West Seattle, Washington
22 Friday
We reported earlier this month on Block Drops, a project created by local Girl Scouts Paige, Evelyn, and Emma to make it easier for community members to clean up their neighborhoods. On behalf of the project, local cleanup organizer Erik Bell sent word that four Block Drops are planned in Delridge this week – four daylong chances for you to go get equipment, do a bit of cleanup, and know that the results will be tended to. Here are the dates and locations where supplies will be available (pickup and dropoff), 9 am-5 pm each day:
Monday, July 11 – Dragonfly Pavilion (28th & Dakota)
Tuesday, July 12 – Delridge & Findlay
Thursday, July 14 – Cottage Grove Park (26th & Brandon)
Friday, July 15 – Delridge Playfield (26th & Genesee)
These Block Drops are listed here, and you can watch that webpage for others coming up.
At the end of a summer of event comebacks – something new is planned: The West Seattle Art Hop & Shop! Though it’s two months away, planning is happening now, and there are two ways you can be part of it – as organizers explain in this announcement:
The West Seattle Art Hop & Shop is a new community-wide arts event that will be held on Saturday, September 17th from 10 am to 5 pm. The Hop & Shop will take place across West Seattle peninsula, from West Marginal Way west to the water, and bounded by the city limits to the south. For artists, this is a chance to share your work with the community in a fun and low-key event. For art lovers, you’ll get to discover all kinds of local artists and makers as you hop and shop your way across the peninsula with our interactive map.
Unlike traditional art tours, the West Seattle Art Hop & Shop is community-driven and open to any artist who registers. This open format will celebrate the delightful variety of creative work happening all across West Seattle.
To participate, artists need to identify where within the West Seattle boundaries they will be showing, either at their own location, or with a host location. Each artist will then register online for $10 and take part in creating their own “dot” on the interactive map. Need to find a space to hold your sale, or want to host an artist? There is a do-it-yourself tool to connect hosts and guest artists. Because this is a community-driven event, artists are also expected to take an active part in promoting the event.
Registration for the West Seattle Art Hop & Shop is open until September 2nd. Early registration is encouraged to allow the volunteer team to feature as many artists as possible on social media leading up to the event. More information and registration can be found at wsartwalk.org/west-seattle-art-hop-shop.
The West Seattle Art Hop & Shop is organized by an all-volunteer committee of artists and art lovers with support from West Seattle Art Walk and West Seattle Junction Association. If you’re interested in getting involved behind the scenes, the West Seattle Art Hop & Shop team would love to have your help! Email WSArtHop@gmail.com.
The new school year is two months away but it’s time for donations to the long-running Pencil Me In For Kids school-supply drive. Several businesses are dropoff spots, according to this update from Judy Pickens:
Canine Casa Pet Salon owner Cherie Rahm and client Moose received materials this week from volunteer Doug Gunwaldsen as the Fauntleroy community kicks off its support of West Seattle Rotary‘s annual Pencil Me In For Kids school-supply drive. Salon customers are invited to drop off supplies through July 31 to equip students in need when they return to area schools.
Other donation bins are at Fauntleroy Church, West Seattle & Fauntleroy YMCA, Treo Organic Salon, and Wildwood Market in Fauntleroy, plus Keller Williams Seattle (5446 California Ave. SW). Cash donations are also welcome here so that drive coordinators may buy supplies in bulk.
For the next two hours, until 6 pm – or until sold out if that happens sooner – cookies and cupcakes await you at 10-year-old Gwendolyn‘s bake sale to support World Central Kitchen’s work in Ukraine. You’ll find her at 44th SW and SW Othello [map], kitty-corner from West Side Unitarian Universalist. Laurel sent the announcement and says Gwendolyn is selling “traditional iced and plain sugar cookies and vegan, gluten-free chocolate cupcakes. Everything is nut-free. Price: “We are using a Pay What You Will model. We accept cash (with limited ability to make change), Venmo and PayPal.” Gwendolyn says, “I thought it would be a nice thing to do. I recently donated some money to World Central Kitchen to support Ukraine but I felt like I still needed to do more.” You can help her do just that!
The report and photo are from community-cleanup superhero Erik Bell:
I’m excited to announce a new West Seattle cleanup initiative my daughter and two of her Girl Scout troop mates are launching this week called Block Drops for their Silver Award project — the highest service award for Girl Scout Cadettes (6th-8th graders).
