For a West Seattle entrepreneur, everything’s just ducky
If you’ve ever walked to or from Lincoln Park via the south end of Beach Drive, you’ve probably seen a festively decorated garden featuring rubber ducks. Its owner contacted WSB some time back to let us know his legendary decorations were taking wing into a business. Sounded like a fun story rather than just a business blurb – so we asked the University of Washington News Lab, which offers help to small news organizations such as ours, whether one of its student journalists might be interested. Read on to see the results – the story behind the ducks, plus a message you can probably appreciate in these nerve-jangling times:Read More
Update: West Seattle contender’s in 2nd in “hero” vote
Have you voted yet in the “Cox Conserves Heroes” competition? Fauntleroy’s Judy Pickens is now in second, and there are just a few days left to vote — if she wins, EarthCorps (which works on greenspace restoration in West Seattle and elsewhere) gets a $5,000 donation. Judy is shown at left in the photo above with some of the many visitors young and old who come to Fauntleroy Creek, for which she has worked tirelessly (we won’t soon forget spending some time with her by the creek in March, when a few tiny salmon fry were clearly visible, fighting the current). Take a minute – go here to vote – tell your friends. Two weeks from today, by the way, you can join Judy and other friends of Fauntleroy Creek, drumming to call the salmon home, 5 pm 10/26 at the overlook across from the ferry dock. P.S. There’s a new creek update on fauntleroy.net – a grant application to restore “the last degraded reach of the creek” – read about it here.
Design Review updates: High Point details; board member’s hiatus
Every little detail of the development process may not be your cup of tea; we chronicle it so the information’s there when you do want to find it (you never know when one of those big city signs might go up in your ‘hood). As you may know, for big projects in our city, the Design Review stage of the process is often the only time there’s a public meeting about a project (usually at least two) where you can show up and have a say. Each area of the city has its own board; the Southwest Design Review Board looks at West Seattle projects, usually the second and fourth Thursdays of the month, if there are projects requiring review (no meeting if there aren’t; this is usually decided several weeks in advance, and you can watch this page for word of upcoming meetings). Next SWDRB meeting is October 23rd at Madison Middle School, with 4106 Delridge reviewed at 6:30 pm, The Kenney‘s “reinvention” project (previous WSB coverage here and here) reviewed at 8 pm. Following up on the SWDRB’s last meeting this past Thursday, we have two things to report: first, details on a prominent board member’s hiatus; second, details on what led up to the decision to advance the 35th/Graham High Point project on to the next stage. Read on!Read More
1 week till you can have fun while helping White Center Food Bank
One week from tonight, at Brockey Center at South Seattle Community College, you can multitask in the best of ways: Have fun, and help a West Seattle/White Center nonprofit that’s busier than ever these days: 
The White Center Food Bank. Despite its name, it’s important to note, the White Center Food Bank serves a big chunk of West Seattle as well – food banks have service boundaries; if somebody shows up at a food bank but lives outside its service area, they’ll get some one-time emergency help and directions to the appropriate location. So to help fight hunger in West Seattle, it’s important to help the White Center Food Bank as well as the West Seattle Food Bank. Earlier this year, WSFB had great success with its “Instruments of Change” event, and now it’s the WCFB’s turn — the fourth annual Harvest Dinner and Auction starts with a silent auction at 5:30 pm next Saturday (10/18) and dinner at 7:15 pm. WCFB has taken out space on WSB this week to thank its major sponsors and remind you about the event. See the invitation here; for $60/person, you can enjoy a steak/salmon entree or pasta option; call or e-mail for reservations ASAP since the event is only a week away — 206/762-2848, or rick@whitecenterfoodbank.org.
West Seattle 101: A different reason to “slow down”
After a bit of a hiatus, we’re starting to adding new chapters to the West Seattle 101 (note the “tab” link on our header) section here on WSB. WS 101 
is the all-things-West-Seattle book written by Lori Hinton, who’s been sharing selected chapters here on WSB since this past spring. Today, we add Lori’s story about Take Back Your Time Day, a national movement with strong West Seattle support, and the official observance is less than two weeks away – though the philosophy is something you can start applying immediately. The full WS 101 on WSB archive is here. Watch for more additions.
