West Seattle, Washington
10 Sunday
St. Patrick’s Day is one month from tomorrow. Since it’s on a Thursday this year, many celebrations will be held on the preceding weekend – like this one for which West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) invites you to register now:
We are doing something cool and partnering with Good Society Brewing on Sunday, March 13th at 9 am!
Join us for Group Run to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Meet at West Seattle Runner for 5k route around the ‘hood. Finish at Good Society Brewing
We ask that you sign up to take part (so Good Society can plan; they are opening early for us! And so we can decide if we need to arrange waves and an outside gathering). Please note that you need to mask up in the shop. You will have the option to be outside or indoors at Good Society. And of course, the run takes place outdoors, so this can be something to participate in a COVID-safe way.
Sign up by stopping by West Seattle Runner [2743 California SW] and purchasing an entry for $1.The dollar is to hold your place (if you choose to not attend after registering, please let us know, so your spot can go to someone on the waitlist). Each dollar will be given to Good Society staff as a tip. Soon, we will post a link to purchase on our web store. But we want first dibs to go to our customers before the public can sign up remotely. There will be a cap on the number of participants.
Good Society will donate part of proceeds to The West Seattle Food Bank or Social Justice Fund.
Wear your green or risk being pinched! There will be a raffle drawing to boot!!
(WSB file photo)
Monday, February 21st, is Presidents Day – the next holiday for which dozens of American flags will be placed around the West Seattle Junction, If you can help – all ages welcome! – in the morning placement and/or afternoon removal, Chris Mackay from the Junction Association is recruiting volunteers right now:
Two shifts: 9-10 or 4-5. Fun for families.
Please click on the following web link (or copy it into your web browser if clicking doesn’t work) to go to the signup sheet:
To sign up, just follow the instructions on the page. It only takes a few seconds to do.
Thank you for volunteering!
Thanks to Noodle and crew for the photo from a West Seattle walk in the fog. Below, a few notes for this Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday Monday:
WHAT’S CLOSED
-Schools
–Libraries
–Most Seattle Parks facilities
-Banks
–Post Offices
As for what’s happening:
POP-UP CLEANUP: Other MLK Day of Service events in our area are full – volunteer capacities have long been restricted because of the pandemic – but you can grab a bag and go join the pop-up cleanup along Harbor Avenue SW, 10 am-noon, as previewed right after we got word of it last night.
BETTY WHITE CHALLENGE A reader asked us if any local animal-advocate groups was joining this nationwide fundraiser honoring what would have been Betty White‘s 100th birthday today. Furry Faces Foundation has decided to jump in:
We are proud to join Betty White’s Challenge! Please consider donating $5 in honor of Betty White…she still lives with all of us in our hearts and minds,
Thank you for your consideration. Donations may be made to our PayPal account – furryfaces@hotmail.com – or mailed to 3809 46th Ave SW, Seattle, 98116. For more information about Furry Faces Foundation, go here.
If you aren’t already signed up for an MLK Day of Service volunteer opportunity tomorrow but are interested in helping out somewhere, we just found out about this – CleanupSEA is organizing a pop-up cleanup, 10 am-noon. Meet at Harbor and Lotus [map]. More info here. (P.S. If you know of any other service opportunities Monday that are not all booked up, let us know so we can mention them too!)
(WSB photos/video unless other credited)
Imagining yourself in the tropics is one way to make it through the annual New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim at Alki Beach. Another is to consider that – today, anyway – the water was a lot warmer than the air: 47 degrees and 25 degrees, respectively. Despite the subfreezing air, hundreds were ready to go when organizer Mark Ufkes counted them down at 10 am:
(Photo by Scott Nelson)
While running into the water and immediately running out is the prevalent participation level, some lingered:
This was the first en-masse “swim” since 2020, when the air and water both were warmer – both 50 degrees, we noted that day.
ADDED SATURDAY NIGHT: Thanks to Robert Spears for these photos:
(Steller’s Jay, photographed by Troy Sterk)
Happy 2022! Here’s info to start the year:
TRANSPORTATION INFO:
*Metro is on a Saturday schedule, still with only the Emergency Snow Network routes
*No Water Taxi service
*Sound Transit light rail and buses are on varied schedules
*Washington State Ferries‘ Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run is on its regular 2-boat schedule
*No charge for parking today on city streets in neighborhoods with pay stations
*Traffic cameras: West Seattle-relevant ones here; citywide views are on this SDOT map
EVENT TODAY
POLAR BEAR SWIM: If you want to join in this year’s traditional Polar Bear Swim at Alki Beach, be on the sand across from Duke’s Seafood (2516 Alki SW; WSB sponsor) in time for the countdown at 10 am sharp. Here’s the announcement.
