West Seattle, Washington
11 Monday
Thanks to WSB contributing photographer Ellen Cedergreen for this shot of final preparations under way in Junction Plaza Park (42nd/Alaska) for tonight’s tree lighting, coming up at 5 pm – the biggest of the many events today on the ever-growing West Seattle Holidays list. Not only is the location different this year, so is the program – it’ll be shorter, but no less festive, with music from West Seattle’s own Endolyne Children’s Choir. Local Web/radio personality Marty Riemer emcees, and we’re told a child will be chosen from the crowd to throw the switch on the lights on West Seattle’s newest community Christmas tree (brand-new park, so new tree, and as the Junction Association’s Susan Melrose puts it, we’ll get to watch it grow over the years). See you there at 5 – and if you’re going early to shop, note that more than a few Junction businesses have deals in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Shopping/Business Guide.
FIRST REPORT, 7:03 AM: The sun’s not up yet and 200 volunteers, teens and adults, have been hard at work for a while at Sears SODO, preparing for the 37th annual Rotary Club of West Seattle Children’s Holiday Shopping Spree. Busloads carrying about 100 kids from four West Seattle elementary schools have just started to arrive for the spree – which will net each one a holiday haul including coats, socks, new clothes, and a few other surprises. In addition to Rotary members, the volunteers who are standing ready to help the kids – as well as joining them for breakfast before shopping and lunch afterward – are members of the affiliated InterAct clubs from several metro-area high schools. Besides being an en-masse event for holiday giving, this is quite the logistical challenge too, with both donated and purchased items to be set out in a way that’ll allow each child and her/his designated volunteer “buddy” to move along without too much chaos:
(video added) WS Rotary past president Josh Sutton delivered the marching orders (and helpful hints) to volunteers:
The shopping has just begun:
As you might have noticed in today’s morning preview, this is the start of an action-packed Saturday … we’ll have more on this (and other events) later! ADDED 3:48 PM: Santa and friends:
The kids, by the way, were from Arbor Heights, Sanislo, West Seattle, and Schmitz Park Elementary Schools. We spoke post-shopping with volunteer Anita MacPherson and “her” student, Uriel; Anita says this volunteer work is a family tradition:
You can help the Rotary pay for future shopping sprees by donating here.
(WSB photos by Ellen Cedergreen)
Kicking off a West Seattle weekend full of open houses, bazaars, and other holiday events – one celebration at a business rich in history, one celebration for a business that’s brand new. First one: Husky Deli, the West Seattle Junction icon. As WSB contributing photographer Ellen Cedergreen describes it, “Husky was packed in waves. Very high spirits, lots of West Seattle pride.”
Above, Husky proprietor Jack Miller; next, one of the vendors who were part of tonight’s open house, West Seattle beekeeper Krista Conner, who says she can barely keep her “West Seattle Honey” in stock at Husky:
Husky offered a discount on purchases made during the open house. And despite the chilly night, the ice-cream counter was as popular as ever:
Ice cream, of course, is what really put Husky on the map when the business was started 78 years ago. If you haven’t heard its full history, check out Lori Hinton‘s “West Seattle 101” chapter about Husky Deli, republished here on WSB. Meantime, while Husky bustled with open-house visitors, about a mile south on California SW, a brand-new business celebrated its debut:
Eco Beauty is a new Aveda salon and spa at 6040 California SW. A holiday open house marked its grand opening tonight. With the theme “Nature nurturing you,” owner Christine Darragh (above left) is showing support for environmental concerns; and raised money tonight for Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, whose Betsy Moyer (above right) joined her at the open house.
