West Seattle, Washington
11 Monday
Photographs by Christopher Boffoli
Story by Tracy Record
for West Seattle Blog
Before dying of cancer at just 45 a week and a half ago, Matt Durham helped plan his own formal line-of-duty memorial service, according to one of his fellow Woodinville Fire and Rescue firefighters speaking at that service today.
“I want to do it for the boys,” Battalion Chief Greg Ahearn quoted Matt as saying – so that his young sons would see the support and the love showed by their father’s firefighter family, as well as that of their own relatives and friends.
That outpouring was overwhelming, as hundreds of firefighters from more than 30 departments all over the state joined hundreds of other mourners this afternoon at Overlake Christian Church, following the family’s escorted procession from their West Seattle home.
As shown here this morning, that procession went under two fire trucks’ crossed ladders – and as it arrived at the church campus in Redmond, a similar sight at the entrance, this time with a huge flag between the ladders:
After passing under that flag, Matt’s family and others drove by dozens of fire engines and medic units lining a driveway – a “static procession,” as it had been described in the memorial-service announcement:
It was paralleled inside, with a Corridor of Honor: Overlake’s long hallway between entrance and sanctuary was lined on both sides by dozens of fire personnel, standing, silent, in their dress uniforms, lining both sides. Matt’s wife Elaine Croce Durham and their sons Jack and Sam, along with other members of the Durham and Croce families, walked by:
Those personnel stood in place as other mourners arrived, then finally filed into the front of the sanctuary before the service began:
The service was full of symbolism and tradition, from bagpipes to bell-ringing, from an honor guard to a flag presentation, but it also honored Matt’s well-rounded life beyond firefighting, including his side career as a photojournalist and his love of hobbies including fishing and fitness. At stage left, his bicycle and helmet rested near a display of photos and fire gear:
Ahead – some of the words of the service, and more of the stirring images:
Two car-crime reports to share tonight. First one’s from Siobhan:
Last year on New Year’s Day morning, my little red Dodge Neon was stolen from its parking spot under my apartment building. Got it back on January 6th, which just happened to also be my birthday. THIS January 6th, I went downstairs to go to work to find my car missing its passenger-side window, a pile of glass on the ground, a brick on the drivers side floor and the hood of my car propped up with the the cables from my battery removed. They rummaged through my glove box and the middle console, but didn’t take anything. I never leave anything in my car.
This happened in the 35th Ave SW/Morgan St. area. I filed a police report. The officer said that they more than likely disconnected the battery to disable a car alarm and that the same thing had happened to a few other cars in the last few days just down the hill towards Fauntleroy/California. Just wanted to leave a heads-up to my neighbors.
And from Sam:
Hi, just wanted to let your blog know that last night I had two aftermarket offroad bumpers stolen. One was stolen off of my 4runner and one off my tacoma. Both vehicles were parked near Morgan junction. I’ve also had both catalytic convertors stolen from both of these vehicles in the last few months. Getting sick of it. Keep an eye out if you live in the area. Also if anyone sees two black tube bumpers for sale please contact the police.
Four times a day, the National Weather Service issues its “forecast discussion,” with a behind-the-scenes/crystal-ball-type look at what its meteorologists are seeing in the hours and days ahead. The newest one says snow showers are possible tonight/tomorrow, particularly on the highest hills, while also somewhat strengthening the possibility of serious snow around Wednesday of next week (though there’s still also caveats that with four days to go, things could change).
SUNDAY UPDATE, 5:20 AM: And indeed, the NWS’s “special weather statement” has just been updated to note the midweek uncertainty.
With the new year just one week old, resolutions are still fresh, and the future’s bright. Arbor Heights Elementary teacher Mark Ahlness mentioned his third-graders’ resolutions today via Twitter; after checking them out, we got his permission to share the link. Some are simple; some are big dreams, and not even on behalf of the resolution-makers. Writes Yadira:
My wish is that everybody can have a house. Because then if people have a house and it rains people won’t get wet. But if people don’t have houses people will get wet. So they have to have a house so the people don’t get cold.
Read them all here.
As Rick put it in his note sharing that photo, “a little color on a gray day.” The color is provided by the sails of the boats participating today in the Three Tree Point Yacht Club‘s 32nd Duwamish Head Race. More than 60 boats are participating, according to the club’s website. Here’s another look at a few of them, courtesy of Marty:
(SATURDAY EVENING NOTE: Our story and photos from this afternoon’s service will be up late tonight)
While the Eastside firefighters with whom Matt Durham worked announced a “static procession” at Overlake Christian Church before his memorial this afternoon, firefighters also have just shown their respect for the funeral procession leaving West Seattle. Thanks to Alli for the top photo – ladders were crossed over SW Alaska as the procession headed to The Bridge; thanks to Trina for this next photo, of a Seattle fireboat paying tribute from the Duwamish River by the bridge:
Matt died a little over a week ago at 45; in addition to his work as a firefighter, he also was a longtime photojournalist, and WSB was the last publication for which he worked. He also did volunteer work, and was a proud dad of 2. We’re on our way to the service and will have coverage later.
