(Photo of 2011 ‘Wine in the Woods’ participants, courtesy Nature Consortium)
You can still join theNature Consortium for fun at Camp Long this month, even though – as first announced at their annual brunch – the Arts in Nature Festival is skipping this year. At 7 pm August 10th – one week from tomorrow – you’re invited to “Wine in the Woods,” a fundraiser for future editions of the festival. The NC’s announcement explains:
In addition to wine tasting, Wine in the Woods will feature performances and installations by previous Arts in Nature Festival artists. There will also be an opportunity to donate directly to the Arts in Nature Festival and other NatureC programs. After sunset, follow luminaria on a trail through the forest to a campfire and desserts.
With four days left, you can still bring dog or cat food to Alki Mail and Dispatch for their July pet-food drive. The staff tells WSB they’ve collected more than 150 pounds of pet food so far (some of it is shown above in the photo they shared), but are hoping for more. As we mentioned at the beginning of the drive, they are accepting dry or canned food and treats. All cat food will go to Kitty Harbor and all dog food to Dogs Deserve Better, an organization raising awareness for dogs who live chained or tethered outdoors.
The drive goes through Tuesday (July 31st). Check Alki Mail’s hours and location here. And by the way, they’re already thinking about doing it again next year!
While we’ve been covering the ongoing departures and closures of businesses on the future Equity Residential development site in The Junction, we just got word of another effect: Nonprofit theater/gallery ArtsWest is losing affordable storage space and needs to replace it ASAP. From Heather:
With the imminent tear-down of the stores across the street from us in the Alaska Junction, ArtsWest will soon lose its storage space (located under the Super Supplements store). We’ve been very fortunate to have storage for our large props, furniture, and sets all of these years for free, and are now looking for 1000 feet of storage space in the West Seattle area!
Heather notes that the current storage space used to be a morgue (and you probably already know that the street-level site was once part of West Seattle Hospital). You can contact Heather at 206-938-0963, extension 107, or heatherp@artswest.org.
West Seattle’s most prolific breast-cancer-fighting fundraiser, Tracy Dart – who as you probably know also is a 3-time survivor – just accepted a big donation from the West Seattle Eagles Auxiliary, as her Team Tracy gets ready for this year’s strong>Breast Cancer 3-Day – the sixth one for her. The Eagles’ Madame Trustee Kristina Todd shared the news, with the photos we’re publishing here: Tracy got a check for $500, she says, explaining: “As part of their charity fundraising efforts, the ladies’ auxiliary had raised the money through benefit dinners and various fundraising activities over the past year. This is a perfect example of the Eagle motto of ‘people helping people’ – in particular, within our neighborhood of West Seattle.”
The Seattle-area 3-Day is less than two months away, September 14-16. If you’d like to donate to it via Team Tracy, just go here.)
One more hour to take a diaper donation to WestSide Baby‘s “Stuff the Bus” headquarters in the AmericanWest Bank lot at 41st and Alaska – lots of cheerful volunteers are there to greet you and cheer, from the moment you turn in. By 11 am, they already had 17,000 diapers – one-third of the way to today’s goal. If you bring some, you can honk the bus’s horn – Lucas did:
1:17 PM UPDATE: Nancy Woodland from WS Baby sends word that they were up to 33,000 as of 10 past 1 but need 17,000 MORE by 2 pm – drop everything and go get some if you can!
2:40 PM UPDATE: From Nancy, 43,106 diapers today, but …
215,000 diapers total so far from Stuff the Bus (diapers plus money turned into diapers). plus 100,000 in the match from National Diaper Bank Network.
ADDED: Here’s how the bus looked toward the end of today’s drive:
And at WestSide Baby HQ in White Center, volunteers working hard to sort them:
You can donate any time – here’s how – and smaller drives continue, such as the one at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), where you’ll get a free drink for bringing in a package of diapers before the end of this month!
It’s a West Seattle tradition – the day after WestSide Baby rolls a big yellow school bus in the West Seattle Grand Parade, you’ll find that bus pressed into service as a diaper-drive center! Again this year, the WS Baby “Stuff the Bus” drive is happening in the lot at AmericanWest Bank on the east side of The Junction, 4022 SW Alaska, 10 am-2 pm TODAY. Your donations count for even more than the face value, because WestSide Baby has worked hard to get “matching” donations … between today and a variety of smaller drives hosted this summer, they’re aiming to get 50,000 donated diapers matched with 100,000 more from partners. (P.S. If you missed WS Baby’s Nancy Woodland as Grand Marshal in Saturday’s parade, there’s video in our first parade report.)
