Meet Sophie. We found out about her from Michele at West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor):

This is such a touching story that I wanted to share it with you.

This young lady’s name is Sophie in the photo attached. She and her mom Tami stopped by our BBQ for the West Seattle Food Bank on Saturday. On West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, Sophie had a lemonade stand that was for charity. She wished for her proceeds to help the food bank and donated them to us.

I remember when I was that age… $20 may as well be $100! I wanted to commend Sophie’s thoughtfulness and say thank you again.

It’s nice to see young people with such a good spirit – not to mention the parents that instill such good morals in ther kids. Good job, Tami!

The proud mom adds, “Sophie’s Girl Scout Troop #45180 is looking forward to doing great community service this year.”

SIDE NOTE: Thriftway has regular summertime Saturday barbecues raising money for charities – the Food Bank was last Saturday’s beneficiary; this Saturday, they’ll be raising money for the Morgan Community Association while MoCA presents its free annual Community Festival nearby. (Festival details here – see you there!)

(Photo by Amanda Grove)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

While hundreds of people will be taking courses from South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) this year, we can guarantee that Georgia Mitchell will be the only one taking them while riding a three-wheeled Y Fliker scooter cross-country.

You might already know Georgia. Not just because she’s a 2009 Chief Sealth graduate; that same year, she made news by becoming Miss West Seattle Hi-Yu.

She’s been off at college in Hawai’i, and on a culinary internship in France, before transferring back to join the hospitality program at SSCC.

But first: Starting one week from today, she’s embarking on three months of human-powered travel across America, with three Brazilians and an Irishman.

(Meet them here.)

They’re riding on the Y Fliker, a three-wheeled scooter that requires a sort of “wiggle” to ride, as Georgia describes it. (Here’s the manufacturer’s how-to promotional video, in case you want to see for yourself:

Part of their goal is to raise money to donate hundreds of Y Flikers to schools for fitness programs, beyond 300 that the company making them is donating already. They’re also raising money for a camp in Ireland for kids with serious illnesses – that will be via a second, European leg of the journey, but Georgia is “only” with the team till they get to the east Coast.

How did she get involved? While on the aforementioned internship, Georgia met Waneska Valois, who had used the Y Fliker as part of a PE program in California schools and wanted to figure out a way to get it into more schools.

She and Georgia got to talking – Georgia had always wanted to make a cross-country trip; “In October, we came up with the idea, and in January, it started happening.” Now, it’s almost reality. She’s flying to Los Angeles tomorrow, and in a week, they leave L.A., headed east. (See the route map on their website’s home page.)

They have some corporate sponsors for the trip, during which they’ll be living in an RV, and they also used a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign so they can produce a web-video series along the way.

Georgia says they’re hoping that people will follow their progress via the series – likely with weekly episodes, and shorter clips inbetween – and via events at their stops: “We’re planning to do workshops and demos along the way.”

That’s inbetween 10-or-so-hour daily stints of Y Fliker riding. She says she rode one on cobblestone streets in France, which was a bit of a challenge, but when they started planning the upcoming journey, “it didn’t go through my head that we’d be going up and down mountains!” Their route will cross the Continental Divide in the Colorado Rockies – after they travel from L.A. to Las Vegas to Salt Lake City and beyond.

Georgia acknowledges the first week will likely be brutal physically, but she’s been an athlete all her life – soccer, volleyball, softball, basketball – so she’s ready. Four members of the team will be Y Fliker’ing, while they also will have a driver for the RV and “a media guy” who will work on advance publicity and related matters.

They’re expecting the cross-USA trip to take until early October, at which time Georgia will fly back here to rejoin SSCC classes, which she’ll be taking online in the meantime, starting over the summer.

“It’s going to be life-changing,” she declares. And she of course has the support of proud parents Mark and Carrie Hewitt, though, when asked what they thought at first, she admits her dad “kind of laughed,” being familiar with the type of terrain they’re facing.

So how can you help, besides, of course, donating? “We really want people to follow us along our journey and see what we’re doing, and (how we’re) making a difference along the way.”

You can do that here, as well as via Facebook and Twitter

Next weekend, local teens Alex Miller, Nicholas Orndorff, and Clara Orndorff will be participating in international underwater-robotics (ROV) competition for the second consecutive year. We brought you their story last year. Writing a report and getting it published counts in the competition too; we are pleased to share their 2013 update:

Recently the AMNO & CO ROV Team qualified to compete in the 2013 Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center’s International ROV Competition for students. A Remotely Operated Vehicle, or ROV, is a tethered robot used to complete tasks in underwater environments.

