West Seattle Blog…

Be inspirational! Talk about your job at Career Night in High Point

Can you help out with this – a chance to inspire local youth at Career Night for teens at Neighborhood House’s High Point Center next week? Here are all the details:

What: An opportunity for young people to connect to professionals in all sorts of careers and ask them questions about what they do and how they prepared for their careers.

Where: High Point Center Neighborhood House (6400 Sylvan Way SW)

When: Tuesday, Dec. 6th 4-6 pm

Why: Young people can benefit from talking to adults who are already doing the things they aspire to do about what it takes to get there! We want to give the youth a chance to ask questions and hear about what certain careers are like and for adults to see themselves as resources for youth.

Help us make our career night a success for our youth! We are looking for more professionals from areas of work in Media, Natural Science, Social Science, Medicine, Business, Architectural Studies and Engineering to briefly talk about the work that they do and answer career-specific questions from teens. If you work in a field that was not mentioned or are self employed and would like to share your experience, please also contact Khatsini, YELS (Youth Empowered With Leadership Strengths) program coordinator, at khatsinis@nhwa.org or 206 588 4900 x.627 for further steps.

West Seattle Soccer Club to inaugurate new Walt Hundley Playfield turf

A little more than a year after the field got its new name – honoring Seattle’s first African-American Superintendent of Parks – Walt Hundley Playfield has its new turf. The completion of the $1 million Parks and Green Spaces Levy-funded renovation has just been announced, and the Seattle Parks news release says that West Seattle Soccer Club will officially kick things off with a day full of games this Saturday. The city announcement quotes WSSC board member Tim McMonigle as saying “this will be one of the very few synthetic lined U-10 and U-11 surfaces in the Puget Sound area.” The field (south of High Point Community Center) also has football and Ultimate Frisbee reference markings. It’s the third West Seattle playfield to get new turf in less than two years, after Hiawatha and Delridge.

New look, new books for library at West Seattle Elementary School

For the past month, the library at West Seattle Elementary has been undergoing renovations – 2,000 books, a tech upgrade with iPads, new furniture, new shelves, new carpeting. Today, the overhauled library unveiled to the world. Lauren sent us the above photo via Twitter; when we dropped by for a look, a full complement of photojournalists was there, as was Mayor McGinn (on the other side of the cameras):

The project was the work of the Heart of America Foundation and Target volunteers, dozens of whom were at the school doing more work today, including playground revitalization:

WSES is one of 42 schools around the country in the library-makeover program this year. As part of the project, each WSES student gets seven new books to take home. A commemorative tree was planted too, we were told by WSES counselor Laura Bermes, who summed up the day as “a big deal!”

West Seattle scene: High Point playground officially opens

A little brisk this afternoon as High Point’s new playground – built in a day last Friday, with hundreds of volunteers pitching in – officially opened. But commemorative purple scarves from playground partner KaBOOM! kept community advocates warm:

The new playground is at Bataan Park on the east side of High Point.

Postscript to High Point dinner: ‘Your donation saved a life’

This morning, acknowledgements to share from the planners of a first-of-its-kind fundraiser in High Point earlier this month, a dinner to raise money for famine relief in Somalia – an event that even brought out Mayor McGinn:

High Point’s community builder Shukri Olow shares the photos and these words of appreciation for those who made the event a success – including those in attendance:

First and foremost, we, the planners of the Fundraiser dinner for Mercy Corps and Islamic Relief want to THANK our volunteers, our 11 High Point women who made the delicious and authentic Somali rice, hilib, chicken, qalwa, mandazi, sambusa and tea. AND those who helped serve the food and cleanup! Your commitment to your community is admirable. Our volunteers, and co-workers from Neighborhood House including Fredolyn, Bianca, Denise, Aparna, Jennifer — thank you for your endless efforts in making High Point a better community for all.

Secondly, SPECIAL THANKS to our presenters and those in attendance: Mayor Mike McGinn and his wife Peggy Lynch for their support, Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, Executive Director of Neighborhood House Mark Okazaki for his tireless work and engagement in this community.

Thank you Joy Portella-Director of Communications with Mercy Corps, Zuhair Motiwala with Islamic Relief, Seattle Poet Santiago, Asha Mohamed with Seattle Housing, Mohamed Sheikh with Afrique Service Center, Tom Phillips and Julie Wade, Mohamed Moallim with Muslim Housing, and The Seattle Channel for filming our event.

