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West Seattle Summer Fest, Saturday night scenes

From Flickr, where ToFuGuns shared photos with the West Seattle Blog group, that’s Mark Pickerel and His Praying Hands onstage Saturday night at West Seattle Summer Fest. One of the first acts of the evening was Kristen Ward, who we got on video as our spot at the Information Booth by the Alaska stage folded up for the night:

We didn’t make it to the street dance, but we hear it was a smash – @shermanscorner tweeted about the Cherry Cherry (Neil Diamond tribute band) singalong! Music along the sidewalks last night, too – WSB’er “D” shared iPhone video of two members of the Junk Queens:

The music continues today – starting with Capping Day on the California stage on the north end of the festival zone at 11:30 am; here’s the schedule.

West Seattle Summer Fest day 2, report #2: Saturday afternoon!

(scroll down for the latest updates, including photos/video; morning coverage is here)

(Dancers from Momentum Dance Academy in Burien)
Things are truly jumping at West Seattle Summer Fest this afternoon. The Alaska stage next to our spot on the west side of the Information Booth has seen dancers and jump ropers just in the past half-hour – here’s our iPhone clip of the team from West Seattle-based Ropeworks, including proprietor Rene Bibaud, a five-time world champ:

All that followed up this morning’s wildly popular appearance by Caspar Babypants (you can see video in our morning report). This is our running afternoon coverage – more to come, with frequent updates this afternoon on what’s going on and what’s ahead! Vendors are open till 6, but the festival continues with music into the night, including the always-popular Street Dance.

1:45 PM UPDATE: While you’re here, don’t miss what’s a tiny bit off the beaten path.

Besides the free kids’ activities, for example, as mentioned in our morning report, under the Wells Fargo drive-thru roof (shady!), there’s the Community Groups area on SW Alaska east of the main festival zone – right now, besides the West Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs

…you’ll also find information on the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network. Then if you head south in California, just off to the west side of the south end of the festival zone, you’ll find the GreenLife gardening/sustainability zone. where you’ll find GardenCycles and many others (Sustainable West Seattle and West Seattle Nursery are co-sponsoring this new feature):

And to the north, just past the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival float north of Oregon, you’ll find the Art Dive, with cool local arts/crafts creators.

Then, right here in the heart of the festival, the Info Booth has not only folks from the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce answering your questions (we’re helping too), but all sorts of brochures and flyers – the official Summer Fest program, Water Taxi info, the West Seattle Outdoors Movies lineups, West Seattle Farmers Market Bucks info (a promotion with Junction merchants), Junction Car Show (coming up Sept. 19) cards, and while they last, somebody just dropped off a few 10 percent discount cards for the new Beer Junction by the east end of the festival zone (on 42nd SW south of Alaska).

3:17 PM UPDATE: Minute to Win It just had another round on the stage – and a cake-eating contest is coming up. But first, we’ve got some candidate photos to add – four visits so far today. Marcee Stone (34th District State House Position 2, Democrat) was first to visit, this morning when temps were cool and the Info Booth was still in the shadows:

Mike Heavey (same race, also a Democrat):

From the 7th Congressional District race, Bill Hoffman:

And from the King County Council District 8 race (nonpartisan), Shawn McEvoy:

3:37 PM UPDATE: The Rat City Rollergirls dunk tank is up and running over by Junction Plaza Park – quick clip of one RCRG’er getting dunked:

4:21 PM: Most-inquired-about music act so far this afternoon, Massey Ferguson, should be playing right now up on the California stage. We’re heading that way. (video added later)

4:45 PM: Hi-Yu candidates are passing by – if you see the folks in the red polo shirts with white inscription, buy a button or pin, support Hi-Yu! Meantime, here’s a section of the crowd, photographed by Junior Member of the Team a little while ago:

5:04 PM: Music mode on both stages now – Marc Olsen has kicked off the evening slate on the Alaska stage next to us. Booths are open till 6 pm and that’s how long we’ll all be here in the Information Booth too, right at Walk All Ways, between Easy Street Records and Super Supplements. Some West Seattle merchants from districts outside The Junction are here – notably, Admiral District’s Click! Design That Fits, longtime WSB sponsor, where visitors are trying out the famous Solair Chair:

5:30 PM: Checked in again with Lt. Smith. Everything’s still been peaceful, no problems, he says. Looking forward to tonight’s street dancing and the rest of the slate. Speaking of music, just added the Massy Ferguson clip back up where we mentioned them. We’ll have some separate coverage later this evening, and we’ve got other stories to publish on the site – the first-ever “Night Market” on Delridge is under way now, for example.

West Seattle Summer Fest, day 2, report #1: Saturday morning!