Finally, we know more about the California/Dawson crash victim
Thanks to much to Mike for finding this: Two weeks after 92-year-old Rosemary MacCorkindale was hit by a car and killed while crossing California at Dawson (9/22 photo above), we finally know more about her, thanks to this online obituary running today. It describes her as “very athletic,” born in Rainier, OR, and having outlived her husband Robert MacCorkindale. The obituary doesn’t mention any children of theirs but does say she is survived by a sister who lives in Idaho, and that Ms. MacCorkindale loved to spend time at the library, so memorial donations to the Seattle Public Library Foundation are suggested. Police are still investigating the crash; three days after it happened, we reported that detectives wanted to hear from anyone who saw it happen. She was the fourth pedestrian hit and killed in West Seattle in less than a year (after Gregory Hampel near Camp Long in August, Teri Soike near Westwood Village in February, and Oswald Clement at 35th/Othello last October); the rally planned by neighborhood activists hoping to improve pedestrian safety is at 3 pm tomorrow at 35th/Juneau, where a 15-year-old High Point girl was hit and injured by a car last month.
West Seattle weekend scenes: Shopping for help, from you
At Thriftway in Morgan Junction, that’s (from left) Jake Webley, Gini Johnson, and Greg Ross, collecting food and money for local food banks as part of a drive presented by local Prudential realtors. They have the north door covered; another team has the south door; and you’ll also find Prudential folks at West Seattle PCC. This is happening till 2 pm today – and not only can you help by giving food items and/or money, Gini told us that if you present them with your receipt, they’re doing a one percent match. If you don’t see this till after 2, you can also drop off food bank donations at Prudential’s West Seattle offices through the end of the year. Meantime, at another grocery store — QFC in Westwood Village — these folks are “shopping for help” too:
The smiling folks you see in that photo include local fire cadets, currently based at the Joint Training Facility on the southeast edge of West Seattle, and today they’re asking you to help “Give Burns the Boot” by collecting $ on behalf of the Northwest Burn Foundation. You’ll find them at QFC — and others at Metropolitan Market in Admiral — till 4 pm today. (If you miss this event, you can donate to NW Burn Foundation online by going here.)
Three West Seattle winners – and one needs your vote now
“COMMUNITY BUILDER” HONORED: He’s another one of West Seattle’s semi-unsung heroes — North Delridge Neighborhood Council co-chair Mike Dady, who works tirelessly on behalf of an area that’s been fighting its way to a better future. Now, we’ve got word the Seattle Neighborhood Group is honoring him with a “Community Builder Award” at an upcoming event; here’s the flyer. Congratulations, Mike!
CHIEF SEALTH HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER HONORED: The Seattle Public Schools “School Beat” e-mail newsletter brings word that CSHS teacher Gary Thomsen is the first Seattle teacher to win the “Service to Community Award” from the University of Puget Sound, given for his “tireless work in the local community” (read more here).
CONSERVATION “HERO” FINALIST – AND YOU CAN VOTE: Also today, we just got word that Fauntleroy’s Judy Pickens is one of the five finalists in the “Cox Conserves Heroes” program – you can watch her story (and that of the other four finalists) here. Among many other projects with which she is involved, Judy has worked long and hard to help restore and protect Fauntleroy Creek as a rare, urban salmon stream. Whoever wins gets $5,000 to donate to a charity – and Judy has chosen EarthCorps. Vote for Judy by going to this page and using the form in the left sidebar.
New WSB sponsor: Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation
West Seattle is home to a wide variety of spiritual communities from a diverse array of faith traditions – and many are growing fast. Today, we welcome one of them as our newest WSB sponsor: Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation, an active, spiritually liberal West Seattle Church for more than four decades, led by the Rev. Peg Morgan. The tagline summing up WSUU: “Feeding your spirit, expanding your mind, working for justice.” Here are some of the ways its current, growing congregation of 150 adults and 80 children/youth say they’re doing that: “Examples of our current work in social justice include direct participation in Habitat for Humanity; caring for homeless families through the Family Promise Program; joining with the West Seattle Neighbors for Peace in opposing the tragic war in Iraq; and continuing to press for full equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people.” Toward the latter end, WSUU is a certified Welcoming Congregation. If you haven’t attended a Unitarian Universalist service before and are wondering what UUs believe, here’s a little bit about that: “We believe there are many sources of wisdom from which to draw in order for one to develop a strong spiritual core and live a meaningful, ethical life. Those sources include the world’s religions, our natural environment, as well as science and reason.” And it’s for all ages; WSUU has a well-regarded, comprehensive religious-education program for youth, under the leadership of Director of Religious Education for Children and Youth, Kari Kopnick. Also offered is a stimulating and diverse program of adult education classes. The church meets at 10:30 Sunday mornings at the Alki Masonic Temple, with an after-service coffee hour “where newcomers are warmly welcomed” – and there’s an enthusiastic, growing Choir and Music program too:
Plus, there are other socializing/spiritual support opportunities such as Women’s Retreats and Circle Suppers. To find out more, explore the WSUU website at wsuu.org. Thanks to Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation for joining the WSB sponsor team; our full list of sponsors — thanks to everyone for supporting them! — and info on how to join them, is on this page.
