That’s how Capitol Hill Seattle headlines its story about one of the demonstrations today in which a small hate group from out of town has been outnumbered in a big way by counterprotesters; see it here. “The forces of hate and anti-hate” is the description at Central District News; you can see CDN’s report here. The out-of-towners had promised multiple stops and you can check back with those two sites (main URLs hotlinked to their respective names) for continuing coverage through the day.
Strawberries and cherries should be available today, according to the latest fresh sheet from the West Seattle Farmers’ Market (10 am-2 pm, 44th/Alaska). See it here.
Just days left to go in the school year for Seattle Public Schools. That means year-ending events abound – including one-of-a-kind events like the closure celebration Saturday at the Genesee Hill building that’s been the longtime “temporary” home to Pathfinder K-8, which is moving to the Cooper School building on Pigeon Point. As the photos above and below show – memory-sharing was a big part of the Genesee Hill event:
Also on Saturday,Arbor Heights Elementary drew crowds for its carnival – thanks to teacher Mark Ahlness for sharing photos:
Mark noted, “The streets were jammed with cars and the school and playground with happy families enjoying a beautiful day! The Carnival is an annual fundraiser sponsored by our PTSA (arborheights.wikispaces.com/AHPTSA).”
Celebrate the summer solstice, Sunday, June 21, 5 pm, at a picnic on Alki. Meet at the grassy area to the left (west) of the Statue of Liberty. Bring your own dish/cutlery and drink, and bring something to share. Questions? laurakgould@comcast.net
A Irish dance workshop for beginning children will be held July 14-17, 10:00 to 11:00 AM, at the West Seattle VFW, 3601 SW Alaska.
These classes are offered by the Comerford School of Irish Dance, which offers classes year-round at the VFW as well as other locations. Irish dance is fun and rewarding, a great way to develop confidence and self-esteem, and to make new friends. INFO: 206-935-3225, celticartsnw@hotmail.com
Thanks to JMB for sharing that photo of a submarine passing Alki Point this morning, with a Coast Guard vessel and a Seattle-Bremerton state ferry in view as well. Northwest Navigatorhad a story a few days ago about the USS Ohio getting ready to leave Bangor to head back out to sea – so perhaps that’s what JMB caught on camera (we trust expert sub-watchers will correct us if you can tell from the photo it’s a different class of sub).
Althea and Ryancalled and e-mailed to say this happened within the past hour:
I’d like to report a hit and run that occurred just before 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 13th on SW Andover St. between 44th and 45th. Our vehicle is a dark blue 2008 Mazda5 and was side-swiped on the driver side while parked. The drivers’ side taillight was crushed and side view mirror was knocked off. Judging from the placement of damage to our car, the vehicle to be on the lookout for may be a white pick-up perhaps with some light blue detailing (a faint light blue line can be seen on our car, but the damage is mostly a white or tan color). There will be damage to the right side of their vehicle, most likely with significant traces of dark blue picked up from our car when they hit it. Neigbors said that they could hear the car screeching arond the corner, so if anybody has seen a light-colored pick-up truck driving around crazily with damage to the right side, please let us know!
ADDED EARLY SUNDAY: They wanted to add this to their story:
Perhaps I should not have stated that it may be a “pick-up truck” because I don’t want to narrow the search too much. It could be a large SUV – something that was tall enough to crush our back taillight (which is actually at the top driver’s side of the Mazda 5, rather than down low) with their side view mirror, most likely. We would like to offer a $250 reward for information leading to the location of the vehicle that hit ours. Thanks for your help!
The West Seattle Teeter Tots (with kids born in – or “around” – 2007) are among the dozens of groups and businesses we’ve spent the day with here at the Morgan Junction Community Festival. Still an hour left before everybody packs up from the park and the booth area behind Zeeks/Feedback, where it’s been a perfect day – brilliant sunshine but not too hot, lots of people but not too crowded. Also here – the Lazy Locavores – edible-garden consultants (also known as the Shibaguyz) — that’s Shannon in the background:
We’ll be adding a few more pics and some video to one last report here; this is the first time in about two years that the Morgan Community Association has presented this festival, and it’s been a smash hit – particularly the “Bite of Morgan” food sampling, with 400 coupon books handed out (the entire stock) by midway through the festival – and the slate of local musicians, spanning a wide variety of genres, assembled by MoCA’s Chas Redmond. Here’s video of Soul Machinery:
(next clip added 7:54 pm) And here, a minute of The Slags:
(next clip added 8:30 pm) Last but not least, the cover band 4 outta 5, with the disco classic “I Will Survive”:
Special thanks to everybody who dropped by the WSB table to say hi – those we’d met before, those we knew only through e-mail, and those we hadn’t met yet either way but have been out there in WSB-land … thank YOU for being part of WSB. (Including MargL, who sent us this pic from Engine 37’s visit to the festival — Engine 29 was here earlier too – and apologies if we’re omitting any other fire teams who visited, but they were over by the park area and we’ve spent most of the day in the booth area.)
