That Saturday gathering in northeastern West Seattle was on one level about a plaza –

… but it was really about the people. This corner of West Seattle, now towered over by the high bridge, is Riverside, for decades a home to fishing families, mostly Croatian immigrants, whose descendants have mostly moved on, but won’t let the history (as detailed in the plaque inscription) be forgotten:

They gathered Saturday for the dedication of Riverside Memorial Plaza; the word “memorial” took on an added poignancy, for one of the plaza’s tiles bears the name of Jennie Plenkovich:

That’s the maiden name of Jennie Jaramillo, laid to rest earlier this week at age 75. As noted in her published obituary, she was a founding member of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, which overflowed with mourners for her memorial Mass just yesterday. Her uncle Frank Zuvela was a driving force behind the Riverside plaza project, and he was keynote speaker Saturday:

You can visit the Riverside Memorial Plaza at 17th SW/W. Marginal Place (map). Read more about it, and Riverside history, here, here, and see photos from Riverside days gone by, here.

(Jerry Vandenberg and friend. Photos courtesy Nicole Vandenberg, via SWSHS)
This morning, the Southwest Seattle Historical Society is providing more information on a big event this Saturday (you might have seen the Seattle Times [WSB partner] preview this weekend): “Come Home to Riverside,” noon Saturday at 17th SW/West Marginal Place (map). Riverside is a historic neighborhood by the bridge, an early West Seattle fishing community dating back more than a century. With descendants of those original families (many of them Croatian immigrants), SWSHS has created the Riverside Memorial Plaza, which will be dedicated at the event. From the announcement:

The project is the idea of Frank Zuvela, Joe Popich, and Mike Budinich, all sons of first-generation Riverside residents.

The property was donated by businessman Mike Budinich. The design and labor was contributed by Jerry and Ron Vandenberg, who grew up in Riverside in the 1940s.

Zuvela and Budinich both were born in Riverside; the Vandenbergs moved there in childhood. Here’s a photo of the Budinich store in Riverside, one of two grocery stores in the area, which extended credit, vital at the time because fishermen did not have year-round income and needed to borrow during the inbetween times.

Ahead, the full text on the memorial plaque, as provided by SWSHS:Read More

Looking for a moment of Friday afternoon distraction? Just got this link from the “BIG Map Blog,” of which we’ll confess we hadn’t previously heard. They have posted the 1891 “Territorial Growth of Seattle” map in a cool zoomable/scrollable viewer. Large swaths of the peninsula are unmarked – looks like this was part of “the last frontier.”

Story and photos by Katie Meyer
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

A pumpkin, photographs, and plats on a map were some of the items shared when attendees at Saturday’s Southwest Seattle Historical Society meeting were introduced to Michelle DelCarlo‘s concept of a “pop-up museum.”

DelCarlo, a University of Washington graduate student in Museology, explained how her themed pop-up museum can influence how museums see themselves, and can assist them in creating a deeper relationship with their community. An informal, interactive pop-up museum helps museums engage people – it’s DelCarlo’s “experiment in community building and the creation of meaningful experiences.” The mission is to create conversations between people of all ages and all walks of life.

(Michelle DelCarlo, left, at the start of her “Thanksgiving” theme pop-up museum)
A pop-up museum is based solely on the content provided by the people who show up to participate, and after it ends, everyone takes their items home with them. The theme for the meeting at West Seattle (Admiral) Library was “Thanksgiving” and SWHS meeting participants had been asked in advance to bring something that was meaningful to them, and write on a small sheet of paper ( the “label”) why that object is meaningful, then place the object and label on a table.

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Know someone with a great West Seattle story to tell – or maybe you have one yourself? “Telling Our Westside Stories” is about to get going, and the Southwest Seattle Historical Society needs your help to find the “storytellers”! Here’s the official announcement:

What was it like growing up next to the Duwamish River? How often did you go to Alki Beach? Did you catch fish in the creeks? Did you ride your bikes up the West Seattle hills? Did you think the ravines were scary?

The Southwest Seattle Historical Society is launching an ambitious three-year project of Telling Our Westside Stories. The project will engage youth of the various neighborhoods of southwest Seattle in talking to elders to find out how they have experienced life in southwest Seattle over a period of many years and elders talking to young people and finding out how they experience the same neighborhoods in a different time. Youth will ask questions about living on the Duwamish Peninsula, about work, and about home.