(From the WSB Flickr group, by smohundro)
On the third night of Hanukkah, and with three weeks to go till Christmas Eve, we’ll break out today/tonight’s spotlight events into the holidays/non-holidays divisions:
HOLIDAYS: South Seattle Community College‘s 2-day Holiday Wine Sale starts at noon, details here … Twelfth Night Productions opens “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Radio Play” tonight – in a wonderful venue – Kenyon Hall – 7:30 pm (buy tickets here); look for the Chief Sealth International High School Honors Choir with preshow caroling and concessions, raising money for their Carnegie Hall trip … Kol HaNeshamah has a combined Shabbat service/Hanukkah celebration; service 6:30, candlelighting/vegetarian potluck/games and fun at 7:15 pm (6115 SW Hinds) … The always-awaited Husky Deli holiday open house in The Junction is tonight, 6-9 pm, and according to the HD Facebook page, there’s 10 percent off purchases made during the event … Craft Fair tonight at Lafayette Elementary School, with students selling homemade/unique gifts, 6-8:30 pm (California/Lander). … Much more on the WSB West Seattle Holidays page, and before your next shopping adventure, see who’s new in the West Seattle Holiday Shopping/Business Guide.
NON-HOLIDAYS: West Seattle parents are invited to a presentation at Pathfinder K-8 tonight with the author of “Birds + Bees + Your Kids – A Guide to Sharing Your Beliefs About Sexuality, Love and Relationships,” 6 pm (free but RSVP requested, lashannaw@gmail.com) … The new Eco Beauty Salon/Spa at 6040 California SW launches with an open house, 5:30-9 pm, with treats and prizes, full details on this Facebook events page … Yes, there’s still Friday night skating at Alki Community Center! 6:45-8:45 pm, $3/person.
It’s another West Seattle holiday tradition – suggest what the historic Admiral Theater should show as its free Christmas movie! Dinah at The Admiral tells us the movie will be at 7 pm Thursday, December 23rd – admission free but you’re asked to bring food, toys, collars, dog beds to donate to the Humane Society. And now: Time for your suggestion! E-mail dinahmite9@gmail.com – winner revealed December 20th.
FIRST: Yet more holiday news from The Junction – they’ve officially announced Shop Late Thursdays, with 11 merchants participating so far (including 3 from the WSB Holiday Shopping/Business Guide). That means they’ll be open for special evening shopping 6-9 pm Thursdays till Christmas, starting tomorrow and continuing through December 23rd. On Thursday next week, this will coincide with West Seattle Art Walk.
SECOND: Looking ahead to next Saturday, the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle is issuing daily reminders about its annual Pancake Breakfast – coming up this Saturday morning, 7 am-11 am, at the Alki Masonic Hall, which is in The Junction, not Alki, 40th/Edmunds, just east of Jefferson Square, plenty of parking. In addition to Santa Claus, you’ll get to mingle with West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival royalty, according to Hi-Yu’s Deena Mahn, who also just sent this thanks regarding the fundraising ornament sale:
West Seattle Hi-Yu would like to thank the West Seattle Community, Hi-Yu members and friends for their support in out Annual Holiday Ornament Sale! It was a huge success and all ornaments have been sold — we wish you all Happy Holidays!
Just hours after the pancake breakfast, it’ll be time for the West Seattle Junction Community Tree Lighting at 5 pm Saturday in Junction Plaza Park (42nd/Alaska) – new location this year, now that the long-awaited park is finally open. More holiday events/giving opportunities/info (like Christmas-tree lots and church services) on the WSB West Seattle Holidays page (and thanks to everyone who’s sent new info today – we’ll be adding it tonight!).
From the West Seattle Holidays page:
HANUKKAH, NIGHT ONE: The eight-night Jewish Festival of Lights starts tonight at sundown. So far, the only public West Seattle event we have listed is a December 6th party co-sponsored by Seattle Kollel and West Seattle Torah Learning Center. Any others to add to the page? Let us know.
CHRISTMAS COCKTAILS: Just got word this morning from Jeff Gilbert at the Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) of holiday fundraisers including this one starting tonight, involving not just the Feedback:
Jeff explains that Feedback, Skylark Café (also a WSB sponsor), West 5, Shadowland, Maharaja, and JaK’s Grill are all participating:
• Each participating bar came up with a signature holiday cocktail or drink special.
• $1 of each of these beverages sold goes into a pool at the end of the promotion, with the cash proceeds being divided equally to benefit the West Seattle, White Center and South Park food banks.
• The promotion starts December 1st and runs through December 24th. This will help the food banks replenish their stock after the holidays, when they need it the most.
