West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
A week and a half after first mention of the new West Seattle clothing store Cherry Consignment, it welcomed shoppers to a grand-opening party tonight. West Seattle writer Mary Sheely covered it in her first assignment for WSB.
Story and photos by Mary Sheely
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Nyla Bittermann (photo left) and Tracy Dart envisioned their new store, Cherry Consignment, as a place that would welcome the community. And that community includes all shapes, sizes, and price ranges. Tonight, the night of the store’s grand-opening party, prices ranged from $4-$75 and sizes from 0 to 28 (plus men’s and maternity clothing) could be spotted on the racks. And the customers came in for both.
“Nyla’s vision is to serve the fringes—those of us who can’t find stuff in a lot of consignment stores,” says shopper Jaime Untz, whom Bittermann calls “our PR person.”
“We should be able to go into a store and try stuff on and make a day of it and feel pampered,” Untz says.
Even more important to Dart and Bittermann than Cherry Consignment’s selection and prices is the new store’s atmosphere — and they’re not talking about the cherry art that decorates the walls.
We’ll add a detailed report here later; first, both games are in the books: West Seattle High School over visiting Belmont (from just outside Victoria, BC) at West Seattle Stadium, 33-6 (covered live on Twitter at @wsblive, including a half-hour delay while an injured Belmont player was tended to – he went to the hospital for observation of what’s believed to be a “neck stinger“); Sammamish over visiting Chief Sealth, 27-0. Seattle Lutheran plays its first game tomorrow (Saturday), facing Darrington at WS Stadium.
ADDED 2:11 AM: From the WSHS game – first, a short video clip of the traditional postgame congratulations etc.
WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand reports Belmont presented West Seattle with small Canadian flags. As for game highlights: Running back Danny Phan had 3 touchdowns on the night. Other stars of the game were Isaiah Jenkins, with a couple of key runs in the 3rd quarter; he also intercepted a Belmont pass that ended Belmont’s best drive of the night. Belmont finally scored with less than 2 minutes to go in the game, but missed the extra point when their kicker fumbled the ball. Next week, it’s WSHS vs. Franklin, 5 pm Friday night (Sept. 11) at Memorial Stadium (Seattle Center). Now a few notes about Chief Sealth:
(WSB photo from the final moments of Sealth @ Sammamish)
Next week, Sealth hosts Rainier Beach at Southwest Athletic Complex. In a discussion of tonight’s game on our Facebook page, Sealth’s new athletic director Sam Reed said, “The boys played hard, and I am proud of them. They competed with a small squad and got some new players some game experience. Looking forward to seeing them incorporate some more players over the next couple weeks.”
Look for coverage tonight of the SLHS/Darrington game at WS Stadium.
Though yard-sale season is ebbing, several West Seattle sales for this weekend are posted in the Freebies/Deals/Sales section of the WSB Forums. You’re welcome to post your sale there too, free, whether personal or business; an increasing amount of freebie listings are showing up as well. Here’s where to start!
We took that photo of the parking-strip garden at Chris‘s house in Admiral (39th/Lander) after he e-mailed this report:
Last night our parking strip garden was vandalized.
For the past several years my wife and I have planted a parking strip garden and with the exception or a few tomatoes being snatched, they have been relatively undisturbed. One of the highlights is growing pumpkins for our kids. Over the years, many toddlers in our neighborhood have spend time counting our pumpkins and watching them grow. Our kids take great pride that they grow their own pumpkins for Halloween. This year we were fortunate enough to have an Atlantic Giant pumpkin that we have been nuturing along with a handful of jack o’ lantern pumpkins. The Atlantic Giant though not enormous was over 60 pounds.
This morning I was greeted with three of the pumpkins in the street. One was smashed, another undamaged and the 60-pound giant damaged. The giant was not broken open and looks like whoever perpetrated this was frustrated enough that they used a knife to cut several gashes along one end. Both my children are very upset and I am disappointed that this happened. The impact stretches beyond our family to the families in the neighborhood who take the time to walk our the garden to watch the pumpkins grow.
If you saw anything, contact police, to whom Chris says this has been reported.
We had a short update on this yesterday; now a few more details from SDOT – if you are interested in the 1st Avenue South paving, read on for the full-length announcement:Read More
Important information for you to make sure your kids are aware of – all detailed here, published today.
Driving past Capco Plaza – the soon-to-open mixed-use building in The Junction at 42nd/Alaska/41st – we spotted a Starbucks sign just inside its southeastern doors. The site is still fenced off, so even when we walked up to take the photo you see above, it wasn’t close enough to figure out whether it’s part of the QFC (which is targeting 9/16 for opening) or a free-standing ministore in the lobby of the building, which will include other retail as well as Altamira Luxury Apartments (so far, the only announced tenant besides QFC and Office Depot has been Desert Sun Tanning). We have inquiries out, to owner/developer Leon Capelouto and to Starbucks. The sighting is notable because there’s already a Starbucks stand inside the nearby Jefferson Square Safeway and because Starbucks opened — then, after a year, closed — a freestanding store on the north end of Jefferson Square (that space is currently advertised as available for lease) – plus of course there’s a multiplicity of other coffee venues within a matter of blocks. ADDED 4:13 PM: Just heard back from building owner Capelouto. He says that’s a freestanding Starbucks kiosk right inside the 42nd/Alaska corner door.
