West Seattle, Washington
22 Saturday
Till 6 pm tonight, it’s the first day of the first annual West Seattle Halloween Ski Swap is under way at the VFW Hall (3601 SW Alaska), benefiting the West Seattle Snow Sports Council. Haunted house, too! Mastermind – Mountain to Sound Outfitters proprietor Greg Whittaker, here in Viking garb, with wife Kara Whittaker and their son:
The ski swap continues tomorrow, 10 am-4 pm, if you don’t get there today.
Never mind the rain, the Halloween show must go on. And so it is, at Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) where photo sessions are under way, as a fundraiser for WestSide Baby and the West Seattle Food Bank – Hotwire proprietor Lora just sent that photo. Good place to take shelter, as you can see from this angle:
And come admire the merchants’ Halloween spirit – like the team from Forsythe Studio:
Junction trick-or-treating continues till 3 pm – more photos to come. ADDED 4:18 PM: As promised!
Umbrellas were suddenly the perfect accessory for trick-or-treating!
An angelic sighting at Terjung’s:
As always, costume creativity, and cuteness, abounded:
Two more area business-district trick-or-treat events are yet to come – both tomorrow – White Center 3-5 pm, Westwood Village 4-7 pm.
The photo and explanation are from John Van Lierop, Jr., organist at Tibbetts United Methodist Church (WSB sponsor).
This year, All Hallows’ Eve (Halloween) falls on a Sunday. At Tibbetts United Methodist Church in West Seattle, the minister, Rev. Dr. Joanne Carlson Brown, is encouraging her members to dress in costume for that Sunday. Even though Halloween originated as a pagan holiday, it also has Christian roots as churches celebrate All Saints’ Day the next day. Oct. 31 also happens to be Reformation Sunday, when the Protestant churches mark the anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg church. Rev. Brown, who will be dressed in costume, believes in a God who delights in us and loves laughter and fun as well as praise.
In the photo are John, “dressed as he will be on Halloween Sunday,” with two of his piano pupils, Kira and Nicholas Branch, who also attend Tibbetts (which is at 3940 41st SW).
Thanks yet again for sharing so many great pumpkin photos this past week – This round begins with one from Chef Jason Todd Rice at The Bohemian, who also wants to make sure you know they have a special cocktail with proceeds going to help Sofia Goff from now-closed Café Revo – just ask for “La Sofia.” Meantime, Meredith shared this group:
And two from Todd:
If you have a pumpkin pic to share for the final two roundups tonight and Halloween night – please use this address: westseattleblog@gmail.com … our main one’s having a few technical challenges at the moment and might not be fixed till later Saturday. Thanks and have a great time this weekend!
Till 6 pm tonight, masquerading merchants and boo-tiful businesspeople are awaiting trick-or-treaters at participanting Admiral District businesses, for Admiral Treats and Treasures. (Recognize those two?)
Here’s the map link, if you don’t have it already. Tomorrow 1-3 pm, it’s Trick-or-Treat in The Junction (with lots of bonus events, from photo sessions to costume contests – check the WSB West Seattle Halloween page), and 4-7 pm on Halloween, you can scare up some candy by trick-or-treating at Westwood Village. ADDED 5:04 PM: More photos from this afternoon’s Admiral event:
That’s your Admiral Neighborhood Association, with a table along the north side of the cleaners at California/Admiral. Lots of creative costumes all over the neighborhood:
That’s 2-month-old Leo in the pot. Then there’s the double-bagged duo we spotted:
And throngs everywhere:
Next it’s on to tonight’s carnivals and other events … WSB West Seattle Halloween all here. ADDED 11:06 PM: One last thing – video of trick-or-treaters encountering the famous Alki Bike and Board spider:
They’re getting ahead of Halloween celebrations at The Kenney; its Activities Department is putting on a Haunted House today; they shared this photo from the first “showing,” and they’re getting ready for one more at 3:30 pm in Community Room 3, in case you’re in the neighborhood (7125 Fauntleroy Way SW). Remember, lots of other Halloween activities in the hours ahead – and tomorrow and Sunday – see our list here.
After two years with a pirate theme, West Seattle’s famous animatronic outdoor Halloween production is going rock ‘n’ roll for Halloween 2010. Last night we dropped by the 36th/Hanford (map) headquarters of Skeleton Theatre for a peek at what’s in store. Behind the scenes, it looks a little like a mad scientist’s workshop:
The stars of this year’s show – “The Death of Rock” – is Bonaparte, “famous rock band from the ’60s,” performing their greatest hits. Between the sets, we’re told, it’s something like a “Behind The Music” video. Here’s Chris Walker tinkering with one of the band members as spouse Maia Low looks on:
We rolled video as Chris continued working to get ready for the show:
You can catch Skeleton Theatre playing continuously in the front-yard stage (you’ll be standing on the sidewalk, or maybe across the street) 6-9 pm Sunday night (Halloween) and Monday night (November 1st). Chris and Maia say a lot of people have tried to donate $ – it’s free to watch – on site in past years, and while appreciated, it’s been a little challenging to deal with, so they ask that if you are so moved to offer something for all the work that goes into Skeleton Theatre, you donate online (the button’s on the home page).
