West Seattle, Washington
06 Saturday
Christmas tree lots are open, and it’s another way to “shop small” this season. Our photos are from the Holy Rosary School tree lot, which is now open on the north side of the school, off 42nd between Genesee and Dakota.
This lot donates part of the proceeds to local nonprofits and features fresh wreaths, too.
From our list in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide, independent lots/businesses also now offering trees, north to south:
–Trees by the Sea (2530 Alki SW)
–Junction True Value (4747 44th SW)
–West Seattle Nursery (5275 California SW)
–Tony’s Market (9050 35th SW)
And tomorrow’s the first of four Sundays you can buy the famous Pathfinder K-8 handmade wreaths in The Junction, during and adjacent to (on the southwest corner of California/Alaska) the West Seattle Farmers’ Market.
If you can’t get to the Duwamish Longhouse by 5 today, don’t worry, this is only the first of three days for the season’s first of two Native Northwest Holiday Gift Fairs. Native art is just part of what you’ll see:
That’s from Vashon-based Raven’s Nest. Other participants are selling creations including shoes, drums, jewelry, soaps, purses, cards, and inspirational engravings:
Those are by Kristy Lane Haskey. The fair continues until 5 pm tonight, 10 am-5 pm Saturday and Sunday (then again December 14-15-16) at 4705 W. Marginal Way SW.
SIDE NOTE: Though it’s not part of the fair, you might also notice this over the door between the Longhouse’s exhibit space and event space:
“Real Rent” is a new way to support/compensate the Duwamish Tribe, as explained here.
2:23 PM: Despite intermittent showers, it was a festive morning downtown during the 2018 Macy’s Holiday Parade. We recorded the West Seattle High School Marching Band playing “Let It Snow” as they passed our favorite viewing spot (4th/University, where the parade travels west for a block before heading north). Longer clip (also featuring the Salty’s [WSB sponsor] Nutcrackers, which preceded them) a bit later. (The Chief Sealth International High School Marching Band was in the lineup too but wasn’t able to participate after all.) The hour-long parade, with more than 50 entries, is an annual day-after-Thanksgiving tradition.
ADDED 8:32 PM: Here’s our extended video, starting with the Salty’s Nutcrackers and continuing with the WSHS band:
A few photos too:
This parade is mostly VIP-free, but Police Chief Carmen Best was an exception:
That’s Assistant Chief Adrian Z. Diaz to the chief’s right. The SPD contingent also included (not shown as we didn’t spot him until he was leaving camera range) Southwest Precinct operations commander Lt. Steve Strand.
(Photo by Chris Frankovich)>>
Feeling like you need hummingbird-wing speed to get through the holidays? Us too! We are out covering the season’s big start, so for today’s listings, we point you to:
*West Seattle Holiday Guide – which includes some local Black Friday highlights plus the start of Santa-photo season
Our daily highlight list returns tomorrow!
(WSB photo: In a window at Northwest Art and Frame)
As we’re reminded by the “Charlie Brown Christmas” scene from which that quote was taken, a little love can work magic. Your local independent small businesses can really use your love this holiday season, and many are offering reasons for you to stay right here on the peninsula starting with Black Friday tomorrow, continuing with Small Business Saturday the next day, and on through the season (we’re including “shopping spotlights” in our Holiday Guide as always). You can start Friday as early as 7 am – when Easy Street Records opens for Record Store Day Black Friday, and then at 10 am Lika Love‘s new Junction flagship store (4547 California SW) opens – proprietor Malika Siddiq says, “We are offering door busters, $28, $38 and $48 items!!” Down the street at Thunder Road Guitars (4736 California SW; WSB sponsor), they’re celebrating their 7th anniversary with a Friday and Saturday sale – proprietor Frank Gross says they’re offering “15% off most guitars, amplifiers, and all pedals in stock.” Thunder Road, Easy Street, and Sub Pop Records even teamed up for a promotional video that tells a timeless tale of shopping small and dreaming big:
Tomorrow, we’ll take a closer look at what’s up for Small Biz Saturday – you can get a long list of Junction previews by going here. Doing something special and haven’t e-mailed us yet? westseattleblog@gmail.com – thanks!
The report and photos are from West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) co-proprietor Tim McConnell, as WSR’s annual Thanksgiving Day Gobble Gobble Group Run and food drive started the holiday along Alki Beach:
Thanks to all who came out to support us and the West Seattle Food Bank!
