West Seattle, Washington
06 Wednesday
Two quick West Seattle new-business notes tonight:
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
35TH/BARTON 7-11 UPDATE: After a note inquiring how soon the new 7-11 (former Exxon station/minimart) would be open – serious remodeling’s been under way about a month and a half – we checked with parent corporation Southland. The reply from Margaret in media relations: “We expect the store to be open for business by December 31 … maybe earlier.” It’s been more than 13 months since WSB commenters broke the news a 7-11 was in the works for the site.
LOCOL UPDATE: The year-in-the-works neighborhood beer/wine bar (with some food) at 35th/Kenyon could open as soon as next week, according to this update on the Locöl Facebook page. (That’s in line with what co-owner Kyle Duce had told us a week ago — that he hoped to be open by month’s end.)
Two more West Seattle Crime Watch reports this afternoon. First, longtime WSB’er JanS reports in the WSB Forums that her car’s been stolen. Details here.
Second, Todd at West Seattle Autoworks (WSB sponsor) shares the latest warning about catalytic-converter theft:
A customer just called [early this afternoon] and informed me that his catalytic converter was stolen off his Toyota 4-Runner.
There was a rash of this a couple of years ago, and it may be starting again. The thieves use battery-operated saws and just cut the pipes, preferring Toyota 4WD vehicles because of ground clearance (no jacking needed) and a large market for the item.
A catalytic-converter theft was part of this WS Crime Watch report eight days ago
More help for the family of Brian Teachout: The day after 30 ornaments made by West Seattle glass artist Brad Burzynski sold out in less than an hour for almost $1,100 in donations, results are in from the weekend’s other donation drive. Here’s the report from Jim Winder from the Helmstetler Family Spectacular music-synched-lights show (our clip above is what we shot on “opening night” Nov. 27; Jim’s videos for this year aren’t up yet):
This weekend the attendance at the light show was just AMZING!! I apologize for those stuck in the traffic jams!! lol
And those who came to watch were also even MORE amazing with their generosity for the Teachout family…donating $462!!So I will be dropping off $500 in cash to the Wells Fargo Bank in the next few days.
Thanks again to the great folks of West Seattle that make this one of the best communities in the Seattle area!!!
Jim e-mailed shortly afterward with a postscript:
And I wanted to thank Brad Burzynski … he stopped by and watched the lights and presented the Helmstetlers with one of his glass ornaments for helping out the Teachouts…
Donations for the Teachout Family Fund are still being accepted at any Wells Fargo Bank. (P.S. The schedule for the Helmstetler/Winder lights, at 3908 SW Charlestown across from the water tower, is on their website at westseattlelights.com.)
(Photo by Cathy Jaramillo)
That photo of the stairs to Solstice Park (site of tomorrow night’s winter-solstice-sunset watch) is courtesy of Jake and Cathy Jaramillo, who e-mailed to share the news that their Seattle Stairway Walks website just got a mention in Sunset Magazine. Though Jake and Cathy live on Genesee Hill, they have been writing about and photographing stairways all around the city (here are the West Seattle-specific entries), “discovering and exploring the neighborhoods of Seattle through its often-hidden, always-picturesque stairways.” Though the story’s not online (so far), Jake says their mention is “at the bottom of page 36 as part of a Sunset story on L.A. stairways.”
SIDE NOTE: If this story reminded you of a tale told here earlier this year – Bob Estep and his mission to map West Seattle’s staircases – this is the perfect opportunity for us to mention that WSB contributor Keri DeTore turned more than 30 of his entries into a clickable Google Map (with number of stairs per staircase) – you can see it here.
Out of the WSB inbox, from Eric:
This morning as I was leaving I spotted a guy prowling around a house (at the corner of 46th and Hemlock Way [map]).
I walked down and looked around the house but didn’t see him. I went back up and got in my car and drove down that way. I decided to take the hairpin turn onto 46th north of Rose to get a view of the back of the neighbor’s house. The frame of her electronic dog door was lying on the ground, which got me even more suspicious. Then as I pulled forward a bit farther I could see the guy hiding up against a wall of the other neighbor’s house. Called the cops. Three units showed up within five minutes. All this time I was thinking that the neighbor whose house was being prowled was out of town, but as it turns out she was there with her little boy. Her dog finally heard the guy trying to break in and she saw him as he went running down the street.
He was a Caucasian male, under 6 feet, thin, wearing a grey hoodie under a dark
jacket … spiky blonde hair sticking out from under the hoodie.Keep your eyes peeled. And have a safe holiday, everybody.