Block Drops are an open invitation to the community to come out and clean West Seattle on your own time, using cleanup stations we’ll drop off in different neighborhood locations each week. We then come back later in the day to take care of the collected trash with the help of Seattle Public Utilities.
Paige, Evelyn, and Emma developed their project over the pandemic hoping to engage fellow West Seattleites to become the solution to a cleaner community. Their program offers weekly opportunities to live up to the Scouting ideal of leaving the world a better place than we found it.
Read more about their program at byandby.org/block-drops and join in on their first Drop Friday at Alki Beach (9 am-3 pm), or any of the four Drops they’ll be making next week.
Block Drops…the easiest cleanup in town!
(WSB file photo)
Again this Fourth of July, the West Seattle Junction Association will place dozens of American flags along the heart of the business district – but it can’t happen without volunteers. All ages welcome – you can sign up to help put them up at 9 am Monday and/or to take them down at 4 pm. Just go here.
Here’s plenty of advance notice for one volunteering opportunity coming up at a local school:
Have you been wondering how you can give back to the West Seattle community? Have you ever considered becoming a Roots of Empathy Instructor? Arbor Heights Elementary is in need of volunteers who are willing to train as Roots of Empathy Instructors in the coming school year. Applications are currently being accepted and training dates are scheduled for October 18-20, 2022.
What is Roots of Empathy? Roots of Empathy is an evidence-based classroom program that fosters empathy in children, now entering its 15th year of partnership with elementary schools in the Seattle area. Arbor Heights has participated in Roots of Empathy since 2013 and they are looking for a few more people who are willing to give time to children and watch them evolve over the school year as they watch “their” baby grow.
Want to see what Roots of Empathy looks like? Click to view a recent BBC World Hacks feature on the Roots of Empathy program. You can learn more about what being an Instructor means here.
Please reach out to Suz Fix, local Program Manager, at sfix@rootsofempathy.org if you’re interested in joining Roots of Empathy in changing the world, child by child.
The booth on the northwest corner of 16th/98th is one of three places you can buy $5 tickets for the Taste of White Center, benefiting the White Center Food Bank – each ticket gets you one of the special menu items that 31 establishments are offering – here’s the list:
The participants are all flying red balloons:
The Taste of White Center (which includes 4 South Delridge participants) is on until 4 pm, but take note that some venues are starting late – for example, Tomo, at left above, has a sign saying it’ll open at 2 pm (it’s offering smoked sable fish congee), and Good Day Donuts is participating until 2 (their menu item is listed as simply “surprise”). The other two ticket booths are outside Mac’s Triangle Pub at 16th/Delridge/Roxbury and outside Patrick’s Café and Bakery at 15th/100th. Along with the $5 taste tickets, you also can buy tickets for a drawing that’s also benefiting WCFB – two round-trip Alaska Airlines tickets.
If you can donate blood, Bloodworks Northwest hopes you’ll do it during their upcoming West Seattle pop-ups. Here’s the announcement:
Summer activities like travel, visiting guests, and fun in the sun sometimes prevent would-be donors from donating blood, and blood inventory struggles throughout the season. Our community’s need for blood is constant, no matter the weather.
That gift of blood takes just an hour of your time to give. Our next West Seattle blood donation opportunity is at the Pop-up @ Our Lady of Guadalupe (7000 35th Ave SW) on June 27, 28, 29, 30, and July 6, 7, 8, 14, & 15 in the air-conditioned gym!
We have LOTS of OPEN appointment slots. Please try and help fill one! A local patient will be forever glad you did! Please use this link to sign up.
Masks and appointments are required. For more about the safety of donating blood during the pandemic, eligibility, help booking your appointment and other info, please visit bloodworksnw.org
In case you missed the mention in our coverage of last week’s Alki Community Council meeting, we’re only two days away from a volunteer-assisted planting party on Alki. Jessica, who’s been leading monthly community cleanups at the beach, sent a reminder to be sure you know, if you have time to spare on Friday afternoon. The newly hired Seattle Parks gardeners have been working to prepare the beds where hundreds of annual flower plants are waiting to go in, and would love lots of help noon-4 pm Friday (June 24th). No RSVP needed – just show up on the east side of Alki Bathhouse (60th/Alki), and give whatever time you can spare.
(WSB photo, Saturday)
Erik Bell, who organizes community cleanups at least once a week in West Seattle, has an invitation for you tomorrow, if you have Juneteenth off – a community cleanup to follow up on the city cleanup of the SW Andover/28th RV encampment. Here’s the invitation for the 10 am-noon Monday cleanup, in case you haven’t already seen it in the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
We’ll be tackling the neighboring streets around the West Seattle Health Club which was just cleared of a long-standing RV encampment. Although it looks clean from the casual drive-by, the gravel parking strip is littered with a myriad of ground-in micro trash and broken glass, the city was only able to come get the large trash items.