Lastly, THANK YOU DONORS for opening up your wallets and hearts to people unknown to you, to people on the verge of death because of hunger.

We had over 100 people attend our event and raised $4,000 for Islamic Relief and Mercy Corps.To both organizations — your work in countries around the world including Somalia is commendable and I hope that you continue to help those in dire need, even in difficult financial times.

Remember, your donation saved a life and THANK YOU for hearing the stories of those voiceless.

Sincerely,
Shukri Olow and Aser Ashkir

If you missed the event but would still like to help, one of the beneficiary charities, Mercy Corps, has a way to donate online – go here.

Followup: High Point’s new playground, built in a day!

Late this afternoon, after hundreds of volunteers built High Point’s new playground at Bataan Park (as previewed this morning), the fences went up, and there they’ll stay till its scheduled opening Tuesday. But we did get to peek through:

For scenes from the action throughout the day – all the way up to the ribbon-cutting – check out High Point resident Wendy Hughes-Jelen‘s album on Facebook.

ADDED 9:36 PM: Commenters have mentioned that our friends at KING 5 were out covering the event today – here’s their story (following an ad which is served by them, not us):

Tuesday’s grand opening is at 4:30 pm.

Happening now: High Point neighbors build their playground

Today’s the day – and after a week of clouds, they’re graced with sun. High Point neighbors, with KaBOOM! and the Windermere Foundation, are building their new playground at Bataan Park. Smiles all around as signups began:

We spotted West Seattleite and The Mountain radio personality Marty Riemer digging in, too:

If you remember (or were part of) the playground project in Delridge two years ago, you’ll remember that KaBOOM! team members come dressed for success:

We’ll check back later today. It’s only been two months since High Point got word the playground would be built (this was the second time they’d applied to get one); the grand opening is planned for next Tuesday.

West Seattle community centers: Ballroom dance; Reptile Man

As this week’s big announcement reminded us all – use your city-run community centers, or risk losing ‘em. You’ve already heard about this weekend’s biggest community-center events in West Seattle (Delridge Day and Hiawatha’s Centennial) – but there’s more:

DELRIDGE DANCING: Every month, there’s a ballroom-dancing event at Delridge Community Center, and we just got the announcement that it’s coming up again this Friday afternoon, 1:30-3:30 pm. Billy writes, “As always, you will enjoy and dance to the beautiful music of Lauren Petrie. And get a chance to win a surprise prize.”

(March 2011 photo from PhinneyWood.com, used with permission)
REPTILE MAN AT HIGH POINT: Saturday morning at 10:30 am, High Point Community Center plays host to the famed Reptile Man. If you buy tickets at HPCC ahead of time, it’s $3/person; on Saturday, $5/person ($15 max per family) at the door.

West Seattle schools: Getting High Point students to Denny

The Denny International Middle School students in our photo will be coming back home this afternoon on school buses provided by Seattle Public Schools – after neighborhood residents won a hard-fought victory to get that transportation. More than 60 Denny students who live in the High Point area are technically in the school’s “walk zone” – at its northern edge – but, as discussed at a community forum with SPS officials last year, were provided with public-transit passes. But as their families and neighborhood leaders explained to the district, that still didn’t work for getting them to school on a timely basis. Tom Bishop from the SPS transportation department says he investigated, and he even discovered that Metro wouldn’t get them there in time. He and Denny principal Jeff Clark worked together, he said, and discovered that two school buses headed for Denny had extra capacity, so starting today, those buses are making stops in High Point. At one of the two stops, near the HP Neighborhood Center, they even had a mini-celebration to welcome the bus (as shown in our photo), but there was a glitch: That bus didn’t show up; it went to the wrong spot, waited several minutes, found nobody, and moved on. Bishop told WSB they’ve straightened things out and both buses will be bringing the students home this afternoon, picking them up tomorrow, etc. Overall, he says, one week after the start of school, they are still working out some of the bugs in the newly overhauled transportation plan (which has fewer buses, each making more runs, in hopes of saving money).