Before this Saturday’s parade, hundreds of runners/walkers will make history in the first-ever West Seattle Float Dodger 5K.
Online registration has just been extended – go here before midnight tonight! The race starts from California/Charlestown by West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor), whose Tim McConnell just shared the brand-new FAQ:
Q – Will I miss the parade if I run?
A – No! The race is before the parade; you will have plenty of time to finish and watch the parade. We have even secured a parade-viewing area for runners and their families near the finish line.
Q – Can kids run too?
A – Sure! We even have kid-sized shirts for those participating. Strollers, pets, etc. are all welcome to be a part of the inaugural race.
Q – I want to do it but I’m afraid of getting run over by a float.
A – The floats on the course will not be moving! We will be running around them on the first turn. The race is 75 minutes before the parade, not during. The name Float Dodger was meant to be catchy; it does not mean you have to run around, behind or away from moving vehicles!
Q – Where does my entry fee go?
A- Funds from the Float Dodger 5K go to help a number of organizations. Part of the money goes to the American Legion Post 160. They are the group that organizes and puts on the parade. That money will be used to help pay for the road closure, which continues to get more expensive. Your entry fee will help keep the parade a part of West Seattle’s summer events. The remaining money goes to the West Seattle Rotary and the Lymphoma/Leukemia Society. It is a not-for-profit event.
Q – Sounds fun but I don’t run.
A – A 5K is 3.1 miles. That really isn’t very far. The winner of the race will probably finish in less then 15 minutes. The average walker can do it in less than 45 minutes. Think of walking from Admiral Safeway to Uptown Espresso and back, plus there will be around 1,000 people cheering you on. Fun, easy, healthy, and a good way to give charity. Plus you get a shirt that says you did it.
The 5K starts at 9:45 am Saturday from California/Charlestown. See you there!
Sarah Syvertsen of Arbor Heights e-mailed WSB to share the news about her brand-new business, Rylee’s Pocket. She and her aunt are “making tank tops for kids and adults with type 1 diabetes that have a special pocket to hold their insulin pumps. … We just … in the past week have started a partnership with the American Diabetes Association.”
Rylee, the shirt’s namesake, is Sarah’s 8-year-old cousin. She was diagnosed in March of 2011. Since then, Rylee’s mom writes:
Almost a year later to the date, Rylee started using the pump, which has been a suprisingly smooth transition for all of us. With all the things going on with her body, the most important thing to me was that she felt comfortable and confident. She has become so courageous and we can’t help but notice the amount of overwhelming support from family, friends, and most especially her two older sisters.
Obviously with having two older sisters, fashion has become a big deal to Rylee. At this crucial time in her life finding a way for her to fit in not only at school but also with her sisters was a semi big priority. We mulled over some ideas together and have come to find out that a tight fitting cami tank top with a button hole and a pocket with a zipper is the best idea. The zipper is the key piece missing with most “insulin pump wear” because it gives the option to still be active and not worry about the pump ever falling out when bending over (or jumping, skipping, cartwheeling, playing soccer, etc.). And making sure that the tank top was as fashion forward as possible was a bonus.
Seeing the confidence and pride that she has developed since starting on the pump and getting to wear these tank tops, we immediately realized that this was something worth sharing. Rylee is absolutely obsessed with her tank tops; her sisters even wear them to school on their own sometimes, and because of this we solidified our thought to share and have come to a place where we are now able to.
So that’s why they are trying to raise $1,000 to give a Rylee’s Pocket tank top to every one of the 60 kids with Type 1 diabetes who will be attending an ADA camp at Camp Sealth. Sarah says they have to raise the money by July 26th, and didn’t find out that deadline till last night; they may have a fundraising event in the meantime but the efforts are focused right now on getting donations via ChipIn – you can donate by going here. And if you want to buy a Rylee’s Pocket shirt for someone you know – check the links on their website.
