West Seattle Weekend Lineup, Memorial Day Weekend 2010 edition
Things are pretty quiet on the event front, since the holiday weekend’s more a time to hang out with friends and family – but if you’re looking for something special to do with them this weekend, you do still have options, such as “Zen Tales,” a family-friendly production at ArtsWest this Saturday night and Sunday afternoon by the UMO Ensemble. And there’s a festival at Southwest Community Center on Saturday, featuring a car show and free swim. Plus Colman Pool opens Saturday for its first preseason weekend! Hey, never mind the rain, you’re going to get wet anyway. The WSWL is sponsored by Skylark Cafe and Club, where you’ll find FREE live music, bountiful brunches, plus lunch ‘n’ dinner:Read More
Dignity Memorial-Forest Lawn: Welcoming a new WSB sponsor
Memorial Day is a time to remember those you’ve lost. The place in West Seattle where that happens every day is Dignity Memorial-Forest Lawn, the only full-service facility in West Seattle, with a chapel, crematorium, columbarium (above) and mausoleum, as well as a cemetery. We’re welcoming them today as the newest WSB sponsor. Forest Lawn can also make arrangements for other types of final tributes – they can 
even make arrangements with Argosy Cruises if you want to scatter a loved one’s ashes at sea. General Manager Dave Salove says Forest Lawn is a place to welcome people and engage them in the complete process of arranging an appropriate and memorable celebration of a loved one’s life. Their site stretches across both sides of the winding road between the High Point neighborhood and the West Duwamish Greenbelt (map); on the south side are the buildings, on the north side the sprawling open greenery of the cemetery, site to not only private moments, but also the annual community Easter Sunrise Service and Memorial Day Service 
(coming up at 2 pm this Monday, as usual in conjunction with American Legion Post 160).
Since Forest Lawn is part of a nationwide company, they also can help you with arrangements in other cities – just call them to see if they have a facility in the area where you need to have the funeral. Here at home, Forest Lawn belongs to the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, and Dave is on the West Seattle Food Bank board, the Southwest Precinct Advisory Council, and The Kenney Foundation. You can reach Dignity Memorial-Forest Lawn by phone at 206-932-0050, or online.
Weather permitting, they plan bagpipe music at 6 pm tonight and Saturday, as part of Memorial Day weekend. We thank Forest Lawn for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; find our sponsor team, and info on joining, all here.
Update: ‘Soft open’ day begins for Heavenly Pastry in West Seattle
That’s Heavenly Pastry‘s Allison Barnes with a basket of her already-legendary pretzels – which they sold at farmers’ markets, among other places, before opening their own retail store at 2604 California SW as of noon today (as previewed here). Again, it’s a “soft opening,” which means they’re not revved up to full production yet – but you will find scones and cookies today as well as those pretzels:
Allison says Heavenly Pastry will be open till 7 tonight, 10 am-7 pm tomorrow, 7 am-3 pm Sunday, then closed Mondays and Tuesdays – which will be their usual days off – before reopening 7 am-7 pm Wednesday.
Student artists celebrated with special reception at ArtsWest
Dozens of student artists from West Seattle’s high schools are showing their work in the ArtsWest gallery through tomorrow (noon-7 pm daily), including Chief Sealth International High School student Arnoldo Alvarado, one of the artists on hand for a special reception there last night, as was Matthew Wood from Seattle Lutheran High School:
The reception also included an announcement of the art-show winners:
1st place
Silbee Sanchez, West Seattle High School, Grade 11, European Vacation, tempera and acrylic on canvas.
Tied in 2nd place
Kelly Le Phung, Seattle Lutheran High School (grade 12), Vitamin C, linoleum print; and
Meru Simone, Chief Sealth High School (grade 11), My Inner Fish, gouache and colored pencil on paper.
Tied in 3rd place
Marlys Mandaville, Chief Sealth High School (grade 11), Self Portrait, gouache on paper; and
Peka Grayson, West Seattle High School (grade 12), Fruit by the Foot, acrylic
Donors for the prize money included Joan and Wilbur Springer, shown in the photo below with (at left) ArtsWest executive director Alan Harrison:
Again, you still have time to see the winning work and all the entries on display at ArtsWest (4711 California SW) today and tomorrow, noon-7 pm.
From the Parks Board: Furlough promise, and other toplines
Sometime in the next week, Seattle Parks (and other departments) will announce what midyear cuts they have to make this summer as the result of mayoral mandates on the budget – but there were no hints during briefings at last night’s Parks Board meeting downtown. In fact, while previous Parks statements had indicated the cuts would be announced on or around June 1st, acting deputy superintendent Eric Friedl told the board the news might not come till the following week. In his meeting-opening briefing, filling in for acting superintendent Christopher Williams, Friedl promised that even though this is a “furlough weekend” for Parks, and there’s no trash pickup today, the “seasonal schedule” mentioned after the trash debacle a few weeks ago kicks in Saturday, so you should NOT see a repeat at Alki – or any other city park – this weekend. Read on for other toplines from the Parks Board meeting, which started with a relatively sizable crowd – about 30 people:Read More
Update: Stolen car crashes on Junction curb, driver flees
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
What looks like vandalism on the south side of the new Junction flower shop Fleurt is actually from an early-morning car crash. First we heard from Jack, who says that around 6 am, he saw a car up on the curb at California/Oregon (map) with “front body damage” and five police cars at the scene; then Ellen e-mailed wondering if the smashed shelves and planters she saw outside Fleurt were the work of vandals. Christopher Boffoli just checked it out for WSB – his photo is above; he says there’s no major damage to the structure itself. Fleurt wasn’t open yet when he went by, but an SPD card in the door says the crash happened about 5:50 am. We’re checking with police on the driver’s status; 911 logs don’t show a medic response, and Jack said it looked as if a search was under way when he went by. 1:44 PM UPDATE: Southwest Precinct Lt. Norm James confirms that the car was stolen, no driver in sight when police arrived; someone saw a person run from the scene but hadn’t actually seen that person driving the car. He adds, “The vehicle was returned to the owner, who did not know that the vehicle had been stolen.”
Update: Scooter rider hurt in bridge crash, but not hospitalized
ORIGINAL 9:40 AM REPORT: We’re continuing to receive questions about this, so just in case you were wondering too: We’ve just received new information from police regarding the incident that backed up traffic on the eastbound bridge around 7:30 am; some who e-mailed us reported seeing a “scooter” at the scene. Police had trouble finding information during our first call but Seattle Police Media Unit Officer Renee Witt has since located a report that says a “man driving a moped” was hurt in a possible hit-run crash. No word yet on his condition (we have a message out to the Fire Department, which would know if the injuries were life-threatening) or whether the other driver was found. 12:01 PM UPDATE: We’ve heard from enough witnesses to describe the 2-wheeler as a scooter, so we have changed the headline, and even more importantly, Seattle Fire spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen tells WSB the rider was not seriously hurt and did not have to be taken to the hospital.
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