West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
That video made for Northwest Hope and Healing by West Seattle’s Captive Eye Media gives you a taste of the fashion, fun, and inspiration at NWHH’s annual “Style ’11” benefit fashion show to raise money for its mission: Helping breast-cancer patients – not with the treatment itself, but with the sudden turmoil and upheaval it causes in patients’ lives; that kind of help provides “hope and healing” too. “Style ’11” is now less than a week away – happening next Thursday night, May 12th, at Showbox SODO. Lots of West Seattle involvement again this year – including West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor), Carmilia’s, Coastal, Ola, and Sweetie. Tickets will cost you less online than at the door; get yours by going here.
(WSB photo from luminaria ceremony during 2009 Relay for Life – West Seattle)
Five weeks may sound like a long time, but for an event like Relay for Life-West Seattle, which involves assembling a team and making plans for the all-night walk, it’s not much – Rebecca sends this update:
…Tiime to get your team signed up today!!!
We are so close to surpassing all our goals and we need your help. We already have 19 teams signed up from all over West Seattle– schools, churches, businesses – this community wide event will be a great way to meet others in your local area. Help us reach our goal of 25 teams and raising more than $75,000 for the American Cancer Society.
Mark your calendar for June 10th at West Seattle Stadium.
Even if you can’t spend the night with us, plan to come by for some great community fun, fundraising, and local bands! Or donate to this great cause, here! Questions? Please ask Rebecca today – bec@busstop.org
Relay for Life is both a festive and contemplative event over the course of the evening and morning that it runs, and at times moving for spectators as well as participants. WSB is proud to have joined the sponsor lineup for this year’s Relay – if you’re interested in sponsorship, Rebecca would be able to handle those inquiries too.
Thanks to Meredith for the photo confirming that the West Seattle High School baseball team’s benefit car wash is up and running on this spectacular day. They’re scheduled to be at Swedish Automotive (WSB sponsor; 7901 35th SW) till 3 pm – and as previewed here, a $10 donation gets you a ticket to next Thursday’s M’s game!
(Photos by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
From the annual spring champagne brunch/auction fundraiser at The Kenney today: Former Mayor Greg Nickels keynoted, and posed with (from left) State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, Kenney CEO Kevin McFeely, and City Councilmember Sally Clark. More after the jump:Read More
Maybe the sunshine has you in the mood for golf. Here’s a chance to play in a month for a local cause – reservations have just gone on sale. From the Chief Sealth International High School Athletics Department, the official announcement:
– Rainier Golf and Country Club will host the first Chief Sealth Athletics Golf Tournament on June 3, 2011 with all proceeds benefiting the student-athletes at Chief Sealth International High School. Reservations for foursomes and individuals are now on sale and can be purchased here.
More after the jump:Read More
Around the metro area today, Rebuilding Together Seattle has more than 1,000 volunteers out restoring and repairing more than two dozen homes whose owners are unable to do the work, or hire someone to do it, themselves. And one of the worksites is in West Seattle’s Highland Park neighborhood.
RTS’s Margie Thirlby explains that today is “National Rebuilding Day,” with hundreds of other RT affiliates around the country joining forces to fix up more than 3,000 homes in all. The volunteers at this site were so busy, they couldn’t stop to share specifics of the homeowner’s situation, but RT’s mission is to help more people stay in their own homes longer than they’d be able to do if repairs and maintenance went undone. Look at everything they’ve cleaned out at this particular site:
Thirlby says they would love to see more people apply for help from, or be referred to, RTS – their website explains how. (And if you would like to volunteer – here’s how to do that.)
Local Brownies’ donation drive yesterday afternoon outside West Side Presbyterian Church – to “stuff the van” for two local charities – ran into a bit of a weather snag (remember the pounding downpour?). Rosina Geary shared the photo and a reminder that they’ll be back tomorrow:
Yesterday our 16 Girl Scouts (Troop #40890) held their STUFF THE VAN event. The girls stood outside for 40 minutes, in the rain. They took turns holding signs. They chanted “Stuff The Van!!” But after 40 minutes, we couldn’t take the rain anymore. So we took the girls inside and cut our event short by 30 minutes.
Hopefully the weather will be nicer to us on Friday. Come by and see us. Even if you don’t have a donation, HONK to support these 2nd Grade Girl Scouts.