If we didn’t see you today, we’ll see you at the Westwood Village street festival in two weeks, and West Seattle Summer Fest in The Junction July 10-11-12.
All three major West Seattle high schools have now sent their 2009 graduates out into the world, after Chief Sealth High School‘s commencement ceremony earlier this afternoon at Seattle Center’s Memorial Stadium. (Our video shows some of the grads acknowledging family and friends as they enter the stadium.) [photo added 8:36 pm]
This is the first of two classes finishing their high-school years at Sealth’s temporary location at Boren; the school is scheduled to be there one more year while renovation work is completed and a new Denny Middle School is constructed on the campus. (West Seattle HS and Seattle Lutheran HS graduated Thursday night; here’s our coverage.)
That’s Sheila Brown from Camp Long, wearing coffee-filter art as a hat – in the newly dedicated Morgan Junction Park itself, you’ll find the Parks Department booth where you can make some too – and the park is also where the legendary Bubbleman put on a show as the festival began – here’s a snippet of video:
(Note: The Bubbleman will be in The Junction the night before West Seattle Summer Fest – Thursday 7/9, 7 pm, after the streets close for festival prep, right in front of Elliott Bay Brewery.) But MJ Park’s not the only place you’ll find things to do and people to meet (like us!) – right behind the Feedback Lounge/Zeeks building is where more than two dozen booths are set up. Just walk southwest from the back of the park, behind Beveridge Place. Good turnout so far, and we’ve had some great conversations – chatted with Larry Carpenter and Ron Richardson from the Southwest Seattle Historical Society/Log House Museum – just finished talking to the first campaigning candidate sighted today, City Council hopeful Jessie Israel (who is running against incumbent Councilmember Nick Licata) — the primary election is just a little more than two months away. Remember to stop by the Morgan Community Association booth in front of the park to get your coupons for the “Bite of Morgan” freebies – and if you want even more, you can cross California SW to West Seattle Thriftway, with $7 for a barbecue lunch till 4 pm (proceeds going to MoCA for future festivals):
You can enter the festival from the park on California north of Fauntleroy, or through the booth area on Fauntleroy just west of California – it continues till 6 pm.
2:56 PM UPDATE: Adding a few more photos. And candidate sighting #2 – David Ginsberg, High Point resident running for City Council. And by all indications, the festival’s a smash hit – 400 coupon books gone already, with three hours left to go … right now we’re talking with Jeff Gilbert from Feedback Lounge about those pulled-pork sliders that folks have mentioned in comments on this post – he says lots of folks who’ve never been in FL before have stopped by because of the “Bite.” A couple quick photos from the booths closest to us:
That’s where you can find out about the Communication Hubs around West Seattle – the places you can go just in case of disaster, to get information. (More info at westseattle.bepreparedseattle.info) Right next to the Hubs, more info about Orchard Street Ravine, a natural area just about half a mile southeast of here:
And next to that, the Friends of Lincoln Park P-Patch are having a fundraising bake sale:
Within the past hour, the ribbon was cut, speeches were made, and the $480,000 Morgan Junction Park is now a full-fledged member of the Seattle Parks system. It’s also the site today of some of the events in the Morgan Junction Community Festival – but be sure to make your way behind Beveridge Place Pub, Feedback Lounge and Zeeks Pizza to see the community group and business booths, including ours. Now back to the park dedication: Morgan Community Association president Deb Barker made note of this park’s origins as a site for the Seattle monorail-that-wasn’t:
In addition to the plaza-like park itself, there’s also a sidewalk art project fronting California SW alongside the park – it went in along with new sidewalks funded by SDOT – and two of its creators, from SuttonBeresCuller, accepted thank-you art from Steve Sindiong of MoCA:
Others who received similar honors from Sindiong and Deb Barker on MoCA’s behalf included Parks project manager Virginia Hassinger, who led many a public meeting on the park design (in addition to the considerable behind-the-scenes work):
And Gary Sink, owner of the nearby Beveridge Place Pub, which helped make the park happen as part of a purchase of the entire monorail-property site, where he moved his popular pub to the former Video Vault building that’s just south of the park (it used to be where the Feedback Lounge is now):
Q13 FOX sent a photojournalist, so you might see a bit of the dedication on their 9 and 10 pm newscasts. Now, for the rest of the day, it’s the festival in and around the park, and we’ll be reporting as it happens (the occasional Twitter update at @westseattleblog as well – where you’ll find links to photos we “tweeted” before the event, including City Council President Richard Conlin in his “I Love West Seattle T-shirt” – he and Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher were the two top dignitaries on hand for the event). [added 8:55 pm – video of Gallagher discussing the park’s relationship to BPP]
The park is on the west side of California SW, a block north of Fauntleroy (map).