AMNO & CO was the second-place winner in the Pacific Northwest Regional, which was held on May 11th. AMNO & CO accomplished this using an ROV they designed and built over the past year. At the International ROV Competition, which will be held June 20-22 at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center, AMNO & CO will compete against more than thirty of the top teams from MATE’s 22 regional competitions around the world, including competitions in the US, the UK, China, Egypt, Canada, and Hong Kong.

Each year, the MATE ROV competition encourages students to learn and apply science, technology, engineering, and math skills to the competition tasks that simulate real-world problems from the ocean workplace. This year, the contest focuses on the role that ROVs play in installing and maintaining a system of underwater sensors and other equipment.

This system of equipment is known as the Regional Scale Node, or RSN, which consists of a primary node that can then deliver power to a series of sensors that are connected to it. These sensors include an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler, or ADCP, that measures the velocity of the ocean’s currents, and an Ocean Bottom Seismometer, or OBS, which collects data about seismic activity on the ocean floor. Currently this system is being installed off the western coast of the United States. This array of sensors will provide new and useful data about the ocean, including data about climate change and its properties and consequences, which will be useful to our understanding of the world.

Teams will participate in mission tasks, piloting their ROV to deploy and install simulated versions of the actual sensors being used. To do this, not only must ROVs be able to transport the sensors correctly, they must also be able to open and close hatches, turn locks, and connect power cables. In addition to the simulated sensors, teams must also create their own temperature sensors that can take measurements from a simulated hydrothermal vent (a vent on the ocean floor that emits hot water). In addition, teams must prepare a technical report describing their ROV, make a presentation to a panel of judges, and create a poster display.

This is the fourth year that AMNO & CO has participated in the Pacific Northwest Regional ROV Contest, and the second year they will be attending the MATE International ROV Competition. The team members are Alex Miller, Nicholas Orndorff, and Clara Orndorff.

The AMNO & CO ROV team is supported by local sponsors including West Marine, Fisheries Supply, and Harris Electric. The team practiced at the Shoreline Pool and fundraised over the summer near Alki Beach. Their fundraising covered a large portion of the cost of their ROV.

For more information about the AMNO & CO ROV team, please contact them at amnoandco@live.com, or visit their Facebook page facebook.com/AMNOandCoROV. For more information about the MATE ROV competition, visit marinetech.org/rov-competition.

We wish AMNO & CO the best of luck in next weekend’s competition!

By the time participants gathered at the water-side end of Fairmount Avenue this morning, the “Run to REFLECT” had morphed into “Run for Red” – the nickname a family member used for the woman badly hurt in an unsolved incident one week earlier. Heading southbound up Fairmount into the ravine, safety vests hung from branches, and yellow “caution” tape lined the road leading to the spot where “Red” was found, a spot where another message of support was chalked:

Athena (right, below) and Julie (left, below) are the women who found “Red” around 7 am last Saturday – fellow runners headed to the beach for their own Saturday morning run, which today they turned into a community support event:

Words of support:

Then, after a few words, off for a 5K run:

And back in the ravine – even beyond the support for “Red,” and the quest to find out what happened to her, this message for everyone traveling through it:

If you have any information about what happened to her last Saturday – even just information about any kind of vehicle seen going into or coming out of the ravine that morning, between 6 and 7 am – Seattle Police want to hear from you; call Det. Korner at (206) 684-8927 or just call 911.

ADDED 2:26 PM: We didn’t realize until a message from Dick Lunceford that a celebrity joined in the “Run for Red”:

Dick photographed Doris Heritage, a nearby resident who had a stellar history-making career as a runner and coach – here’s her bio from the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame.

Last week, we wrote about the conversation brewing about West Seattle’s independent local businesses and the ways in which they make our community better. Here’s more proof. A few days ago, we received a note from the owners of Red Cup Espresso in The Junction, who wanted to give a shout-out to someone special:

In today’s fast-paced world, the small things are often forgotten. The things we take for granted are often overlooked, and the beauty we search for, more often than not, lies right before our eyes. A simple hello or a smile can have a tremendous effect on a person’s day. The connections born from casual everyday conversations slowly blossom into everlasting relationships. The Red Cup Family would like to express our gratitude for the beautiful flowers planted this year at the shop. All of this could not be so, without the skillful direction of West Seattle’s own Elois Gruenhagen. A longtime Seattle resident, Elois fills our hearts every day with stories of the farm, her teaching career, and her knowledge of all things plantlike. She has been an inspiration for us all, and continues to surprise and make us laugh. We are honored to have the opportunity to give someone a platform to express themselves. If you’re in the area, feel free to drive by and look at her work!

It makes us smile, to see her smile.

Thank you, Elois,
Samir, Breanna, and Gina

I am a member of the family of this victim. Please let me thank you for the family, for your kind support. It is humbly accepted and returned with love for you all!