WHAT TO DONATE:
Gently used, clean blankets, children’s PJs & children’s DVDs.WHEN:
4-5p, Friday, April 29thWHERE:
West Side Presbyterian Church (On California and Spokane). Look for the black EuroVan.All to benefit critically ill children at Seattle Children’s Hospital and the homeless through Wellspring Family Services.
(WSB photo from 2010 Walk With Us to Cure Lupus on Alki)
The annual Walk With Us to Cure Lupus is returning to Alki Beach next month, and organizers are excited to have just secured the same emcee as last year – Seahawks player and lupus-fighting advocate Jordan Babineaux is returning, according to Laurie Gray from the Alliance for Lupus Research. 500 people joined in last year’s walk, raising $40,000 to fight the autoimmune disorder, which affects more than 1 million people in the U.S. alone. The walk starts at 10 am Saturday, May 14th, from the Alki Bathhouse; you can sign up in advance, and/or make a pledge, by going to the official website.
Before it’s too late to make or change plans – here’s a look ahead to Dining Out for Life tomorrow night around Seattle, with a percentage of proceeds going to the Lifelong AIDS Alliance, four West Seattle venues are on the participant list: Buddha Ruksa, Fresh Bistro, Skylark Café and Club (WSB sponsor), and Talarico’s are all participating for dinner, and Fresh Bistro is in for lunch, too. (P.S. Longtime WSB sponsor M3 Bodyworks Massage Clinic invites you to join them at Talarico’s at 10 tomorrow night with special guest Precious Cargo.) ADDED 9:04 PM: Via Facebook, Skylark points out this coincides with their monthly Westside Burlesque Revue – though dinner service is over when burlesque begins at 9, they are contributing to the cause with drink specials.
(Photo by Michael Brunk; courtesy ArtsWest)
Big week for ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery (WSB sponsor) in The Junction. Tomorrow night, the next theater production opens: “Shipwrecked! An Entertainment…,” which ArtsWest describes as a “raucous fantasy”; it’s written by Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies and directed by AW’s Christopher Zinovitch. Read more about “Shipwrecked!” here. It’ll run through May 21st. And ArtsWest has just announced perhaps its biggest production of the year – the annual gala fundraiser dinner and auction, this year themed “Come Fly With Us” since it’ll be staged at the Museum of Flight, on Saturday, June 11th. Ticket information – and a preview of auction items including luxury getaways – is also on the ArtsWest website.
Earlier this week, in coverage of the Alki Community Council‘s latest meeting, we mentioned ongoing volunteer cleanups. After the Saturday sunshine brought throngs to the beach, they’re needed – though it would be even better if people would clean up after themselves. David Hutchinson shares photos and this report/request:
The rain is back and the yesterday’s crowds are gone from Alki Beach, but unfortunately they left something to remember them by.
Other than a change in what seems to be basic human behavior, I’m not sure what the answer is to this never-ending pattern – Alki Beach + sunshine and warmer weather = what you see in the photos. Perhaps better scheduling of garbage pickups, more garbage cans, better enforcement of existing regulations?
This issue was brought up at the most recent meeting of the Alki Community Council. In cooperation with Seattle Parks & Recreation, the Council sponsors a small group of volunteers, “Friends of Alki Beach,” who have tried to help out in this era of budget cutbacks. We are responsible for the area of the Park from 59th Ave SW to 63rd Ave SW.
If you are interested in lending a hand, contact Larry Carpenter of the ACC at 206-938-0887. The Council is always interested in community concerns on issues impacting the Alki neighborhood.
You’ll recall the same problem came up last year – but that was before the latest round of budget cuts. We’ll be checking with Parks tomorrow.
4:43 PM MONDAY: From Parks’ Joelle Hammerstad:
We’re not staffed at full summer capacity right now. We’re close, but we’re not there yet. We’re doing the whole district with two to three people, and we just can’t get to everything at once. When we get a sunny day before we’re fully staffed, we can get behind on trash pickup. After our crews finished the ballfields and the restrooms, they headed over to Alki. By the time our crew got down there, the volunteers who have offered to help pick up litter had already taken care of a lot of trash. We can’t afford to staff it consistently and we just don’t know what the weather is going to do. In this case, it was dirty for several hours on Saturday, but with the volunteers help and our staff, we caught up with it by Sunday evening.