(scroll down for frequent updates – we’ll start a new running-coverage story after noon)
Today, it all revs up early at West Seattle Summer Fest. It’s 10 am and booths have just opened; music starts early, with Caspar Babypants on the Alaska stage (in front of KeyBank, next to our spot in the Information Booth) at 11 am.
Here’s the music schedule (street dance tonight!); here’s the schedule of other entertainment/activities; here’s the vendor list with map; use the links in the sidebar at right to check out our coverage from yesterday and last night, as well as “what’s different” plus info on road/bus closures. Frequent updates as the day unfolds!

10:23 AM UPDATE: The number one question here at the Info Booth yesterday was “where do you buy tickets for the kids’ bouncers?” Here’s the answer: Over by the West Seattle Farmers’ Market parking lot (above photo), just west of the food booths. When you head that way, also head under the Wells Fargo drive-thru roof for the coolest FREE family events, right next to all the bouncy stuff (which requires tickets) – Pathfinder K-8 is sponsoring this area, including face-painting and arts/crafts:

Sighting of the day, already: King County Executive Dow Constantine is here, helping with the setup for Caspar Babypants, who he’ll be introducing at 11 am, at the Alaska stage right next to the Info Booth:

10:49 AM UPDATE: Before the concert – there’s a veggie-dog eating contest under way at this moment, with contestants including Spring Hill‘s renowned Mark Fuller, West 5 also-legendary proprietor Dave Montoure, and Georgetown beer mogul (fabled too!) Manny (whose wares are on hand for washing down the dogs).

The winner: Marcus from Double Mountain, formerly of West Seattle-founded Schooner Exact (that’s him above, high-fiving Dave). And the remaining veggie dogs have been given away to the gathering crowd.

11:11 AM: Caspar Babypants is under way. (The grownups are bouncing almost as much as their kids.) *video added @ noon*

He mentioned a contest to help the nonprofit Kids Helping Kids and potentially win your own custom CB song – check that out here. Meantime – we’ve just chatted with Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Smith, who was here all day and most of the night last night – he says the crowd was well-behaved – three fights but all resolved without too much trouble. Also playing shortly: Rat City Brass, at the California stage on the north end of the festival zone. (We’ll have video of them a bit later)

12:05 PM: We’ll continue the morning report at least another half-hour, before launching the afternoon coverage – we’ve also got folks out covering the Seafair Pirates’ Landing and a few other things right now. TILA is continuing its “Minute to Win It” contest hourly – sometimes here at the main stage, sometimes over at their booth by Petco – winners are entered into the drawing that’ll be held right about this time tomorrow for $10,000. When you’re here roaming the festival, check out the merchants’ sidewalk sales as well as the visiting (and not-visiting) vendors’ booths – among those we heard from pre-festival is Cherry Consignment, celebrating their first anniversary soon on the north side of The Junction – as they have tweeted, “$5 & $10 dollar racks will be out ALL weekend!”

West Seattle Summer Fest 2010, 1st afternoon, report #2

(Our 1st afternoon report is here; our preview with “what’s changed” is here; bus/road info, here)

(The Full Tilt Ice Cream bike is here selling ice-cream bars all weekend! By the info booth)
Vendors are here till 6 tonight – starting up again at 10 Saturday – and the music is already going on the California Stage (across from West Seattle Eagles), with Ragged Glory till 3:30, Trombone Cake at 4, and onward from there – last act of the night on the California stage is Hell’s Belles at 9; the Alaska stage, near our spot in the info booth at Walk All Ways, starts music with Mariachi Fiesta Mexicana at 5:45 pm, followed by Kim Virant at 7, and the much-awaited Satchel at 8:30. And something lots of folks have asked us about – the Rat City Rollergirls dunk tank – is just getting set up. More to come as the afternoon rolls on! There’s a nice breeze here through the heart of The Junction, and things have been mellow, but fun, so far.

3:52 PM: We have an unofficial policy of photographing every candidate and elected official who stops by – just chatted with 34th District State House Position 2 candidate Joe Fitzgibbon (D):

He says he’s about to head back out doorbelling and expects to pass 5,000 doorbells rung (etc.) sometime tonight. The election is August 17th, but since it’s vote-by-mail, you’ll see your ballot before the end of the month. And as we write, another candidate in the same race, Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy (I), has just dropped by – we’ll add his photo in a few.

4:44 PM: The fire scare (see separate story) delayed the continuing coverage here. Here’s the McElroy photo:

(And if we see Marcee Stone and/or Mike Heavey, we’ll take their pix too – all candidates/politicians welcome at the info booth!) We’ve also seen a lot of The Junction’s merchants today, no surprise – here’s Easy Street Records proprietor Matt Vaughan (they’re having their giant tent sale as usual this Summer Fest):

And little visitors, too: Fauntleroy Children’s Center is one of the “field trips” we’ve seen come through. This photo was taken shortly after they passed the info booth and were heard to exclaim “A POLICEMAN!”