We had a great turnout for our 8th annual Thanksgiving group run.
Perfect running/ walking weather, lots of smiling faces, a few furry friends, and the West Seattle Road Runners youth cross country/track team, who also helped us load up all the canned food donations brought by the participants.
West Seattle Runner’s other holiday-season events include co-presenting Track Friday tomorrow morning (details are in our preview) and the Christmas Light Run on December 16th (here’s our calendar listing); you’ll find both in our West Seattle Holiday Guide too. WSR is an independent local retailer – 2743 California SW – one of the great places where you can shop local this season, not just Black Friday or Small Biz Saturday, but every day!
They put the “giving” in Thanksgiving! For the 20th year, David Meckstroth and Meg and David Haggerty of Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering (aka DSquared) have just hosted a free community Thanksgiving dinner in West Seattle, at The Hall at Fauntleroy.
Every year their staff and volunteers serve hundreds of people a full traditional holiday meal including roast turkey. They provide everything except desserts, which are provided by community donors:
Donated warm clothing is available too, for anybody in need of it. But many go simply to celebrate community.
P.S. If you missed it and aren’t already cooking dinner, our West Seattle Holiday Guide has info on where you can go (including the West Seattle Eagles, whose own annual free community dinner is scheduled to continue until 5 pm).
(Photo by WSB’s Christopher Boffoli)
Happy Thanksgiving! As always, we’re starting the holiday with information you might find helpful:
COFFEE SHOPS OPEN TODAY: 6 West Seattle coffee shops open for at least part of today are listed in the Thanksgiving section atop our Holiday Guide. (Others? Let us know!)
GROCERY STORES OPEN TODAY: This list is also in the Thanksgiving section atop our Holiday Guide.
RESTAURANTS (AND BARS WITH FOOD) OPEN TODAY AND/OR TONIGHT: Here’s the list; please remember that it is a list of who told us, when we called, that they planned to be open – so it’s always subject to last-minute change without notice to us. Please let us know if you find discrepancies – thank you!
PRE-TURKEY EXERCISE : Four options this morning, indoor and outdoor, and they too are in the Thanksgiving section atop the Holiday Guide.
WHERE TO FIND A FREE COMMUNITY THANKSGIVING DINNER: Three options this year, everyone welcome:
*Cafe Mia, 11 am-1 pm (4310 SW Oregon)
*The Hall at Fauntleroy, noon-3 pm (9131 California SW)
*West Seattle Eagles, 2 pm-5 pm (4426 California SW)
IF YOU WANT TO HELP: You can donate a dessert to The Hall at Fauntleroy’s dinner – such as a pie or cookies – dropoffs are welcome between 10 am and 1 pm, same address as above (south end of the historic schoolhouse).
WHAT TO DO AFTER DINNER: The Admiral Theater is open this afternoon/evening – see the movies and showtimes here (2343 California SW) … The West Seattle Lights music-synched light show starts tonight, 7-9 pm – bring food for the West Seattle Food Bank! (3908 SW Charlestown)
(Hawk photographed at Alki by David Hutchinson)
THANKSGIVING TRANSPORTATION NOTES:
*Metro is on the Sunday schedule
*No Water Taxi service
*Sound Transit is on the Sunday schedule
*Washington State Ferries‘ Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run is on its regular weekday schedule
*No charge for parking today on city streets in neighborhoods with pay stations
*Traffic cameras: West Seattle-relevant ones here, citywide links on SDOT’s map
OTHER INFO:
*No trash/recycling pickup today – Thursday pickups will happen Friday; Friday pickups, on Saturday
*Seattle Parks closures for today, tomorrow
*Seattle Public Libraries closed today
West Seattle’s Log House Museum is closed today
Detailed info for today and beyond is in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide. We hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving! (And if you see/hear news, please text/call 206-293-6302 – thank you!)
Dozens of young musicians, comprising our area’s two high-school marching bands, will be part of the 28th annual Macy’s Holiday Parade downtown this Friday. Chief Sealth International High School and West Seattle High School (shown in WSB photos from 2017) are both in the parade lineup we obtained from a Macy’s spokesperson – see it here (PDF).
The parade starts at 9 am Friday (November 23rd) at 7th and Pine, heads west on Pine to 5th, turns south on 5th, then west on University, and heads back north on 4th to, of course, the endpoint at Macy’s. Rain or shine!