In case you’re doing some spring cleaning this weekend – heads up on a donation event that’s now just about a week away: West Seattle’s Girl Scout/Brownie Troop #40890 asks you to help them “Stuff the Van” to help young hospital patients and homeless families – here’s what they’re collecting and why:
Benefiting critically ill children at Seattle Children’s Hospital and the homeless at Wellspring Family Services:
What: Used children’s DVDs
Gently used BLANKETS
Gently used CHILDREN’S PJsWhen: 3:45 – 5:00 pm on April 27 and 29
Where: Westside Presbyterian Church
3601 California Ave SW
(Look for the black VW Eurovan)Sponsored by Girl Scout Brownie Troop #40890
(2nd Graders from Lafayette, Schmitz Park and Alki Elementary Schools)
With one month to go till the bigger-every-year West Seattle Helpline benefit, the Taste of West Seattle, the lineup of food and beverage providers is now finalized – more than three dozen this year! WSB sponsors Hotwire Coffee, Metropolitan Market, Skylark Café and Club, and Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering are participating, as are Angelina’s, Avalon, Bakery Nouveau, Bamboo Grill, Beveridge Place Pub, Bin 41, Blackboard Bistro, Blue Willow Catering and Luncheonette, The Bridge, Chaco Canyon Organic Café, Circa, Cupcake Royale, Duke’s Chowder House, Eats Market Café, Elliott Bay Brewery, Fresh Bistro/Herban Feast, Freshy’s, Full Tilt Ice Cream, Great Harvest Bread Company, Husky Deli, Kokoras Greek Grill, Locol, Phoenecia at Alki, Porterhouse, Prost! West Seattle, Salty’s on Alki, Schooner Exact, Slices on Alki, Spring Hill, Sugar Rush Baking Company, West 5, West Seattle Cellars, and Wing Dome. It’s at The Hall at Fauntleroy again this year, and tickets are on sale now at tasteofwestseattle.org – $40 in advance (it’ll be $45 at the door, 6-9 pm May 19th).
“We got the sun we ordered!” exulted Dolly Vinal of the West Seattle Wildlife Habitat Project when we saw her a little while ago as a Duwamish Alive! work party began at the project’s Seacrest Park demonstration garden. She is also thrilled about the turnout – more than a dozen people already were digging into the waterfront garden, which Dolly says just mostly needs post-winter cleanup, though they also have received “some great native plants” from Seattle Parks. This is one of a dozen-plus locations, from West Seattle to South Park to Tukwila, where you’ll find volunteers working on our area’s precious greenspaces over the next few hours; one of them is T-107 Park on the river itself, where a dedication ceremony at 1 pm will spotlight new features including an interpretive sign. And at 2 pm, an Earth Day festival at Pathfinder K-8 on Pigeon Point follows the work parties. More to come!
In addition to the four big events mentioned in our previous report, three other Saturday happenings meriting an advance reminder (did we mention, it’s a BIG day around West Seattle/White Center?):
GREEN UP DELRIDGE! North Delridge Neighborhood Council‘s Karrie Kohlhaas just sent one last reminder around:
Meet: Delridge Community Center, 4501 Delridge Way SW. Find us to the right side of the main entrance of the Community Center.
When: Saturday, April 16th from 10am – 2pm. You can show up any time to help out, but if you want to join the Adopt-A-Street team, you may need to catch up to them along Delridge Way.
Bring: Gloves, hot beverage tumbler or water bottle, any tools you prefer, depending on which team you want to be on (painting, gardening, or litter pick up).
We provide: Tools, garbage bags and garbage pickers, hot drinks, paint.
Meet neighbors, lend a hand and feel proud that you care about your neighborhood.
WESTCREST PARK TREE-PLANTING: The more help, the merrier, here too. From Mike Shellenberger:
In conjunction with the HP3 runners’ event that starts at Big Al’s Brewing this Saturday, April 16th, the Green Seattle Alliance (GSA) Volunteers will be planting hundreds of native evergreen trees in Westcrest Park. The intent is to begin to replace the older deciduous trees, like maples and alders, that are reaching their life span with native longer lived evergreens like fir, cedars, pines etc…We can use as many volunteers as we can get. The more folks that volunteer, the more we can plant. Just show up at the Westcrest Park main parking lot on the west side of the Park near the Kids Play area at 9:15 AM Saturday and we’ll put you to work on this important project.. While volunteering, people can also walk the Park’s trails and view Spring’s new arrivals. For instance, the beautiful native trilliums are in full bloom..See you Saturday.