To see the list of drinks (and their ingredients) – go to this page on the Feedback website. Meantime, starting this Friday, the Feedback adds another donation drive: “Tots for Toys.” Yes, you read correctly. Jeff elaborates, “We’re giving away a FREE basket of Tater Tots for every new, unwrapped toy to be donated to the Marines’ toy drive.” That runs from December 4th through December 17th.
(Photo courtesy ArtsWest)
Your double dose of West Seattle onstage live-theater holiday goodness is about to arrive, courtesy of ArtsWest and Twelfth Night Productions (both WSB sponsors). First – award-winning “A Tuna Christmas” opens tomorrow night at ArtsWest – running through December 24th as it tells the tales of the townspeople of tiny Tuna, Texas, “where the Lions Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never dies,” on the day before Christmas, with catastrophes looming like a holiday theater production gone awry and a sabotaged decorating contest. Tickets are available online (showtimes are posted there too).
Then on Friday, it’s opening night for Twelfth Night Productions’ “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Radio Play” – and the venue this time is Kenyon Hall:
(Photo courtesy Twelfth Night Productions)
You know the “Wonderful Life” story. But that’s not all that’s in store for showgoers. Twelfth Night says you’ll find pre-show caroling this weekend with the Chief Sealth International High School Honors Choir raising money for its Carnegie Hall trip, and the second weekend in a singalong with Kenyon Hall ‘s Lou Magor, plus the first two Fridays will include a “7-minute Nutcracker Suite adaptation by local dance troupe Van Glam.” The shows are at 7:30 pm December 3-4 and 10-11, and 3 pm December 11-12; tickets are available online here.
Not only is their national-TV appearance coming up on Saturday, as reported here yesterday morning, but West Seattle’s Menashe Family also got a regional-TV spotlight this morning on KING 5’s “New Day Northwest.” The clip above includes anchor Margaret Larson‘s on-set interview with Jack and Josh Menashe, plus a comment from Linda Menashe (seated between Joanna and Jack Jr.) in the audience. Afterward, they were back at work on the display, so we stopped by to ask when they’re planning to turn it on – Josh told us it’ll be this Friday night.
Several holiday notes tonight: The photo’s from The Junction, as workers put up holiday greenery in the middle of the gray afternoon. When Junction decorating is done, you will see garlands and wreaths as well as the roof-outline lights that are new this year (if you haven’t seen them yet, be sure to go after dark and take a look!). It’ll all be complete in time for this first big Hometown Holidays (co-sponsored by WSB) weekend ahead — Saturday night brings the tree lighting in Junction Plaza Park (5 pm), Sunday brings Santa photos at Donna Ryan Photography ($15 donation goes to WestSide Baby), mule-carriage rides, and the West Seattle Volunteer Recognition Awards (1 pm at Hometown Holidays HQ outside KeyBank – we’re revealing the winners here tomorrow, but come cheer them in a brief ceremony Sunday at 1). Junction Hometown Holidays events are just part of what you’ll find on the WSB West Seattle Holidays page, which is one of two special pages we have this year – we’ve also just added three more listings to the WSB West Seattle Holiday Shopping/Business Guide, a new advertising page for local businesses to let you know more about their special deals, hours, etc., this holiday. Take a look to find out about special late hours and more – for example, one of the new additions, Avalon Glassworks, is offering you a discount for every item you bring in for their food-bank drive (up to 10 items)!