Cami MacNamara e-mailed to make sure everybody involved with West Seattle Little League knows about this event this afternoon:
All current West Seattle Little League families are invited to attend our end of season Annual Picnic today. 3pm at Bar-S Fields. Hotdogs and burgers, plates and cutlery are provided by the league, the rest is potluck by division. To see what your division is assigned:
We will also have a dunk tank this year! Please bring your child’s uniform to return to your team manager. A trophy presentation for the players will also occur.
Just hopped down the hill to Morgan Junction Park and vicinity to check on setup for the Morgan Junction Community Festival, 11 am-6 pm today (that’s MoCA’s Cindi Barker in pink, checking on things in the booth area, right behind Zeeks/Feedback/Beveridge). It kicks off (after the park dedication) with the legendary Bubbleman 11-11:30 am, a family fave. And there will be music – lots of music, coordinated by MoCA’s Chas Redmond – here’s a look at this morning’s stage setup:
And here’s the full music slate, from a preview we published earlier this week:
11:30 am-12:15 pm Seattle’s Own High Country
4-piece band playing Up-tempo Classic Country and Country-inspired originals
Here are the food/beverage outlets participating in the Bite of Morgan – free samples, just pick up a coupon book first at the Morgan Community Association booth:
Kokoras Greek Grill
Feedback Lounge
Zeeks Pizza
Tully’s Coffee
Abbondanza Pizzeria (after 4:30pm) Domino’s
Caffe Ladro (handing out coupons at the park opening)
And even more festival information is here. Among the dozens of businesses and community groups you’ll find there (including WSB!) you’ll find the West Seattle Teeter Tots with a bake sale to raise money “to keep the group free to join” – organizers asked if we’d share a little info about them:
Our group is for parents and their children born in 2007(or close to it) and their younger siblings. We are a group that likes to have a good time, enjoys getting out and about with our kids to enjoy all that Seattle has to offer. We often meet at each other’s houses, play at parks, take field trips, and go out once a month for a much deserved Mom’s Night Out. We are an open-minded, casual group with not a lot of rules that is free to join. If you are looking to get out of the house, meet other local moms and kids to socialize and have fun, come join us!
We’ll report live all day – so check back for a look at what’s going on – and no matter what part of West Seattle you’re in, come on over to check out Morgan Junction — just head about a mile south of The (Alaska) Junction on California and you’re there.
High Point Library
3411 SW Raymond St
206-684-7454
Library events and programs are free and everyone is welcome. Registration is not
required.
Creative Conjuring Magic Show
2pm Wednesday July 1st
Black belt magician and “Creative Conjuror” Jeff Evans celebrates
summer reading with science stunts, wacky inventions and magical
mayhem that add up to total fun! For ages 5-10.
Kaleta: African Masked Dance
5pm Wednesday July 8th
West African performers from Gansango Music & Dance use masked
dance, stories and drumming to share an African festival called
“Kaleta,” when children make homemade masks and go door-to-door in
costume, collecting coins and food treats. For all ages.
Capa de Cuentos
2pm Wednesday July 29th
Los Nietos presents a bilingual series of short Latin
American stories, along with live music, ancient history,
shadow puppets and traditional costumes. For ages 3-adult.
Nature Printmaking (Registration is required for this program; call the branch.)
1pm Saturday August 1st
Learn how to create unique and colorful nature-themed block prints
on tree-free paper with the Nature Consortium. For ages 7 – adult.
This class is limited to 20 people, please register with the branch.