After many expressions of love for Lincoln Park emerged among those concerned about the commercial zipline attraction proposal first reported here on June 28th and withdrawn by the Parks Department last Wednesday after an emotional meeting the night before, it was suggested that love be shown by participation in a volunteer work party. This weekend, some did just that. Volunteer forest steward Lisa McGinty says Sunday’s Friends of Lincoln Park (FLIP) work party was a success: “We had a good turnout of volunteers and lots of friendly acknowledgment from park visitors.” FLIP usually has two volunteer events each month – watch the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar for word of upcoming chances for you to get involved too.
In discussion the past two weeks related to the now-scrapped proposal for a commercial zipline/tree-swing/etc. attraction in Lincoln Park (WSB coverage archived here), many said they would happily offer what they could, time and/or money, to help the park. So here’s your chance to volunteer some time – the next work party:
Get your green workout and help make West Seattle an even healthier place! Join Friends of Lincoln Park for a forest restoration and maintenance work party.
Sunday, July 15, 9 am to noon
Meet at the kiosk in the north parking lot (Fauntleroy Way SW and SW Rose St)
Long sleeves and pants, sturdy shoes or boots highly recommended. Bring your favorite work gloves or we have extras to share.
We’ve done an amazing amount of invasive plant removal in the park, so maintaining our gains by going back to areas we’ve worked previously is vital! And we get the satisfaction of seeing what great work we’ve done.
Please contact Lisa McGinty, Volunteer Forest Steward, with any questions: 248.506.7155 or lmcginty206@gmail.com.
(WSB photo from 2010 Alki Art Fair)
The big summer celebrations coming up in West Seattle wouldn’t happen without LOTS of help. In the case of the Alki Art Fair, it’s all-volunteer, ever since the budget cuts that removed official city help last year … and volunteer coordinator Susan Madrid says they need some more people to pitch in:
The Alki Art Fair is two and a half weeks away, July 28 and 29, and we need volunteers. Volunteers can work a couple of hours on each day or can commit to half-day shifts at the silent auction or information booth. For example, we need people to break down chairs on Saturday night after the music performances end at 9 pm and set them up on Sunday morning before the performances start again at 10 am. We also need a couple of people who love music to staff the musicians’ sales table and serve as announcers for the acts throughout each day. If you would like to join the Alki Art Fair volunteers or have any questions, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator at sjmadrid@comcast.net.
At West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor) today, barbecuer extraordinaire Michele cooked up barbecue lunches to raise money for WestSide Baby, whose board member Amy Daly-Donovan was there, sporting the traditional yellow T-shirt in honor of WS Baby’s big “Stuff the Bus” diaper drive, now just two weeks away – Sunday, July 22nd (10 am-2 pm, AmericanWest Bank parking lot at 40th/Alaska in The Junction).
Even if you missed the barbecue, there are other ways to help WS Baby assist local families in need. For one – you can have a diaper drive to collect diapers that’ll count toward the “Stuff the Bus” goal. Here’s how. Or, you can participate in someone else’s diaper drive – for example, Center Studio in downtown White Center is offering a diaper-drive yoga class at 8 am on Saturday, July 21: “Bring a package of diapers and enjoy 90 minutes of pure yoga bliss,” says proprietor Lonjina Verdugo. Her studio also is collecting diapers through the 21st, if you just want to drop some off sooner.
Thriftway is having another WestSide Baby-benefiting barbeque on the 21st, too, by the way – 11 am-2 pm. It all goes toward a goal of 50,000 diapers – which will be matched two-for-one by the National Diaper Bank Network. (You can also buy diapers for WS Baby online via its Amazon Wish List.)
Got one or more fruit trees but unable to pick/use this summer’s crop? City Fruit would love to hear from you, so they can come harvest it and get it to people in need. This year, they’re expanding to West Seattle, as well as serving South Seattle and Phinney Ridge, and they’re looking not only for trees, but also volunteers. From Betsy at CF:
City Fruit promotes the cultivation of urban fruit in order to nourish people, build community and protect the climate. We help tree owners grow healthy fruit, provide assistance in harvesting and preserving fruit, promote the sharing of extra fruit and work to protect urban fruit trees. City Fruit works neighborhood by neighborhood to harvest extra fruit and distribute it to food banks, meals programs, senior centers, schools and others who can use it. In the past three years we have harvested nearly 30,000 lbs of fruit. If you have extra, please join us in this effort.