Love baking? Two holiday-season community dinners can benefit from your baking!
That’s a photo from a past-season Hall at Fauntleroy community Thanksgiving dinner. This Thursday, for the 20th year, The Hall will again open its doors for a free catered feast that will also feature community-donated desserts. If you can spare cookies, cake, a pie, or something else to sweeten things up for the diners, organizers would welcome your contribution. You can drop your donation off at Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering‘s SODO office (4101 Airport Way S.) 9 am-3 pm tomorrow or Wednesday, or at The Hall (9131 California SW) 10 am-1 pm Thursday – details here.
Looking ahead to Christmastime, this is a call specifically for cookies – lots and lots of them! The Christmas People plan to again serve a community dinner at the Alki Masonic Hall in The Junction on Christmas Day, as well as distributing food to people who can’t get there, and they are again calling for thousands of home-baked cookies to be donated in the days before Christmas! Contact The Christmas People if you’re interested in contributing.
By request, we call West Seattle restaurants every year to find out who will be open Thanksgiving, for those who just don’t want to cook. Here’s the first take of our list. As always, some caveats – an establishment might change its plan; also, some didn’t pick up the phone and/or return our message. So we expect updates, and we appreciate tips if you find omissions or changes – 206-293-6302 text or voice, or editor@westseattleblog.com. (This is linked on our Event Calendar and in our Holiday Guide, too, for quick ways to find it later. Our guide also includes info on non-restaurant venues with free community dinners on the holiday.)
More handmade holiday shopping right now, from our West Seattle Holiday Guide – we just visited the Ethical Trade Sale at Our Lady of Guadalupe‘s Walmesley Center for a few photos. From the sale announcement:
Ethical Trade seeks to change the ways in which conventional trade often leaves behind the most vulnerable people. By buying Ethical Trade, you support the efforts of skilled farmers and artisans working to break the cycle of poverty and to build stronger communities. Employers also assure that workers are treated with dignity and that forced labor is not part of the supply chain.
While you’re there, check out the bake sale with treats made by OLG students to benefit Wa href=”http://westsidebaby.org” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>WestSide Baby. The Walmesley Center is on the northeast corner of 35th/Myrtle and the sale continues until 1 pm.
(2017 Track Friday photo, courtesy of Michele Pettinger)
Again this year, you can get the post-Thanksgiving holidays going with some moving and giving, during the second West Seattle Track Friday! If you haven’t already seen it in our calendar, here’s the announcement from Michele Pettinger of P3 Running:
P3 Running and West Seattle Runner are excited to bring Track Friday back to West Seattle! Track Friday is a community-based movement to mobilize people to support charitable giving. Participants run laps on a nearby track to raise awareness and funds for causes that they care about. Track Friday is held the day after Thanksgiving [November 23] to encourage people to reunite with old and new friends, burn off some Thanksgiving Day calories, and put a little love and giving spirit back into a day that has become synonymous with commercialism.
Michele Pettinger, the founder of P3 Running, is raising money for the Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation as her mom is living with the disease. Her friend, Fes Naqvi, who learned of Track Friday last year, became involved and is raising money for The Butterfly Fund, a non-profit that helps families who have children (0-18) who have a catastrophic life-altering medical condition or event.
We understand that you may have a charity that you feel strongly about, so you are able to fundraise for your chosen charity on Track Friday as well! You can do so by simply joining the West Seattle Track Friday 2018 Team.
We will be at Hiawatha Track and Playfield the morning after Thanksgiving from 9 to 11. Invite your friends and family to join – walk 1 mile, 10 minutes, 10 miles, 2 hours, whatever you feel driven to do! Check in with our table to log your miles! We will have hot chocolate, coffee, and some treats, too.
For anyone who participates in the event, 10% of your purchases at West Seattle Runner that day will be donated to the funds. Simply pick up a token from our table at the park to present at the store when purchasing.
You can go here to donate and/or join the team. Hiawatha is at 2700 California SW, and West Seattle Runner (a longtime WSB sponsor) is right across the street at 2743 California SW.
West Seattleites Kendall Jones and Kim Sharpe Jones founded the Beer Church with the idea they could do good deeds while having a good time. Twenty years ago, they organized the first beer-and-bowling event they called the Turkey Bowl. Though Kendall at first wasn’t sure there’d be a second Turkey Bowl, it rolled on and gathered momentum year by year, and around the 10th one, he says (that’s the first one we covered), they realized they had a good thing going. How good?