We’re in the info booth till about 5:30 today – vendors are here till 6 pm – music continues on till 10 pm+. And right by our booth, a martial-arts demo (youth) just kicked off! We’re rolling video. (added later) Here’s the Evergreen Tang-Soo-Do Academy demo (they’re in Admiral):

Live at West Seattle Summer Fest, afternoon #1: Slide on down

(“Big Purple Slide,” which you’ll find in front of Rocksport at Summer Fest)
It’s noon and West Seattle Summer Fest is now cranking into high gear for its first afternoon. We’re in the Information Booth again this year – what’s new is the community (Alaska) stage just feet from us, in front of KeyBank. It’s where TILA Real Estate is about to put on its first West Seattle “Minute to Win It” contest – if you don’t see them at the stage, they’ll be down by PETCO.
(video added – here are the first contestants, Oreo-balancing)

Very nice breeze coming through right now. 12:31 PM UPDATES: Outside the Senior Center of West Seattle, you’ll find Sound View Quilters, selling $1 raffle tickets for this gorgeous quilt:

Proceeds benefit the Senior Center, which is where the quilting group meets. Another update: Who’s scheduled to be in the Community Tent today – till 2, the Water Taxi, Emergency Preparedness, Streets for All, and West Seattle Helpline/Clothesline; 2-5 pm, Water Taxi, Streets for All, and West Seattle Helpline continue, with La Leche League joining them. (Update – just talked to Admiral Neighborhood Association president Katy Walum – they’re in the community area all day too, selling their cool new Admiral T-shirts and other gear.)

To get to the community-group area, just head toward Junction Plaza Park, east from Cupcake Royale (WSB sponsor). One West Seattle Summer Fest fixture is West Seattle Hi-Yu – their award-winning “Dreams Do Come True” float is parked up on California north of Oregon, by Fleurt – you can buy a Hi-Yu button there and/or from the Hi-Yu folks roaming the festival zone (look for the signs and/or red polo shirts):

And a note about where to find food – in addition to all the restaurants that are always here at The Junction, some of which have outdoor areas just for the occasion, there’s the vendor zone west and east of Walk-All-Ways – plus, for example, Jack Miller of Husky Deli is cooking and serving right outside his popular store:

Pagliacci Pizza has a setup outside its Junction store too:

And of course, there’s the sidewalk-sale aspect of Summer Fest – if you’re an Apple devotee (we are), your Apple guy in The Junction is Brian Presser from TouchTech Systems, out in front of the building where his office is on the breezeway, by the liquor store:

Much more to come – our earlier reports include “what’s new/what’s changed,” road closures/bus reroutes, the Art Dive participant list, the Parents’ Rest Stop (scroll down through this archive). Reminder that tonight’s music highlight is Satchel, 8:30 pm, followed by Hell’s Belles.

NOTE: We’ve started a 2nd report about day 1 – so updates are over on this one – coverage continues here.

West Seattle Summer Fest: What’s different; who’s where

(Updated 10:45 with photos, now that everything’s set up. Separate report upcoming with ongoing coverage)
We’ll be reporting “live” from West Seattle Summer Fest (co-sponsored by WSB) starting later this morning – vendor hours today, 10 am-6 pm; music, past 9! – but first, one more practical preview: A few notes about what’s different this year, if you’re heading out based on memories of last year. First, the stages – one is at the north end of the festival zone on California north of Oregon (near the Art Dive and beer garden) – right across from the West Seattle Eagles:

The other stage is on the west side of Alaska/California instead of the east end – that’s primarily for non-band performances. Here’s what IS on the east end of Alaska: Junction Plaza Park is open at the northwest corner of 42nd/Alaska (dedicated last week). Last year, the site held a beer garden to raise money for park completion. This year, it’s “just” a park – so check it out if you haven’t already, take a break on its benches, seating walls, grass … There are activities nearby – for example (from the list on this page of non-music activities/entertainment), that’s where the Rat City Rollergirls‘ dunk tank is scheduled to be. The Community Tent, too, where you’ll find neighborhood groups and other cool local nonprofits. There also are food vendors along SW Alaska both east and west of the “Walk-All-Ways” intersection – in recent years, they’ve been only on the west side. Also on the west end of SW Alaska, the Super Terrific Happy Fun Zone (presented by Clowns Unlimited, which sells tickets – otherwise Summer Fest is free), is by Wells Fargo. (Note it’s in two parts – some in SW Alaska street, some north of Wells Fargo’s drive-thru):

New this year: strong>GreenLife at Summer Fest, the sustainability/gardening expo presented by Sustainable West Seattle and West Seattle Nursery, is on the west side of California at Edmunds – between Technical Analysis and the hot-yoga studio:

Direct links: General festival map here; specific map with numbered vendor locations here (alphabetized list with numbers can be found here); live music schedule here, other activities/entertainment here, our overnight note about road and bus changes here. In addition to ongoing coverage here – plus the other news of the day/night – we’ll also tweet photos and quick updates at twitter.com/westseattleblog. See you at Summer Fest! We’re in the info booth again this year, south of the stage that’s in front of KeyBank.