West Seattle web notes, first-day-of-new-month edition
ARBOR HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY TECH PIONEER NOTED NATIONALLY: The Wall Street Journal‘s “Blog Watch” gives a shoutout this week to Arbor Heights’ Mark Ahlness, who in 1994 created the website that made AH Elementary one of the first grade schools in the U.S. with an online presence. You can follow his blog here (and he’s on Twitter too!).
SAY HI TO SEATTLE’S MOST FAMOUS NEWSPAPER BLOGGER: Monica Guzman from the P-I’s Big Blog is bringing her weekly BB meetup to West Seattle today, 5:30 pm at Uptown in The Junction. All welcome. We’ve met Monica several times and there are many things we could say about her – all positive! – but we’ll summarize with “she’s just plain good people,” so if you’re in the vicinity, drop by; we plan to.
THE NEXT TIME WE’RE LIKELY TO SEE MONICA, AND YOU’RE INVITED TO THIS TOO: Monica and your editor here are among the speakers set for the whimsically named BigFoot Blogging Conference (along with, among others, Goldy from HorsesAss.org, one of the political blogs covered on the new WSB Election page). 10 am-4 pm October 11th at Kane Hall on the UW campus; admission free, but space is limited.
LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST – THANKS FOR ANOTHER RECORD MONTH!!!! We try to follow a philosophy from our TV days – though you get ratings daily, don’t stress about the ups and downs, look at the monthly trends. When you run a website, you get “ratings” minute by minute, but the trends are what matter. And thanks to you, the trends continue to be amazing – September was the fourth consecutive month with more than half a million WSB pageviews, setting a new record at 564,283 (40K more than last month, even though September has one less day). That’s not just because of all the people who read WSB – most importantly, it’s because of everyone who shares information with the rest of West Seattle via this site, whether it’s a Forum post or e-mailing/calling us with a tip (like the half-dozen people who e-mailed this morning to ask about the film crew in Lincoln Park – thanks to those tips, our in-person and online followups brought full details within about half an hour). This site is viewed as one of the most successful experiments so far in community-centered independent online-only news (our media coverage links are halfway down the “About” page), and we are thankful to have you as a collaborator. We also want to know how this site could better serve your needs — call, e-mail, text, or tweet any time.
West Seattle weekend scenes, 1st Sunday morning of fall
Thanks to David Hutchinson for that photo of the Alki Beach Run 5K this morning to raise money for West Seattle-based Northwest Hope and Healing. More than 900 people participated – not even counting those who lined the route to cheer. We have a full report coming up with video and more photos, plus an interview with the breast-cancer patient for whom the Seattle Lutheran cheerleaders were marching (note the flag in David’s photo). Also this morning:
That’s the end of a ceremony this morning outside First Lutheran Church of West Seattle, celebrating its 90th anniversary. We also will bring you a full report on that, including video of the bagpipe-led procession and rededication ceremony. On the way back to WSB HQ after both those events, we stopped for this solemn scene:
Fresh hydrangeas rest at the bottom of the utility pole at 35th/Graham, two years and one day after the crash that killed bicyclist Susanne Scaringi. We also photographed the pole on the anniversary last year. Next year, those who want to pay tribute to Susanne on the anniversary probably won’t be able to do this, as this will likely be a construction site – proposed for three mixed-use buildings (next Design Review session coming up October 9). On the back of the pole, by the way, an artwork – we don’t know if it’s related to the memorial, or just there for whomever passes by:
Crash survivor: “In the blink of an eye, everything can change”
That’s the photo we published in this report the night of June 15, when a motorcycle and minivan collided at 30th/Trenton (map) and closed streets for a few hours. The photo we didn’t publish, with the motorcycle on the ground, is later in the story. That night, there was no word if the motorcyclist was likely to survive. But she did. Days and weeks later, friends dropped into the comment thread on that same lone post from time to time with updates – finally, a few weeks ago, out of curiosity, we e-mailed one of the commenters to ask if the crash survivor would care to tell her story. And that’s how we met West Seattle photographer and motorcycle rider Karen Derby, who is battling back from leg and face injuries, and hoping to ride again. Here’s her story – including photos, some she took herself, before and after – but before you click ahead, a warning that two included in the story (and one you won’t see unless you click a link) are somewhat graphic – Karen wanted to tell her whole story, and the visuals are part of it:Read More
West Seattle delegation gives Mexican village a reason to smile
That’s Tessa Code distributing toothbrushes and hygiene information in Mexico as part of a Fauntleroy Church trip this summer. While talking with Judy Pickens about the church’s ongoing centennial celebration — which includes tonight’s 7 pm showing of the documentary “The Fauntleroy Story: 100 Years of Community” (previewed here; you’re invited; showing’s in the Fellowship Hall; DVDs will be available) — she mentioned this trip, and we said we’d love to share the story with you:Read More
Monday night notes: Creative teens; Poet Populist; volunteers
CREATIVE TEENS: Just announced, PugetSoundOff.org, offering teens and young adults (13-21) a place to sound off and speak out – kicking off with a contest; read about it here. (We’ll be helping judge part of the contest, if they haven’t thrown us off the panel for missing a meeting when all that news was breaking this afternoon.)