West Seattle Crime Watch: Preschoolers’ backpacks stolen

This one couldn’t wait till the next roundup. Maybe you’ll see the backpacks/bottles if the crooks dumped them after realizing there was nothing monetarily valuable inside. From Stephanie at Neighborhood Preschool:

I took my preschoolers to the High Point Playfield today, and a thief took 2 of our backpacks with our water bottles in them. One backpack is gray and white camouflage, the other is an orange backpacking pack. If found, please return to the High Point Community Center, or call 206-938-6368 and leave a message. These items have no resale value, but are important to these small children who don’t understand why someone would steal from them.

West Seattle parks: Walt Hundley Playfield work under way

Yet another project in progress in West Seattle: While in the High Point area earlier this week, we noticed work is well under way at Walt Hundley Playfield south of HP Community Center. It’s set to get synthetic turf, with $1 million from the Parks and Green Spaces Levy. It wasn’t originally on the levy list, but Parks saved so much money from other projects, including the recent Delridge turf installation, they were able to add this one. The project webpage is here; one community meeting was held, back in April, and our coverage of that is here.

Clotheslines banned at High Point – but maybe not for long

Sightline Institute, which advocates for sustainability, recently set out to find out where in the Northwest it’s against the rules to hang your laundry out to dry. With help – including Diane‘s thread in the WSB Forums – they discovered several communities, including the High Point development here in West Seattle – a place where clotheslines aren’t allowed, though “green” features abound. Sightline says the ban is a missed opportunity for saving a significant amount of electricity. So why isn’t outdoor laundry-drying allowed at High Point? We asked the Seattle Housing Authority, which manages the development, and spokesperson Virginia Felton sent a lengthy reply – including word that the policy might be up for reconsideration: Click to read the rest of Clotheslines banned at High Point – but maybe not for long…

Video: West Seattle Health Fair, with a ‘flash mob’!

If you drove 35th SW in the High Point area in the past half-hour or so – you might have seen the “flash mob” dancers on the sidewalk north of Walgreens, part of the West Seattle Health Fair, continuing till 8 pm. (added) Here’s the video:

There’s a “healthy food” tour at the drugstore – which carries fresh produce – and the nearby High Point Market, as well as a bigger concentration of activities, including free health testing, a few blocks away in the parking lot behind High Point Neighborhood Center (Sylvan Way and Lanham):

Entertainment, too.

West Seattle Crime Watch: Wash House robbed; Gatewood search

Thanks to everyone who sent notes tonight wondering about sirens/police searching/etc. Sometimes, it’s nothing. In this case, we have information on two cases, after checking with police. First – the Wash House in the 6300 block of 35th SW (map) was robbed just after 9:30 pm. Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams says the robbers were described as “four young-adult-age suspects, one of whom was armed with what appeared to be a semi-automatic handgun.” It was later found and turned out to be a pellet gun. It was used to hit the laundromat clerk in the head; Lt. Williams says Seattle Fire crews treated the clerk for a “laceration.” No arrests so far. We also asked about officers searching in the Gatewood area, around the 6700 block of 38th SW (map), in the 11 pm hour. He says a resident called 911 after hearing “noises outside her home”; officers searched but didn’t find anything.

High Point to finally get a new playground from KaBOOM!

(WSB photo from May 2009, KaBOOM! Delridge design meeting)
Two years ago, Delridge got a new playground thanks to the nonprofit KaBOOM! Now, another West Seattle neighborhood is getting one – High Point. They’ve been trying for a while, and now Bataan Park has been chosen, according to news shared by High Point Neighborhood Association‘s Jennifer Cobb. The playground will be built on September 23rd – but first, it has to be designed, and as was the case with Delridge, there will be a “Design Day” for kids. It’s set for next Tuesday, July 19th, at the Neighborhood House-operated High Point Neighborhood Center. It’s estimated that this playground will serve more than 500 kids in the High Point area. The event will be ongoing from 4:30-7:30 pm on Tuesday; the center is at 6400 Sylvan Way SW. Partners in the playground project include the Windermere Foundation.

Happening now: 1st week for High Point Market Garden Farm Stand

Cheap, organic, fresh vegetables – as fresh as if you picked them yourself – are on sale right now at the summer’s first weekly High Point Market Garden Farm Stand shopping availability (32nd/Juneau, till 7 pm). The veggies are grown feet away:

Just park on Juneau – if you’re not walking, biking, busing – and look for the stand’s canopy:

Besides what you see in our top photo, they also have various greens including lettuce, plus peas, carrots, and potatoes. And if you miss it today, they’re open again every Wednesday TFN, 4-7 pm.

