West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
That video shows a classic car revving up at the West Seattle Junction Car Show this afternoon (so loud, our camera’s mike had a little trouble coping!) – just as awards were handed out. Dave Dunn‘s ’41 Willys won the top award of the show, named in honor of the co-presenting Maple Valley Street Rats‘ Gary Parker, who died earlier this year. We also snagged a photo of Dave (plaid shirt) and his trophy with other event organizers, including our main info source, Michael Hoffman from Liberty Bell Printing (far left):
We don’t have the full official list of winners – they were rattled off faster than we could write – but we did want to note one other recipient – youngest participant, Steve Becker, 16 years old, who brought a 1941 Buick (not shown):
Now a few more pics, as promised:Read More
Both out of the WSB inbox. First, from Gretchen:
I just wanted to give a heads up about a car break-in that happened in the 1700 block of Thistle. I usually park my car in the driveway but it was left on the street for the past 5 days, since Wednesday. When we went to move it up into the driveway this evening we saw that the driver side door was open and the glove box had been torn apart. Nothing of value in the car, but filed a police report and placed a fraud report on our credit just in case. The door worked fine, no windows broken, so I think I left it unlocked. So…a reminder to not become complacent like I did! Lock those doors!
From Jennifer:
Just wanted to let you know my car was broken into at the West Seattle Allstar Fitness 2629 SW Andover St. on 9/20/08. According to the staff this seems to happen often.
Here’s the official Seattle Police advice for preventing “car prowls” (the term for crimes like these).
We got that photo on the south side of Youngstown Arts Center, looking southeast up the 23rd SW hill (map), after Eryka e-mailed us about what caused the damage: “Last night at 12:15 a.m. a driver in a brand new four door white pickup truck rounded the corner on Oregon to Delridge, quickly plowed through the guardrail, fence, and into the Cultural Arts Center lawn and driveway.” She says the driver appeared OK but impaired, and that police administered a sobriety test, then “cuffed him.” She added: “He went completely through the wire fence (or maybe under it?) and took out a couple of trees in the process. People zip around that corner incredibly fast. It’s a scary thought.” 9:32 PM ADDENDUM: Be sure to read the comments, where Mike Dady from the North Delridge Neighborhood Council notes this is at least the fourth time in two years this has happened – but also says help is on the way.
Quick note about two fundraising walks next weekend in West Seattle, and one next month just called to our attention by a West Seattleite: First, just one week left till the Alki Beach Run for Northwest Hope and Healing, a West Seattle-based group that helps cancer patients, 9 am next Sunday (most recent update here; NWHH is sponsoring WSB this month to help further spread the word). Also next weekend, Alki will be the site of Walk ‘n’ Roll to raise money to fight ataxia (a nervous-system disorder) – 10 am Saturday (registration at 9) – here’s the flyer. And we just found out through a West Seattleite on our Facebook list that the underdiscussed fight to prevent suicide is coming to Seattle with a Green Lake walk on Oct. 11 (the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention‘s “Overnight” happened in Seattle earlier this year; we covered it here, and previewed it in this interview with a West Seattleite who lost her dad to suicide). Kristen Preusser gets credit for spreading the word about the upcoming Green Lake walk; we sent in a pledge and she wondered if we’d mind sharing the link to her fundraising page. Nope, not at all; here it is. (Anybody else in WS signed up for this walk? Let us know.)
While back in The Junction for the Car Show-ending awards ceremony (more on that in our wrapup later), we hopped over to the Seattle Lutheran High School gym, where the Cupcakes for Cora fundraiser (previewed here) continues till 5:30 pm. And we got to meet Cora, who is in pre-kindergarten at Our Lady of Guadalupe. She said she’s feeling “fine,” and her parents confirm all’s going well right now; some 4-year-olds just aren’t too chatty but we really got Cora to talk a blue streak when we asked about her friends at school:
Mom Chrissie and dad Ron were kind of out of the viewfinder by the time Cora told us all that, but they wanted to say “thanks” to the West Seattle community for its generosity. If you don’t see this till after Cupcakes for Cora is over, there’s info in our preview post about how you can still chip in to help Cora and her family as this brave little girl fights to win her battle against the Wilms Tumor that has already put her through surgery and chemotherapy.