The victim (I’ll call her Red), is slowly improving. She has been moved from ICU to acute care. She opened her eyes on Monday. She recalled her name and recognized family for the first time on WED.

She suffered a head injury, and an adominal injury. plus road rash. Thankfully, no broken bones. She had surgery on sat afternoon.

Thank you again for your concern and prayers. I will attend the run and take some pictures for Red so she can see your love!!

“The run” refers to the “Run to REFLECT” event organized by Athena Frederick and Julie Ambrose, the Good Samaritans who summoned help for the woman after finding her unconscious along Fairmount Avenue under the Admiral Way Bridge around 7 am Saturday, while they were heading down to the water for their own early-morning run. Even if you are not a runner, you are invited to join to show support for the victim and for safety in the area – here’s the invitation again:

We will meet at the bottom of Fairmount (on the Alki Beach side near Salty’s) starting at 6:30 am. Please bring some type of reflective gear, object, caution cone, etc. to donate (you may be able to retrieve it after Saturday, but not guaranteed). We will be placing these reflective items along the side of the road going up through Fairmount. Please feel free to bring them even earlier than 6:30am. Businesses that would like to donate any reflective type gear, please contact us. We are doing this to raise awareness over the weekend for drivers to SLOW DOWN on that stretch of road.

Starting at 7 am, we will run a 5K on Alki to show our support of the 54-year-old woman and her family. Please invite friends, family and join us to either “light up Fairmount” OR for the 5K run or walk.

No breakthroughs reported yet by SPD, but we have an inquiry out to doublecheck. If you saw or heard any vehicle of any kind in that area around 6-7 am last Saturday morning, please call 911 or Det. Korner at (206) 684-8927.

EARLIER:

Please be on the lookout for 86-year-old Ann Allen, who we have just learned has been missing for more than 2 hours in the Providence Mount St. Vincent area. Her daughter-in-law tells us that Ann “has fairly serious dementia.” If you see her or have an idea where she might be – please call 911.

Story by Tracy Record
Photos by Patrick Sand
West Seattle Blog co-publishers

Before the Alki Point Lighthouse opened for this year’s summer season of weekend public tours Saturday afternoon, which also happened to be the 100th anniversary of the day the building officially opened, one of the people who live on its grounds presided over a commemorative ceremony: Rear Admiral Keith Taylor, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard‘s 13th District.

Not only did he speak about the lighthouse and its history, he told us in a conversation afterward, but also about the watch that is kept around the clock by the USCG in this region, and about his pride in the people who keep that watch. In relating the past – including the U.S. Lighthouse Service and the Revenue Cutter Service (here’s an official USCG historian slide deck) – to the present, RADM Taylor says he likes to say, “We helped the Pacific Northwest grow up.” (Lighthouses became part of the USCG’s accountability in 1939.)

This month has significance for RADM Taylor far beyond the lighthouse centennial: Before this month is over, he will turn over command of the 13th Coast Guard District to his successor. He’s retiring, 30 years after he began his service following graduation from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and two years after becoming commander of this 4-state district.

The district includes 4,400 miles of coastline, more than 600 miles of inland waterways, and a long list of stations and vessels that you can peruse here, as well as on the official fact sheet (which reveals this is the centennial year for the district itself). Hundreds of thousands of vessel journeys, dinghys to cruise ships and beyond, are made in the region’s waterways each year.

One datapoint of potential interest to sky-watching West Seattleites: No Coast Guard helicopters are based in Seattle; they’re based in Port Angeles. You may see the distinctive mostly-orange helicopters here fairly often, but when they head home, they’re flying northwest to the shore of the Strait of San Juan de Fuca. Aviation, by the way, figures prominently into Adm. Taylor’s background; his past assignments include serving as commander of the USCG’s Air Station Miami. He also has served as the Coast Guard’s Chief Financial Officer and in other USCG-wide leadership roles.

For decades, it has been tradition for the USCG 13th District’s commander to live on the Alki Point Lighthouse grounds (the last lighthouse keeper retired in 1970). Adm. Taylor has kept with that tradition; he told us he and his wife hope to stay in the Seattle area after his retirement. The other residence at Alki Point also is usually home to a USCG officer and family; its next residents are moving in soon, Admiral Taylor mentioned.

As for the lighthouse itself, he says it’s vital to the safety of local waterways and he doesn’t see that changing any time soon.

The District 13 change of command ceremony, he said, is scheduled for Friday morning, June 28th, at the USCG station at Pier 36 on the downtown waterfront; we’re expecting more information as it gets closer.