POET POPULIST: Mike Hickey, husband of West Seattle’s funniest blog author (Mona from kirida.com), is in the running for Poet Populist of Seattle. Mona writes about it here; you can vote for Mike here. (We should note, there’s another West Seattle candidate too.)
VOLUNTEERS: We showed you the big Camp Long work party with NAIOP on Saturday; several other groups had work parties/cleanups that day, including this one from which we just got pix:
Onlineshoes.com and Keen Footwear were part of the Delridge Natural Area work party on Saturday; we couldn’t get over to take pix but invited them to send us some (any volunteer effort you’re part of, we’d love to see your pix too, preferably within a couple days of when it happened, the sooner the better, editor@westseattleblog.com). There are more work parties in West Seattle’s greenspaces every Saturday (among other times); greenseattle.org is the best place to get a sneak peek, but we put them in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup every Friday morning too.
NAIOP’s huge work party to help fix up Camp Long
That’s Tai, and he’s one of more than 350 volunteers who are toiling — rain? what rain? — at Camp Long right now, for a huge work party organized by NAIOP (National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, a trade association for real-estate and development companies) as one of its “community enhancement projects.” We wandered the park at midmorning to see what was going on – first, the logistics center in the lodge:
Next, out into the park. NAIOP had a map to various work sites, labeled by area and by priority. One big priority, fixing up the fire ring toward the south end of the “Parade Grounds” meadow:
All along the trails, groups were restoring and rebuilding, including another huge priority – the big bridge down the trail leading north toward the golf course – lots of work alongside cabins and picnic shelters too:
And of course, the front entrance was getting some love too:
As we left after a while (we’re going back later to see how it all turned out), we ran into someone who spent LAST Saturday on a big cleanup/restoration project – Nancy Driver, co-organizer of the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup, walking by with pruning saw in hand. She explained that some NAIOP members such as Harbor Properties and Excel were major contributors (manpower as well as $power) to the work that went into the Gateway Cleanup, and she wanted to do something to reciprocate. You can lend a hand in West Seattle greenspaces just about any Saturday, by the way – the regular volunteer work parties are always in our West Seattle Weekend Lineups published every Friday, and they’re also listed at greenseattle.org.
8 days left till the 5K Alki Beach Run for NW Hope and Healing
One week from tomorrow, it’s your chance to multitask in the best of ways: Enjoy an invigorating 5K run/walk along Alki, while raising money for a West Seattle-based organization that helps women fighting breast cancer. The Northwest Hope and Healing Foundation sponsored its fundraiser run through Lincoln Park last year (see photo above), but this year it’s along Alki, from the Bathhouse to Anchor/Luna Park and back. When NWHH joined the WSB sponsor team earlier this month to provide a continuous reminder of the upcoming Alki Beach Run, we wrote here about all the work they do – it’s different from the organizations that are researching treatments and cures; Northwest Hope and Healing provides services to help patients cope with the immediate needs in their lives once they have been diagnosed … and sadly, there still are plenty of people who need that help (read more on this NWHH webpage). It all starts a week from tomorrow, 9 am Sunday 9/28; you can register online here, right now — or if you can’t do the run/walk but would like to contribute to Northwest Hope and Healing anyway, you can do that here.
West Seattle scene: The pipes between the sirens
(click to see larger version of the photo)
From WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham: “Medic 32‘s Mark Colley strolls back and forth along the rear bay of Station 32 on SW Alaska St. as he exercises his pipes. Seattle Firefighters Pipes and Drums’ newest member was kilted at the annual 9/11 police and fire get-together at the Red Door this year. The group plays at memorial and ceremonial events associated with fire and police.” Prints of Matt’s WSB photos and his other work are available at his site, mattdurhamphotography.com.
| 12 COMMENTS