We could use an army of folks to come in and give this neighborhood the love it deserves after years of neglect, so come for as little or as much as you’d like…and bring a friend!
What to expect: This has been a long-term RV encampment so has years worth of junk ground into the gravel. If there are any left over tents around we will steer clear of any of those and just focus on the roadway parking strip and sidewalks. Pickup sticks, buckets, vests, gloves and bags will be provided and the resulting trash will be reported for pickup by Seattle Public Utilities.
Parking: We should be able to park back along Andover by Monday but I’ll make updates as the cleanup approaches.
Please reach out with any questions, concerns or carpooling opportunities. I can be reached at 206-852-9552
You can’t change the past. But you can certainly try to right its wrongs, to work for a better future.
That’s the idea behind the West Seattle Public School Equity Fund, founded by (L-R above) Andrea Dimond, Kristen Corning Bedford, and Shannon Woodard. We talked with them last night at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, during a celebration of the WSPSEF’s first year.
For starters, it’s about “fundshifting” – equitably distributing community contributions so that the richer schools don’t keep getting richer while the not-so-well-off schools keep scraping.
Where the past comes in is what the founders discovered when they examined the area’s “redlining” map from the 1930s (see it here) – what are now Title I schools, with the highest percentage of students from low-income families, are in the “redlined” areas. So the historical inequities continue self-perpetuating. The WSPSEF founders hope to disrupt that, in the interest of weaving together all of West Seattle’s neighborhoods and school communities, to support the entire peninsula as one community.
During this school year – with classes ending today – they’ve already raised $20,000, and will be “fundshifting” that to five elementary schools – Concord International, Highland Park, Roxhill, Sanislo, and West Seattle.
For year two and beyond, they hope to get more participation, and also to broaden the scope beyond money. The initial collaborations, they say, have already started to break down the silos of individual schools’ support communities, to discover synergies and shared challenges. In all, they want to “advocate for all students” in West Seattle.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED: If you’re a member of a West Seattle elementary or K-8 school community that’s not already involved with the WSPSEF, email hello@wspsef.org, or talk with your school PTA/PTSA. If you would simply like to donate, you can send a check to the West Seattle Public School Equity Fund via its fiscal sponsor, DNDA (4408 Delridge Way SW, Seattle 98106).
This is the second weekend of the short summer season for the DubSea Fish Sticks, playing at Steve Cox Memorial Park in White Center. If you’re up for going to tomorrow night’s game, you can buy tickets through a special link and do some good for the youth players of West Seattle Baseball! The Fish Sticks face the Redmond Dudes at 6:05 pm Saturday (June 11th) and you can get those special tickets right now by going here.
(Photo courtesy Madison MS PTSA)
Outside Madison Middle School, it’ll be a temporary donut shop for a while tomorrow – the Madison PTSA is again selling Krispy Kreme donuts as a fundraiser. They’ll be sold by the dozen between 8:15 am and 9 am, and again 3:45 pm-4:30 pm on Friday (June 10th), $15/dozen, cash preferred. The school is at 3429 45th SW.
The Pot Pie Factory is closing after five years – here’s the announcement – and the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce is raising money to keep one particular ingredient from going to waste. Sent by WSCC executive director Whitney Moore:
The West Seattle Chamber is raising $2,300 to purchase Pot Pie Factory’s remaining frozen, pre-diced halal chicken breast in order to donate it to the West Seattle Food Bank and White Center Food Bank. Please donate what you can today to help a local business plus our two local food banks.
Pot Pie Factory will continue to service the Proctor Farmer’s Market in Tacoma for the remainder of June’s Saturdays (6/11, 6/18, 6/25). They’ll have stock control turned on and will update inventory on the site as we get closer to June 26th, our last day for sales. We may even have a goodbye event at our production facility in West Seattle on June 26th.
New Day Cooperative, Cafe Racer Seattle, Highland Park Corner Store, Old 5th Avenue Tavern, and The Rusty Goat Cafe in Tacoma all have pies available for sale. They recommend you call in advance to make sure they have what you want in stock before visiting.
P.S. If you can’t/don’t use QR codes, you can donate via the West Seattle Chamber’s PayPal account here or Venmo account here.