Meantime, free lighthouse tours are scheduled to continue at Alki Point 1-4 pm each Saturday and Sunday through the end of August.

You’ve seen the work of West Seattle’s award-winning “Diver Laura” James – a filmmaker, photographer, writer, environmental activist – here and elsewhere over the past few years. Now, we get a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to get those views; much more complicated than simply jumping into the water with a camera. The video above tells that story as part of a profile of Laura’s work, made for the Puget Sound Starts Here campaign by another local filmmaker, Matthew J. Clark. Some beautiful scenery above the water, too (look for the Seacrest sequence) – Laura says it was shot in mid-April.

Thanks to Kris Rouse for sharing photos from the Girl Scouts gathering last night at Camp Long:

Friday night was a beautiful night for a campfire. West Seattle Girl Scouts gathered for a traditional campfire complete with good ol’ camp songs & s’mores. Deyette Swegle organized a terrific gathering for the Girl Scouts of Chinook Service Unit at Camp Long … Several Junior Girl Scouts were recognized for their achievement of the Bronze Award; acknowledgement was made for two girls’ earning the Silver Award and Ann Manning’s group of Cadettes, the winning of the Mt. St. Helens Award at the recent Girl Scout Cascade Challenge. The evening was concluded with an Eternal Flame candle ceremony led by Lynn Zahniser.

NEW WOMEN’S CLINIC: Across the street at 4727 44th SW (Suite 207), West Seattle Women’s Health and Midwifery is now open, providing birth services as well as health care for women at all stages of life. Dr. Shari Luchino, DNP, ARNP, CNM, is the provider and nurse/midwife anchoring the clinic. She’s having an open house 10 am to 3 pm this Sunday (June 2), all welcome.

Erny Smith, December 24, 1936 – May 11, 2013

Longtime West Seattle resident Erny Ulvestad Smith, 76, passed away on May 11th, surrounded by family after a year-long struggle with cancer.

He is missed by Carole and children Stefanie, Lorrie, Lance and their families. Also survived by one brother, four sisters, numerous grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Preceded in death by his parents and brother Joe.

At his request there will be no service. Family will gather for a celebration of Erny’s life at a later date.

(Photo courtesy Arthritis Foundation)
Congratulations to West Seattleite Judi Yazzolino, at center, who received the Arthritis Foundation‘s Inspirational Leadership Award during a benefit breakfast downtown on Thursday. She’s a board member for the group, as is Patrick Smith, photographed with her at left; at right is CEO Scott Weaver, who lauded Yazzolino’s work for the group, declaring, “Judi was instrumental in the creation of our Bone Bash and since its inception has served in a leadership role – during both good and challenging times. She is not shy about encouraging her friends, colleagues and contacts to step up their support.” That’s a skill that also serves her professionally, since she serves as development director of the West Seattle Food Bank. But her interest in working toward a cure for arthritis is also personal – the organization explains that she has been living with rheumatoid arthritis for 25 years: “Because I feel so fortunate, I am determined to do whatever I can to help find a cure for this awful disease.”

(Photo courtesy Folklife: Programmers and WS residents Debbie Fant, Michelle Shaevitz, Kelli Faryar)
Going to Seattle Center for the Northwest Folklife Festival next weekend? Though it’s not happening in West Seattle, three West Seattleites are involved in making it happen, as we recently found out. One of them – Deputy Director Debbie Fant – explains:

West Seattle is really well represented at the 2013 Northwest Folklife Festival! First of all, the programming team — Kelli Faryar, Michelle Demers Shaevitz, and Debbie Fant — all live in West Seattle! And second, there are 34 groups from West Seattle performing throughout the weekend!! (Not that we’re biased — there’s just so much talent in West Seattle!)

If you’re among those Folklife performers from West Seattle (or White Center/South Park, since we cover those communities with our other two sites), please let us know (comment, or e-mail editor@westseattleblog.com) so we can include that in weekend mentions. Here’s the schedule – even if you’re not the performer, let us know if you recognize locals who are listed.

Schmitz Park Elementary fifth-grader Riley Nachtrieb, an avid unicyclist (on trails as well as pavement, as shown in the video above featuring Riley and her 9-year-old sister Addison), couldn’t find a nearby group to join – so she’s starting one herself, the WestSide Unicycle Collective. Riley and Addison are organizing and running it by themselves, according to an announcement forwarded by their parents, who are lending “a watchful eye.” The group has a Facebook page and will have public meetups every other Thursday, 6:30 pm-7:30 pm, beginning next week (May 30th) at Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza. Future locations will be listed on the FB page, and Riley stresses its purpose: “Meet new unicyclists and ride with us. Learn new skills and tricks or just ride and have fun! Unicyclers of any age or ability welcome.”