HP3: Billed as the first and only environmental-adventure race of its kind, this is a 16-mile course with multiple tasks, to be run for the first time tomorrow in eastern West Seattle/White Center – details here!
We mentioned the Lions Club‘s plant sale tonight (5-8 pm at the Senior Center) in our morning preview, and now there’s word of another plant sale under way right now, along with a bake sale – The Providence Mount St. Vincent Auxiliary has a plant, bake, and mini-bazaar sale under way in The Mount’s lobby (4831 35th SW) till 4 pm. Thanks to Colleen for sharing the bake-sale photo.
That’s an advance look (click the image for a larger version) at the interpretive sign that will be dedicated at T-107 Park on the Duwamish River in West Seattle this Saturday afternoon, as the multisite Duwamish Alive! work party wraps up. As previewed here earlier this month, there’s a lot going on at that site on Saturday, but it’s still in need of more volunteers, according to Cari Simson from the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition. We asked her where help is still needed, and she said about 20 more people could still be used at the adjoining Herring’s House and T-107 park sites, as well as several volunteers each at Longfellow Creek (Brandon Street Natural Area) and Roxhill Bog. If you would like to RSVP for T-107, e-mail contact@duwamishcleanup.org; for the other two, adam.jackson@kingcd.org. If you can’t join in the work parties but would like to go to T-107 for the dedication ceremony (which also will mark the opening of a new hand-carry boat launch), it’s at 1 pm Saturday (with dignitaries scheduled to be on hand including Duwamish Tribe chair Cecile Hansen, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and City Council President Richard Conlin).
Earlier today, we published the story of Pathfinder K-8 “Penny Harvest” participants deciding to donate $500 to West Seattle for Japan after a visit from its organizer, Dave Montoure of West 5. We asked Dave if there was an update on the community fundraising total; he said an announcement was in the works – and here it is:
Today I have submitted a request to an anonymous corporate donor to match the $8,591.45 raised by our businesses and our community during the West Seattle for Japan donation drive on Sunday, March 27th. If they agree to the full match our total raised will be $17,182.90.
This is an astonishing amount of money to be raised in such a short period of time. It speaks volumes about the caring nature of our businesses and our community. I couldn¹t be more proud to call West Seattle home.
In addition to the funds raised and matched through our donation drive, I have worked with several other donors and wish to recognize the efforts of Nancy McManus of QuallyQue for her efforts during the “tweetup” raffle for Japan relief.
I wish to also recognize the effort of a great group of kids at Pathfinder K-8. Through their ‘Penny Harvest’ program they are donating $500 to the WS4J relief effort and I have secured at least one corporate donor that will match that generous amount I am pretty sure I can leverage several other corporate donors to match what the Pathfinder children have donated with a goal of turning their pennies into dimes (or dollars). If you are aware of any potential donors, and would like me to approach them, please forward contact information to me directly.
Moving forward I will wait for the donor¹s response and when those funds are deposited I will split the proceeds 50/50 and have one check delivered to Peace Winds America (so they can remit to their office in Tokyo) and will have one check transferred to the account of KnK International’s bank in Tokyo. No agency fees have been taken, no credit card percentages have been charged, no bank fees will accrue. This is real money, getting directly into the hands of people who need it the most.
Thank you
Dave Montoure
West 5
If you missed the big day of fundraising on March 27th involving almost 30 businesses, here are links to WSB morning-till-night as-it-happened coverage: Morning report here; afternoon report here; evening report here.
Two weeks after almost 30 local businesses joined together for the West Seattle for Japan fundraiser, we’re still getting word of more donations. WS4Japan organizer Dave Montoure of West 5 was invited to visit Pathfinder K-8 last week, as its students decided how to “spend” the $1,000 netted in their Penny Harvest efforts.
(Photo courtesy Amy Daly-Donovan and Jennifer Giomi)
Pathfinder’s volunteer Penny Harvest coaches Amy Daly-Donovan and Jennifer Giomi report:
Dave was very gracious, providing an overview of his experience and friendships in Japan and the tremendous generosity shown by the West Seattle community in raising money to support the citizens of Japan. He outlined the work of Peace Winds and KnK, and the Penny Harvest team was especially interested in the work of KnK as they focus their efforts on supporting children affected by these terrible natural disasters.