Fresh produce at High Point Farm Stand: Season starts tomorrow

(WSB photo from July 2010)
In case you haven’t already seen it in the WSB West Seattle Events calendar – the city just sent a reminder that the High Point Market Garden Farm Stand opens for the season tomorrow afternoon. Every Wednesday through September, you can buy fresh produce there – grown and picked just feet away – from 4 till 7 pm. According to the city Department of Neighborhoods‘ announcement, what’s fresh right now includes “spinach, carrots, leafy greens, new onions, peas, turnips, and radishes.” The High Point stand is at 32nd and Juneau (map) – be sure to peek through the fence at the beautiful mini-farm/garden while you’re there.

Latest development proposal for 35th/Graham scrapped

The future of the vacant, recently cleaned-up High Point site at 35th and Graham (map) is again a question mark.

Last December, High Point-area residents were caught off guard to hear that the original plans for a mixed-use development on the northeast corner of 35th and Graham had been scrapped (WSB coverage here), and that a 90-townhome development (described in this story) was on the way instead. Seattle Housing Authority executive director Tom Tierney even came to High Point for a meeting at which he apologized for not letting homeowners know about it.

But this afternoon, we’ve confirmed that plan is dead. After getting a tip from Matt, we e-mailed SHA spokesperson Virginia Felton to ask about its status, and she replied: “The would-be buyer, Intracorp, decided that the project (90 townhomes) was not feasible for them at this time. Consequently, we are once again entertaining proposals for the site. Developers interested in the site may contact Frank Bosl at CB Richard Ellis.”

Drive-through West Seattle Coffee House opens this Friday

Talking this morning with West Seattle Coffee House proprietor Janel Loos, we observed that her about-to-open coffee stand is mocha-colored. “That’s what I was going for!” she laughed. We first told you back in January about plans for the drive-through coffee stand on the site of Hans VW Repair at 35th and Graham (map) in High Point. Now, it’s set to open this Friday. Read on for more from our conversation with Janel: Click to read the rest of Drive-through West Seattle Coffee House opens this Friday…

‘Bite at the Point’: Unique West Seattle summer party tomorrow

High Point Community Center is hoping you’ll be part of its start-of-summer celebration tomorrow, “Bite at the Point” – a multicultural potluck and family-fun event (jumpy toys too!). We published this announcement about it earlier, with full details. If you haven’t been to HPCC before, here’s a map; it has a great city-skyline view and expansive playfield grounds, plus, of course, the center. “Bite at the Point” is set for 6-7:30 pm tomorrow.

Video: Seattle Public Schools’ new leader in High Point

Top Seattle Public Schools leaders including interim superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield and school board president Steve Sundquist led a forum last night at Neighborhood Center in High Point. It was not an official district event, but was co-sponsored by private organizations Neighborhood House and the Alliance for Education. Though an invitation was extended to anyone in West Seattle with public-school questions and concerns, the bulk of the discussion involved issues unique to High Point, including transportation to Denny International Middle School, whose principal Jeff Clark was also among those on hand. Though Denny students in HP are technically inside the walk zone, it was noted that they will be provided with transit passes. We recorded the nearly-two-hour meeting, which included translation for Somali community members, in its entirety from the point where Dr. Enfield began speaking (first hour atop the story, second hour below):

Our video was recorded by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand, who estimates the attendance at about 50. The translator was Aynna Aden.

Seattle Public Schools’ superintendent headed this way

Seattle Public Schools‘ interim superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield is coming to West Seattle for a community forum. The Alliance for Education and Neighborhood House are co-sponsoring the event on May 23rd – one week from Monday – 6-8 pm at High Point’s Neighborhood Center, 6400 Sylvan Way. Along with Dr. Enfield, school board president Steve Sundquist and several other district officials will be on hand, and there will be free child care available, along with dinner.