West Seattle Summer Fest: Road and bus changes the next 3 days

(Scene from early Summer Fest setup on Thursday evening)
With West Seattle Summer Fest officially starting less than 12 hours from now – 10 am Friday – we wanted to remind you of a few practical points that might affect how you get around West Seattle in the next three days, even if you’re not going to the festival:

ROAD CLOSURES: These are in effect till at least mid-evening Sunday – the roads will reopen when everything from the festival is cleared: California SW is closed from SW Oregon to SW Edmunds, the two blocks in the heart of The Junction’s business district. Oregon is open to east-west through traffic, but then California is closed again for most of the block north from Oregon to SW Genesee (that’s where you’ll find the Art Dive, among other attractions). The only east-west closure is SW Alaska, from 44th SW to 42nd SW.

BUSES: Summer Fest-related “stops missed”/”reroute” advisories are listed for multiple Metro routes and one Sound Transit route. If you go to the Metro “events” page, you’ll find the link for yours (each affected route links to a PDF with the specific changes) – these are the ones that are listed.
*Route 22 has an advisory through midnight Sunday
*Route 37 has an advisory through 5 pm Saturday
*Route 51, through midnight Sunday
*Route 53, all day Friday
*Route 54, through midnight Sunday
*Route 55, through midnight Sunday
*Route 57, through 7 pm Friday
*Route 85 Night Owl, through Saturday
*Route 128, two advisories – one is through midnight Saturday, one covers 6 am-9 pm Sunday
*Route 560 (Sound Transit), through midnight Sunday
*Route 773 (Water Taxi shuttle), through midnight Sunday

The Summer Fest website isn’t working at the moment (likely updating before tomorrow) or else we would add a blurb here about changes to the festival layout – most notably, the Alaska stage for live music is on the west side of SW Alaska, instead of the east side as in years past – so we’ll reserve that till the morning.

West Seattle Summer Fest: Who’s in the Art Dive tent

July 8, 2010 4:19 pm
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 |   West Seattle festivals | West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

In addition to covering West Seattle Art Walk tonight – and any breaking news, of course – we’re also continuing to preview West Seattle Summer Fest, tomorrow through Sunday in The Junction. We asked the proprietors of Twilight Artist Collective (which has a great lineup for Art Walk tonight too) who they’ve rounded up for the Art Dive, since we didn’t see the list on the Summer Fest website (which DOES have copious amounts of information on other participants, so check it out if you haven’t lately) – and they provided the list! (You’ll find the Art Dive tent on California north of Oregon.)Read More

Speaking of art, kids can create it for/at West Seattle Summer Fest

Since it’s West Seattle Summer Fest eve, we’ll also be publishing previews throughout the day – more than a few participants (festival site map) have sent us extra info about what they’ll be up to, and if you’ll be there, you’re welcome to do the same! (Here’s all the ways to get info to WSB.) Kids’ activities at Summer Fest go far beyond the bouncy toys in the Super Terrific Happy Fun Zone – there’s also an area where kids can work on arts and crafts and other activities, hosted again this year by Pathfinder K-8. Plus, here’s your chance to get a jump on a coloring contest that one Summer Fest merchant is presenting for kids 12 and under – Dawn Jump from Prudential NW Realty asked us to help get the word out about the contest, and we invited her to share a scan of the coloring sheet (it’s available at PNW offices at Jefferson Square, but you might not be able to get there before WSSF). Print it out here, start coloring, and take it to the PNW booth during Summer Fest (again, here’s the map – they’re #48), where Dawn says every young artist will be entered in a drawing for “a variety of prizes,” plus they’ll be displaying the art too. P.S. Another BIG art feature for all ages @ Summer Fest is the Art Dive – presented by Twilight Artist Collective – look for the big tent full of local arts/crafts (marked by the palette icon here).

West Seattle Summer Fest to allow abortion-issue advocacy after all

Last night, the political-news website PubliCola reported that this year, abortion-rights-supporting organizations NARAL and Planned Parenthood were not being allowed to have booths at West Seattle Summer Festsee the PubliCola report here, and a followup here. The PubliCola report has been a hot topic in the WSB Forums all day long. Minutes ago, West Seattle Junction Association director Susan Melrose sent WSB and PubliCola this statement – saying they’ve changed their minds.

After the 2009 West Seattle Summer Fest, the West Seattle Junction Association (WSJA) decided to not accept organizations into the event to discuss the issue of abortion. In past years, WSJA received strong negative feedback from the public against how the issue of abortion was being presented though we had asked these organizations to be contentious. Many families wrote, called and emailed that the graphic displays still offered by certain groups were not appropriate for their children. Summer Fest is a family and community oriented event, therefore WSJA listened to community input and chose not to accept any organizations to debate abortion. This seemed like a fair way to address the issue since not all applicants are accepted into the festival due to limited space. The first responsibility of the WSJA is to our community and we were responding to community feedback.

Now the West Seattle community has spoken out again. After it was publicized that pro-choice and pro-life organizations would not be registered with Summer Fest, we received calls and e-mails that many do want this issue to be presented at the event. Our organization has no position on this issue and our decision to not accept organizations from either side of this debate was based solely on the feedback of the community who we tried to accommodate.