NEW YEAR’S COFFEE
Closures aren’t as numerous on this holiday as Thanksgiving and Christmas so we don’t usually make comprehensive open/closed lists. But if you’re looking for coffee, here are a few shops planning to be open:
C & P Coffee (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor is open 8 am-2 pm
Youngstown Coffee (6032 California SW) is open 9 am-2 pm
West Seattle Grounds (2141 California SW) opens at 7 am
Olympia Coffee (3840 California SW) opens at 8 am
Got info for today? Text us – 206-293-6302 – thank you!
The snow and the virus got in the way of big New Year’s Eve plans, so we don’t have much of a list for you, but a few notes:
(Photo by Doug Eglington, seen from Harbor Avenue earlier this week)
SPACE NEEDLE FIREWORKS: Yes, the midnight fireworks are happening this year. But no, they’re not allowing people to gather at the Needle to watch them. North-facing West Seattle will have a view as always, but organizers say they’re adding special digital effects to a live stream/broadcast, so they’re recommending you watch on a screen. Here’s the info.
HPIC PRESENTS ‘NOT-SO-SILENT NIGHT’: Highland Park Improvement Club has announced a modified version of its Not-So-Silent-Night neighborhood parade, They’re inviting people to the south Riverview Playfield parking lot [12th/Webster] at 6 pm for a walk around the field:
Bring your personal lights and noisemakers. Bundle up with sturdy shoes. Fill up your hot thermos or flask. We’ll meet at the South Riverview Playfield parking lot at 6pm and walk a circle of light around the fields led by our fabulous HPIC parade marshals and welcome in a brighter 2022!
RESTAURANTS/BARS: No big parties but your favorite venue might be planning a midnight toast. Or earlier – for example, Mission Cantina in The Admiral District is planning “a traditional tequila toast as our brothers and sisters in Tequila town and Oaxaca ring in the new year at midnight CST (10 pm in Seattle).” We’ll check around as the day goes on and add anything else interesting (and confirmed post-snow) we happen onto.
P.S. If you do go out tonight – remember that transit is free (Metro until 4 am and Sound Transit until 2 am).
(WSB photo, December 22nd – early cookie dropoffs)
Once again this year, West Seattleites made it a happier holiday for neighbors in need. Here’s a message of thanks, just in from The Christmas People president/co-founder Rev. Fred Hutchinson:
Generous West Seattle residents dropped off more than 5,000 cookies to West Seattle Coworking this year; more than 500 were baked by West Seattle High School Key Club.
In 2021, our 23rd year, the Christmas People delivered 2,600 meals, 7,500 cookies, 600 Blessing Bags, 20,000 pairs of socks, 1,000 hats, and over 1,000 pounds of bulk food provisions. With a small budget and 25 volunteers, we gave out more than $125,000 of much-needed food and supplies to the marginalized and underserved in our midst. A heartfelt thank you to all who helped us, help others.
Rev. Hutchinson and helpers have been doing this for more than 20 years.
(Lincoln Park photo by Theresa Arbow-O’Connor)
Even before the snowfall, closures were planned for today because of the holiday observance. So this list covers both. Please let us know if you have something/someplace to add:
CLOSED
–Senior Center of West Seattle
–West Seattle Food Bank
–Delridge, Admiral Seattle Public Library locations
–Most Seattle Parks facilities
-City residential solid-waste pickup (all collection days put out double next week)
OPEN BUT WITH CHANGES
–West Seattle YMCA open until 4 pm
City-run COVID testing site at Nino Cantu SW Athletic Complex opens at 10:30 am
(We’ll add a business list if needed but so far we have no new closure/change info.)
(January 1, 2018, photo by Robert Spears)
For everybody who’s asked about the plan for New Year’s Day 2022 Alki Beach Polar Bear Swim – this is just in from organizer Mark Ufkes:
We go in the water at 10:00 am sharp, so don’t be late. According to Washington State regulations; three simple requirements:
Adults must be vaccinated and boostered for Covid 19.
Everyone must wear a mask.