This Tuesday night, three West Seattle groups will meet jointly, with one hot topic on the agenda: The forthcoming West Seattle RapidRide “C Line” service. The groups are Junction Neighborhood Organization, Fairmount Community Association, and the West Seattle Junction Association, but you don’t have to be a member of one (or more) to attend, all are welcome. Reps from Metro and the city will be there to talk about routing, traffic, parking, and other effects of the new bus route. It doesn’t start running until fall 2012, but construction work for its stations/stops and other changes will start soon, and the planning work is about to hit a key phase. The meeting starts at 6:30 pm Tuesday at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon).
From left, Zoe, Darrian, Autumn, and Shawna will be happy to help you divest yourself of your drying-out Christmas tree today – get it out before the game! Till 2 pm, they’re at the Masonic Hall parking lot, 40th/Edmunds, for the West Seattle Rainbow Girls‘ fundraising tree-recycling event. $5 donation suggested. (Yes, you still have a couple more days for free city pickup or dropoff, but this is the only in-West Seattle dropoff event we know of!)
(Friday afternoon rainbow photo shared by Erik)
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar page – among other sources:
SEAHAWKS FLYOVER FYI: Via Twitter, the team announced, “A pair of Navy EA-18G Growlers will conduct a flyover near the end of the national anthem on Saturday.” Military flyovers at the stadiums often go over West Seattle, so we’re sharing the heads-up. (The team’s playoff game vs. New Orleans starts at 1:30 pm.)
MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR MATT DURHAM: The West Seattle photojournalist and Woodinville firefighter, who died of cancer nine days ago at 45, will be remembered at 1 pm today at Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, all welcome. Details including a map are here.
CHRISTMAS-TREE RECYCLING: Want to get rid of your tree before the (potential) snow? Today’s the West Seattle Rainbow Girls‘ recycling event, 9 am-2 pm, Masonic Hall parking lot, 40th/Edmunds. (Suggested donation $5.)
SCHOOL FAIR/OPEN HOUSES: There’s a school fair at SSCC 10 am-1 pm, plus Westside School (WSB sponsor)’s open house 1-3 pm – here’s our preview from last night.
ELVIS COMPETITION: Two West Seattleites in the Elvis competition in SODO tonight – full details here.
Those are just a few of the highlights. More on the calendar. As for the forecast – there’s a chance of snow showers tonight/tomorrow.
(WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
When Locöl officially opens for business at noon Monday, it’ll be one week short of January 17th, 2010, the day we first told you about the plan for a neighborhood beer/wine bar at 35th/Kenyon. Tonight, another soft-open test run put Locöl proprietor Kyle Duce and team that much closer to opening day. And what a transformation along the way – here’s what the ex-tanning salon looked like inside, last January:
(January 2010 WSB photo by Mary Sheely)
The view from a similar perspective tonight:
(WSB photos from here are all by Christopher Boffoli)
This is one of several “soft open” nights for Locöl, to make sure all the bugs are worked out. Here’s Kyle, in the plaid shirt, talking with patrons:
Locöl, as reported before, is serving food as well as beer and wine. Covering tonight’s event for WSB was photojournalist Christopher Boffoli; we asked him to find out more about the menu, to add to what was mentioned in our mid-December sneak peek – that information’s after the jump:Read More
An update tonight on the search for Jeremy Peck, whose family says he hasn’t been seen since early morning, Christmas Eve, in the Admiral District. In the comment section following our original story. Still no sign of him, according to Cheryl, who is one of the people who originally contacted us about Jeremy; she says they are hoping to gather a lot of people this Sunday morning at 10:30 am at Puerto Vallarta in The Junction (4727 California SW) to fan out and look – the more the better. The photo at left is from official ID; Jeremy is 6’1″, about 177 pounds, light brown hair, brown eyes, goes by “JP.” He was last seen wearing blue jeans, tennis shoes, and a black waist-length coat over a gray hoodie-type sweatshirt. If you have any information about him, you can contact police or John Peck, the uncle who raised him and with whom he was living in Fairmount Springs, at 206-923-0875 or 206-371-6451.