Thanks to Lashanna for that photo from last night’s annual Pathfinder K-8 Pumpkin-Carving Party – taken as the masterpieces were displayed. That’s a glowing prelude to what’s basically, this year, a three-day Halloweekend. The full list of Halloween-related events is on the WSB West Seattle Halloween page. Today’s centerpiece is Admiral Treats and Treasures, the first of four West Seattle/White Center business-district trick-or-treating events – 3-6 pm, here’s the updated official map. Community-center carnivals, a free family swim, and lots more on the docket too. Also: Tonight it’s time for the first-ever West Seattle Halloween Ski Swap gear dropoff, at VFW Hall, 3601 SW Alaska, 4-7 pm – this is a benefit for the West Seattle Snow Sports Council. Also tonight, it’s Halloween Rainbow Bingo at Senior Center of West Seattle (doors open 6, bingo at 7). Lots of live entertainment, like most Friday nights – among the special events is Sweet, Sweet Music with a lively lineup of performers at Fauntleroy Church, 7:30 pm – full details on this Facebook event page.
We’re featuring West Seattle pumpkins through Halloween, and tonight, three more examples of creative carvings – first, Megan carved half a dozen pumpkins, both in honor of her two Admiral workplaces (including WSB sponsor Shanti Salon and Spa) and “just for fun.” Next, Bill Schrier – who among other things is webmaster for the 34th District Democrats – has some political pumpkins in this picture:
From left, that’s Alexandria, Ryan, Lara, and Bill. And from MargL‘s three-member family, a three-pumpkin family:
Sent your pumpkin photo yet? We’ve got room for more the next three nights! Here’s how to send ’em.
(WSB photos by Ellen Cedergreen)
The Halloween wave is rolling in … and first to arrive, Toddler Pumpkinpalooza in two sessions today/tonight at High Point Community Center.
Other city-run community centers in West Seattle have celebrations tomorrow (and HPCC has another one)- but this one ushered in the festivities:
They got to show off costumes – like Clarabel above – and decorating skills:
Not only is High Point CC doing a second round of Pumpkinpalooza right now, they’ve also got a Freaky Fall Festival planned tomorrow night (Friday) at 6, same time as Halloween Carnivals at Alki and Hiawatha Community Centers; also tomorrow night, Southwest Pool has a free Halloween Family Swim at 7 pm. (Tons of other activities for all ages at multiple West Seattle venues, all listed on the WSB Halloween page.)
For the next four days/nights, it’s almost ALL about Halloween. Our all-in-one-place, by-category-of-event West Seattle Halloween list is here; from that list, High Point Community Center has two Toddler Pumpkin-Palooza sessions today, 10-noon and 5-7 pm ($5/child); The Sanctuary at Admiral shows the 1922 silent film “Nosferatu” (a “Dracula” adaptation) tonight, with live pipe organ, 7:30 pm ($5 person, also collecting nonperishable food items for West Seattle Food Bank). From the rest of the WSB West Seattle Events calendar – 3 fundraisers tonight: Pegasus Pizza on Alki is raising $ for the Livestrong Foundation, 4-11 pm; Beer Junction‘s tasting event benefits 2 animal-advocacy groups, 5-8 pm; tonight’s monthly WS Tweetup raises $ for breast cancer, 5:30-7:30 pm @ Endolyne Joe’s. On the not-West-Seattle-but-it’s-being-followed-here-closely front, today’s the day that the two firms still in the running to design/build a tunnel to replace the Central Waterfront section of the Alaskan Way Viaduct are supposed to officially present their proposals. More on the calendar (and again, the Halloween page, with dozens of events from now through Nov. 1, is here).
Busy news night tonight, so we’ll just show two West Seattle jack-o-lanterns for you to admire – Karen shared the “friendly vampire” in the top photo – and this spider came in anonymously (is it yours?):
Browse our “Holidays” archive to see the pumpkins we’ve shown the past few nights; if you have one to show off, please share a photo – e-mail address (etc.) here! And if you’re looking for West Seattle Halloween activities, there are dozens in the next five (yes, even Nov. 1) days/nights – full list on the WSB Halloween page.