You and your group must be Covid-free, be in good health, and distance yourselves 6 feet from others while on the beach.For over 15 years, the Alki Beach Polar Bear Swim has been about “washing away the complexities of the previous year and bathing in the unlimited possibilities that the New Year provides”. All while pushing us all out of our comfort zone. Prior to Covid, we had over 700+ swimmers. In 2022, we need this event more than ever.
So, go over the three simple requirements listed above. Bring a large, warm towel, a coat to put on after you get out of the water, good water shoes, and your hopes and dreams for a spectacular 2022. Holding hands and wearing bright colors as you go into the water also seems to help.
I wear Goodwill pink every year, to celebrate the day in the not-too-distant future when over 50% of our Members of Congress will be women and/or People of Color. Imagine the message that would send to the world and how much more empathy we will have in our national governance.
When you arrive, you’ll see the gathering madness across from Duke’s. Stay in your group of family and friends, spread out down quarter-mile Alki Beach, and allow six feet between your group and your Polar Bear neighbors to your left and right.
Just before 10:00 am, you will hear the megaphone countdown begin; 10, 9, 8 . . . At “one “ in the countdown, we all run, screaming like the children we are, into 47-degree Puget Sound. The water will be warmer than the air this year, so it will be much more pleasant that one might expect. The mild insanity is really quite fun, and we are in and out of the water so fast that we barely get goosebumps. And like everything in life, your attitude, and belief in yourself, will keep you warm and successful.
(Photo by Mike Jensen)
Christmas is almost over … so we close out the holiday with one more look at West Seattle’s most dazzling display, the Menashe Family Lights at 5605 Beach Drive SW [map]. We’re planning to continue spotlighting West Seattle lights until New Year’s Eve, so if we haven’t shown your favorites yet, let us know where they are – westseattleblog@gmail.com. (The two-dozen-plus we’ve already showcased can be seen here.)
(17th/Cloverdale – photo by Troy Sterk)
Merry Christmas! Here’s information you might find helpful on this holiday:
COFFEE SHOPS OPEN TODAY: We found seven – here’s the list.
RESTAURANTS AND BARS OPEN TODAY: Twelve are on our list – see it here.
GROCERY STORES OPEN TODAY: Only the three Safeways (Roxbury, Admiral, Jefferson Square) are open (8 am-5 pm) – all other West Seattle supermarkets are closed.
TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION: Metro is on a regular Saturday schedule … No West Seattle Water Taxi service … Washington State Ferries‘ Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route is on the Saturday two-boat schedule, and is likely to be extra-busy because the South Vashon route (Tahlequah-Point Defiance) is not operating today … Sound Transit buses and light rail are on varied schedules … No charge for street parking in areas of the city with pay stations … West Seattle-relevant traffic cameras are here; see all cameras citywide via this map.
OTHER NOTES: No USPS mail service (except Priority Mail Express delivery) … Seattle Parks closure info is here … Libraries (city and county) are closed.
AFTERNOON BIRD WALK: 1 pm at Lincoln Park – details are in our calendar listing.
SEE A MOVIE: The Admiral Theater (2343 California SW) is open this afternoon/evening.
If you see/hear news, please text/call 206-293-6302 – we appreciate your tips 24/7/365!
For your Christmas Eve viewing/listening – a video that Bells of the Sound invited us to share with you. The group rehearses at Tibbetts United Methodist Church in West Seattle, and performed on the peninsula many times pre-pandemic. Here’s their message:
Merry Christmas from Bells of the Sound. We took advantage of a concert-less pandemic season to make this feature video to share. This jazzy, off-kilter arrangement of “We Three Kings” has been a longtime favorite of ours. We hope you enjoy the grooving bass, right rhythm section, and sauntering melody!
Cameras: Sean MacLean & Nikhil Sarma | Editing: Nikhil Sarma | Audio: Matt Ogaz
Three King Swing – composed by John Henry Hopkins and arranged for handbells by Sondra Tucker. Streaming rights provided by the copyright holder, Laurendale Associates.
Bells of the Sound is proud to receive support from the 4Culture / King County Lodging Tax Fund.
Tonight’s featured Christmas lights represent another approach to holiday lighting … projection. Thanks to Devin Liddell for the photos of their display at 4028 40th SW [map], between Dakota and Andover.
A Merry Christmas Eve to all! Scroll through all the displays featured here since November 30th (and previous years) by going here; we’re still welcoming tips/photos at westseattleblog@gmail.com.