The resulting exhibits will feature interactive maps with audio clips from the interviews and exhibits that travel to area libraries, schools, community centers, and retirement centers.

Read More

That video is from Kickstarter.com, where West Seattle artist Claire Renaut is hoping to raise $2,500 for her tribute project, “9/11 Knit.” Even if you think you’ve seen and heard enough about art projects paying tribute – you probably haven’t seen/heard anything like this. We certainly haven’t. It’s worth a minute to take a look, whether you consider donating or not. It’s still a work in progress, and if all goes well, it will be displayed at a Seattle space this November. Claire’s husband Tom e-mailed the tip about what she’s working on; her studio is at their home in the California/Charlestown vicinity.

Also today, we have updates on the slate of West Seattle events planned for the anniversary on Sunday, starting with the 1,000-paper-cranes effort at Providence Mount St. Vincent:

(September 1st photo by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
Jessica Fletcher at The Mount says they’ve reached their goal: “Our Café is colorfully decorated with all the cranes and we will be presenting them at our Remembrance on Sunday at 1 pm in the Chapel followed by a reception with dessert.” Their event is part of the growing list that we have been updating here – including a new addition today: The Admiral Theater is offering free matinee admission on Sunday to police and firefighters and their families.

As expected, City Councilmembers voted on Tuesday afternoon, quickly and with little discussion, to authorize the sale of West Seattle’s former Fire Station 37. The process of getting to this point – including collecting public comment – has taken months; the ex-station at 35th and Othello (map) has already been vacant for almost a year. So, we asked the city, what happens now? The reply is from Katherine Schubert-Knapp of the city’s Finance and Administrative Services department, which helps other departments with “property disposition” (among other things):

Now that the Council has authorized the sale of the property, our next step will be to select a real estate broker to help the City market it publicly. We are preparing a Request for Proposals … After the broker is under contract and we have developed a marketing plan, we’ll be going out to the public with a goal of casting a wide net for potential buyers. We’ll have a better idea of the timeline in a few weeks. Everyone who has previously expressed interest in this property will be kept up to date.

And even if you’re not formally on that list, you will too, as Schubert-Knapp promises media updates on the process. (We’ll be keeping watch between news releases, too.) The station is in a single-family-zoned area, and it’s expected someone will buy it for just that purpose. P.S. If you never got the chance to visit the 86-year-old landmark – there’s a video tour in this WSB story from last year.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated – most recently 9/10 – with added information about local events)

(Photo by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
On Thursday afternoon, residents, staffers, and community members joined together at Providence Mount St. Vincent to fold dozens of paper cranes, adding to what they hope will total 1,000, as The Mount prepares for a remembrance service next Sunday, part of a growing list of local commemorations on what will be the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks. Here’s what we have on the list so far (and if you know of one in West Seattle or White Center that’s not listed here, please e-mail information so we can add it – thank you!):

9/11 HISTORY EXHIBIT AT LOG HOUSE MUSEUM: This is the first of two ways you can join the Southwest Seattle Historical Society/Log House Museum in observing the anniversary. Visit the LHM (61st/Stevens) next Sunday, noon-7 pm (that’s a later closing time than usual), to see its exhibit.

9/11 MEMORIAL SERVICE AT THE MOUNT: 1 pm next Sunday in the chapel, public welcome. Providence Mount St. Vincent is at 4831 35th SW.

TRIBUTE CONCERT AT HOLY ROSARY: Cantare Vocal Ensemble will perform a 9/11 tribute featuring Mozart’s “Requiem in D Minor” and Albinoni’s “Adagio in G Minor” at 3 pm next Sunday, with donations and a portion of proceeds going to the Twin Towers Orphan Fund. The tribute also includes Voices of 9/11, described as “select memoirs of victims and their families, narrated by Q13 FOX Meteorologist MJ McDermott.” Cantare founder/artistic director Mark A. Adrian conducts. Tickets $25, available online here, or at the door before the concert.