Work has begun on this year’s edition of West Seattle’s biggest, brightest Christmas lights — the Menashe Family display in the 5600 block of Beach Drive. We stopped by Sunday afternoon, as the front yard bustled with family and friends (plus the cherry picker), while the back yard held more components of the famous light show:
Inside, Linda Menashe showed us the photo postcard created to share the news of the display’s upcoming TV showcase. You might remember that last year, The Learning Channel sent a crew to document both the decorating, and the official switching-on of the show; here’s our video of one take, as family and friends loudly cheered the throwing of the switch:
Again, that was DECEMBER 2009 – the lights for this year are NOT on yet. As we reported a year ago, they said it would be part of a TV program this season – and indeed, as the Menashes’ postcard proclaims, they’ll be on TLC (Comcast channel xx) at 9 pm this Saturday night, December 4; the online listing says the show’s called “Invasion of the Christmas Lights 2,” and Linda Menashe says their share of it will run about 10 minutes. She has fond memories of the crew that spent a week in and around her house – “our basement was filled with the most gorgeous film equipment!” – and also told us that TLC found the family by discovering a past WSB report. Back to this year’s display – Linda’s daughter Joanna Menashe showed us some of this year’s new additions, like a holiday horse:
Other animated characters awaited in other nooks and crannies:
If all goes well – Joanna says now that she and her siblings are grown up, the decorating work goes a lot faster than it did when they were kids! – the lights will go on midweek. And then on Saturday night, her mom told us, the family will gather at son Jacob‘s house to watch the TLC show. Meantime, as per WSB tradition, we’d love to hear from you about other bright local lights displays – share the info (and photo if you get one) – thanks!
That’s our personal favorite song from the Helmstetler Family Spectacular music-synched Christmas-lights show, which began its second year at 3908 SW Charlestown (map; across from the water tower) tonight. The first number was preceded by an official lighting ceremony – special guest pushing the button, Zack Lystedt, a Maple Valley teenager who suffered a brain injury after going back into a football game in 2006 following a hard hit – that inspired a history-making law signed by Governor Gregoire last year. In his honor, his family chose Pushing Boundaries as the nonprofit to benefit from any donations made during the show tonight. Zach’s dad Victor spoke briefly at the start of our video – the man on the right is Jim Winder, Helmstetler family friend and mastermind of the lighting extravaganza:
If you go watch in your car – you’ll hear the synchronized music on 101.9. Bring a donation for the West Seattle Food Bank – there’s a donation bin right in front of the house. This year the show even has its own website at westseattlelights.com, loaded with information from directions to schedule, and more. And if last year is any indication, we know Jim will soon have much-better clips of the show than ours, so watch for those.
Santa Claus has arrived in West Seattle! His four-weekend visit to Westwood Village began today; he’ll be back noon-4 pm tomorrow (and Dec. 4-5, 11-12, 18-19) – bring a food-bank donation; they’re collecting diapers for WestSide Baby, too, and there’s free gift wrapping, with donations accepted for local nonprofits. (Santa’s in The Junction, too, during Hometown Holidays on Dec. 5, 12, 19, 11 am-3 pm, with photos at Donna Ryan Photography, donations benefiting WS Baby.) Speaking of The Junction, on its northern edge the Holy Rosary School Christmas Tree Sale started today in its new location, with the traditional blessing, led this year by Father Mike Raschko:
From there, Father Raschko mentioned he was back to resume watching the Huskies game; perhaps that was an auspicious start to the HR tree season, since as you’ve probably heard, they won in the last minute. As we noted in this Thursday story, the new location is between the Holy Rosary school building and playground, off SW Dakota. Trees have also arrived at West Seattle Produce:
We dropped by today after getting a couple reports of roasting chestnuts. Those, we seem to have missed, but we found Victoria and Eric Straus, up from the South Sound, freshly cinnamon-glazing a few other types of nuts:
They told us they’ll be back at WS Produce (4721 Fauntleroy Way SW) tomorrow, starting around noon, and the weekends of December 11th and 18th.
There are many reasons to head over to the Duwamish Longhouse in eastern West Seattle (4705 West Marginal Way SW) this afternoon – and one of them is Duwamish Tribe chair Cecile Hansen‘s famous frybread. She and her granddaughters were in the longhouse kitchen working on it when we stopped by earlier to get photos from the Native Art Fair, continuing till 5 tonight. Close to the main entrance, you’ll find Duwamish artist Virginia Nelson and husband Tim:
She has fuzzy purses and wallets, among other items, while he’s selling an eclectic doorstop made from a paver, decorated like a snowman – and you can even get them in Husky or Cougar garb. (The Cougs outsell the Huskies, the Nelsons insist.) Next to their table, you will find Duwamish Designs by DeAnn – including dolls made from cedar bark and cattails:
She told us, “I’m not a patient person … but making these has taught me patience,” as she shepherds the entire artistic process, starting with harvesting the cattails and bark. (In the left corner of the photo are beaded bookmarks she is also selling.) You’ll also find hats, wall-hangings, even tribal-art Christmas stockings.
