library or King County Library System services today
*USPS holiday
*Banking holiday

LOST/FOUND PET? Sometimes it happens with all the holiday traveling, visiting family/friends, etc. – email or text us the info so we can post on our West Seattle Lost/Found Pets page!

Much more seasonal info for today and beyond is in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide. We hope you have a joyful holiday! (And if you see/hear news, please text/call 206-293-6302 – we are forever thankful for your tips, reader reports, calendar listings, photos, questions, etc., every day/night of the year – now WSB’s 19th!)

Every year we check with West Seattle restaurants and coffee shops to find out who plans to be open on Thanksgiving Day, and publish those lists. So we’re reminding you today that both lists for tomorrow are updated – restaurants here, coffee shops here. Caveat – sometimes venues change their plans after we contact them, so some years there’s a holiday anomaly.

(WSB photo by Hayden Yu Andersen: Traffic-directing in WS Thriftway lot today)

Meantime, for emergency shopping on the big day, our Holiday Guide has the list of West Seattle grocery-store hours, plus Thanksgiving morning run/walk/dance events, and of course the rest of the seasonal info, from Santa photos to Hanukkah lighting to Winter Solstice gatherings to New Year’s!

(WSB photo, Thanksgiving 2024)

Just a reminder that the top of our West Seattle Holiday Guide is stuffed with Thanksgiving information, and that includes five ways to work out before you chow down – three runs, one dance-fitness class, and one walk, all with start times between 8 and 9 am. They begin as always with the Gobble Gobble Group Run and Food Drive at Alki, presented by West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor), at 8 am (our photo above shows part of the hardy crowd who showed up last year). Is our list missing anything open to the community? Let us know so we can add!

(Reader photo, 2024: Some of the cookies Andrea & kids baked)

If you love to bake, The Christmas People‘s annual cookie-donation drive is your time to shine, and it’ll happen again this year. Here’s the announcemnt we received from The Christmas People:

Home-baked cookies are needed this year for the 18 shelters, centers, camps we serve during Christmas Week.
West Seattle Co-Working, 9030 35th Avenue SW will again accept cookies, Monday, Dec. 22, Tuesday, Dec. 23 and
Wednesday, Dec. 24 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. No special packaging is necessary. Cookies may also be dropped off
at Artisan Community Kitchen, 10836 E. Marginal Way S., Tukwila, Monday through Thursday, Dec. 21-25.

Please label any cookies withnuts, peanut butter, gluten free, etc. Cookies may be frozen. Contact Fred Hutchinson, co-founder, at 206-719-4979 or pialley@jps.net

We’ll of course remind you when this gets closer, too.

(WSB photo, 2024 Hometown Holidays Night Market)

The biggest day of the holiday season in the West Seattle Junction is now exactly two weeks away – Saturday, December 6, begins with the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle pancake breakfast (7-11 am) and concludes with the Hometown Holidays Tree Lighting and Night Market (4-8 pm). As we noted last week, the Kiwanis’s pancakes, ham, and coffee/tea/juice breakfast is an incredible deal; you can buy $8 advance tickets online or at the Kiwanis’s booth at the south end of the Farmers’ Market tomorrow or next Sunday. No tickets needed for the Hometown holidays celebration, presented by the West Seattle Junction Association, as part of a slate of seasonal fun – just show up that night at 42nd SW and SW Alaska. (Lots more is happening that day/night, and before/after that date too, as listed in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide!)

Lindy is one of the Arrowhead Gardens residents selling unique creations at the annual holiday craft fair – garden art and planter stakes made from material including keepsake dishes and tiny charms. Be sure to look into each of the rooms at the community building on the east side of the complex at 9220 2nd SW so you don’t miss anybody. Linda is back with her preserves, from barbecue onion relish to pickled grapes to pineapple upside-down cake jam:

She admits she tends to go for “the unique.” Other creators are selling scarves, books – not used, but rather ones they wrote! – baked goods, gnomes, tree ornaments, photo posters, more.

This craft fair continues until 3 pm.

More handmade holiday gifts! C & P Coffee (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor) is hosting its annual holiday arts and crafts fair, where you’ll find everything from poetry collections to woodworking:

Pete Homan‘s creations can be used as cutting boards – or hung as wall art! Lots of jewelry too, including Zoë’s beaded creations:

This show and sale started early, as noted in our list, so get to the coffeehouse before 2 pm so you don’t miss out!

By Hayden Yu Andersen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Visitors and volunteers have been lined up outside of Eastridge Church since 6 AM this morning for their yearly turkey and groceries giveaway. Between their locations in West Seattle and Issaquah, they plan to distribute 1,500 turkeys and holiday grocery bags to those in need – no proof required.

Eastridge Pastor Craig Mathison was busy greeting people outside of the church, shaking hands, and sharing warm welcomes. Mathison has been with Eastridge as their West Seattle campus pastor for five years, and grew up in the Woodland Park area.