Registration is open for a benefit golf tournament this month whose organizers have local ties. Here’s the announcement:
The Duc Foundation has launched the 3rd annual Nguyen Junior Amateur Golf Tournament, presented by Starbucks. The tournament, organized entirely by Seattle-area youths, will take place on Sunday, June 26, with proceeds from the event benefiting the Duc Foundation Scholarship Fund, CJK Community Homes, and First Tee of Greater Seattle.
The tournament was founded in 2020 by Lauryn Nguyen, Maya Nguyen, Kylie Nguyen, Brianna Nguyen, Sofia Nguyen, and Lily Nguyen, who collectively call themselves the Nguyen Sisterhood
. The inaugural Nguyen Junior Amateur Golf Tournament raised over $24,415 for the Washington Junior Golf Association. The 2021 event raised a collective $16,000 for The First Tee of Greater Seattle and Washington Junior Golf Association.“I am honored to be leading this event into its third year as we grow to include sponsorships from Starbucks and Amazon,” said Alex Nguyen, Tournament Director. “We are excited about the opportunity to come together for a community-building round of golf, all while benefiting these amazing organizations.”
Lauryn Nguyen, West Seattle HS Class of 2020, was recently named 2022 Big 10 Freshman Golfer of the Year as she wrapped up her first year at Northwestern University. “It’s a privilege to be able to play competitive golf,” said Lauryn. “It takes a lot of time, resources, and support. For me to be able to pursue this game for over a decade, to make it to some of junior golf’s most elite tournaments, speaks to a level of privilege that I’m not sure I will ever be able to pay back.” To that end, the Nguyen families continue to team up to host the annual Nguyen Junior Am Charity Golf Tournament.
The Nguyen Junior Amateur Golf Tournament is open for registration until June 12. The tournament will take place on Sunday, June 26, at the North Shore Golf Course in Tacoma, Washington. Information and to sign up for the event is available at DucFoundation.org.
Duc Foundation works to empower our youth through the development of leadership and life skills by providing our youth with a platform for community engagement opportunities. The Foundation is led by Alex Phong, Kylie Vy, and Lauryn Thuy-Duyen and named in honor of Alex and Lauryn’s grandfather, Duc Nguyen, who immigrated to Seattle in 1975. He was a tireless advocate for the Vietnamese American community of the area before a tragic accident left him quadriplegic in 1994. The Foundation seeks to continue his legacy of civic engagement and generational community-building.
Another returning tradition – a dine-out day/night at Endolyne Joe’s (9261 45th SW) to cook up some cash for the Fauntleroy Fall Festival! This Tuesday (June 7th) is the date; Endolyne Joe’s is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (here’s the menu), 8 am-9 pm, and all you have to do is show up and dine. If you’re there in the evening, FFF-benefiting raffle tickets will be sold starting at 5 pm, with the drawing after 7:30 pm (you don’t have to be present to win). The festival is entirely community-powered – both in volunteers and in funding – so this is one way to help ensure it goes on to bring good times to one and all.
At Pathfinder K-8 on Pigeon Point, Laps With Lou 2022 is on! For almost two decades, now-retired PE teacher Lou Cutler has raised money for Make-A-Wish by doing a lap for every year of the age he’ll be when his birthday arrives later in June. Students join him throughout the day. This morning, before taking to the field, Lou spoke to the school via the PA system:
This year he’ll be turning 71, so he plans that many laps – plus one for a bonus, to bring the total distance to 12 miles. Students have been going out to the field in groups, starting with photos.
Lou’s been a Make-A-Wish volunteer even longer than he’s been leading this annual fundraiser – for more than a quarter-century!. You can support his quest to grant more wishes by donating here.
ADDED FRIDAY NIGHT: He did it again! Thanks to the Pathfinder parent who sent photos from the end of today’s laps:
(WSB photo from 2019 Loop the ‘Lupe)
Even if you’re not registered yet, it’s not too late to get in on this year’s Loop the ‘Lupe, four events this Saturday (June 4th) at Walt Hundley Playfield (34th/Myrtle). For one, you can still register online – price goes up tonight at midnight. You can get a discount if you sign up for Loop the ‘Lupe AND July 23rd’s Float Dodger 5K (look for the bundling option here). Packet pickup is tomorrow, 4-6 pm at West Seattle Runner (2743 California SW; WSB sponsor) for those who have registered by then – and your bib number will be good for a discount on shoes and running gear while you’re at WSR. You can also wait to get your packet on race day, and if you decide to wait until then to sign up, on-site registration starts at 10 am. (Event schedule: 11 am obstacle-course start, 11:45 am 5K, noon Senior Saunter, 1 pm Youth Dash.) One more thing – even if you’re not running/walking/etc., you are invited to the barbecue and beer garden – $4 burgers/hot dogs and $5 Georgetown beer), with live music from West Seattle School of Rock. You can also donate on-site to the Loop the ‘Lupe beneficiary, Our Lady of Guadalupe‘s community programs (explained here).