Meet 1-year-old Maarten, a little guy who’s caught up in a big fight. Right now Maarten and his family are on the other side of the country, 
where he’s getting help for a brain tumor that he’s been fighting almost his entire life. But in two weeks, right here in West Seattle, hundreds of people will come together for a huge sale to help raise money for him to get better – and they’re hoping you will join them.
It’ll be at Peace Lutheran Church in Gatewood (39th/Thistle), 9 am-6 pm Friday, September 18, and 8 am-5 pm Saturday, September 19th.
We got first word of this from Claudia Ludwig, a West Seattleite who knows the family and is organizing the big yard/bake sale. She says Maarten was diagnosed with the tumor when he was just 3 months old, in October of last year, and has gone through many treatments since then; right now he’s getting radiation again, in Boston. Claudia says his prognosis is good, but it’s just too risky for doctors to do more surgery right now, so radiation is what they’re using. Maarten’s family is publishing updates at helpmaarten.blogspot.com. Claudia says that for the sale in two weeks, more than 200 families are already donating items and baked goods, including members of the Peace Lutheran congregation, but they could use more. She explains some of the backstory:
Maarten’s parents are scientists who have devoted their lives to bettering ours. However, by working in academia, their salary is very low. Francois works at the UW and Sacha has left her job at the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) to care for her son. At this point in their cancer treatment, only the basics are covered by their insurance. Everything that is only “recommended” (the physical therapy, hearing tests, occupational therapy) is not covered. And of course this does not include the flights to Boston and the time away from work. Also, all of their family live in France and the Netherlands, so they are really on their own. All of this began only 8 months after they moved to Seattle, so their support network was small.
So when we realized we must do something to help with this increasingly difficult time, we decided on a yard sale where ALL proceeds go to Maarten and his parents to help finance the needed tests, therapies, and the many bills that are stacking up. We originally decided to gather items at our work places, and then bring them to my house to sell. Then the pile of items got bigger, so we decided to spread things to my neighbors’ yards, but even that didn’t seem like enough space. That’s when Peace Lutheran Church graciously joined us and agreed to host and lend a hand. Together we will really make a difference for this family.
Claudia says the most important way to help will be to come to the sale September 18-19 – but they still could use donations as well; there’s info on the right sidebar of the Help Maarten site regarding how to reach her, as well as how to donate money via PayPal and/or check.
Last chance to enjoy some summertime staples, like Colman Pool at Lincoln Park, open Sat-Sun-Mon before closing till May 2010 … or take a scenic walk on Saturday with the Emerald City Wanderers … taste tomatoes at the West Seattle Farmers’ Market on Sunday … more than 40 events/activities through Monday night are all featured in the Labor Day weekend edition of the WSB West Seattle Weekend Lineup:Read More
Two reports to share this morning: First, Marie reports that a bike like the one on the left is one of two bikes that were stolen from in front of the Game Stop store on Roxbury Thursday afternoon (map) – her son and a friend parked the bikes and two teenagers “grabbed them and rode off,” she says. She is asking for people to be on the lookout for the bikes: “A gray Free Agent BMX racing bike, very nice, was a Christmas present; the second bike was a vintage Dino BMX bike. It is chrome with orange lettering and red handle grips. They are irreplaceable; the boys are heartbroken.”
Second report – Karleen says her neighbor’s house near SW Oregon and 22nd (map) was broken into yesterday afternoon: “The thieves apparently entered through the kitchen window, hopped over the sink and helped themselves to the XBOX and a few games – also missing is a laptop and a ring. They left out the back door, leaving muddy footprints, and the back door was left wide open. They went as far as trying to re-install the window screen they bent on entry.” Both of these incidents have been reported to the police; later today, we’ll share some information from a neighborhood-organizing meeting last night elsewhere in West Seattle, regarding how best to protect against burglars.
ADDED 10:12 AM: Shortly after we first published this, Ray e-mailed another bike-theft report: “Our son’s bike was stolen from our backyard between noon and 3 pm, Thursday, Sept. 3. We live in North Admiral, on 45th near College Ave [map]. His bike is a red, REDLINE racer, made by Torker.”
Before we get to the West Seattle Weekend Lineup later this morning, a few quick reminders:
BLOOD DRIVE: 9 am-2 pm, presented by PNW Realty in the main Jefferson Square parking lot. Help make sure supplies don’t run low during the long holiday weekend. More here.
SHOPPING: Cherry Consignment (noted here) is throwing a grand opening bash tonight, promising “drinks, discounts and door prizes,” 5-8 pm, 4142 California SW (map).
HIGH-SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Season openers tonight for Chief Sealth High School (at Sammamish) and West Seattle High School (hosting Belmont from B.C. at West Seattle Stadium), both at 7 pm.
DELRIDGE PRODUCE COOPERATIVE: The fourth and final 4-day stint for the “Mobile Market” experiment starts today, 3:30-7:30 pm, 9050 Delridge (map). Want fresh food in eastern West Seattle? Stop by, get some free produce, fill out a survey, find out where the experiment goes from here.
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