The West Seattle location is stocked with 650 full turkey meals this morning, enough for a family dinner. “The only thing we don’t supply is salt, pepper, and butter,” Mathison joked.

(Two of today’s volunteer helpers)

Because he spends the mornings greeting new people during the turkey giveaways, Mathison has noticed that, as he put it, “this year has seen a higher demand.” This includes more first-time visitors, and he remarked that this is the furthest down the road he’s seen the line

It’s worth mentioning that this year, West Seattle has seen a rise in food insecurity, and other local organizations, such as the West Seattle Food Bank, have already been bracing to support their communities in the wake of cuts to vital programs such as SNAP.

But Mathison and the rest of the volunteers present this morning kept spirits high. “We love doing this,” he said. “It’s no problem at all to find volunteers, and people who volunteer once are very likely to show up again.”

Mathison says that at this rate, he expects the giveaway to last until 11:30 as planned.

Inside the Alki Masonic Center (40th SW and SW Edmunds, lower level right off the parking lot), you can shop handmade items all day at the annual holiday bazaar. That includes bake-sale bargains:

Of the tables we stopped at, we were most captivated by Christyl’s Crafty Creations:

She has a variety of reusable – and made-from-reused-material – items that’ll help you cut down on kitchen/household waste. Many are stocking-stuffer suitable. But also: Aprons made from neckties!

The bazaar is open for browsing and buying until 4 pm.

(WSB file photo)

One more reminder – especially considering more people are experiencing food insecurity right now – tomorrow morning (Saturday, November 22) is the annual Eastridge Church turkey giveaway. Between their West Seattle and Issaquah campuses, they are ready to provide 1,500 turkeys and bags of holiday-meal groceries. No proof of need required; in West Seattle,the line forms outside the Eastridge campus on 39th SW just south of SW Oregon (across from West Seattle Bowl). They expect to be there until 11:30 am unless the turkeys run out sooner.

(WSB photos by Torin Record-Sand)

Candlelight illuminated memories of “those who have gone before us” Thursday night at the second annual Providence Mount St. Vincent (WSB sponsor) “Hallelujah Lights.” Those who gathered under a canopy on the southeast side of the campus were serenaded by The Starry Crowns Trio:

Paulina Alvarado acknowledged to those gathered that “grief is so present, but so are our loved ones”:

She noted that The Mount’s “singing tree” nearby – with lights that respond to sounds near it – is “a symbol of love and light”:

Also speaking was Nancy Jordan, grieving for her mom, who died in June after living at The Mount for a year:

She shared holiday memories and urged attendees to do the same. The microphone went around and many did – recalling holiday food and drink traditiions from gingerbread to bourbon-spiked egg nog, and even family memories like parents squabbling over choosing a Christmas tree.

The memories culminated with a moment for everyone to say aloud the name of whoever they’re remembering – and one more reminder that those we’ve lost live on as an indelible part of us.

(WSB photo, West Seattle Eagles, Thanksgiving 2024)

Thanksgiving Day 2025 is exactly one week away. The WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide has the full T-Day and pre-T-Day list; three highlights are these free community dinners in West Seattle on the holiday – all welcome, not just those who might go hungry otherwise:

THE HALL AT FAUNTLEROY, NOON-3 PM: For more than 20 years. Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering parent company D-Squared has cooked and served a full sit-down holiday dinner at The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California SW). All are welcome. If you’d like to contribute, bring dessert – and/or gently used warm clothing, new blankets, and socks, for those who might need them. Our calendar listing explains how, when, and where to donate.

WEST SEATTLE EAGLES, 2 PM-6 PM: Also a longtime tradition – the Eagles open their doors (4426 California SW) to everyone on Thanksgiving for a full traditional dinner. All ages, membership not required.

ADMIRAL PUB, 6 PM: The pub proprietors annually welcome the community (21+) for a free Friendsgiving dinner with traditional Thanksgiving food. This year, they’re adding live music after dinner, at 9 pm. (2306 Calfornia SW)

(WSB photo, December 2024)

Last year, The Mount (WSB sponsor) presented “Hallelujah Lights” for the first time. This year, an encore, but earlier in the season – tomorrow (Thursday) night. If you haven’t already seen it in our Event Calendar or Holiday Guide, here’s the invitation:

Providence Mount St. Vincent’s Hallelujah Lights is a heartfelt tribute to those we love and remember. It’s the perfect way to welcome the holiday season and celebrate the bonds that unite us.

Enjoy an evening filled with live music by Starry Crowns Trio, soothing melodies, and the sweet taste of cocoa. Whether you come for the music, the memories, or the sense of togetherness, Hallelujah Lights offers something for everyone.

Event Details
 Free to attend
 Date: November 20, 2025
 Time: 4:30–5:30 p.m.

 Location: Providence Mount St. Vincent, by the Singing Tree, SE corner front lawn

We look forward to sharing this magical evening with you!