West Seattle, Washington
29 Wednesday
Every quarter, the Admiral Neighborhood Association marshals an Adopt-A-Street cleanup – and this sunny Saturday was the day. In the photo is ANA’s new president David Whiting, photographed at the Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) staging area by ANA member Karl de Jong, who co-chairs the Southwest District Council. Want to get involved next time? Keep an eye on the ANA’s e-mail list and/or Facebook page.
(Photo courtesy West Seattle Helpline)
The tastiest fundraiser of the year has opened ticket sales – and has room on its roster of restaurants. From West Seattle Helpline executive director Tara Luckie, here’s first word of this year’s Taste of West Seattle:
It’s time to start preparing your appetite for the Taste of West Seattle on Thursday, May 16th. The only event where you get to taste the local food West Seattle have to offer all in one place, one night. Last year we had 50 establishments comprised of restaurants, breweries, bakeries, and wineries to taste from! The best part is that all of the funds raised go to help West Seattle families facing emergencies through the West Seattle Helpline.
Last year we sold out, so buy your ticket early (go here).
Are you a West Seattle restaurant that wants to be a part of the Taste? Go to tasteofwestseattle.org and click on the “For Restaurants” tab to fill out the application. Spots are limited; sign up while there is still space available.
Never been? Here’s our report on last year’s Taste of WS – biggest yet!
It’s been a turbulent week. Maybe you’d like to get out and do some good in the world tomorrow – bring your neighbors and friends! Here are four chances (and the weather’s looking good):
ANNUAL FAIRMOUNT RAVINE CLEANUP: 8:30-10:30 am, meet at Fairmount and Forest to help intrepid ravine cleaners (and invasive-pullers) with their quest to spring-clean one of West Seattle’s most majestic and mysterious sites. Full details in the calendar listing, and as noted in our preview story – treats!
ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION ADOPT-A-STREET CLEANUP: Join the ANA’s quarterly patrol of Admiral District streets, which also includes treats before and after. 9 am-noon – meet at Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) at 42nd/Admiral.
NORTH DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION ENCORE CLEANUP: Following up on last Saturday, NDNC needs a little more person-power to finish tidying up Greg Davis Park, 26th/Brandon, 10 am-noon, “meet at the 3 large rocks.”
ROTARY BOOK DRIVE: Members of the Rotary Club of West Seattle will be at 40th and Alaska (southeast corner) to accept your donations, 10 am-1 pm; info in our preview story.
Back in January, we told you the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center‘s first-ever fundraising bicycle-ride series dubbed Obliteride was expected to run through our area. The routes have just been revealed, and West Seattle/White Center is indeed on the 180-mile, two-day route – see the map here, or in the short video above, and read the official update ahead:Read More
Were you part of – or at least, inspired by – local schools’ special food drives last month? Or, are you ready (for any other reason) to help local food banks keep people from going hungry? It’s the perfect time for generosity, as you’ll see in this announcement:
The White Center Food Bank and the West Seattle Food Bank are excited to announce the start of the 16th annual Feinstein $1,000,000 Challenge! The need for your support has never been higher and this is a great way to help your neighbors in need and make your donation go even further during the months of March and April!
For the 16th consecutive year, Allan Shawn Feinstein will divide $1,000,000 among hunger relief agencies nationwide through his Feinstein Challenge. All donations made between March 1 and April 30th, 2013, and that are specifically designated “Feinstein Challenge,” will count towards the challenge total and help these agencies receive a larger percentage of the million dollars.
For the White Center Food Bank, donations may be mailed to 10829 8th Avenue SW, Seattle, WA 98146. To make a donation online or to get information about the White Center Food Bank’s programs benefited by the $1 Million Challenge, visit whitecenterfoodbank.org or contact Rick Jump at (206) 762-2848, or e-mail rick@whitecenterfoodbank.org.
For the West Seattle Food Bank, donations may be mailed to 3419 SW Morgan, Seattle, WA 98126. To make a donation online or to get information about the West Seattle Food Bank’s programs benefited by the $1 Million Challenge, visit westseattlefoodbank.org or contact Fran Yeatts at (206) 932-9023, or e-mail fran@westseattlefoodbank.org.
