A royal night at the West Seattle Hi-Yu gala Friday – from left, new Hi-Yu Queen April Davis, her predecessor Queen Kayli Schulz, and Miss Seafair Veronica Asence, who will crown her successor in July. We photographed them before April’s coronation, so Queen April’s new sash was still waiting:

Also holding court at the gala, from the current Junior Court – from left Princess Emily, Queen Madison, and Princess Winter:

The night also incorporated a fundraising auction and the Hi-Yu White Rose Ceremony for the sisterhood of those who have reigned.

P.S. The next event on the Hi-Yu calendar: The West Seattle Sportsmen’s Club-sponsored kids’ fishing pond, 8 am June 1st at Seacrest.

Want to find out what that entails? Show up for the general meeting tomorrow night (Monday, May 6), 6:30 pm at St. John the Baptist Church (California/Hanford). And then on Friday night (May 10th), be there for the first big Hi-Yu event of the season:

West Seattle Hi-Yu Annual Gala
Auction, Coronation and White Rose Ceremony
7:00 -10:00 pm
Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Life Center
7000 35th Ave SW

Hors d’oeuvres and no-host bar
Tickets are available for $30 per person or $300 for a table of 10

Buy yours from the link on the right side of the Hi-Yu home page at westseattlehiyu.com.

Congratulations to April Davis, 2013 West Seattle Hi-Yu Queen. She’s a senior at Bishop Blanchet and an alumni of Holy Rosary School. Some of the activities she enjoys are volleyball, dancing, singing, and working with children. Mark your calendar to see her crowned: West Seattle Hi-Yu Coronation and Auction Event, Friday, May 10, at Our Lady of Guadalupe.

P.S. Hi-Yu can always use more volunteer help – details here.

As decided in November, starting with the sketch above, “Alki Deep, An Undersea Adventure” is this year’s West Seattle Hi-Yu Summer Festival theme. Now that it’s February, summer’s in view – and there are two ways you can help with Hi-Yu this year. From Regina Arceo-Schulz:

West Seattle Hi-Yu is looking for your button design. This year’s theme is Alki Deep, An Undersea Adventure. If your design wins, you’ll be participating in this summer’s American Legion Parade (7/20) with the West Seattle Hi-Yu Court. Please bring your button drawings (2″ diameter) to the General Meeting, Monday night (6:30 PM), February 4th at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, 3050 California Avenue SW. We will make a decision on the winning design later in the week.

Also, we are desperately short of volunteers for this year’s festival! It is time to begin float construction, enlisting business sponsors for the souvenir book , and procuring items for this year’s coronation and auction night. We have a great Junior Court, with their families, and a small group of diehard volunteers, but we will not be able to continue preparation for the Summer Festival, if we don’t have more help. This is a great opportunity to fill some of our dreary winter nights & weekends working with other interesting & fun West Seattlelites. Please check out our website westseattlehiyu.com or our Facebook page if you are able to help.

Next Monday, as part of the Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) party for the new Soundgarden album release, a guitar autographed by Soundgarden will be raffled – with ticket sales benefiting the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival. It was explained at this week’s general Hi-Yu meeting that the guitar was donated by the brother of Hi-Yu’s new treasurer, Susan Stanley-Jones. Raffle tickets are only $5, available from Hi-Yu (contact info’s on their website at westseattlehiyu.com) or during the party Monday night at the Feedback. Also keep an eye out for Hi-Yu Junior Court members selling tickets in The Junction this weekend – times TBA.

More big news from Hi-Yu – they have chosen next year’s theme: Alki Deep – An Undersea Adventure. That was one of more than half a dozen theme suggestions at the meeting:

Now that a theme is set, float ideas are next – you’re invited to the December 3rd holiday open house; bring yours, and/or be there to vote. Speaking of the holidays, it’s benefit ornament time:

They have 60 to sell, at $20 each, for starters. P.S. November 30th is the deadline for Senior Court candidates to apply – scholarship money up for grabs! The application is here.

(WSB photo of Hi-Yu float/royalty in this year’s West Seattle Grand Parade)
Parade lover? Your idea could inspire the next West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival parade float, traveling around the region. The discussion starts tonight at the Hi-Yu meeting – open to anyone, 6:30 pm, St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church Hall (California/Spokane, just south of West Seattle High School). Hi-Yu also is taking pre-orders for its trademark benefit Christmas ornaments made from hand-blown glass, $20 each, and till the end of this month, applications will be accepted for the scholarship program choosing a Senior Court for next year. Full details are in our original announcement from last month; here’s the direct link to the application.

Candidates benefit from our commitment to personal, professional, and academic development. The program offers individual mentoring by a successful businesswoman, cash scholarship awards, community service opportunities, and career preparation sessions in public speaking and presentation.