Inside the Highland Park Improvement Club – just look for that building, and the signs, at 12th/Holden (map) – today’s Holiday Bazaar is so vendor-packed, organizer Tiffany Silver-Brace says she even had to turn down some would-be sellers. The 20-plus that you will find inside the historic HPIC building include Amy Bradley of DragonTamer Design, who is a beading artist (and offers classes, too):
Amaranta is there too, with Dia de Los Muertos-inspired creations:
(If you miss today’s event, she’ll be at the upcoming South Park Art Under $100, which she’s promoting with mini-flyers at her HPIC table.) We also found treats, dolls, gift baskets, scented waxes, hats, much more, and of course – your chance to show off Highland Park pride:
The bazaar continues till 4 today. There’s street parking alongside 12th stretching north of HPIC if its lot looks full.
If you aren’t feeling holiday-ish enough yet – tomorrow could cure that. You have three places to find unique gift possibilities, and two chances to give.
Saturday starts with the second day of the Native Holiday Gift Fair at the Duwamish Longhouse (4705 West Marginal Way SW), 10 am-5 pm; we heard a rave review today about the variety of native art available. Then at 11 am, the Highland Park Holiday Bazaar takes over the HP Improvement Club (11th/Holden) – here’s the latest update on the amazing array of handmade offerings you’ll find there, 11 am-4 pm. From there, you can move on over to Sustainable West Seattle‘s annual Money-Free Spending Spree – bring a handmade item or service to trade, and bring home a special gift – 4 to 8 pm at Camp Long Lodge (5200 35th SW).
Tomorrow also brings Santa’s debut at Westwood Village, noon-4 pm – photos are free with a food bank donation; bring diapers too, since they’re collecting for WestSide Baby (particularly sizes 3-6), and get ready to grab a card off the Giving Tree. Santa’s House is in the heart of WV, across from 24 Hour Fitness and Eats Market Café.
Then tomorrow night is the rescheduled benefit for Sofia Goff and family, 7 pm-midnight at Kenyon Hall – food, entertainment, silent auction, and a raffle – the latest details are at caferevo.com. Newly added: Your chance to pre-order a copy of the forthcoming Café Revo cookbook.
Tomorrow night at 7, the gala lighting ceremony is still on for the Christmas-lights display dubbed the Helmstetler Family Spectacular (if that doesn’t jog a memory, check this story from last year) – but family friend and display mastermind Jim Winder says what you see in the photo above is the reason why it won’t be as spectacular as they’d planned:
Last night we did our first show for family and neighbors…
but then, sometime last night/early this morning my Big Tree broke. There is no way I can have it fixed for the scheduled Lighting Ceremony on Saturday (or probably even this year), but as of right now we are still planning on doing the lighting ceremony … there will just be a LOT fewer lights than originally planned.
After receiving that note, we asked Jim if there’s anything anyone can do to help (since we knew someone would ask):
Right now I am trying to figure out what to do, but it more than likely won’t include putting that tree back up…even though it was going to be the “highlight” of the display.
Don’t think there is much anyone can do, as that tree pretty much took me all summer to build…just don’t have the time or resources to rebuild it. And even if I did, nothing is assured it would not happen again. So…back to the drawing board!!
Given the splendor of last year’s synchronized-to-music display, you’re still likely to be delighted by whatever results – Jim’s been working on it all year. Here are the details of Saturday night’s ceremony; here’s where to find it (3908 SW Charlestown); and here’s the season’s schedule.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Taking a post-Thanksgiving look around the West Seattle Christmas-tree-sales landscape – we start with the Holy Rosary School Christmas Tree Sale‘s big move.