For information about the Feinstein Foundation and the $1 Million Challenge, visit www.feinsteinfoundation.org
Both agencies thank you for your efforts in helping us fight hunger in our community.
(7/4/12 photo by Jamie Kinney)
Again this year, half a million dollars worth of sponsorships/donations are being sought for the Family 4th fireworks show at Lake Union – the city’s only big Independence Day display since 4th of Jul-Ivar’s called it quits after the 2008 show (this’ll be the fifth year without Elliott Bay fireworks). The official announcement – and how to donate, if you’re inclined – is ahead:
This past Saturday was a banner day for volunteer-powered cleanups – and next Saturday is shaping up that way too. Above are members of the North Delridge Neighborhood Council-mustered crew that worked at Greg Davis Park two days ago – and NDNC beautification chair Lisa Taylor-Whitley sends “a GIGANTIC thank you” and news that they collected 14 bags of recyclables and 6 bags of trash. She adds that they’re planning on an encore: “Even though a large amount of trash was collected there is still more to be cleaned. So we are having another cleanup event this coming Saturday, March 9, from 10 am to 12 pm to finish the work that was started. Again, we will meet at the 4 large rocks.”
Ready for spring cleaning – including reading material you don’t need any more? The Rotary Club of West Seattle invites you to donate it next Saturday:
The West Seattle Rotary Club, along with many Rotary Clubs across the United States, is accepting donations of gently used or new books that will be sent to underserved communities in South Africa and other southern African nations. Books for all ages are welcome, for example:
§ Picture/story books (pre-K and up)
§ Teen and adult fiction
§ K-12 textbooks in sets of 10 or more (world history is okay; U.S. history is discouraged)
§ Current professional books (medical books, international law, etc.)
§ Encyclopedia sets (less than 20 years old)
§ Magazines – National Geographic, Smithsonian (please, no news magazines)Your donation will be gratefully accepted on Saturday, March 9th, between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. at 3925 SW Alaska Street (the empty used car lot on the southeast corner of SW Alaska Street and 40th Avenue SW – just west of the Howden-Kennedy Funeral Home at 3909 SW Alaska Street).
Cash donations of any amount are also being accepted to help with the cost of shipping the books to Africa. Make checks payable to: “District 5030 Service Fund” and send to: West Seattle Rotary, 6523 California Avenue SW, PMB 315, Seattle, WA 98136.
If you have any questions, you may contact Rotarian Martha Sidlo at (206) 933-8008.
(Photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
1:22 PM: Those are a few of the two dozen-plus people who were already getting to work on the beach at Constellation Park about an hour ago, with more arriving for the Beach Creeps Bicycle Club Beach Cleanup. It’s not that the beach is full of typical trash – more insidious, to beach and sea life, lots of styrofoam pieces and particles have washed up, and getting some of it out from where it’s mixed up with rocks and driftwood is a key objective. Still time for you to join, since they’re there till 3 – just check in at 63rd/Beach Drive (by the octopus sculpture that’s embedded in the sidewalk). Full report later.
4:54 PM: A closer look at the cleanup as it unfolded, from WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams:
(This photo and all others below are by Nick Adams for WSB)
As they arrived, volunteers were given what they needed, and sent off to work on the rocky beach:
Rachelle Kauffman worked under and between the driftwood:
Sticks made the best tools, as 7-year-old Cooper Guidry also found out:
The cleanup volunteers got some big pieces of debris of the beach, like the one Kris Blazina is hauling away:
Picking up the little things – like bits of styrofoam – mattered a lot too, though:
That’s part of what Scott Pietz was up to:
Background, dark sweatshirt, that’s the club’s publicity chair Michael D. Adams helping scour the shore:
This area of West Seattle shoreline is especially precious because it holds a marine-reserve area.
The cleanup was organized in the span of just a week:
Over the week, it went from a casual idea among friends, to an official capital-e Event that even had to get on the Parks Department radar, for a permit, and also trash pickup.