“Stella and her pumpkin from Tony’s,” is how Justin captioned that before sending it in, as our pumpkin-photo-share-a-thon continues. (By the way, we asked Tony’s last weekend about the impending seasonal break – they told us they’ll be closing after Halloween, till reopening for Christmas trees.) Then we have Andrew‘s pumpkin, which looks a little spooked:
With a classic literature theme, the Mahrt family pumpkins – they note they have a child who’s dressing up as “Thing One” this year:
“The Nightmare Before Christmas” spawned Kimi‘s pumpkin:
Share yours – here’s how.
By the measure of Mural Apartments (WSB sponsor) and Fresh Bistro (on Mural’s street level), that’s the biggest pumpkin in West Seattle (imported from the champion-pumpkin-growing grounds of Puyallup) – more than 400 pounds. Instead of turning it into West Seattle’s biggest jack-o-lantern, they’re turning it into a tourist attraction for the Trick-or-Treat in The Junction event this Saturday. 1-3 pm, you can get a pro photo taken with the pumpkin (first 50 participants are free), and enjoy treats beyond candy – hot mulled cider, mini caramel apples, pumpkin soup, and Spooky Savory Snacks. And even before you join in Saturday’s Giant Pumpkin Celebration, you’re invited to visit Fresh Bistro‘s Facebook page and suggest a name for the super-size squash.
(Knit cactus sold by BriAnna at last year’s Southwest CC holiday bazaar)
Two more holiday bazaars are now putting out the call for vendors: First, Southwest Community Center‘s bazaar is set for 10 am-4 pm on Saturday, November 13th. Table space is $15 if you sign up in advance; call 206-684-7438. Second, a holiday bazaar is planned for November 27th at the Highland Park Improvement Club. The table/booth fee for this one is $20; save a spot by e-mailing Tiffany at highlandparksundaymarket@gmail.com. (As for planning your shopping – we’re adding the bazaar dates to the WSB West Seattle Events calendar page as we get them.)
And the pumpkins keep rolling in … Last night we published some of the pumpkin photos shared by WSB’ers (see them here), plus one in a pre-Halloween update earlier today, and now, tonight’s official showcase: The top trio is from Sara, Lisa and Terra; these next three were shared by Shelley:
Anthony and Kelly Perez shared the next pumpkin pair:
And Lisa L sent this photo taken after a carving party last weekend:
We’ll be showing more between now and Halloween – so keep ’em coming! Meanwhile, in case you missed it earlier – the Southwest Precinct is interested in showing off West Seattle kids’ pumpkins – so if you’ve got a jack-o-lantern to share there, check out the info here (last part of the story).
HALLOWEEN EVENTS: We’ve added a few more to the WSB West Seattle Halloween page (let us know if there’s something you’re still not seeing there), and there’s also an update for the Admiral Treats and Treasures map for this Friday’s trick-or-treating – get the latest version here (it’s on the page, too); plus, Skylark Club and Café (WSB sponsor) has updated the lineup for its always-huge Come As You Aren’t event this Saturday night. And there’s pumpkin news:
PUMPKINS ON PARADE: We’ve already received a passle of pumpkin photos since putting out the call last night – that’s one of them, courtesy of Barry (get it? Pumpkin Pi?) – keep ’em coming! Meantime, Seattle Police precincts including Southwest Precinct will be showing off some pumpkins that’ll be carved at a special police-led in the East Precinct, and we’re told the precincts will all have candy, too, for kids who stop by Tuesday night and beyond. (We’re checking on exact hours.) 3:48 PM UPDATE: Here’s the SW Precinct plan, shared by Lt. Ron Rasmussen:
At the Southwest Precinct, we have been working to obtain artwork from the Schools in West Seattle to display in the windows at our precinct. We will also gladly display any carved or decorated pumpkins that are brought to us at the Precinct by the public and especially kids in the community who want to share their creativity and artistic talent with us and the rest of West Seattle. We generally have a desk officer present from 7 A.M. to 7 P.M. Monday through Friday to accept any pumpkin donations.
After noticing so many people out buying pumpkins today, we put out the call via Facebook this afternoon: It’s been fun to spotlight West Seattle jack-o-lantern pix in recent years, so send us yours! And we’ve received several already. Here are three. Top, Stephanie shares “Pac-Kin”; next, Sarah, Dan, and Wrigley sent their trio of “freshly carved West Seattle pumpkins”:
Via Facebook, Joleen shared a photo from her visit (with a friend she says is also from WS) to last week’s Keene, New Hampshire, pumpkin festival – the bottom two jack o’lanterns are theirs:
Also from the after-dark files, David Rosen from SlickPix Photography shares the one he made for his Halloween party:
Counting Halloween, we have seven nights ahead for pumpkin-showcasing – share yours any of these ways!