One more school note: It’s school-choice season, and West Seattle private and public schools are opening their doors in various ways, literally and figuratively, to share information with you. Tomorrow, for example, Parent Map is presenting a fair at South Seattle Community College‘s Brockey Center, 10 am-1 pm. It’s called Preschool Preview but it includes schools going all the way up to high school, and a few nonschool participants too. Here’s the full list; say hi to WSB sponsors Westside School (which is having its own open house tomorrow, 1-3 pm), West Seattle Montessori/WS Academy (with its own open houses 1-3 pm January 22 and 6:30-8 pm February 9), and Bryan Brenner, DDS. It’s also tour time for Seattle Public Schools – the lists are all linked from the bottom of this page on the district’s new-look website (note that the elementaries are split into two “service areas” – Denny and Madison).
Followup on our two latest reports about West Seattle public schools dealing with big enrollment growth because of the district’s New Student Assignment Plan (Wednesday report here; Thursday report here): The district confirms that more portables are on their way to schools including three elementaries in West Seattle: One double portable each to Gatewood and Lafayette, one single portable to Schmitz Park. According to district spokesperson Teresa Wippel, they’re set for delivery sometime before the start of next school year. (We happened onto this news because the Gatewood portable classrooms need approval from the Landmark Preservation Board, since that school is an official city landmark, and the plan turned up on the agenda for the LPB’s Architectural Review Committee next Friday.)
New progress toward starting construction on Delridge Skatepark, which went on hold for a while last fall in a controversy over bidder qualifications, resulting in a decision to have the project re-bid: Seattle Parks‘ project manager, Kelly Davidson, tells WSB this afternoon: “Delridge Skatepark was signed off today by City Contracting. It will be advertised on Tuesday 1/11 and it will bid on Wed 2/2.” If all goes well from there, she says, groundbreaking is likely in March. (The project’s also on the agenda for next Monday’s Skatepark Advisory Committee meeting, 6 pm at Parks HQ downtown.)
The National Weather Service has just issued a “Special Weather Statement” talking more seriously about the possibility of snow in the area – this weekend and around midweek. For Sunday morning, they’re suggesting “showery” snow – but then at midweek, there’s “the potential for a widespread heavy snow event somewhere in Western Washington.” You can read the “Special Weather Statement” here. P.S. There’s additional detail in the 3 pm “forecast discussion” from NWS – caps theirs:
THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR A WIDESPREAD…HIGH-IMPACT HEAVY SNOW EVENT FOR PARTS OF WESTERN WASHINGTON DURING THE SECOND HALF OF NEXT WEEK…BEGINNING AS EARLY AS WEDNESDAY BUT MORE LIKELY ON THU OR FRI. IT SHOULD BE STRESSED THAT GREAT UNCERTAINTY INHERENTLY REMAINS IN THE DAYS 5-7 FORECAST…BUT THE POTENTIAL CANNOT BE IGNORED.
As reported here on Wednesday, repairs are complete on the King County Water Taxi‘s West Seattle vessel, Rachel Marie (WSB file photo at left), and the U.S. Coast Guard has completed most of its investigation into last September’s crash. With sea trials complete, the county has just announced this afternoon that the Rachel Marie will return to West Seattle-Downtown Seattle service on Monday – which also means a return to Pier 50. The full text of the county’s news release, ahead:Read More
(Photo courtesy Heidi Van Brost)
Salmon eggs have arrived at eleven local schools that will each raise 200 fish for Fauntleroy Creek, according to creek steward Judy Pickens. She and Phil Sweetland made the deliveries after getting the eggs from the state’s Soos Creek Hatchery. She says they reassured teachers that the “Salmon in the Classroom” program will continue, though it was cut from the state budget last month, because planning is under way to keep it going through “local resources.” In the photo above, first- and fifth-grade students, with teacher Christine Marshall (left), are shown putting eggs into the aquarium at Pathfinder K-8. The salmon-raising process takes four months, during which, Judy says, “The students will monitor water temperature and chemistry, feed their fish, and keep the tank clean as they learn about salmon habitat and the role of this iconic fish in regional culture, commerce, and environment.”
Two days after the city’s Department of Neighborhoods director Stella Chao visited West Seattle to talk with the Southwest District Council, there’s word she’s leaving the job after four years. The mayor’s office just sent the announcement – read it in full after the jump:Read More
(Jack Block Park entrance, taken by Nakean, shared via the WSB Flickr group pool)
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar page: It’s opening night for this weekend’s four-performance run of “Amahl and the Night Visitors” by Twelfth Night Productions (WSB sponsor) at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (tickets available online) … Friday-night skating returns tonight to Alki Community Center (5817 SW Stevens) after a few holiday-season weeks off – $3/person, bring your own skates or borrow them, 6:45-8:45 pm … Grand opening celebration at new 35th/Barton 7-11, free food, drinks, other treats 11 am-1 pm … Cleaning house after the holidays? Northwest Center’s “Big Blue Truck” is in West Seattle Fridays-Sundays, 44th Av SW & SW Edmunds, 9 am – 5 pm. … P.S. If you see this early, another wave of “king tides” is under way, and a 12.5-foot high tide hits West Seattle at 7:26 this morning (next wave is later this month, peaking at 13.3 feet January 22-23).