The Scholarship Program was revised in 2011, shortening the commitment from 2 summers to 1 summer. Judged events and Coronation take place in the Winter and in Spring with the newly crowned court moving right into the Summer festivities. A Miss West Seattle Hi-Yu Queen and two Princesses are crowned receiving scholarships of $2,000 and $1,000 respectively. Additional individual achievement scholarships, such as academic, performance, athletic, or entrepreneurship are typically awarded by community sponsors.

The new queen has the option to represent West Seattle Hi-Yu in the Miss SEAFAIR Scholarship Program the following summer.

Applicants must be female, in their senior year of high school or not have reached their 23rd birthday by February 1st. Applicants can never have been married and must be single (not engaged) at the time of coronation. They must be attending high school or a high school graduate, attending school, working in, or a resident of West Seattle. The West Seattle area includes the Alki Peninsula to the Burien City limits. This is a varied border, within the following zip codes: 98106, 98116, 98126, 98136, 98146. They must be planning to or currently attending college, technical school or vocational school.

Review the application and apply today! Check out westseattlehiyu.com for more info

The application deadline is November 30th. Photo of 2012 West Seattle Hi-Yu Senior Court Queen Kayli Schulz and 2011 Miss Seafair Veronica Quintero is by Gail Ann Photography.

In case you were watching the Seafair Torchlight Parade on TV and missed the West Seattle Hi-Yu float because, we’re told, they went to a commercial break – here you go. This year, they were fairly close to the top of the running order, so it wasn’t even dark yet when Queen Kayli, Junior Queen Thea, and Junior Princesses Elena and Amanda passed by our spot in the photography zone close to the TV cameras and bleachers at Westlake.

West Seattle’s neighbor South Park was represented too:

Ahead – the West Seattleite-led All-City Band, for starters:

That’s the Seattle All-City Marching Band, directed by Marcus Pimpleton, of Denny International Middle School and Chief Sealth International Middle School, with lots of West Seattle-area students in its ranks. And there is one more video clip we have to include, though it has no West Seattle tie that we know of – the Alaska Airlines drill team:

They were just a hoot. Though we were at the parade primarily to grab some video, we caught a couple more scenes of note via iPhone:

West Seattle-residing King County Executive Dow Constantine was among the parade-riding VIPs; we snapped as TV anchor Steve Raible stopped him for an interview. Later in the parade, the Seafair Clowns paid tribute to the late J.P. Patches:

Earlier in the day, they had led a “Moment of Laughter” in his memory at Seattle Center.

One other note: Kelsey Bills represented Hi-Yu during the Seafair Coronation just before the parade. While three other women were chosen as Miss Seafair and 1st/2nd princesses for this year, Kelsey won a big honor earlier in the week – the “Spirit of Seafair Award” given during the Princesses’ Banquet at Salty’s last Tuesday.

This year’s Junior Court – from left, Princess Elena, Queen Thea, and Princess Amanda – and Senior Court Queen Kayli showed off their synchronized moves while riding on the “Secret Garden” 2012 float. Here’s our video:

If we haven’t said this often enough, ours is the last Seattle community to have “its own” float, and Hi-Yu represents West Seattle in parades around the region, from late spring through fall; community support is vital to keeping it going, though – donations and volunteers. Saturday marked James Kline‘s first year in the parade as Hi-Yu president:

Each year, the designers of the official Hi-Yu button – sold at various major summer events around Seattle – get to ride in the parade too, and this year, that happened to be last year’s Junior Court royalty, so they got a parade encore!

Tonight, Hi-Yu’s float and entourage will be part of the Chinatown Seafair Parade; next Saturday night, look for them in the Seafair Torchlight Parade downtown.

ADDED: One more view of Team Hi-Yu on Saturday – courtesy of J.P. Peck at QuickShows.com:

One more reminder that the new Web address for Hi-Yu is westseattlehiyu.com – where you’ll find an updated calendar and the latest Hi-Yu news.

2:04 PM: The newly coronated West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival Junior Court for next year, with the current Junior Court and Senior Queen, from our crew at Hiawatha Community Center.

2:53 PM UPDATE: The new court has three princesses, one more than the current court. Thanks to WSB summer apprentice Callan Carow for gathering the information, working with photographer/co-publisher Patrick Sand. The new court:

Jr. Queen Madison Stanley-Jones — age 10, goes to Our Lady of Guadalupe (interests include music)
Jr. Princess Winter Williams — age 12, goes to Denny International Middle School (interests include underwater robotics)
Jr. Princess Emily Galvin — age 12, goes to Shorewood Christian (interests include art)
Jr. Princess Olivia Efird — age 9, goes to Schmitz Park Elementary (interests include dance)

ADDED 3:59 PM: The clip above includes all 11 candidates.