Still need a Christmas tree? Holy Rosary just sent word that all its remaining trees are on sale as of today – half price, which means prices now range from $10 to $47.50 (with 15 percent of the price going to local charities). According to Holy Rosary Tree Lot chair Refawne Acarregui, “We have great inventory to choose from (that were just cut and delivered on 12/15). Lots of Doug Firs, Noble Firs and Grand Firs to choose from.” The lot is open 3:30-9 pm today and tomorrow, 11 am to 6 pm (or earlier if all trees are gone) on Wednesday. Remember it’s at 41st SW/SW Dakota (map) this year, between the north side of the school building and the south side of the playground, since their old site behind Admiral Safeway is now a construction zone.
(Sightseer photo from last Friday, shared by West Seattle Water Taxi enthusiast “expatom“)
Welcome to the largely-devoid-of-official-events week before Christmas, when all through the peninsula, not a meeting was stirring … There are activities, of course. Like today’s Afternoon Book Group at Southwest Library, 2 pm … It’s the fifth-to-last performance of “A Tuna Christmas” at ArtsWest (WSB sponsor), 7:30 tonight (tickets available online) … Be at Skylark Café and Club (WSB sponsor) at 7 pm to sign up for the third weekly Scrabble tournament, this time raising money for Furry Faces Foundation … And the West Seattle See Dogs club meets tonight, welcoming everyone potentially interested in helping raise a guide puppy to become a guide dog (more info here). Last but not least, you never know, there could be enough of a break in the weather tonight to glimpse at least part of the total lunar eclipse – this seattletimes.com (WSB partner) story has details.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
It’s the name behind some of the biggest nonprofit projects in West Seattle in the past decade:
*Transforming historic Cooper Elementary School into Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.
*Creating the only mixed-use building to house a Seattle Public Library branch.
*Co-developing the new home of the West Seattle Food Bank and other nonprofits adjacent to the residential units of One Community Commons.
Yet for all those high-profile projects, Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association executive director Derek Birnie admits DNDA may have a little bit of a community disconnect:
We published this photo to Twitter and Facebook earlier in hopes someone might shine a little light onto our mysterious motorcycle Santa Claus sighting this afternoon, but nothing definitive yet, so we’re casting a wider net. He rode southbound on California till its dead-end south of Thistle, then turned around and headed back northbound, which is when we managed the iPhone photo. Anyone get their presents early?
P.S. Side note in the holiday-cheer department: Thumbs-up for the Seaview carolers who serenaded their neighbors tonight. Your editor here happened to be visiting friends when the carolers stopped by for a song, and it was charming (as were the Delridge carolers we covered on Friday).
Another story of holiday giving tonight, this one shared by Mike Jensen:
Every December for the last 15 years, Hope Church and School has quietly been making the Holidays brighter for children and families in West Seattle.
This year the Hope Community donated gifts that touched more than 350 local kids, as well as many of their parents, that otherwise would likely not have gifts at Christmas. In addition, the Hope Community generously donated items to men from the Lutheran Compass Center as well as various Hope members and shut-ins.
But they didn’t stop there. More than 500 gifts were collected to send to mission teams in Mexico where even something as simple as a blanket is as precious as a new toy. Mary Anne DeVry, Hope’s Director of Human Care Ministries, has spearheaded the Holiday giving effort all of these years and is continually amazed at the generosity and outpouring of support from the congregation and the community.
“This response is really beyond what human beings do – as a church, we don’t have funds to buy all of these gifts, but they just pour in,” said Mary Anne. “This showing is the true meaning of Christmas, that God loves his people so much that he sent this son, but also sends his care in the form of blankets, bicycles and books!”
While this Christmas-giving season is winding down, Mary Anne encourages anyone that wants to be a part of this experience in the future to contact the Hope Church office at 206-937-9330.
We have more giving opportunities listed on the West Seattle Holidays page.
We’ve blurred the plate in that photo from Christopher, who says the man was “scavenging” metal items in the 4500 block of 40th SW [map]. Christopher says the copper lawn ornament and stainless-steel pail were returned after he suggested that might be a good idea; police have been called and provided with the plate number, which reportedly checked to a West Seattle address. Second, ws4ever posted in the WSB Forums about an alert in Arbor Heights/The Arroyos regarding a purported “P-I salesperson” (odd since there’s been no print P-I, just online, more than a year and a half) banging on doors. No description. Police reiterate – call them if/when you see someone suspicious.