To donate fruit … If you have unsprayed, healthy fruit to donate, contact City Fruit at westseattle@cityfruit.org. Give us your name, address, type of tree and a way to reach you. We will contact you about scheduling a harvest.
…If you have a fruit tree that has a problem (disease, bad fruit, etc.) and you would like to be on our list of fruit trees needing help, email westseattle@cityfruit.org with the details of your tree.
Lots more information on their website at cityfruit.org – including how to support City Fruit by becoming a member (Betsy says there are perks, including a thank-you discount offered by West Seattle Nursery). Betsy says their local beneficiaries include both area food banks. (Photo courtesy City Fruit)
You’ve often heard about the importance of donating to local food banks – West Seattle FB and White Center FB. We don’t hear as often about the need for pet-food donations, but that need is great too – so Alki Mail and Dispatch plans to collect it throughout July, according to Bree, starting tomorrow:
We will be collecting dry and canned food (and treats too!) with cat food going to Kitty Harbor and dog food going to an organization called Dogs Deserve Better. They are a wonderful organization working to raise the awareness of the plight of chained and tethered dogs that are forced to live outdoors. We will be collecting here in the shop (we are at 4701 SW Admiral Way) for the whole month of July and we want to see everyone bring something in!
Question? You can reach Bree at staff@alkimail.com. Alki Mail’s hours are listed here.
You have another hour to get over to Admiral’s Umpqua Bank(WSB sponsor) branch to see if Arnold(above) and Brinkley(below) have found forever homes yet.
They are two of the dogs Saving Great Animals brought to today’s adopt-a-thon, continuing at Umpqua till about 1:30 pm. The branch is on California SW immediately north of Admiral Safeway.
(WSB photo from July 4, 2011)
It wouldn’t be a patriotic holiday without the American flags lining California SW through The Junction. But a little help is needed this time around. From the just-circulated West Seattle Junction Association e-mail newsletter:
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO HELP PUT UP FLAGS IN THE JUNCTION!
The Junction Association puts up flags on all appropriate occasions. The Junction’s handy-man Don has been putting up flags for years, but health issues have made repeated trips up and down the stairs increasingly difficult for him.
So, who wants to help Don on the 4th of July?!
The volunteer job includes meeting him at 7:30am to put them out, and 6pm to put them away. The job includes lots of stair walking since the flags are stored in the basement of the Cupcake Royale building.
We are looking to create a list of interested people, so if you’d like to be called upon for this 4th of July or in the future, please e-mail Liz Schroeder at liz@wsjunction.org or call 935-0904.
Thanks to Angela for e-mailing tonight to share the news about a roadside fundraiser planned for Thursday at Emma Schmitz Overlook along Beach Drive. 31-year-old Jessica Oldwyn, who lives in Green Lake, is in the third year of fighting a brain tumor, and writing about her fight online. As she writes in a recent entry, she has an experimental treatment coming up, and the ongoing fight is costly – so her parents are going to sell organic cherries to raise money to help. They plan to be at the waterfront park 11 am-1 pm this Thursday (and as Jessica writes, other locations later).
In the photo with Stu Hennessey of Alki Bike and Board (WSB sponsor), you might recognize Cal Prinster and dad Gordon Prinster, who stopped by ABB Thursday to pick up “the last couple things” for their next adventure. Last summer, they shared the news here as they wrapped up a 1,732-mile bike trip to the Mexican border, raising money for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. Tomorrow, Cal and dad head out on another bicycle odyssey – this time, aiming to reach New York City by summer’s end! Here’s a one-minute preview produced by Cal (who’s going into 7th grade at Madison Middle School next year), showing their planned route:
We asked Gordon if they’re having any kind of sendoff. He says no – “We’ll just quietly roll out into the rain Saturday.”
(WSB photo from June 2010 volunteer cleanup @ the museum)
Inspired by recent stories of community cleanups, both spontaneous and planned? Here’s one you can join in. Just received from Marcy Johnsen at the Southwest Seattle Historical Society:
Calling Volunteers! Your community museum needs you!