You might remember that video from last year’s amazing music-synced Christmas lights display on a house by the Charlestown water towers. This is our first update from Jim Winder since May – he’s the mastermind, but the house with the display belongs to a friend. He sent this photo:
That’s from some work done over the weekend, and Jim explains: “I set up some of the new elements this past weekend just to make sure it was all going to work as planned. Hopefully in the next week or so, I will also have our website up. Looks like our ‘Lighting Ceremony’ will be on the Saturday after Thanksgiving (November 27th), though there will probably be some shows on that Friday.” Last year had about 10,000 lights, but this year, they’re going for more than 50,000, according to the update we published from Jim in May.
Just under two weeks till Halloween, but the celebrations are already beginning – so we’ve pulled the information about everything even remotely related (including “fall festival” events) onto one WSB page again this year, grouped by type of activity, and added it to the lineup of tabs atop every WSB page. Some of what you’ll find: The official Admiral Treats and Treasures (one of 4 local business-district trick-or-treating events) map is linked to its listing; The Sanctuary at Admiral is offering a new event, a silent movie with live organist; local Toastmasters will tell spooky tales at C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor) tomorrow night, and that’s the earliest event on the list. See it all here – and let us know if something’s missing, so it can be added – thanks! (Jack-o-lanterns photo from Heidi & Daniel, Halloween 2007)
(Toy Swap photo from 2009)
Once again this year, CoolMom is planning its annual Holiday Toy Swap ‘n’ Sale, a chance to recycle what you don’t need and pick up something you want that somebody else doesn’t need. The sustainability-focused group is planning two versions this year, both on November 13th, including one in West Seattle (the other’s in Wallingford). It’s set for 9 am-1 pm that day at Fauntleroy Church (9140 California SW). Proceeds benefit WestSide Baby and FamilyWorks as well as CoolMom. From the CM announcement:
There are 2 ways to participate:
1. Donate items before the sale & receive a $5 credit toward your purchase the day of the sale.
2. Nothing to donate? Show up and shop to your heart’s content.
Please don’t forget your reusable bags to collect your treasures. Cash and Check only.
Bag up donations – toys, sports clothes and products, baby gear, but no clothing or car seats (got any of the latter? take ’em to WestSide Baby this Saturday). To get your $5 credit, make sure your name is on or in your donation bag, so you can redeem the credit on sale day. Here are the West Seattle donation locations, which CoolMom’s Terri Glaberson tells WSB are set up now:
PCC West Seattle [WSB sponsor]
Gatewood Elementary School
Arbor Heights Elementary School
Community School of West Seattle
Pathfinder School
C&P Coffee [WSB sponsor]
Small Clothes
CoolMom is a Washington State Not-for-Profit 501(c)3 – organized to unite families to take action on climate change through education, lifestyle change, and advocacy. The West Seattle group meets the first Wednesday of every month, 7 pm at C&P Coffee Company, 5612 California SW.
With Halloween just three weeks away, we’ve got two more big event announcements: First, Skeleton Theatre (an animatronic, narrated, sound-effect-enhanced production in a South Admiral front yard) will be back October 31st-November 1st, this time with an all-new show after two years of the pirate-themed presentation. It’s rock ‘n’ roll this time – make no bones about it. There’s some info about the new show at skeletontheatre.com. Also in Admiral – the first big doggie-costume contest we’ve heard about so far:
That’s from the flyer (see the full version here) just shared by Muttley Crew Cuts for this year’s Muttster Mash, a chance for people to party along with their pooches – beer and wine too – 7 pm-11 pm on October 30th. To see more of what’s in store as Halloween approaches (and other local events/meetings/workshops/etc.), check out the WSB West Seattle Events calendar.
Two more Halloween-season events just sent in for the WSB West Seattle Events calendar … Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) in Admiral is having a costume contest October 29th, 3-6 pm. (That happens to coincide with the Admiral Treats and Treasures trick-or-treating event.) Meantime, a new twist on West Seattle’s artsiest pumpkins:
That photo is courtesy Shannon Felix at Avalon Glassworks, who shares this announcement:
Design your own glass pumpkin and watch it being made at Avalon Glassworks on Sunday, October 17, 2010. You choose the color, shape, and stem type and see your unique piece being created. A limited number of time slots are available for purchase on our web site, www.avalonglassworks.com/designyourown.aspx at $60 (plus tax) each. We will also accommodate as many drop-ins as possible, first-come, first-served.
Our Halloween page is almost ready to go so if you have a Halloween/harvest-themed festival ahead in the next few weeks, please let us know!
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