Its most recent home behind Admiral Safeway is now a busy construction zone (seen the webcam lately?), so they’re selling trees on their own campus this year – and since it’s a tiny bit off the beaten track, they’re going all out to get the word out, with the lot opening tomorrow.
One recent windblown, pre-snow afternoon, we stopped by the campus for a tree-site-to-be tour with Holy Rosary’s Sarah Dahleen and principal Dr. Randal Peters.
The parking lot shown above is the intended site for the trees – between the north side of the school building and the south side of the school playground. Might be a bit of a distraction for the students, they acknowledge, but “it’ll smell great.” Also, the lot won’t be open during school hours – it’ll be open 3:30-9 pm weekdays, 9 am-9 pm weekends (with candy canes and cocoa for tree-shoppers on Sundays), through December 22nd.
The entrance will be from the alley off SW Dakota, between 42nd and 41st SW (map), and there’s parking in a lot west of where you’ll find the trees.
One thing hasn’t changed: 15% of the Holy Rosary lot’s proceeds will benefit three local charities: The Salvation Army’s Hickman House, which provides shelter to women and children getting away from domestic abuse; West Seattle Helpline; and the West Seattle Food Bank.
Not only has this long been the only tree lot with its own website, it’ll also have extra marketing this year to spread the word – signs are out around West Seattle (we saw them by Walking on Logs this morning), billboard space was donated in The Triangle, and someone in a Christmas tree costume is likely to be found waving at you nearby when the lot’s open.
If you can’t wait till tomorrow, you can buy a tree at several other spots around the peninsula, including West Seattle Nursery (California/Brandon), Tony’s Produce (35th/Barton; the photo above is from Thanksgiving afternoon), Junction TrueValue (44th/Edmunds), West Seattle Produce (4721 Fauntleroy Way), The Home Depot (Delridge/Webster), both Rite-Aid stores, and Westwood Village QFC. And tree info will be available throughout the season on the WSB West Seattle Holidays page.
Toward that goal, we just launched Version 1.0 of the West Seattle Holiday Shopping/Business Guide – an extra advertising showcase for local businesses to invite you to stop in and explore gift possibilities this holiday season. It’ll be updated frequently, both with additions and with updates/new deals from participating businesses. Today, you’ll find some Black Friday deals (ones you didn’t have to wait in line pre-dawn to get!), among other things. Check it out here. Happy shopping! (Don’t forget to keep an eye on the Coupons page, too.)
Just received that photo from David Rosen of SlickPix Photography, who says he’s been in line at Westwood Village Target since 11 pm. David says the line’s still growing – despite the rain – and the first person in line has been there since 6 pm. According to the ads we’ve seen, Target’s opening at 4 am. (photo added – by the time Target opened, the line stretched all the way around the corner past Barnes and Noble and alongside Chico’s!)
As for other WV bigboxes – Bed, Bath & Beyond is also opening at 4 am, Staples opens at 6 am. And if you’re shopping at the Westwood Barnes and Noble today, there’s a Bookfair benefiting Roxhill Elementary School – use the coupon that’s linked here (which is good at the store through December 3rd) and tip the gift-wrappers (tips benefit Roxhill, today only).
IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE BIGBOXES: Many West Seattle independent stores are rolling the welcome mat out further than ever; we’re rolling out Version 1.0 of a special local holiday-shopping guide in the next few hours – stand by for details!
SEALTH BAND IN MACY’S PARADE: The big downtown parade later this morning is scheduled to feature the Chief Sealth International High School Marching Band again this year, according to the lineup in a news release from parade sponsor Macy’s (which also describes the parade route). The parade starts at 9 am; doesn’t appear anyone’s televising it.
At left, the A-board sign announces the free Thanksgiving dinner that’s just started inside The Hall at Fauntleroy (the old schoolhouse is mostly out of view on the left). But the even bigger news is the view up that section of California SW to SW Barton – the big meltoff is under way, and the roads are getting better all the time. No more weather advisories; it’s raining lightly. Now, back inside The Hall at Fauntleroy, where Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering (WSB sponsor) and a team of volunteers invite you to the free feast continuing till 3 pm – a few scenes:
The Hall at Fauntleroy’s at 9131 California SW; here’s a map. As noted on the West Seattle Holidays page, the West Seattle Eagles also invite all, nonmembers included, to a free meal 2-5 pm today, 4426 California SW. And if you haven’t checked our “who’s open” list – coffee, restaurants, grocery stores, to the best of our research abilities – find it here. Hope you’re having a great holiday!