After a midday sojourn in The Junction, we wandered north to Admiral to check in on two of the shops open this afternoon. Above, looking up to dad Kent, is Quinn, one of the namesakes of Max and Quinn’s Atomic Boys Shop-O-Rama, open for a “bonus day” of shopping till 5 today. We asked what’s hot this holiday season – one answer, these robot bugs:
Atomic Boys is at 4311 SW Admiral Way, just around the corner (westbound) from Alki Bike and Board, which is also featured in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Shopping Guide. They’re open till 5 today as well, and as proprietor Stu Hennessey notes, a lot bigger on the inside than you’d guess from the outside – plenty of room to chat as well as browse:
Alki Bike and Board is at 2606 California SW. To the south – if you’ve got presents to wrap and/or pets to buy gifts for – Beveridge Place Pub is the place:
Animal-advocacy volunteers from F3 and AARF are wrapping till 6 and also selling handmade pet beds and pre-filled dog stockings (6413 California SW). Back in The Junction, where we spent time earlier, Lisa from CAPERS shares a photo of one of her store’s annual holiday traditions, the Giving Tree for Hickman House. Still some cards on the tree; don’t let them go present-less:
Tomorrow’s the deadline for presents to be returned for the CAPERS tree. And one more reminder that Santa photos in The Junction and at Westwood Village are continuing till 4 this afternoon!
Need a break from the brilliant sunshine? Santa Claus is ready to meet you for a photo at Donna Ryan Photography in The Junction (4218 SW Alaska), part of Hometown Holidays (co-sponsored by WSB), with today’s $15 donation going to the West Seattle Food Bank. That’s West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival Junior Court Queen Taylor Nichols assisting Santa today; also on hand, Pete Spalding from the food bank’s board. Kitty-corner from Santa and friends, you’ll find the stop for the free mule-drawn carriage rides taking you on a quick tour of The Junction:
And that’s right next to where we found PTSA president Lashanna Williams and principal David Dockendorf from Pathfinder K-8, in the Hometown Holidays HQ tent:
Today the tent is more a refuge from sunshine — just a week ago, we were enduring record rain! Though the Pathfinder wreaths are sold out, they’re still offering facepainting (adults as well as kids) and hot cocoa. Santa and Hometown Holidays HQ will be here till FOUR PM today, we are assured. The Farmers’ Market is on till 2 pm, as usual – among the folks you’ll find, Sustainable West Seattle and the West Seattle Tool Library team, who had planned to demonstrate the difference in energy usage between old-fashioned Christmas lights and LEDs. Even if you didn’t catch that, they’re selling gift memberships to the Tool Library – they’re on the northeast edge of the market. P.S. Here’s another perspective of West Seattle this clear-sky day, from local reporter (and occasional WSB contributing journalist) Johnathon Fitzpatrick, who happens to be flying south:
At the West Seattle Farmers’ Market within the past hour, Tammy Teachout, widow of Brian Teachout – who died at 46 after surgery for an injury suffered while hanging Christmas lights – was moved to tears. She stood by and watched as local glass artist Brad Burzynski and his family sold newly created blown-glass ornaments to raise money to help her family. The Burzynskis started selling the ornaments at 10 am; within 10 minutes, 23 of the 30 ornaments were already taken, some for far far more than the $20 donation requested, and they were all gone in less than an hour. During a break in the rush, Brad stepped back for a quick pose, with daughter:
Tammy Teachout told us her husband’s memorial on Friday was standing room only; also, she went last night to see the Helmstetler Family Spectacular Christmas lights at 3908 SW Charlestown, which is giving all donations from the past two nights and tonight to her family. If you didn’t get an ornament and can’t see the lights but still want to help her and their three children, there’s information in our original story.
ADDED 12:06 PM: Brad sent word of the final tally:
Thanks to the wonderful people of West Seattle (and Poulsbo) for raising $1085 for the Teachout family! Amazing and heartwarming!
(12/5/10 WSB photo)
IN THE JUNCTION: Today’s West Seattle Farmers’ Market promises not only its usual tastiness 10 am-2 pm, but also live music 10-11:30 am and a West Seattle Tool Library demonstration at noon, according to market management. Also at/around the Farmers’ Market, the blown-glass ornaments created by Brad Burzynski to raise money for Brian Teachout‘s family (explained here) will go on sale at 10 am – get ’em while they last. At 11 am, the Hometown Holidays festivities begin – Santa photos at Donna Ryan Photography, 4218 SW Alaska – this week’s $15 donation goes to the West Seattle Food Bank; mule-drawn carriage rides (line up at the KeyBank corner of California/Alaska); also at that corner, treats and more at the headquarters for Hometown Holidays, presented by the West Seattle Junction Association (with co-sponsors including WSB).
