West Seattle, Washington
13 Saturday
Our camera followed Holy Rosary‘s Father John Madigan up and down a few rows during the annual “blessing of the trees” on the Holy Rosary Tree Lot’s opening day today – a mostly silent blessing, as he was having some hoarseness trouble. This was just hours after volunteers spent the morning setting everything up:
As always, Holy Rosary donates a portion of its proceeds (15%) to local charities (all listed here); the tree lot’s been an HR tradition for 20 years (and it has its own info-laden website too). Now that Holy Rosary’s open, here’s the West Seattle Christmas tree lineup as it stands tonight:
Holy Rosary (behind Admiral Safeway; map)
Home Depot (just west of Delridge between Webster and Orchard/Sylvan, map)
QFC (southeast side of Westwood Village, map)
Rite Aid stores (SE side of Westwood Village, map; 5217 California SW, map)
Tony’s (35th and Barton, map)
TrueValue (44th and Edmunds in The Junction, map)
West Seattle Bros. (on Alaska just west of Howden-Kennedy, map)
West Seattle Nursery (WSB sponsor; 5275 California SW, map)
We haven’t yet finished compiling our price-check data, but hope to add that tomorrow. (Looking for a cut-it-yourself lot? None in WS, but here’s the list of our state’s Christmas tree farms, county by county, including one in not-too-distant SeaTac.)
Clearly this was a busy day for holiday decorators around West Seattle – we’ve just driven a few sample neighborhoods and noticed many more displays than we saw this time last night. The one above is on the east side of 39th just south of Hanford (map) – with motorized features including a merry-go-round and ferris wheel! We’ll start creating one cumulatively updated map for these tomorrow (last year’s map is here but no guarantee they’re all decorating again this year!). If you’ve got a particularly festive display, or see one, please e-mail to let us know!
Just out of the WSB inbox from Doug:
Wanted to let folks in the Seaview neighborhood know that it may be time to ditch your pumpkins if you still have them on the porch. Looks like some vandals had one heck of a night smashing pumpkins in the streets from 46th Ave SW to 49th Ave SW (basically from Graham all the way down to Brandon; map). I counted at least 7 during a morning walk. While that seems pretty tame, it appears the same group managed to destroy a couple of “For Sale” signs in front of some homes as well.
“Minxie” first posted about this in the WSB Forums – looking for more people with stories to tell about that beautiful 82-year-old brick apartment building in Gatewood, at 7101 California SW. (If you’ve been to Caffe Ladro, or Gatewood Elementary, you’ve probably noticed this at the California/Myrtle corner. That’s the Google Street View above; conventional map linked here.)
Your memories, thoughts and history are needed! … It is an amazing group of folks that live here & we treasure our building and little corner community. Almost everyone I meet knows our building as well, and has stories to share. I’m gathering everything I can about the building’s past – personal memories, pictures, history, rumors, former residents, any contribution at all. Nothing is too minute or inconsequential. For instance, I recently met someone from outside Seattle, and when conversation turned to where I live, he exclaimed “I know that building! I would walk past it every day on my way to school. I loved it!” He had lived in WS 20+ yrs ago and still remembered. So cool.
My request to y’all is twofold 1) Of course, to preserve history, and 2) Holiday gifts! I’m compiling everything I can to make memory books for my fellow neighbors and landlords (who rock!) this holiday season.
The building has its own page in the city historical archives, but it has only a black/white photo and little more. (We originally found it when writing about a change on that corner in summer 2006.) In a followup exchange, Minxie also told us:
The owners, Galina and Lance Betz, have done a *phenomenal job* in not only preserving the building’s character but in fostering the community we have here. They really are West Seattle heroes IMO. Plus, they are doggie friendly, and I can’t tell you how great it is to have impromptu doggie meet-ups throughout the day, where we neighbors chat and the pups play.
If you have any stories/info/memorabilia to share about 7101 California SW, please e-mail Minxie at: 7104caliavegalore@gmail.com
We got to West Seattle Bowl in time for the celebrity introductions at this afternoon’s Turkey Bowl – not to be confused with the Beer Church‘s recent Turkey Bowl, though both are in the “have a good time for a great cause” spirit. We picked up on Mike Brown‘s introductions starting with rocker Chris Ballew, moving on through Dennis Bounds and Rich Marriott from KING5 TV, to hydro legend Chip Hanauer, and ending with the local sports world’s most famous peanut-tosser. As they all lined up, so did the camera-wielding spectators:
There’s a silent auction of sports memorabilia too:
Proceeds benefit Seattle-area nonprofits helping homeless people and homeless pets.
That city-made map shows your West Seattle fire stations — Station 29 in North Admiral, Station 36 in North Delridge by The Bridge, Station 32 in the Triangle, Station 37 in Gatewood/Westwood (the city calls it Roxhill!), and Station 11 in Highland Park. They’re all collecting new, unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots (along with the city’s other fire stations) — drop your donation(s) off by December 18th.
From the latest edition of the West Seattle Weekend Lineup:
If you started to sing along with that clip – then you might consider cruising to the Admiral Theater tonight for the sing-along edition of “Grease” – girls’ lyrics in pink, boys’ lyrics in blue. Also on the agenda today/tonight, more holiday mania: West Seattle’s most famous Christmas tree sellers, the volunteers of the Holy Rosary Tree Lot south of Admiral Safeway, open their doors today, so we’ll be publishing our West Seattle tree-lot list/price survey by day’s end. Noon-4 pm, you’re invited to drop by the Log House Museum to help decorate – bring an ornament or something else to make the home of West Seattle history just a bit more special this season. Same hours, Santa arrives at Westwood Village … hmm, didn’t we just see him downtown Friday morning?
He’s making a lot of West Seattle appearances this holiday season (in The Junction starting next weekend), so he’ll have no excuse not to hear what’s on your list. Two more notes: Southwest Youth and Family Services continues its holiday plant sale 9 am-1 pm, and the White Center Swap Meet and Flea Market (WSB sponsor) celebrates its official grand opening with new hours, 8:30 am-4:30 pm. Lots more in the Saturday section of the Weekend Lineup (hop to it directly from here).
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