Those who worry that city leadership might not always have neighborhoods’ best interests at heart will be interested in that excerpt from the Sustainable West Seattle Festival speech by Jim Diers, former director of the city Department of Neighborhoods. From our vantage point next to the main stage for all five hours, Diers was hands-down the most energetic speaker of the day (gotta check out the NEIGHBOR POWER! bellow – that’s the title of a book Diers wrote). More from him, and four other clips to conclude our coverage, ahead:

Also in his 10-minute talk, Diers listed some of the local successes of “Neighbor Power”:

Indeed, much of the power of Sunday’s festival was sparked by neighbor-to-neighbor connections, as Sustainable West Seattle president Bill Reiswig noted in his closing remarks (behind him you see Brian Allen, SWS secretary who was the dynamo behind festival logistics, juggling more than 50 organizations/participants):

Two more clips – first, one of the many costumed characters, followed by a visual tour of some of the booths near our spot on the east side of Wells Fargo:

And of course, who could resist a last look at Snowflake the polar bear, as seen from our table:

Earlier coverage from before, during, and after the festival: Setup report here, first-hour report here, midway report here, first post-festival report here. Sustainable West Seattle meets monthly and is just about to celebrate its first anniversary; find out how to get involved with the group by checking the SWS website.