SUNDAY NOTE: In a just-posted comment, Willis from the Beach Creeps reports more than 40 people signed in as part of the event, and the group is thinking about sequels.
Photographed outside West Seattle Thriftway this morning, that’s broker Chris Hanley and granddaughter Enna Ernst, volunteering for the Prudential Northwest Realty Food Drive, which continues till 2 pm outside Thriftway and Metropolitan Market-Admiral. At either store, you can drop off donations of nonperishable food, money, or other essentials (like diapers!) to benefit the West Seattle Food Bank. (Our standard disclosure, when mentioning sponsors: Prudential NW Realty, West Seattle Thriftway, and Metropolitan Market are all WSB sponsors.)
(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; see other cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
Big day ahead – with three road closures to remember, and a multitude of reasons to stay on the peninsula and avoid two of them! From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
TRAFFIC ALERTS: Three closures today you need to know about: Alaskan Way Viaduct/99 both ways between the bridge and Battery Street Tunnel, till 5 pm (and again 6 am-noon Sunday); eastbound bridge ramp to southbound I-5, all weekend; Delridge/Trenton intersection, all weekend.
LINCOLN PARK INVASIVES CLEANUP: 9 am to noon, Friends of Lincoln Park will be clearing blackberry canes, ivy, maybe even holly and laurel. Meet at the kiosk in the north parking lot, Fauntleroy and Rose – if you get there late, “check the kiosk map (in the North lot) to see where we are working. … Dress in NW layers for warmth and dryness with sturdy shoes or boots. Long sleeves are recommended. Bring gloves and hand clippers if you have them, but we have extras. Bring a water bottle.”
REALTORS’ FOOD DRIVE: West Seattle’s Prudential Northwest Realty (WSB sponsor) team members are holding their annual food drive, 10 am-2 pm, at West Seattle Thriftway and Metropolitan Market-Admiral (both also WSB sponsors), accepting food and cash donations for the West Seattle Food Bank.
NORTH DELRIDGE BEAUTIFICATION: Join the North Delridge Neighborhood Council‘s March cleanup at Greg Davis Park, 10 am-noon. Just wear comfortable clothes – everything you need will be provided.
FOREST RESTORATION: First of three chances to join the SSCC Ecological Restoration class and others in the West Duwamish Greenbelt, 10 am-2 pm, details here.
HOMEMADE BRIGADE: At Freshy’s Coffee in the Admiral District, arts and crafts bazaar, 10 am-4 pm.
CLEAN UP CONSTELLATION PARK WITH THE ALKI BEACH CREEPS: Today’s the day, noon-3 pm (or join the Beach Creeps Bicycle Club in a ride from El Chupacabra on Alki at 11:30 to get to the cleanup site, 63rd SW and Beach Drive) – details in our final preview from yesterday.
CRAB FEED: Alki Masonic Lodge 152 is raising money for outreach with a crab feed tonight, 5-8 pm, 40th/Edmunds; see the calendar listing for contact info to check if tickets are still available!
EAGLES’ FOOD BANK BENEFIT: Dinner at 5:30, live music at 7:30, at the West Seattle Eagles‘ HQ in The Junction, to benefit the West Seattle Food Bank. Details in this Facebook invite.
YOUTH ARTS SHOWCASE: Original songs by young artists, 6 pm at Youngstown Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW), details here.
FOLK MUSIC MARATHON … of live performances to benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 7:30 pm at Kenyon Hall (7904 35th SW), details here.
GUITAR MASTER SERIES: Joel Tipke with special guest Ben Arthur, 9:30 pm at Feedback Lounge (6451 California SW; WSB sponsor).
‘ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW’: The classic midnight movie is screened at midnight, first Saturday night of just about every month, at Admiral Theater.
… lots more for today/tonight; just browse the calendar!