Based on recent community input, WSJA has made the decision to allow one booth for each side of the issue into this year’s festival. In our effort to be neutral, we created a far greater stir than expected. We hope to respond to and remedy the initial complaints by having vendors sign a statement that all displays and handouts are subject to approval by WSJA.

West Seattle Summer Fest: Donna Ryan offers Parents’ Rest Stop

Just four days till West Seattle’s biggest event of the summer – West Seattle Summer Fest (co-sponsored by WSB), three days of celebration, music, shopping, art, food, family activities, and more in the heart of The Junction, this Friday through Sunday. Quick note tonight from a Junction business with a message to famiiles with babies – Donna Ryan Photography (4218 SW Alaska, just east of Cupcake Royale [WSB sponsor]) will be hosting Summer Fest’s only “Parents’ Rest Stop” in her expansive studio space. She says it’s a place for breastfeeding moms to come nurse, and overall, “I welcome parents of babies who need a few minutes of privacy / quiet to drop in during festival hours.” What else is happening at Summer Fest, you ask? There’s tons of info on the official website – live music performances listed here, other live performances and activities listed here, vendors and exhibitors listed here

One more addition to West Seattle Summer Fest: Satchel

The super-secret-surprise act that people have been wondering about, next Friday night at West Seattle Summer Fest, is finally public, according to Jason Fitzgerald of The Workshop – it’s Satchel:

Satchel is playing a surprise set at West Seattle Summer Fest on Friday July 9th on the Alaska Stage from 8:30pm – 9:30 PM. Of course, this show, like all West Seattle Summer Fest music, is ALL AGES and absolutely FREE.

The rest of the West Seattle Summer Fest music lineup is online, here.

Two weeks till West Seattle Summer Fest in The Junction!

June 26, 2010 9:34 pm
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 |   West Seattle festivals | West Seattle news

Two weeks from tonight, you’ll be dancing in the streets – if you feel like it – at West Seattle Summer Fest in The Junction (co-sponsored by WSB). It’s coming up July 9-10-11, and the website’s being updated with more on what you’ll find and who you’ll see during three days of free entertainment and activities – including the music lineup first previewed here three weeks ago. From 5:45 pm Friday through 3:45 pm Sunday, most of the schedule’s now up, in order of appearance, here. And there’s more than music – from the Rat City Rollergirls to the Art Dive, Big Purple Slide, and Super Terrific Happy Fun Zone, that’s all listed here, with times and places. Then there’s the five-page list of vendors – listed in alphabetical order, starting here. It all kicks off at 10 am Friday, July 9, and runs till 5 pm Sunday, July 11 – and also mark your calendar for the West Seattle Art Walk on Summer Fest Eve, 6-9 pm Thursday, July 8 – there’ll be extra fun that night too.

Happening now: West Seattle Junction Health Fair

June 13, 2010 10:50 am
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 |   Health | West Seattle festivals | West Seattle news

VERY busy morning already at the first-ever West Seattle Junction Health Fair – dozens of local providers in booths set up in two rows in the Wells Fargo parking lot, right across SW Alaska from the Farmers’ Market. Stop by the very first booth along the sidewalk, where we are hanging out with Liz from the West Seattle Junction Association – you can get free The Junction/Downtown West Seattle stickers, info-cards about West Seattle Summer Fest (with the band list), which is coming up July 9-10-11; September 19’s West Seattle Junction Car Show; and this booth is also where to drop off the free raffle tickets you can pick up from many of the providers – prizes include yoga, fitness, skin care, massage and more. We’re right next to the booths for two WSB sponsors – Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy and Westside Dermatology :

Two more sponsors, Fitness Together and 8 Limbs Yoga are here too – and many other providers!

It’s all here till 2 pm. Including the Puget Sound Blood Center mobile unit – donate once, save three lives!

More coverage to come. 11:23 AM: Couple other brochures you can pick up here – the Junction Health and Wellness Guide brochure, listing more than 60 area providers/practitioners in all. Also the general Junction brochure. And Mr. Yuk stickers. Lots of great people watching – we just saw a family go by with a couple kids in one of the most interesting school sweatshirts we’ve seen lately: “Warning: Denny Dolphin/Slackers Be Warned/Denny students are college-bound …” Couldn’t read the rest at a distance (refers to Denny International Middle School in Westwood). Also speaking of people-watching – City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen has just visited the Farmers’ Market with two businesspeople from France – Chris Curtis of the Neighborhood Farmers’ Market Association helped guide their tour too – stand by for a separate story on that.

12:52 PM: A few clouds are mixing with the sunshine. The crowd’s been steady – including not only Health Fair browsers, but also blood donors – one dropped by to let us know she’d given! More of whom you’ll see if you make it down here before 2:

Gordon’s at the West Seattle Be Prepared booth – you’ve heard all about preparedness efforts here; West Seattle leads the city in readiness, and if you’re still not sure how to be part of it, he can tell you all about it.