(September 2001 photo by David Hutchinson: Candles, flowers, tributes at the Alki Statue of Liberty)
CANDLELIGHT VIGIL AT ALKI STATUE OF LIBERTY: 7 pm on September 11th, you are invited to join the memorial vigil that’s being organized by SWSHS/LHM, at the spot where so many came from all over not only West Seattle but the rest of the region, to mourn, and to show unity. At the time, only the original Alki Statue of Liberty statue (recast, and unveiled on September 11, 2007, while the original now is kept at the museum) was there; the plaza was dedicated in 2008. (History side note: Did you know the Twin Towers were designed by a Seattle-born architect?)

TRIBUTE DURING HOLY FAMILY COMMUNITY STREET FAIR: September 11th will be the second day of this year’s community street fair at Holy Family School (20th/Roxbury), and once again this year, a 9/11 tribute is planned. (We are checking on the time; last year, a moment of silence was observed toward the start of the day; here’s our 2010 story.) Update: We are told this will be at 9:15 am.

(added Monday) HEALING SERVICE @ TIBBETTS: At 10:00 am, Tibbetts United Methodist Church (WSB sponsor) will hold a special service. From their announcement:

Milestones are marked in many ways, some happy, some sad, some healing, Directly, or indirectly, we were all deeply touched by the events of that day. Whether by people we knew who were there or simply waking up, on what was a beautiful morning and hearing the news. As the day progressed, knowing in the back of our mind, but not being able to say quite yet; from today, life, as we know it, would forever change. As the days passed and more information came to light, the nagging thought we had that morning became a reality. The next ten years were indeed turbulent times. Our service marks that milestone with a time for remembrance, reflection, prayers and song. These are healing times, so please, come share in the healing.

Tibbetts is at 3940 41st SW.

(added Wednesday) REMEMBRANCE SERVICES AT ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST: The theme is “Remembrance: A Time for Reflection, Reconciliation, and Hope,” at 8 and 10:15 am Sunday at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, 3050 California Ave SW. From their announcement:

All are welcome to join in this time of remembrance and hope on the tenth anniversary of the events that have marked our times and changed our lives. The Reverend David Wold, former bishop of the Southwest Washington Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is guest preacher. The Reverend Peter DeVeau, Rector, presides. We all know where we were on this date ten years ago. That same day, many made their way to a house of worship. This house of prayer for all people will be open this Sunday to any seeking thoughtful insight and inspiration for the living of these days of challenge and change. All ages and all people are welcome.

(added Wednesday) SPECIAL SERVICE AT ‘THE WAY’: Also at 10 am Sunday, The Way Church of God, which meets at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, plans a special service. From their announcement:

Calling all service men/women, past, present, and future, and the community to a special service designed to honor all the service men/women who have given themselves for our safety and freedom. In remembrance of 9/11, The Way COG will host an event Sunday 10 am at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW, dedicated to bring honor to all our heroes!

(added Friday) SPECIAL OFFER AT THE ADMIRAL THEATER: From Dinah at The Admiral: “This Sunday, in honor of the 10 year anniversary of September 11th, The Admiral Theater will be offering our first matinee FREE (any movie of your choice) to Police Officers, Fire Fighters and their immediate families. Police and Fire Fighters will need to show their Department ID and this is on a first-come, first-served basis.”

P.S. WSB Forums members are continue to share their 9/11/2001 memories in this thread, and you are welcome to contribute.

(April 2011 photo by Long Bach Nguyen, over Alki Lighthouse)
As noted in our “West Seattle Saturday” daily events preview, this weekend brings your last chances to tour the historic Alki Lighthouse this season, 1-4 pm both days. Here’s some of what you’ll see. But if you already have reminiscences – or if you or someone you know does – there’s work under way now to put together its history, as its centennial approaches. Here’s how you can help! Ann Benoit writes:

In 1913 the Alki Lighthouse was constructed here in West Seattle. It has provided wayfinding light, sound for fog navigation, radio beacons for way finding and the calibration of vessels’ own radio-beacon equipment. It is on a point of land and commands beautiful views of the Sound.

In preparation for its centennial. we are researching the Alki Lighthouse history, from the first light hung on the point by a farmer named Hansen (1870), to the present day. Data is fine and good, but insights, events, personal reminiscences will help to round out the story of this lighthouse.

The Alki Lighthouse is one of West Seattle’s enduring historical sites and deserves more extensive documentation. If you can help in any way, please contact me at annually@msn.com.