(Styrofoam debris on the beach; photo by Beach Creeps’ Guy Olson)
Since last Saturday, when we first mentioned the Alki Beach Creeps Bicycle Club‘s plan for a South Alki cleanup, the event tomorrow has drawn dozens of volunteers, more than a few local business sponsors donating treats and other support, and even Parks Department assistance with post-cleanup pickup. The Facebook event page for the cleanup has info on the final plan – so in case you’re interested in joining, but not a FB user, here are the key points:
*Optional bike ride to the cleanup starting point: Beach Creeps plan to leave El Chupacabra (2620 Alki SW) “no later than 11:30 am”
*Cleanup noon-3 pm (Saturday, March 2)
*Volunteers meet by the Constellation Park octopus sculpture (63rd SW/Beach Drive). Sign in and get your cleanup supplies (courtesy of Puget SoundKeeper Alliance)
*Treat donors include Pioneer Coffee on Alki and Christos On Alki (pizza)
*Seattle Parks plans to pick up the collected trash and debris (organizers are hoping to get a lot of styrofoam off the beach)
*Afterparty at Pioneer Coffee
If you haven’t been to Constellation Park – here’s a map.
(Part of the 2010 Fairmount Ravine volunteer annual-cleanup crew)
Their 20th annual cleanup in 2012 netted a “vintage” 7-Up bottle – estimated to be half a century old. In 2008, discoveries included a car door. What will turn up in beautiful, mysterious Fairmount Ravine, beneath the Admiral Way bridge, during this year’s cleanup? Be part of the team that finds out – one week from tomorrow, Saturday, March 9th. Devoted neighbors, friends, and visiting volunteers will join forces over the course of two hours – also enjoying treats from Metropolitan Market and Zatz Bagels (both WSB sponsors) – 8:30 am to 10:30 am. From organizers:
Meet at the top of the hill at Fairmount and Forest – directly east of Hiawatha Park.
Please wear gloves, boots and old clothes as we remove garbage and invasive plants.
Here’s our coverage from past years – 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008.
As discussed at the most recent North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting, NDNC plans monthly beautification projects – starting this Saturday, March 2, and continuing every first Saturday of the month. NDNC’s beautification chair Lisa Taylor Whitley hopes you can help:
Our first beautification project will be cleaning the Greg Davis Park area on March 2, 2013 from 10 am to 12 pm. We will meet at the Greg Davis Park on the corner of 26th Ave SW & SW Brandon St (Map It) at the 4 large rocks in the middle of the park. Bags and pickers will be provided. Just show up in comfortable clothes! If there are any questions, comments, or suggestions about future projects you would like to see, please contact Lisa Taylor Whitley at lisataylorwhitley@gmail.com or 206-910-1425.
(WSB file photo: Stack of donated car seats from past WS Baby drive)
WestSide Baby isn’t just about diapers – in case you didn’t already know. They provide car seats through partnerships with 80 social-service providers. But right now they have a wait list for convertible and combination-style car seats, according to operations manager Maria Groen – so they are “thrilled that Rico’s Auto Buff approached us to hold a ReRide Car Seat Drive to help us meet this need.” Here’s how it works:
Take your used (or new) car seats to Rico’s Auto Buff during business hours. The goal is to collect 50 reusable car seats for WestSide Baby. Car seats will be collected at Rico’s Autobuff during normal business hours through the end of March and are always accepted at WestSide Baby and their regular drop-off sites.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, car crashes are the number one killer of children 1 to 12 years old in the United States. The best way to protect them in the car is to put them in the right seat, at the right time, and use it the right way.
WestSide Baby collects car seats 6 years and newer for re-use by local children in need. We refurbish used car seats and gratefully accept new car seats too. In 2012, we provided 670 car seats but had more than 400 requests that we could not fill. Any car seats that cannot be passed along to kids for safety reasons will be recycled, and a $5 donation to cover recycling costs is appreciated for car seats over 6 years old.
Rico’s is at 4623 36th SW, just north of SW Alaska, in The Triangle.
Good news shared by West Seattle Helpline executive director Tara Luckie:
The West Seattle Helpline just received a $10,000 RealNetworks Foundation grant to go toward helping families facing emergencies in West Seattle with housing and utilities. The RealNetworks Foundation has supported us for several years now. This funding will help many of our neighbors in West Seattle who are facing difficult times.