West Seattle food trucks: Parfait’ll be alongside Marination Mobile

Just announced tonight, another food truck is joining Marination Mobile on the Hans VW lot at 35th and Graham starting this Saturday – Parfait, which proclaims itself “Seattle’s only from-scratch, organic ice cream maker.” The truck launched two years ago, according to tonight’s announcement, which says owner Adria Shimada, a pastry chef, makes a 100 percent organic custard base and that her ingredients from “dairy, eggs, and produce are all sourced directly from small local farms within 150 miles of Seattle.” Oh, and hand-rolled waffle cones. And compostable cups, spoons and napkins, with “the truck’s dipping freezer (running) on a green system that requires no generators during operation.” The ice cream also will be sold by the pint as well as cup or cone. Hours on Saturdays will be the same as Marination’s – 11 am-2 pm. (Photo courtesy Parfait)

West Seattle traffic: ‘Slow Down’ rally planned for ‘I-35′

(WSB video from October 2008 rally on 35th SW)
Concerned about safety on 35th SW, a rekindled topic here after the deadly motorcycle-car collision last month, and speeder-targeting police patrols? One of the High Point-area neighborhood advocates who has been working on the issue for years, Denise Sharify, just sent word of a “Traffic Slow Down Rally” planned for Wednesday, May 11th, 4-5:30 pm (weather permitting) – 2 1/2 years after the last one, which followed a crash that sent a student to the hospital. All are welcome to participate in this one; we’re checking on the exact gathering place.

ProjectProm at High Point: Fancy-dress giveaway for girls

Story and photos by Wendy Hughes-Jelen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Girls were giggling and having fun Friday night trying on fancy dresses, dreaming about prom and other events where a formal gown is needed.

Neighborhood House High Point Center‘s YELS program (Youth Empowerment Leadership Strengths) held a prom dress donation drive this last month in an effort to gather together dresses for girls middle and high school age living in the High Point neighborhood. A donation solicitation here on WSB helped bring in a total of more than 100 dresses in West Seattle.

A dressing room was set up in the corner using rolling white boards. Dresses were pre-sorted for appropriateness, and some have been set aside to donate to the Ruby Room, which holds boutique days for girls to come in and work with a Personal Shopper to get ready for a special event, like prom. This is a chance for girls getting ready for prom to pick up a free dress and some accessories.  

Aparna Rae, the YELS coordinator, said it started with just a couple of dresses being donated by someone. Somehow it then flowered into this huge room being filled with silk and taffeta and lace. Since many of the youth in High Point lack transportation, the YELS program essentially brought a dress boutique to them. 

Anything leftover from the giveaway will be given to the nonprofit Ruby Room for its collection. And don’t worry, ladies, there’s still a chance for you to find something fancy for yourself! Ruby Room is holding a Dresses for Divas (D4D) $10 dress sale at Cherry Consignment as part of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day. Dresses that were too mature or too casual for prom-age girls are available, first come first served, 9 am to 3 pm May 14th, cash or check only. (It’ll be on the map, which will be available in a week – giving you seven days lead time to plan shopping!)

Walt Hundley Playfield turf: Youth soccer, lacrosse too?

Can the new synthetic turf at Walt Hundley Playfield, next to High Point Community Center, be marked for youth soccer as well as adult soccer? That was one question brought up tonight at Southwest Library, during Seattle Parks‘ only scheduled community meeting for the $1 million Parks and Green Spaces Levy project (though this field wasn’t originally on the levy list, its new turf will be paid for with savings from four others – including Delridge – that were). Project manager Ted Holden said it would cost $28,000 more to set up the field for youth soccer; West Seattle Soccer Club reps were there and said their demand is growing, so they need all the field space they can get. (That led to a side discussion about field-scheduling issues; Parks reps said that would have to be discussed separately.) Otherwise, there wasn’t much controversy – no lighting issues, as existing lighting will be kept; along with soccer interests, there was some advocacy for lacrosse as well. When someone asked about baseball, Holden said that’s not feasible, since the field is too small, and there are two grass/dirt lots nearby already. Construction is expected to start sometime this summer and be done by fall; though this was the only scheduled meeting, your comments are still welcomed by e-mail and phone – you can reach project manager Holden at 206-684-7021 or ted.holden@seattle.gov.

In case you wondered about the High Point fire response

It was a big, but short-lived, Seattle Fire Department response in the 5900 block of High Point Drive SW (map) about an hour and a half ago – the last unit was rolling away barely 20 minutes after arrival – and that’s because it turned out to be not just a “food on the stove” call, but one without “extension” (meaning, the fire did not spread beyond the stovetop problem). Thanks to Mike Daigle for the photo!