1:30 PM: Engine 32 is here for fire-engine visits! North side of the Health Fair zone.

E-32 is based just blocks away at Station 32 on SW Alaska east of Fauntleroy. 1:46 PM: Engine 32’s cameo is over – they’re headed back to the station. 2:16 PM: Final tally from Puget Sound Blood Center: 23 people gave blood during the Health Fair!

Video: Bubbleman & more – final look @ Morgan Junction Festival

One more video look at Saturday’s Morgan Junction Community Festival, presented by the Morgan Community Association – on a day we might all look back on as the first “real” day of West Seattle’s 2010 summer. Edgar Riebe of Captive Eye Media captured festival scenes in the final few hours, including the legendary Bubbleman, and the last musical act, the Burley Mountain Band. (For photos and more video, check out our as-it-happened coverage, report #1 and report #2.)

‘Live’ at Morgan Junction Community Festival 2010, report #2

Belly dancer Najma is just one of the performers who’ve already taken the stage – or, in this case, danced on the green – at Morgan Junction Park, where we’re midway through the Morgan Junction Community Festival. Lots of folks dropping by to say hi (and in the past hour-plus, picking up the free bumper stickers we mentioned in our first report – they’re going fast!), telling us they’re taking a break from yard work or other things they think they SHOULD be doing … c’mon, get away from the computer, it’s a mellow afternoon down here. Dog-friendly too if you want to bring your pooch. Still three more bands to go over the next few hours, plus the fabled Bubbleman at 5:15 pm.

3:32 PM: Inbetween the park and the area where us exhibitor types are hanging out behind Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor)/Zeeks Pizza, you’ll find West Seattle Natural Energy and MissionMoto – they’re set up between Beveridge Place Pub and Feedback – and just past them, you’ll find booths like the one Sylvia Rolle and Cindi Barker are staffing right now:

They’ll be happy to tell you all about the West Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs (and other West Seattle Be Prepared readiness matters). More to come – this continues till 7.

4:37 PM: The Slags are just now starting to play – a little later than scheduled – and we’re awaiting word on whether the Bubbleman will make it – apparently he was having some trouble catching a ferry from Vashon. Meantime, some updates – we’re out of the I (Heart) West Seattle bumper stickers that the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce had given us to hand out – also “sold out” (though they too were free), the coupon books for the Bite of Morgan tastes – organizers printed almost 500 this year, a few hundred more than last year, but still ran out. Of course you can still stop in to eat and drink at the nearby restaurants/bars – all this is amid Kokoras Greek Grill, Feedback Lounge, Zeeks Pizza, Beveridge Place Pub, Starbucks, West Seattle Thriftway, Subway, New Teriyaki and Wok, Domino’s – and a bit to the south, Caffe Ladro.

5:25 PM: Bubbleman is indeed here and started a few minutes ago. We photographed him getting ready:

And from their performance about an hour ago – The Slags – introduced by their drummer’s son, with a bit of off-camera coaching from Morgan Community Association’s music guru (among other things) Chas Redmond:

Speaking of music … we spotted Willie Murderface – a West Seattleite who hosts karaoke – and asked if he’d stop for a photo:

Even if you’re not a karaoke denizen, you may remember Willie for the benefit he organized last January to raise money for Jason McKissack, the Seattle police officer who suffered a career-ending injury when attacked in the line of duty two years ago. (Here’s our story from the night of the fundraiser.) Thanks to everybody who stopped by today – the booth area behind the Feedback is starting to clear out, but there’s still one band left to play in the park (warming up now) before the festival wraps. We’ll have one more report later including a video-highlight roundup and any other post-festival tidbits – meantime, hope to see you tomorrow at the West Seattle Junction Health Fair, 10 am-2 pm in the Wells Fargo parking lot, right across from (and same hours as) the Farmers’ Market!

Morgan Junction Community Festival 2010 till 7 pm – report #1

June 12, 2010 11:11 am
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 |   West Seattle festivals | West Seattle news

That’s the entertainment schedule at the Morgan Junction Community Festival, which has just begun at Morgan Junction Park (on California SW just north of Fauntleroy) – in and around the park, and don’t miss the dozens of booths behind Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) and Zeeks Pizza, including ours:

(That’s our old advertising banner from the Water Taxi, which isn’t running ads on the new boat yet.) Also of note, in the “festival zone” at Beveridge Place Pub, a crowd’s gathering for the USA-England World Cup soccer match:

You can also watch at Abbondanza Pizza a bit further south, same side of California SW. So come down and enjoy the festival – be sure to get your free Bite of Morgan food coupons (Abbondanza is among the participants) at the Morgan Community Association booth at the park – the one in the left of this shot:

The festival continues till 7 pm. More coverage to come! 11:49 AM: Almost forgot – in addition to the Bite tastes, you can get a barbecue lunch at West Seattle Thriftway, kitty corner from the festival zone, till 4 pm, benefiting the Morgan Community Association!