That’s Tara on the left in the photo, with (center) RealNetworks Foundation Grant Team member Bruce Reisenauer and AmeriCorps VISTA outreach/resources director Jeremy Beliveau. You have options for helping Helpline too – find out how, here.
Your chance to get an early membership in Delridge’s future co-op grocery store is less than a month away. The Delridge Produce Cooperative has announced Saturday, March 23rd, as the date for its first membership-drive event (11 am-1 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center). And tomorrow (Monday, February 25) is the date for DPC’s next planning meeting (6:30 pm at Delridge Library, across from the grocery store’s expected home in the future DESC Delridge Supportive Housing complex). Even if you haven’t been previously involved, you are welcome, and DPC says it’s looking for two “specific (types of) volunteers”:
We would love to find someone with the time and inclination to manage our social media outreach (i.e. Facebook). We also need some occasional tax advice. If you are able to volunteer for either of these roles (or any other area), please e-mail us!
The group’s reachable at delridgeproducecoop@gmail.com.
(Seal Sitters photo by Robin Lindsey)
You’ve probably seen the familiar yellow tape and traffic cones on the shore, marking the perimeter around a resting seal or sea lion, with at least As Seal Sitters‘ Robin Lindsey mentioned at The Whale Trail‘s orca (and more) talk this past Thursday, the next volunteer-training session is scheduled for March 9th, and you are invited to RSVP ASAP if you are interested. One particular point of interest from Robin:
Unlike most marine mammal stranding networks, Seal Sitters encourages children to participate. It is very empowering for a child to learn about our fragile ecosystem and be able to do something to protect seals and other marine mammals.
The e-mail link for RSVPs is in this announcement on the Seal Sitters’ site, which also includes location/time details.
(First two photos by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
Inside the tiled turret on the Roxhill Castle play structure, that’s a view that soon only children will see. We got a peek when we dropped by the soon-to-open renovated playground on Saturday to see how “artist in residence” Mike Henderson and volunteers are doing:
There’s still work to be done, and more help would be welcome. The playground’s not ready to open yet, but that’s not because of the turret project – remember, there’s a skatespot going in next door, too:
(Aerial photo by Long Bach Nguyen)
From the air, you can see the scope of the project. Here’s the skatespot view from ground level:
(This photo and those below are by Nick Adams for WSB)
WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams photographed it during a visit to the site earlier this week. But the skatespot is a separate project, out of the playground volunteers’ control. So they’re working on the mosaic, which includes the face of a dragon …
… and the grace of an astronaut:
The tile work is proceeding under a tarp:
Mike told us they’re not ready to grout yet and would still appreciate help – e-mail him at centerforawesome@gmail.com to coordinate when and how you can assist. These are the finishing touches on the project, most of which went up thanks to days of volunteer work back in November, with the replacement “castle” accompanied by new features awaiting the go-ahead for playtime:
(City of Seattle photo)
Another chance to dig in and help out next Saturday (and in this case, beyond)! South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) is right next to the West Duwamish Greenbelt, the largest remaining contiguous forest in our city, and some of its students are hoping to round up some help as they join the ongoing work to help it recover:
Join the South Seattle Community College Ecological Restoration Class, along with our sponsoring partners, the Nature Consortium and Green Seattle Partnership, as we turn a section of the forest from a long- neglected and wounded place to a once again vital forest habitat, protecting the bank from erosion, building habitat for wildlife and reinvigorating and extending the life of our neighborhood backyard forest.
Volunteering can be very rewarding! This work will be!
3 CHANCES TO PARTICIPATE Sat, March 2nd, Thurs. Mar. 7th & Sat. Mar. 9th 10 am-2 pm
Meet at 10:00 a.m. at 14th & Holly (Holly is two blocks south of campus). Wear warm clothes (layers allow for fluctuations), long- sleeves and good sturdy boots (Wellingtons okay). You will get dirty! And so will your clothes and your shoes and your nose; that’s all just a part of the fun. Tools, work gloves, snacks and coffee will be provided.
Please bring a bottle of water, preferably reusable. Litter in the forest is comprised of pine needles and other natural debris!
3 Chances to Serve/Work/Volunteer/Give Back Any way you want to think about it, get outside and be a part of nature as you contribute to making it a better place for all.