Thanks to Mark B. Bauschke for those photos with a closer look at a few of the cars gracing California between Edmunds and the post office (closed to traffic except for the cross streets) right now during the first-ever West Seattle Junction Car Show, continuing till 4 pm. We also received this cameraphone photo from somebody – nostalgic to us, since Dad had a T-Bird like this one in the early ’60s:
When we checked with one of the organizers, Liberty Bell Printing’s Michael Hoffman, about participants we might interview before the show, he mentioned West Seattleite Gordie Ryun, calling him “the reason we have a Car Show … (he) has had this idea for several years.” We didn’t catch up with him in advance but found him and his car at the show today.
Here’s video of Gordie telling the story behind his “T-Bucket”:
If you have any pictures you’d care to share, send ’em along (and be sure to let us know how you want to be credited) – we’ll post more tonight.
Though the current Denny Middle School won’t be vacated for more than two years — winter break 2010-2011 — Seattle Public Schools leaders say they need to finalize a plan for its site within the next few months. As mentioned here Friday, the district-organized Design Team (for which community volunteers were sought) starts meeting tomorrow (3 pm at Denny), and now the Westwood Neighborhood Council has set a community meeting to engage neighbors in a discussion of what they want to see. Here’s the announcement just released:
Goodbye Denny, Hello Sports Complex?
After Denny Middle School is relocated to its new location on the Sealth/Denny campus, the Seattle School District will demolish the existing school building. Current District plans call for an expanded sports complex including lighted softball fields, tennis courts and parking to occupy much of the area. As neighbors of the schools, what would you like the future site to look like?
Denny school neighbors voice your opinion!
Westwood Neighborhood Council is hosting a community meeting
7:30 to 9:00 p.m. Monday October 6
At the SW Community Center, 2801 SW Thistle
Come find out what is happening in your community!!
Please go to www.westwood-neighborhood.org for more information about this meeting, and about the School District’s plans.
Our coverage of the Denny site discussions to date, and the Denny/Sealth campus-combining project that’s leading to the future demolition of the current school, is archived here.
More than a year after we published first word of a proposal to tear down the 85-year-old Shoremont apartments at 57th/Alki, key permits have just been granted for the site: This one is a building permit for five townhouses; this one is a permit for a single-family residence; and here’s the demolition permit. A rendering for the single-family home is viewable here on the website of owners/developers/architects Pb Elemental, who sent us one for the other units when we first wrote about their plans last March.
That’s the view to the north and the south from midblock on California SW between Alaska and Oregon about half an hour ago, as entrants in the first-ever West Seattle Junction Car Show got ready to show off classic wheels like these:
And more participants were still arriving as of minutes ago – here you see a few heading north through the sections of California that otherwise are closed off for the day (Edmunds to Alaska, Alaska to Oregon, Oregon to the post office) with the east-west streets still open):
This grouping of cars looked very nicely color-coordinated with the Capers storefront:
We’ll be back later for a closer look; the car show (with WSB among the many sponsors) is scheduled to continue till 4 pm. More info about today’s events in this preview.
The car show‘s not the only event in The Junction today. Here are 2 more reminders:
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: As always, Sunday morning means we link to the latest “Ripe ‘n’ Ready” fresh sheet highlighting what to look for at the Farmers’ Market (10 am-2 pm, 44th/Alaska): Check it out here.
CUPCAKES FOR CORA: We first told you about Cora (photo left) a few days ago: She’s a West Seattle 4-year-old who just started preschool — and is fighting a rare cancer called Wilms’ Tumor; she’s already been through surgery and is now receiving chemotherapy. This afternoon in the Seattle Lutheran High School gym (4141 41st SW; here’s a map) 2:30-5:30 pm, you’re invited to “Cupcakes for Cora,” a fundraising – and just plain fun – event to help Cora and her family, including a silent auction as well as those cupcakes. It’s a drop-in event, so stop by whenever you can make it.
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