This Saturday, June 23rd, come help clean up at the Log House Museum. 3003 61st Avenue SW – corner of 61st and Stevens.
All sorts of chores to be done so no talent will go unneeded! Come ready to pitch in 9 am to 12 noon. No prior experience needed.
That would still leave plenty of time to check out Saturday’s big events, including the Morgan Junction Community Festival (10:30 am-7 pm) and “Celebrate Springer“ at the Alki Bathhouse (11 am-3 pm, not far from the Log House Museum).
Here’s a 5K you may not have heard much about – but your support can save lives. At West Seattle Stadium this Saturday afternoon, big steps will be taken for the most tiny and endangered among us – drug-exposed and medically fragile newborn babies. The event is “Walk for the Babies,” a 5K (twelve and a half times around the track) to benefit the Pediatric Interim Care Center, a 22-year-old facility/program which takes care of those tiny patients “at an interim level between hospital and home … at a savings to the taxpayers of Washington State.” Here’s a video about it:
PICC is described as “the only specialized, 24-hour facility available for the safe withdrawal of drug-exposed newborns” in our state.
The Walk for the Babies idea hatched, we’re told, when West Seattleite Phoebi Crawford called PICC to ask what they needed – blankets? diapers? etc.? – and found out they just need money, because they have lost $400,000 in funding. The walk, which has more than 70 people signed up so far, is hoping to raise $100,000. You can donate by going here; if you want to participate in the walk, call Phoebi at 206-707-6220.
A group of people in Southwest Seattle would like to get a Timebank started and are hosting an informational meeting to explain how it works and determine if there is enough interest.
Timebanks use a low overhead, self-organizing internet based system to help people exchange their talents, passions, and resources with other members so that they enjoy the necessities and the niceties of life. At its simplest, an hour you spend doing something for a SWEL Timebank member goes into the bank as a time hour. Then you have a time hour to spend having another SWEL member do something for you. People of all ages are welcome.
Timebank Informational Meeting
Wednesday, June 27th 7-8 pm
Senior Center of West Seattle
4217 SW Oregon
There are more than 100 timebanks in the United States, including one in East King County, called Eastside Timebank, which serves the cities of Kirkland, Redmond and Bellevue. There is also one in North King County called SWEL Timebank, which serves Shoreline, Woodway, Edmonds and Lake Forest Park. Timebanking is a great way to get to know members in your community. Representatives from Eastside and SWEL Timebanks will be at the meeting.
(WSB photo from 2011 Relay for Life, after participants had been going all night)
Just two days now till the cancer-fighting all-night fundraisingRelay for Lifeat West Seattle Stadium. This morning, Jilyan Perry shares a reminder – and also a request for some volunteer help to set up on Friday afternoon, before it all begins:
West Seattle’s Relay for Life is taking place this Friday at the West Seattle Stadium starting at 6 pm. Relay for Life is an overnight, community based fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. West Seattle’s Relay raised nearly $60,000 last year to help in the fight against cancer. Please come join us for an evening of celebration and remembrance.
Remember – we always need day of volunteers and we welcome anyone in the community to come down and help. Committee members will be arriving at the stadium at 12 pm on Friday. Anyone willing to help is encouraged to just show up.
For more information regarding Relay for Life contact Jilyan.Perry@yahoo.com or visit relayforlife.org
The official West Seattle webpage says more than 240 people are signed up to participate this year. Even if you’re not among them, you’re welcome to stop by the stadium and cheer them on; the event always begins with a “survivors’ lap” on Friday night, and a few hours later, around 10 pm, luminarias are lit around the track in honor of both cancer survivors and those who are being remembered.
Almost a year later to the date, Rylee started using the pump, which has been a suprisingly smooth transition for all of us. With all the things going on with her body, the most important thing to me was that she felt comfortable and confident. She has become so courageous and we can’t help but notice the amount of overwhelming support from family, friends, and most especially her two older sisters. 
As a returning 
Here’s a 5K you may not have heard much about – but your support can save lives. At West Seattle Stadium this Saturday afternoon, big steps will be taken for the most tiny and endangered among us – drug-exposed and medically fragile newborn babies. The event is “Walk for the Babies,” a 5K (twelve and a half times around the track) to benefit the 
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