That photo sums up the not-completely-summery conditions at Hiawatha on Tuesday night for the annual West Seattle Hi-Yu Concert in the Park: Note Hi-Yu president James Kline and Junior Court Princesses Amanda and Elena in long sleeves, while in the background, Hi-Yu past president Tim Winston tends to the festival banner, which had been tousled by the wind. Even Jim Edwards of the featured West Seattle Big Band joked that it felt more like a fall concert. And yet the kids danced on as WSBB performed songs such as “Bye, Bye Blackbird”:

Next up for Hi-Yu: The Junior Court Coronation, also at Hiawatha, at 1 pm this Friday (during the noon-3 pm Kids’ Fun Fest) – then their star turn in the West Seattle Grand Parade on Saturday, and the Community Breakfast on Sunday (details in our recent preview). P.S. Reminder that the official Hi-Yu website has a new address – westseattlehiyu.com.

As mentioned in our continuous West Seattle Summer Fest coverage, WS Hi-Yu royalty and volunteers were busy at the festival – and you’ll see even more of them in the days ahead. Four big events for West Seattle Hi-Yu in the coming week: First, the Hi-Yu Concert in the Park brings the West Seattle Big Band to Hiawatha’s east lawn (along Walnut, south of Lander) on Tuesday night (July 17th), 7:30 pm – free! On Friday, the West Seattle Hi-Yu Junior Court for next year will be coronated, also at Hiawatha, during the noon-3 pm Fun Fest – coronation’s at 1 pm. On Saturday, your Hi-Yu float and current royalty will be in the West Seattle Grand Parade (starting around 11 am from California/Lander and headed south). And Hi-Yu president James Kline just confirmed that the Community Breakfast is back on for Sunday (July 22nd) at the Masonic Hall, 4736 40th SW, thanks to volunteers and a donation. Keep up on festival happenings at westseattlehiyu.com.

ADDED 8:14 AM MONDAY: During our weekend Summer Fest coverage, we mentioned the Hi-Yu button sales, including the prizes they gave after spotting random button-wearers at the festival (see one winner in our Saturday afternoon report). The sales were a big success, according to this update received this morning:

West Seattle Hi-Yu would like to thank the West Seattle Community for their fantastic support over the Summer Fest weekend! We sold approximately 400 buttons, 25 totem pole pins and received about $100 in donations. All of these funds go towards the float and our scholarship programs. Queen Kayli gave out 4 cash prizes on Saturday to random supporters wearing their “Hi-Yu Button” during the festival. It was a lot of fun and we hope to do it again next year. We hope everyone enjoyed seeing the float up close.

Button sales will continue this week and during the American Legion Grand Parade on Saturday. Thanks again, West Seattle!

(West Seattle Hi-Yu photo from 2011-12 Junior Court coronation)
Girls who will be 8-12 by the start of September are invited to apply right now for this year’s West Seattle Hi-Yu Junior Court coronation – to serve as the Junior Court Queen and Princesses from this fall through next summer, right after the reign of current royalty (above, Princess Elena, Queen Thea, and Princess Amanda). Here’s the announcement we received from Hi-Yu this morning:

The Hi-Yu Summer Festival is in full swing and the float will be in the West Seattle American Legion parade on Saturday, July 21st, 11 am, PLUS traveling to the following communities soon: Burien – July 4th, Chinatown-July 22nd, and Torchlight-July 28th, to name just a few.

Also, it’s that time of year to look for NEW JUNIOR COURT ROYALTY FOR 2013. The current court of royalty will be crowning new girls on Friday, July 20th at the Hiawatha Fun Fest at 1:00 pm.

For an application, click here, print it, fill it out and mail it in BEFORE Tuesday, JULY 17th. ALL INSTRUCTIONS ARE ON THE APPLICATION.

TRY OUT TO BE PART OF HI-YU ROYALTY, HAVE FUN MAKING NEW FRIENDS and PROUDLY REPRESENT YOUR COMMUNITY – WEST SEATTLE!!!

The application form isn’t just an application, but includes lots of information about what’s expected of Hi-Yu Royalty during the year – event appearances and other involvement – as well as Junior Court members’ perks. (Our coverage of last year’s coronation event, with video, is here.)

(Saturday photo courtesy West Seattle Hi-Yu)
The 2012 West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival float, with the theme “Secret Garden” (chosen last December, from an idea by Riley Fredericks), has made its debut – and brought home an award. At Saturday’s parade in Marysville, the Hi-Yu float was honored for “Best Floral Display,” as reported on the Hi-Yu website. Its next scheduled parade appearance is in Port Orchard on June 30th; three weeks after that, you’ll get to see it here at home in the West Seattle American Legion Post 160 Grand Parade on July 21st.