HOLIDAY SHOPPING ALL OVER WEST SEATTLE: Since this is the last weekend shopping day before Christmas, your local West Seattle merchants await you all over the peninsula! In the Admiral District, for example, the toy/novelty/retro shop Atomic Boys (4311 SW Admiral) is OPEN today for a “bonus day” of holiday shopping, 11 am-5 pm. Atomic Boys is part of WSB’s first-ever Holiday Shopping Guide; while you’re in the Admiral District, stop by nearby Alki Bike and Board (open noon-5 today). South of Admiral, Skin Care by Casey is also open 9-6 today (3272 California SW) especially for shoppers; further south at 3727 California SW, stop by Budget Cuts for a special prepaid-haircut deal. Also in the guide: Avalon Glassworks in the Luna Park district (bring food-bank donations for discounts – $1 for each item, up to a $10 discount!). And in The Junction, the 11 stores you’ll find in the guide include Funky Jane’s Consignment with a Sunday sale; Clementine with daily deals; Click! Design That Fits has gift suggestions you can check out online before stopping in; today’s the last day of the toy drive for Treehouse at Twilight Artist Collective; looking for cellular presents? Sound Advice is OPEN today with special holiday hours, noon-5 pm … In The Triangle, Mountain to Sound Outfitters (in the guide with its Seattle Ski Shuttle) is open 11 am-5 pm today … That’s just a sample; check out all the deals and other holiday info here – and if there’s anything you want to save for a reminder, each business’s listing can be shared individually via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, etc., using the Share This icon. … Also of note: If you’re shopping Westwood Village today, it’s Santa’s last day there too, noon-4 pm, bring a food bank or diaper donation for your photo!
ALSO HAPPENING TODAY: Want somebody else to wrap your presents? Local animal advocates are at it again today, wrapping for donations 1-5 pm at Beveridge Place Pub … Also from the WSB West Seattle Holiday Events page, local churches have special events including the West Seattle Eagles Band in concert at 11:30 am with a potluck at Tibbetts United Methodist Church (WSB sponsor), a Moravian Lovefeast (explained on the page) at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, 4 pm, a special dessert-theater production by Taproot Theater at West Seattle Christian Church tonight (5:30 pm) … Got room in your heart for a furry friend? Kitty Harbor‘s final day open till next June is 1-6 pm today.
(January 1, 2010, WSB video by Christopher Boffoli)
That’s our video from last year’s New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim on Alki. Here’s this year’s announcement, just out of the WSB inbox this morning:
Come wash away the challenges of 2010 and bathe in the unlimited opportunities that 2011 brings to our lives by joining the West Seattle/White Center Polar Bear Swim this January 1, 2011 at 10:00 on Alki Beach.
Bring a suit, towel, slippers and dry clothes to put on after the swim. Over 75 of us gather each year at Alki Beach for our annual ceremony. (and it gets bigger each year!). We all hold hands in a long line, and run into Puget Sound together. It is great fun and not nearly as cold as one would think. And it makes the water a lot warmer when everyone runs in together holding hands. It is a grand time and the children have the most fun of all. Hot chocolate will be provided. We guarantee that this will help you get a great start on a new year filled with happiness, opportunity, love and adventure. If you are healthy, be brave! Come join the crowd. 10:00 am January 1, 2011 – Alki Beach across from Duke’s.
Questions:
Mark Ufkes (206) 595-7124
markufkes@comcast.net
From the anonymous good-doer(s) West Seattle Art Attack (some background here; that’s a helpful elf in the photo), two photos arrived along with this response to this WSB Forums post from someone whose Christmas decorations were vandalized:
Poor Ed & Gail Swartz. Somebody cut up their decorations. They lamented on the forums that Something bad is happing (sic) in West Seattle. Well, West Seattle Art Attack is at it again. The Swartz family has been attacked with a pumpkin and a few other surprises. Hopefully this will counteract the bad vibes from the vandals. There will be more attacks for the holidays throughout West Seattle.
Two nights after West Seattle High School‘s basketball teams faced Chief Sealth International High School, they played the peninsula’s other major high school tonight, Seattle Lutheran High School. WSHS won both varsity games – 30-25 was the girls’ score, 61-30 was the boys’ score. We’ll add toplines later.