12:49 PM: Back to the festival focus after a brief bit of breaking news (diver rescue call that turned out OK – diver wasn’t missing or in trouble, after all). Good news – we have something new at the booth, courtesy of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce – free I *HEART* West Seattle bumper stickers! While they last! Here they are on our table, next to the makeshift World Cup scoreboard:

Also Water Taxi brochures and city Neighborhood Center info. We’re right behind Feedback Lounge, between Animals First Foundation and Pacific Rim Emergency Planning.

2:05 PM: Shoutout to more of our neighbors here in the exhibit area – longtime WSB sponsor Ventana Construction is right across the way – here’s Ventana’s Anne with kids Delila and Logan:

We’ve also seen some candidates – Marcee Stone and Joe Fitzgibbon, both candidates for the 34th District State House Position 1 have been sighted. (P.S. Later in the afternoon, another candidate in that race, Mike Heavey, visited the festival too, as we noted at the time via Twitter.) We’ll be starting a new report shortly – have video of belly dancing and music too!

Countdown to Morgan Junction Festival: Who’ll be there

Three days till the next big festival – the Morgan Junction Community Festival on Saturday (11 am-6 pm in Morgan Junction Park and behind the Feedback Lounge [WSB sponsor]/Zeeks Pizza buliding) – More information to share about what you’ll see and hear while you’re there. The Morgan Community Association website has the full list of live-music acts and other entertainers – it’s an eclectic lineup, too, including jazz, country, rock, and punk music, plus belly-dancing and bubbles! Then there’s the Taste of Morgan (free coupons for food samples at area eateries) – and in the exhibitor area (behind Feedback/Zeeks), you’ll find us – we’re co-sponsoring the festival – and you’ll get to meet reps from more than two dozen other local businesses/groups … including Ventana Construction (WSB sponsor), West Seattle Natural Energy, MISSIONmoto, Madrid Frame, West Seattle Food Bank, Sustainable West Seattle, Furry Faces Foundation, Animals First Foundation, 34th District Democrats, Wahine Sport, Barefoot Books, The Kenney, Solstice Park P-Patch, West Seattle Garden Tour (co-sponsored by WSB), Penguina Designs, Emergency Preparedness Communications Hubs, Pacific Rim Emergency Planning, Bruce Savadow Photography, Alice Kuder from Prudential NW, Tatayna Graphics, Emerald Spiral, SDOT, and of course the Morgan Community Association itself. 11-6 Saturday, see you there (and at the West Seattle Junction Health Fair the next day!).

3 next weekend: Tool Library, Morgan Festival, Junction Health Fair

WEST SEATTLE TOOL LIBRARY GRAND OPENING COMING UP: On this showery Sunday, no rest for some of the stalwart volunteers from Sustainable West Seattle. We photographed Chas Redmond and Bill Reiswig at the WS Farmers’ Market, just one day after their group put on its 3rd annual festival – part of ReFRESH Southwest this time around. Today, they were promoting next Saturday’s West Seattle Tool Library grand opening (9 am-2 pm, north side of South Seattle Community College), and continuing to collect tool donations. As ReFRESH SW ended Saturday, we had asked Gene Homicki what the Tool Library still REALLY needs; his reply, the one thing they’re still hoping to get donated – an electric pressure washer! If you can donate one of those, here’s the contact info. Meantime, get a sneak peek at the tools in the system by searching this database (300 or so now, 100 more to be catalogued, Gene tells us).

MORGAN JUNCTION FESTIVAL UPDATE: Also next Saturday, it’s the southernmost West Seattle neighborhood to have its own major festival – Morgan Junction! 11 am-6 pm next Saturday (6/12), you’ll find live music next to Beveridge Place Pub and other entertainment (lineup here) in year-old Morgan Junction Park, booths (come say hi, we’re #17) behind Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) and Zeeks Pizza, and the Bite of Morgan food samples (be sure to pick up a free ‘ticket’ book) at not only Feedback and Zeeks, but also Kokoras Greek Grill, Abbondanza and Domino’s. (Plus the legendary Bubbleman at 5:15 pm!)

WEST SEATTLE JUNCTION HEALTH FAIR: Brand-new event this year (info here) – gathering The Junction’s health-related businesses together for an expo to show their stuff. Among them are WSB sponsors Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, Westside Dermatology, 8 Limbs Yoga, Fitness Together; they’ll join more than a dozen-other health/wellness specialists for demonstrations, raffles, freebies, and there’ll even be a mobile blood drive, plus police, firefighters and disaster-preparedness experts. This’ll all happen 10 am-2 pm in the Wells Fargo parking lot, conveniently across from the West Seattle Farmers’ Market during those same hours, next Sunday!