ADDED 12:56 PM: Before the snow’s all gone … Heidi writes, “… since the weather has warmed up in Sunrise Heights, the snow is perfect for making snowmen and my husband couldn¹t pass up the chance.” The result:
(10:47 AM TOPLINE: No major road problems reported; SDOT salting snow routes)
(Refresh for latest pic of WS Bridge, looking eastbound, and 1st Ave. S. Bridge, more on the WSB Traffic cams page)
Happy Thanksgiving Day! Starting a morning report with info and updates.
*Here’s our list of who was planning to be open in West Seattle today, coffee/groceries/restaurants; a few other Thanksgiving Day activities are on our West Seattle Holidays page. (10:30 AM note: Tweaked the list thanks to e-mail from Luke – Freshy’s is closed; Java Bean’s open.)
*Metro is on a Sunday schedule and snow routing; the Water Taxi is NOT running (nor are its shuttle buses).
*The cars out front have a new, light layer of snow, but currently, only the occasional flake is falling. Warmer than 24 hours earlier – 30 degrees at Boeing Field at 6 am; here’s the current Winter Weather Advisory. If you do have to drive today, please share info if you can, for others who have to hit the road for relatives’ homes, last-minute grocery shopping, etc. No major problems reported so far.
*Free community Thanksgiving dinners: Noon-3 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy, courtesy of Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering (WSB sponsor), 9131 California SW; 2 pm-5 pm at West Seattle Eagles, 4426 California SW.
Now that the weather’s easing a bit – not to trivialize the low temperature, but at least it’s not snowing/blowing, and the main roads have been trouble-free – a few Thanksgiving notes:
LIST OF ‘WHO’S OPEN IN WEST SEATTLE‘: Ace researcher Katie has been making the calls and we now have Version 1.0 of the list of which food stores, coffee shops, and restaurants are open tomorrow. A few places didn’t answer and are being checked today, but so far, here’s who reported they’re open, and when. (We expect to have this in map format later, and will add addresses but for your advance planning, we present the first-draft text list.) This also is linked from the WSB West Seattle Holidays page. (1:37 pm note: We’ve added several more establishments to the list, so it’s now version 1.1.)
FREE THANKSGIVING DINNERS: In addition to the traditional Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering (WSB sponsor)-presented community meal tomorrow, noon-3 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California SW) in the old schoolhouse, there’s one more: The West Seattle Eagles (4426 California SW) invite one and all to their free Thanksgiving Dinner, even if you’re not a member, 2-5 pm tomorrow. These, too, are listed on the WSB West Seattle Holidays page, if you lose track later. P.S. The Hall at Fauntleroy will accept pie/cookie donations till 4 pm today, after 9 am tomorrow.
WHAT LOCAL FOOD BANKS NEED TODAY: We have checked with both. The West Seattle Food Bank (35th/Morgan) says they need BAKED GOODS – bread, rolls, pastries, that type of thing. They are open for donations right now and will be distributing food noon-3 pm; after that, they’re closed for the holiday weekends. The White Center Food Bank tells us they do NOT have any immediate needs, but if you or someone you know needs food, they will be open till 7 pm. (Both food banks, of course, can always use money – they have maximum bulk purchasing power with your donations – donate online to WS Food Bank here, WC Food Bank here.)
TWO BLOOD DRIVES IN WEST SEATTLE TODAY: Puget Sound Blood Center says two drives are happening right now, partly to make up for 20 canceled elsewhere because of the weather. Here’s the latest information – Jefferson Square till 3 pm, Westwood Village till 3 pm. Full details here.
For more holiday info – check the frequently updated WSB Holidays page – and if you have an event/activity/request for holiday help (we have a section on that too), please let us know.
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