When Banda Vagos took the stage at Denny International Middle School last night toward the end of Denny’s first-ever Posada Navideña holiday celebration, teacher Roxana Amaral had extra reasons to be proud. Not only did she help organize the Posada, with lots and lots of volunteers also part of hte effort, she explained regarding the band: “That’s my family.” Doubtless there were some among the estimated 150 attendees who hadn’t heard the rollicking banda style of Mexican music before – and that would be part of the event’s success, according to Denny principal Jeff Clark, seen here with some of the many volunteers and organizers:
Clark stressed, talking with us during the three-hour celebration, that it was more of what an “international” school is about – celebrating a culture’s rich traditions, with participants of many cultures. One big hit, literally, was the piñata-whacking right after the potluck dinner:
To avoid too much of a crazy scramble once the piñata was finally open, candy was handed out in a somewhat-more-orderly fashion. Raffle prizes were announced from the stage, by Amaral and young helpers:
(Amaral leads Proyecto Saber (explained here) at Denny.) In addition to the prizes, food, labor, and entertainment for the night also were donated, all to make it a more successful fundraiser for the Denny PTSA. That entertainment, incidentally, included mariachi music from Mariachi Seattle Azteca as well as the aforementioned banda group:
While we didn’t get there early enough for a look at the many traditional Mexican dishes brought for the potluck, the desserts remained in abundance:
Organizers hope the Posada will become an annual tradition for Denny – and if they do indeed have it again next year, they’ll be in the school’s brand-new building, getting close to completion on the Chief Sealth International High School campus across the street – with move-in scheduled immediately after this school year ends, so that, according to principal Clark, summer programs can be held in the new building and many members of the Denny community will be quite well acclimated to it by the time next school year starts in September 2011.
Considering how windy it was all night long – we kept watch from midnight till almost 6, surprised West Seattle escaped major power problems this time – it’s no surprise at least one tree was lost. This one is in Arbor Heights, a 40-footer brought down by the 40-mph-ish overnight wind, according to John. The current forecast only suggests breeziness and showers for the next few days. 1:53 PM NOTE: That said, it’s “showering” and gusting fairly impressively at the moment …
Everybody was a little camera-shy but rest assured, the cats that Friends of the Animals Foundation has brought to VCA West Seattle for an adoption event today – their first one there, VCA says – are just waiting for you, or anyone else who can give them a forever home. This event goes on till 2 pm. Seen at left is Frank, who’s 12 years old and needs someplace new because his people just couldn’t keep him any more. Below, Marianne and Barb with a few more candidates:
VCA West Seattle is at 5261 California SW. (P.S. Even if you can’t give someone a new home this Christmas, there are several other ways to help local pets in need, including pet-food donation drives – listed in the “Holiday Giving” section toward the end of the WSB West Seattle Holidays page.)
(Photo from 2/2010 WSB story, republished with permission of Rick Miner)
Back in February, we reported on a one-of-a-kind West Seattle real-estate listing – 3221 Point Place, a rundown bungalow on an amazing waterfront site next to the Alki Point Lighthouse. At the time, it was listed for $1.3 million; we spoke with its listing agent Rick Miner (who shared photos including the one above) for our story. We lost track of it until Tim at Seattle Bubble pointed out that it has just been sold, for $965,000 per this Redfin page. County records say the new owners are a couple with an address elsewhere in Alki. So what will become of it? For that, we’ll have to watch the city page for the site. As noted in our February story, the relatives who inherited it from its previous longtime owner had met with the city to evaluate the site’s “buildable potential”; there is no indication of any action beyond “initial information collected” in October of last year.
After a windy night, a busy day, with one week till Christmas. Our mystery photo above by Bill Bacon (he thought maybe a sanderling, we can’t confirm with photos) is in honor of the Seattle Audubon Society‘s seabird viewing/ID/appreciation walk this morning – everyone welcome, meet at Alki Bathhouse, 9 am … Two Seattle Parks facilities have special events with family fun – Reptile Man and his “band of creatures from around the globe” are at High Point Community Center (6920 34th SW), 10:30 am, and the Zambini Brothers puppeteers present “The Tasty Holiday Tale” at Alki Bathhouse, 1 pm … Be a holiday life-saver – give blood at today’s mobile drive, Westwood Village, 9 am-3 pm with a break 11 am-noon … Westwood is also where you’ll find Santa, noon-4 pm (breezeway across from 24 Hour Fitness), bring a food-bank or diaper donation … Three animal-related events – local animal-advocacy volunteers will wrap your presents for donations, 1-6 pm at Rocksport (4209 SW Alaska) … Friends of the Animals Foundation has a cat-adoption event at VCA West Seattle, 10 am-2 pm … Kitty Harbor cat shelter (3422 Harbor Ave SW) is open for its final weekend till next June, 1 pm-6 pm … Need something to put together a Christmas present or fix storm damage? Or? Remember the West Seattle Tool Library is open 9 am-2 pm Saturdays (north end of campus) … And whether you’re shopping in the Admiral District, Luna Park, or The Junction, you’ll find deals and holiday-hours information from 23 ***local*** stores in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Shopping Guide.
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