‘Live’ at the ReFRESH Southwest festival, report #2

We’ve been enjoying music drifting over from the Delridge Day main stage, into the Sustainable West Seattle Festival exhibition area, here at ReFRESH Southwest (grounds of Delridge Community Center till 5 pm). Above, drumming and dancing early in the afternoon. Right now, the Vicious Puppies Crew – breakdancers that rocked the festival (Delridge Day) last year too – are over at the main stage. 4:05 PM UPDATE: Final hour – here are more of the scenes – City Council President Richard Conlin dropped by, wearing the I (Heart) West Seattle T-shirt we remember from his visit to the Morgan Junction Park dedication this time last year (the Morgan Festival is coming up hext Saturday, in and around the park, 11 am-6 pm):

4:24 PM UPDATE: It’s been an afternoon full of workshops, too – here are some of the stars – urban ilvestock!

We also caught up with the Highland Park group that we mentioned in a separate story earlier – as they joined in Delridge Walks, heading to the festival on foot:

Again, this is on till 5 – performances by the Delridge Community Center building, sustainability exhibits (and other ‘tablers’ like us) in the parking lot. (video added 6:26 pm – there were also workshops inside, like this one)

5:07 PM: It’s all wrapping up, and we’re packing up. Lots more going on this weekend, of course – and next weekend, two festivals: Morgan Community Festival on Saturday, the West Seattle Junction Health Fair on Sunday (both of which we’re co-sponsoring). We’ve got some more video and photos to add to coverage of ReFRESH Southwest – once we’re back at HQ. Thanks to everybody who stopped by to chat, and everyone who worked hard to make this happen! ADDED: A few more pix, as promised – you saw the chickens above – here’s the chicken workshop!

The year-old Delridge Community Center Playground was a big draw:

West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen stopped by in the festival’s final moments:

And for even more photos – digital pix from Usnaps, a portable, rentable, digital photo booth created by West Seattle-based entrepreneurs – Usnaps’ Kim Schwarzkopf stopped by the WSB table to say hi; they’ve traveled the country with Usnaps in recent months. See the ReFRESH SW Usnaps pix here.

The Kenney’s ‘Family Reunion’ festival: Indoors and out!

All over West Seattle, so much happening today – The Kenney has welcomed people of all ages to its ‘Family Reunion’ festival – we dropped by for some of the indoor activities, on a quick side trip from tabling at the Sustainable West Seattle Festival section of ReFRESH Southwest. Above, the Raining Sounds sang for the crowd; below, face painting was a hit

Still time to get over to the grounds of The Kenney – and bring some disposable diapers for the WestSide Baby diaper drive, till 4 pm in the main lobby.

Live from ReFRESH Southwest, report #1

We’re here in the bright sunshine at Delridge Community Center, with a rainbow-striped cloth over our table, across from ZipCar, next to the North Delridge Neighborhood Council (selling their (Heart) Delridge T-shirts! as seen in our photo above), southeast side of the parking lot (which is where all the tents are set up), kitty corner from the West Seattle Food Bank (whose past board president Pete Spalding is walking around handing out (No) Hunger stickers). There’s “street food” too – we’ve heard about a taco truck and a hot-dog truck so far. See you here – free workshops, performances, family fun till 5.

2:10 PM UPDATE: So sunny and gorgeous, we’re just sitting here talking with folks – right behind us is a bike booth, with Stu Hennessey from Alki Bike and Board showing off “e-bikes” among other things. We’ve taken some more photos, too:

King County Executive Dow Constantine stopped by a while ago … Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association director Derek Birnie’s here:

Lots of sustainable businesses – here’s Adam from Clean Air Lawn Care (WSB sponsor):

In our morning preview, we mentioned the Bucket Brigade, a project of Urban Land Army – Highland Park’s Becca Fong is here:

More to come! Look for the info booth on the south side of the parking lot – you can get a map that also has a schedule of performances and workshops – an electric-vehicle demonstration is about to begin. If you’re driving (and of course you’re encouraged to bike, walk or take transit), note that since the parking lot has festival booths, you’ll park somewhere on the periphery of the Delridge Community Center grounds – side streets have parking too.

2:39 PM
: Want a free ticket to the Green Festival downtown? Drop by our table – or the Sustainable West Seattle table – we just got a batch. If you can’t make it there today, you can go tomorrow!

Delridge Walks: On the way to ReFRESH Southwest (starting @ 1)

June 5, 2010 12:16 pm
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 |   Highland Park | West Seattle festivals | West Seattle news

As a prelude to this afternoon’s ReFRESH Southwest mega-event (full listing of performances/workshops/tables/booths here), people were invited to walk to Delridge Community Center – perhaps taking photos and/or cleaning up along the way – and we caught up with part of the Highland Park group doing the latter. (By the way, that’s 34th District State House candidate “Mac” McElroy in the background – we’ve seen him at the last few Highland Park Action Committee meetings, along with many of the other community-council meetings we routinely cover. Any candidates coming to today’s festival, be sure to come see us at table 26 – as we did last year during the summer of city campaigns, we’ll photograph everybody who stops by!)