That photo from tonight’s 20th annual Turkey Bowl gives you an idea of how good – every year, hundreds of pounds of food donated for the West Seattle Food Bank. (They promise to send us an update on tonight’s tally – including donated dollars – later.) The fun also includes an ever-more-impressive raffle, which was happening when we looked in on the Turkey Bowl tonight:
Tonight’s Turkey Bowl also launched this year’s Beer Church IPA, a partnership with three breweries, with sales benefiting the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. You can “look for it at better beer bars and bottleshops around the Seattle area” even if you didn’t make it to tonight’s Turkey Bowl.
P.S. Kendall and Kim also bring you the Washington Beer Blog year-round.
(WSB photo from 2013, the last year the tree was lit)
The city’s highest-elevation Christmas tree is making a comeback this season. Our Lady of Guadalupe is bringing back its tree of lights, after 5 years of a tree-less “Light Up the Night.” Here’s the announcement:
Hundreds will gather on November 30th outside Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish and School in West Seattle for an experience like no other: the lighting of the “tallest” Christmas tree in the Emerald City. With its base at roughly 500 feet above sea level, in Seattle’s aptly named High Point neighborhood, the “OLG Tree” makes a triumphant return for the 2018 holiday season in a fun, family centered “Light Up the Night” celebration. All are welcome to “Light Up the Night,” at the corner of 35th Avenue SW and SW Myrtle Street, at 7 p.m. on November 30, 2018.
For the past decade, OLG has hosted a “Light Up the Night” gathering, complete with Christmas carols; cocoa, coffee and snacks provided by the Knights of Columbus; and plenty of holiday cheer. This year, more than 9,000 lights will adorn the evergreen tree (visible from the West Seattle Bridge!) just outside the entrance to Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, rekindling a holiday tradition for the ages.
“We’re glad to bring the tree lighting back once again to West Seattle,” said Daren Monroe, Athletic Director of OLG’s Catholic Youth Organization sports program, who has helped organize the event. “We’re making sure this tradition of lighting Seattle’s ‘tallest’ tree continues now and into the future. Everyone is welcome to join us!”
In addition to the lighting of the tree, carols, and holiday snacks, “Light Up the Night” asks for your help in “filling the sleigh” for those less fortunate in our community. Donations of non-perishable food items will be accepted at Walmesley Center gymnasium.
Learn more (here).
11:11 AM: We’re stopping at several of the events on today’s very busy West Seattle Saturday list – starting with the Arts and Crafts Fair at C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor).
This one got going early and runs until 2 pm. More stops to come.
11:56 AM: The craft-fair bazaar at Arrowhead Gardens is one of the biggest we’ve seen! Multiple rooms in the community building full of creations, like these night lights in bottles:
Lots of hand-knit items to keep you warm; preserves too.
This one is on until 3 pm, 9200 2nd SW.
1:17 PM: Also in the south end until 3 pm, the White Center Library Guild has its bazaar and book sale at the library today – some handmade items:
And some rummage sale-y items too:
The library is at 1409 SW 107th.
10:40 AM: Big turnout this morning for Eastridge Church‘s annual turkey giveaway. If you or someone you know could use a turkey and bag of groceries, get there fast because as of our stop a short time ago, they were down to 150 remaining. Between the West Seattle and Issaquah campuses of Eastridge, they were providing 1,500.
The church is at 39th and Oregon on the east side of The Junction.
12:20 PM: Eastridge tells us the turkeys have now all been given out.
Platters by Husky Deli were among the attractions as Menashe and Sons Jewelers (WSB sponsor) hosted its open-house Holiday Party tonight in The Junction. We stopped in to talk with proprietor Jack Menashe about his family’s other famous enterprise – their Christmas lights on Beach Drive.
The ABC show “The Great Christmas Light Fight“ came to the Menashes’ home on opening night last season to film for this fall. Jack Menashe says they’ll be featured on the show’s first 2018 night Monday, November 26th (the second hour, 9 pm, as confirmed by the online schedule). As for this year’s display – work will start after Thanksgiving, and the Menashes expect to illuminate West Seattle’s brightest display starting on Friday, November 30th. Meantime, other family sightings at tonight’s party in the shop included Josh Menashe and wife Michele, and Linda Menashe:
Other Junction businesses are also having open houses as the season continues – tomorrow and beyond; see the list in our West Seattle Holiday Guide, and please let us know if you’re planning one and haven’t sent info yet!