After meeting with Dave and holding telephone interviews with two other organizations, the Pathfinder K-8 Penny Harvest team decided to grant $500 to West Seattle for Japan (which is being generously matched by an anonymous corporate sponsor). The remainder will go to the Seattle Humane Society ($300) and Children’s Hospital Foundation ($200).
Other schools participate in Penny Harvest as well, which the Pathfinder team describes as “a fantastic philanthropy curriculum/program.” It’s explained online at pennyharvest.org.
That, we are told, is the Rolls-Royce of tricycles – a Kettler Air Navigator. When we stopped by the Lincoln Park Cooperative Preschool benefit multifamily sale a little while ago, it was still up for grabs, at a third the price. Volunteers including (from left) Jennifer, Tami, and Katie are ready to help point you to whatever you’re looking for:
Lots of clothes, too.
The sale’s on till 3 pm at Seaview United Methodist Church (where the preschool classes have long been held) – 47th and Graham (look for the signs on Graham pointing you to the entrance.
More than a few West Seattle businesspeople spent part of today in “lockup” – but it was for a good cause, and they didn’t do anything wrong. They joined in a Muscular Dystrophy Association fundraiser where they had to rustle up donations in order to get “bailed out.” Above, Todd Ainsworth of West Seattle Autoworks (WSB sponsor); below, Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy of Mac’s Triangle Pub on the West Seattle/White Center border in the south Delridge Triangle:
We photographed both at Angelina’s in Admiral, which served as the “lockup” host site for West Seattle participants, once they were picked up by Seattle firefighters! It was up to the “locked up” to figure out how to get friends, family, clients, etc., to chip in donations so they could get out and get on with the rest of the day; one of the most enterprising was longtime WSB sponsor Rhonda Porter, who’s one of our area’s most active businesspeople on Twitter, Facebook, and the Web, and used them all to round up enough cash to get out within an hour or so! It’s not too late to donate – for example, Rhonda’s page is here, WS Autoworks’ page is here. If we can find Mac’s link, we’ll add it tooAnd here’s Mac’s link; plus, here’s somebody else who tweeted theirs – Cheryl from Twilight Artist Collective – (donation link here).
Two followups tonight on weekend collection efforts in West Seattle that both proved highly successful:
(WSB photo from Saturday)
On Saturday, we reported on the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle food drive “as it happened.” It was part of the global volunteer-action Kiwanis ONE Day. Tonight, the Kiwanians report that they collected more than 7,000 pounds of food and almost $1,000 in cash at five West Seattle grocery stores Saturday – all going to the West Seattle Food Bank (and remember, this is the time of year when food-bank donations count extra). The club says, “Special thanks goes out to all the members of the community who generously donated to support this worthy cause.” They’re also glad to have had Key Club members join them (note the teens in our photo). West Seattle Kiwanis also wants to remind you that they meet 1st, 3rd, 4th Wednesdays for breakfast, 7 am, and lunch (noon) on the 3rd Wednesday at Be’s Restaurant in The Junction (4509 California SW)
Another event we covered “as it happened” – on Sunday, the Fauntleroy Church Green Committee invited the community to another Recycle Roundup:
(WSB photo from Sunday)
Judy Pickens reports that 1 Green Planet filled its trucks with “an estimated 12 to 14 tons of just about everything for free recycling.” The church did accept donations from anyone interested in showing their appreciation – and took in almost $1,000. She says the company’s crew chief Michael Szanyi told them that the “strong support has made Fauntleroy Church one of 1 Green Planet’s favorite places to go!”
Story and photos by Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
With Earth Day coming up later this month, opportunities for “doing good” for the environment abound. One day when you have multiple opportunities and multiple sites to choose from is Saturday, April 16th – the annual Duwamish Alive! restoration/cleanup event.
We wanted to spotlight some of the sites that will get TLC that day. For starters, Cari Simson of Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition (DRCC), whose “role is to educate
the public about the Superfund cleanup site,” talked with us about their Duwamish Alive! site at T-107 Park along West Marginal Way on the east edge of West Seattle.
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