Contact Daniel at dmcollins1962@gmail.com to RSVP or just show up at 10!
(Not the cleanup site, but not far! Beauty shot from Michael of the Beach Creeps)
Even before the crowds of spring and summer arrive, Alki Beach and points south need a helping hand or two, or ten, or a hundred. A group of bicycling friends is hoping you’ll lend yours for their planned cleanup one week from today – or at least donate trash bags and gloves:
The Alki Beach Creeps Bicycle Club is planning on doing a beach cleanup, March 2nd at noon.
We are going to start at Constellation Park and pick up as much of the trash as we can that afternoon. There is a HUGE mass of styrofoam and plastic on that side of the beach, along with a lot of random trash. We feel that it’s important to give back to our community and will do our best with our limited resources to do our part.
We have 15 members or so but anyone is free to attend. Trash bags, gloves, and beer (to keep us motivated) will gladly be accepted. Thank you very much and we look forward to your help keeping Alki looking creepy!
For questions about donations, please feel free to E-Mail: Michael D. Adams (Director of Marketing) at brothamichael@mac.com
Sincerely,
Guy Olson/Willis Mathiasen
Co-Presidents
Alki Beach Creeps Bicycle Club
Yes, we’re sure they know the rules; the beer’s no doubt for afterward. Anyway, now that spring cleanup season is here, let us know about yours – editor@westseattleblog.com – we already have a few more announcements in queue.
We photographed that big pile of donated food this morning at the West Seattle Food Bank – just part of what’s been brought in as part of the “100th day of school” food drives at several local schools, with more on the way. Marveling at what the local schools accomplished so that WS Food Bank could help its clients, operations director Steven Curry told WSB, “This drive could provide us with the largest food buffer we have ever had at this time, (during the) usual lull in giving after the holidays. What a fantastic story on how something so simple communicated to a community, listening and caring, will serve so many people.”
He says the donated food in the photo is from Schmitz Park and Alki Elementaries – both of whom, in fact, sent in their reports overnight. First, from Schmitz Park, kindergarten teacher Mandy Cook reports:
Schmitz Park Elementary totaled in at 1,193 food items!!! The West Seattle Food bank had to come back and collect overflowing barrels 4 times! Staff and students had fun collecting, competing and tallying by classroom. Thanks again for the wonderful opportunity Arbor Heights. Count us in for next year!
And from Alki, fourth-grade teacher Anna Coghill reports:
Alki Elementary is happy to report we collected 1,319 items for the West Seattle Food Bank. Thank you for the inspiration Arbor Heights students and teachers. It was a great success.
That’s a reference, of course, to AH teacher Marcia Ingerslev and her class, which issued the original challenge to other schools/classes in the area. We reported their results (4 AH classes in all) here; Gatewood Elementary here: Holy Rosary School here; Cometa Playschool here. Still awaiting at least one more report. Congratulations to all!
ADDED 5:53 PM: Robin Graham from the West Seattle STEM PTA reports their donation is part of what you see in our photo from the food bank:
STEM dropped off our food Thursday afternoon … At least 200 items donated from the families at STEM. Thanks, Arbor Heights, for the great idea – we would love to do it again next year!
And from Arbor Heights, Marcia Ingerslev shared a photo of her visit to the White Center Food Bank:
She explains in the comment section below – and expresses her pride at everyone’s contribution, too.
As we’ve noted in previous coverage, the “100th day of school food drive challenge” originated at Arbor Heights Elementary – where teacher Marcia Ingerslev just shared photos and this report on what they collected for the West Seattle Food Bank:
We collected 501 items of food. Rooms 16 (Ingerslev), 12 (Salter), 10 (Fisk), and 24 (Kennewick) participated. Thank you to everyone who participated. We will have to do this again next year. Maybe we can benefit the White Center Food Bank.
Here are just some of the students who took part at AH:
Even if you/your school didn’t participate, you can help local food banks any time – there’s information about how to donate money and/or food on the websites of both – westseattlefoodbank.org and whitecenterfoodbank.org.
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