(WSDOT photo via Flickr: Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond signs tunnel contract Thursday)
Even as the Alaskan Way Viaduct Central Waterfront Project marked a milestone – signing the tunnel design-build contract – a team from the AWV front lines debunked some misperceptions in Q/A during an appearance before the Southwest District Council Wednesday night, hours before the signing. First and foremost: No, this does NOT mean the tunnel is “no going back” final, and it does NOT mean construction is about to start, as some may believe. The construction that’s starting now is a separate phase of the project, its Holgate-to-King-Street segment (formerly known as South End Replacement Project). After the jump, the Q/A/myth-debunking on that:Read More
Following up on last night’s board meeting, with introduction of next year’s transition plan for the ongoing New Student Assignment Plan, Seattle Public Schools offered news media a chance to talk today with one of the district’s top managers, Dr. Tracy Libros. We participated by phone and asked, for starters, a followup question (here) posed in WSB comments on our school-board-preview story from last night (here).
Answer, according to Dr. Libros: No further West Seattle attendance-boundary changes are proposed at this point for next year. But tomorrow is the deadline for school board members to propose amendments – so if there’s anything coming in at the 11th hour, we’ll know by the start of next week; they would be considered when the plan comes up for a final vote on January 19th.
Among the other points of interest was a little more discussion of the fact that one West Seattle elementary school will be designated as an “international” school, to complete the “pathway” that currently goes from Concord International Elementary (in South Park but considered part of the West Seattle service area) to Denny International Middle School to Chief Sealth International High School. Which West Seattle elementary will it be? Dr. Libros says it hasn’t been designated yet. After the jump: What about the crowding at West Seattle’s northern elementaries? Read More
(WSB video from August 2010)
Kids of all ages loved ’em at the Summer Concerts at Hiawatha series last August, among other stops – and now West Seattle’s own Caspar Babypants (aka Chris Ballew and friends) has another local concert on the schedule. Got word from High Point Community Center tonight that CB will play HPCC (6920 34th SW) at 10:30 am Saturday, January 15th. Tickets are $3 in advance, $5 on show day.
If you’ve been to West Seattle’s Southwest branch library in the past few days, you may have noticed that tribute in the art by its entrance. It is in honor of Christy Tyson, who worked with the branch for more than 15 years. Julie Enevoldsen and Toni Reineke, with help from library staff, put together and shared this remembrance, and the accompanying photos:
West Seattle Loses Another Treasure
You may not have known Christy Tyson by name, but many will recognize her in the attached photo, as she was a fixture at Southwest and High Point branch libraries.
Patrons, volunteers, and library staff are mourning the loss of our
friend–and our Friend. Christy lost her battle with a long illness just minutes into the New Year.Christy devoted her entire life to the library. In 1991 she became branch
manager at Southwest, and then team leader at both Southwest and High Point until her retirement in 2007.As manager at Southwest, she worked with library administration and patrons on a pilot project to support the development of branch Friends groups. In 1992, she and neighborhood patrons founded Friends of Southwest Branch Library as a subsidiary group of the Friends of Seattle Public Library.
As team leader, she made a significant contribution to the design of the new buildings at both Southwest and High Point branches.
Her reputation for working with young adults was national. Christy had a special rapport with teens, encouraging young adults not only to participate, but to take active leadership roles (“She listened carefully to what we were saying,” one former teen says), and she kept tabs on their development throughout her life. She was a past president of YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association). As branch manager, she made a special effort to mentor teens and encourage them to establish their own library careers. Three of the Library Assistants currently working at Southwest are in Library School because of Christy’s inspiration.
She took children’s ideas and needs seriously, too, from helping them select just the right book, to making sure they could contribute their visions for the library. (One of her favorites was the idea from a child who wanted bunk beds on the bottom of each book rack!)
Christy was a passionate library advocate. One of her favorite sayings was, “The library is the community’s living room.” It was important to her to maintain the library as a common meeting ground for people of all ages and walks of life.
Christy enjoyed working in West Seattle so much that she bought a house here in the community. She was an enthusiastic gardener and dog-lover, and became involved in preserving and enhancing her new community in the Fauntleroy Creek area.
Our community has lost a passionate and inspired leader.
A celebration of her life will be held at a date to be announced. Donations may be sent to YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) or the Seattle Public Library Foundation.
UPDATE: The celebration has been set for 3-6 pm January 30th at Camp Long Lodge.
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