The photo is from Mel, dropping off homemade cookies Thursday for The Christmas People, who are including the cookies in holiday meals for people in need. Today’s your last chance to contribute some too – take the cookies to West Seattle Coworking (6040 California SW) between 9 am and 3 pm. (Last year they received more than 7,000 cookies!)
Need to know what’s open in West Seattle on Christmas? For easier access, we’ve now created calendar pages for the Christmas info lists that were previously only on our Holiday Guide page. They are:
*Restaurants/bars open Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day – here
*Coffee shops open Christmas Day – here
*Grocery stores’ closing times Christmas Eve (and hours for the ones that are open Christmas Day) – here
If you’re looking for churches with Christmas Eve/Day services, the ones we’ve heard from are still in the Holiday Guide, as is other info, including our list of spotlighted Christmas-lights displays, plus some last-minute local-shopping hours for Christmas Eve. Got anything to add (or change)? Email westseattleblog@gmail.com or text 206-293-6302 – thank you!
If you had to choose just one West Seattle neighborhood to visit for Christmas lights sightseeing, Fauntlee Hills would be a good choice. That’s where we started the season – and that coverage-launching display’s creator, Ken Arkills, points us again this year to a nearby home that also shines bright, at 40th/Donovan [map]:
Ken says Joey and Myung Haugen are the creators here, with a giant star among its features. “They are really into it and I am so happy to see a lot of fellow West Seattleites really going all out this year with their displays!” We’ve shown more than two dozen this season and we’re not done yet – keep the suggestions (with or without photos) coming, via westseattleblog@gmail.com. You can browse everything we’ve shown by going to this WSB archive; they’re also listed in our West Seattle Holiday Guide.
Thanks to Monica Zaborac for tonight’s photo. She says this display is at 40th/Charlestown [map], right next to Wyatt‘s house, which was featured here last week. It’s a corner so bright, it was even on the map for this year’s West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor)-organized Christmas Lights Run! Got lights for us to spotlight? Please let us know, with or without photo(s), via westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302 … see this season’s list in the West Seattle Holiday Guide, and scroll through the pics here.
Thanks to Marco for the photos. The open field at Myrtle Reservoir Park was a field of light last night for the candlelight labyrinth set up by the Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation to mark the winter solstice. WSUU also gathered for singing:
P.S. WSUU is one of the local churches that have sent info for the Christmas Eve services listed in our West Seattle Holiday Guide – not too late to add, westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
One more reminder that it’s not too late to let us know about retailers and food/drink businesses’ hours on Christmas Eve/Day. All the info we have compiled so far – including the complete grocery-store hours list for Friday/Saturday – is toward the end of our West Seattle Holiday Guide page (which has a list of church services, too). We’re still checking around today for additions before cross-referencing it all on our Event Calendar too; if you can help by providing info, please email westseattleblog@gmail.com or text 206-293-6302 – thank you!
Thanks to prolific photographer Jerry Simmons for tonight’s photo – a rainbow of lights in the 5400 block of (corrected) 41st SW. (Here’s a vicinity map.) This is the 24th display showcased here on WSB this season, thanks entirely to reader tips – you can scroll through them all here, and see the list in our West Seattle Holiday Guide. We’re hoping to keep showing lights nightly through New Year’s Eve – tips, with or without photo(s), are appreciated – email westseattleblog@gmail.com or text 206-293-6302 – thank you!
Baking holiday cookies? Add an extra dozen or two and take them to The Christmas People! For three days starting tomorrow, they’ll be accepting cookie dropoffs in West Seattle to include in the meals they’ll be delivering to people in need. Every year, community members have stepped up to fill the order. (Homemade only, please.) You can drop cookies off any time between 9 am and 3 pm Wednesday through Friday (December 22-24) at West Seattle Coworking (6040 California SW)
The home of West Seattle’s history is closed until the new year. Here’s the announcement from the Southwest Seattle Historical Society‘s Log House Museum:
The Log House Museum will be closed through January 2nd, 2022 for the holiday season. We will reopen Friday, January 7th during our normal operating hours: Friday-Sunday from 12:00 to 4:00 pm. We look forward to seeing you in the new year!
The museum at 61st and Stevens on Alki is no longer “by appointment only,” so once it reopens, you can just drop in during the aforementioned hours.
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