One-of-a-kind holiday decorations are part of what you’ll find at the Providence Mount St. Vincent Holiday Bazaar and Bake Sale, which started today and continues tomorrow, kicking off a big weekend of bazaars and craft fairs in West Seattle.
Our West Seattle Holiday Guide has the full list, from the C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor) Arts and Crafts Fair starting at 8 am Saturday and continuing through the Ethical Trade Sale at Our Lady of Guadalupe on Sunday. (Some business open houses tomorrow, too, and you’ll find them in the guide as well; if you haven’t sent us your holiday event info yet, westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!)
Thanks to Brian Presser of TouchTech Systems for the tip – the West Seattle Junction Hometown Holidays wreaths are going up right now! As always, you can expect a sleighful of holiday activities in The Junction – listed here and in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide. Biggest night of the season will be December 1st, with the Night Market 3-7 pm in the street on SW Alaska by Junction Plaza Park and the Tree Lighting at 6 pm – this year, with special performances throughout the afternoon/evening rather than just at the lighting ceremony.
P.S. Got a holiday event, for now through New Year’s, anywhere in West Seattle/White Center/South Park? Please send us the info ASAP so we can add it to our guide – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
(WSB photo from 2017 Hall at Fauntleroy Thanksgiving dinner)
Just a week and a half until Thanksgiving Day, and this will be the 20th year that everyone is invited to a free community Thanksgiving dinner at The Hall at Fauntleroy. If you haven’t already seen it in our calendar and Holiday Guide, here’s when/where, and how to help even if you’re dining elsewhere:
Join us for a free Community Thanksgiving meal at the Hall at Fauntleroy in West Seattle on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 22nd, from 12 noon to 3:00 pm. All are welcome for a traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings. This is the 20th year that Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes owners Meg and David Haggerty and David Meckstroth have hosted this dinner. They are joined by a wonderful group of volunteers who help greet our welcome guests and serve dinner.
We will gladly accept donations for desserts. Desserts can be dropped off at our Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes office in Sodo – 4101 Airport Way South – from Monday, November 19th, to Wednesday, November 21st, from 9 am to 3 pm, or you can bring it to the Hall at Fauntleroy on Thanksgiving Day from 10 am to 1 pm.
This year we are also collecting new socks and blankets and gently used warm clothing for our clothing bank.
Most volunteer spots are filled but if you’d like to help – check here. You can also sign up there to let them know you’ll donate a dessert, though you can also donate (per the times/places above) without signing up. The Hall at Fauntleroy is on the south end of the historic schoolhouse at 9131 California SW.
(WSB photo, November 2017)
Once again this year, Eastridge Church plans a turkey-and-groceries giveaway at both its campuses, including West Seattle, so no one goes without a Thanksgiving feast. The event next Saturday morning (November 17) is already in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide, and the church has just sent the full announcement:
Eastridge Church will provide 1,500 free Thanksgiving turkeys and bags of groceries to families in need on Saturday, November 17, beginning at 9 a.m. (while supplies last) at their two locations: Issaquah and West Seattle. The church will also be giving away coats, gloves, Bibles and, in Issaquah, free haircuts from licensed stylists.
For nearly 15 years, Eastridge Church has put on the giveaway and offered a free turkey and bag of groceries to families in the community who may need a little help to put a holiday meal on their table. Eastridge Church’s goal through the event is to demonstrate to its neighbors that Eastridge cares by providing a meal this Thanksgiving.
When:
Saturday, November 17, starting at 9 a.m., while supplies lastWhere:
The Issaquah Campus of Eastridge Church, 24205 Issaquah-Fall City Road, Issaquah
The West Seattle Campus of Eastridge Church, 4500 39th Avenue SW, SeattleThe 1,500 dinner packages will be given out first-come, first-served, with no demonstration of need required to receive the assistance.
(WSB photo by Patrick Sand)
Long before the West Seattle Farmers’ Market drew its usual throngs to The Junction, volunteers were out this morning, setting flags in place for Veterans day.
(Photo sent by Frank S)
Volunteers will return to The Junction around 4 to get the flags back down before sunset.
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