African Drumming
2pm Wednesday Aug 12th
West African performers from Gansango Music & Dance demonstrate the wide variety of
drums found across Africa, play and teach drum rhythms, and show you how to make
simple drums from basic materials. For all ages.
All school age children, pre-kindergarten (5 by August 31st) through 5th grade are invited to attend Vacation Bible School (VBS) at West Side Presbyterian Church, June 22-26 from 9am – noon. Enjoy Bible Stories, Crafts, Movies, Music, Treats, Puppets, Awards and Recreation, all at no charge. See WSPC.org for more information and a registration form (pre-registration is not required, but helpful). We hope to see you there!
Got an announcement for our Events calendar and/or our Announced page? E-mail us: editor@westseattleblog.com
Next weekend at Kenyon Hall in West Seattle – here’s the announcement from “Aunt Dottie” herself:
AUNT DOTTIE’S SING-ALONG CABARET
Come join the musical adventure that’s different every time!
After years entertaining on the high seas, Aunt Dottie, finds herself on dry land,
due to her current husband’s chronic sea-sickness. Unable to stop performing, and
still paying alimony for all of those previous husbands, Aunt Dottie is bringing her
act to KENYON HALL!
In this show, the audience is encouraged to participate and sing along as Aunt
Dottie and her nephew, Aaron, take you on a journey through some classic and
not-so-classic songs.
THERE WILL BE PRIZES!
ONE night only:
Saturday, June 20, 2009
8:00 p.m.
Kenyon Hall in West Seattle
7904 35th Avenue SW, Seattle, WA 98126
(35th & Kenyon)
Table Seats $14 • Row Seats $12 ($10 Students/Seniors)
Make a reservation and receive $2 Discount on row seats
Reservations: Phone (206)937-3613 or e-mail kenyonhall@earthlink.net
MORGAN JUNCTION PARK DEDICATION: 10 am today, right before the Morgan Junction Community Festival, which is happening in and around the park 11 am-6 pm. The park’s been open a couple months just north of Beveridge Place Pub, on the former Fauntleroy Auto Works site once tabbed for a monorail station. (More on the festival shortly – we’ll be there all day, reporting “live.”)
GOODBYE, GENESEE HILL: The elementary school building atop the hill had already been closed once when it was reopened to serve as “temporary” home to West Seattle’s only public alternative school, Pathfinder K-8. More than a decade later, the district is closing it again and moving Pathfinder to the Cooper building in Pigeon Point. The Pathfinder community is leading a closure ceremony/commemoration 10 am-2 pm today.
CHIEF SEALTH HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION: Members of the Chief Sealth Class of 2009 end their high-school years with a commencement ceremony at 1 pm. This year, it’s at Memorial Stadium at Seattle Center, same place West Seattle HS had its graduation two days ago.
In celebration of our “One Year Anniversary” we are hosting an Open House June 24 from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm.
Alki Kid’s Place is “West Seattle’s Solution” for summer camp and afterschool activities specially designed for children ages 4 – 14. Our unique and affordable program provides a safe, caring environment with individualized care and flexible scheduling. The program includes crafts, games, exercise, music, movies, baking and beach time.
Please come and experience our program and enjoy Pizza “donated by our new local Zeeks”, refreshments, activities for your children and a Free Gift for stopping in. We are located at 6115 SW Hinds Street. For more information, call Cheryl at 938-0145.
Amy e-mailed to ask what we’d heard about a power outage on Gatewood Hill. Nothing — till her note. Checked with Seattle City Light; the boundaries (seldom precise) are listed as Fauntleroy Way north, SW Orchard south, 37th SW east, Parshall Place west. It’s affecting about 80 homes. No word on the cause; they’re estimating it’ll be fixed by 1:30 am.
West Seattle photojournalist Matt Durham from mattdurhamphotography.com shares this scene, describing it only as follows: “A monster emerged … out of a downed tree’s root ball at a West Seattle park. The location will remain a mystery.” Hmmm.
It’s been about an hour since Facebook started offering members the chance to customize the Web address for their FB presence. We signed up fast for facebook.com/westseattleblog – so that’s where you can find us, as opposed to the previous long string of numbers that we never did manage to memorize. (If you haven’t signed up to customize your FB address yet, it’s a quick free process that starts here. –
Looking for work? Three events coming up at Delridge Community Center might help – and we were asked to help spread the word about them – all free! Read on for details:Read More
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