(WSB photo from 2018)
For almost two decades, Lou Cutler has raised money to help grant kids’ wishes via a unique birthday-celebration run at Pathfinder K-8, where he taught PE before retiring. Most years, it was a giant group run throughout the day, with students joining Lou as he took one lap around the school field for every year he was celebrating. Then came the pandemic; in 2020, schools were closed, so Lou did a “lap” around the peninsula instead; last year, students joined him in small groups over two days. This year, when Lou takes to the Pathfinder field on Friday (June 3rd) in celebration of his upcoming 71st birthday, it’ll be a little more like the events of years past. He explained to us via email:
This year, rather having me communicating with everyone with a megaphone on the field, I will address the school from the office at 9:00 and then grade bands will come out in staggered time frames every 15 minute or so and I will take pictures with each class before they go on the field. All classes will stay out until the entire school is on the field at the same time and I believe everyone will stay on the field for 15 minutes or so and from that point some classes may go in while those who want to see how many laps they can run, will stay out and run to their heart’s content.
Make-A-Wish alumni are invited to join in the festivities, as are MAW staff and volunteers and Pathfinder parents, so I hope we have a tremendous turnout for the day.
As for me, I will be 71 on June 25th, so this year I will walk and run, though mostly walk, 71 laps, 11.8 miles, and add on a bonus lap to make it a full 12 miles because I love round numbers.
Over the previous 18 years we have raised $86,000 for MAW and as always, my hope is that we can raise as much money as possible, as I have seen the power of a wish in the boosting of spirits and hopes for wish kids and families over my 26+ years as a MAW volunteer!
You can support Lou’s Make-A-Wish quest by donating here.
(WSB photos)
American flags line the heart of the West Seattle Junction again this Memorial Day, placed this morning by volunteers of all ages:
In the photo above is the Blunk family, who not only volunteered to help with the flags, but also are among the donors who covered the cost of a flag in the Junction Association‘s flag-funding drive.
Volunteers will gather again at 4 pm to start removing them – if you can help with that, the meeting spot is on the northeast corner of California/Alaska, outside the historic Campbell Building.
Another veterans’ organization is offering Memorial Day poppies as a fundraiser. Here’s the announcement we received this morning from Keith Hughes, American Legion Post 160 commander:
The American Legion will have Poppies at the American Legion Hall at 3618 SW Alaska St on Sunday and Monday, 10 am to 4 pm. Drive up at the curb or drive in. Donations all go to direct support of Vets and their families for emergency financial support during these hard times.
Look for the canopy right out front on the westbound side of SW Alaska just east of 37th SW.
West Seattleite-founded, White Center-headquartered WestSide Baby is helping many local families, with many more waiting, and hopes you can assist! Here’s their announcement:
WestSide Baby is in the final days of Beyond the Basics, our annual spring fundraising, and needs your support to fully resource our vital programs so that babies and children have equitable access to basic need items! We just had the exciting opportunity to bring on 10 new agency partners, but we have a waitlist of at least 20 more agencies who are anxious to receive crucial items for the children and families they serve.
These are organizations serving homeless babies and mothers, domestic-violence victims, refugees and immigrants, and so many more deserving members of our community. The diapers, car seats, formula, and clothing they receive from WestSide Baby offer stability and care in the midst of chaos and loss.
Today, we need your continued support to help meet the growing needs of our community. All gifts of $250 or more are being matched by a generous donor – doubling your donation and its impact on deserving families and children in King County.
*Donate Online at bit.ly/beyondthebasics2022
*Donate by check: Mail to WestSide Baby, 10002 14th Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98146
*Donate by Charitable Fund or Stock: Please email Giving@westsidebaby.orgWe need your support as we expand our programs to serve more children and families! Going beyond survival mode, Beyond the Basics, is a human right that every family deserves, and your donation will help to make that possible.
WestSide Baby’s Beyond the Basics fundraiser is generously sponsored by local community businesses including Nucor Steel – Harris Rebar, Ventana Construction, West Seattle Food Bank, and Amazon.
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