(Sunday photo from aboard the Washington State Ferry Klahowya, courtesy of Cheryl)
Apropos to this morning’s featured photo, tonight is the periodic Washington State Ferries community meeting for ferry riders along the run that includes West Seattle (Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth). But you’ll have to take a ferry (or drive the long way around) to get there – it’s in Port Orchard, John Sedgwick Junior High (map), 6:30 pm. … If you drive Highway 99 on the north side of downtown, ramp closures during the day today and overnight tonight might affect you – check out the details here … Nothing on the West Seattle Holidays page for tonight, but take a minute to browse ahead to later this week – TONS going on. (And if you have events/holiday services/giving opportunities that you don’t see listed there, please let us know!)
Work has begun on this year’s edition of West Seattle’s biggest, brightest Christmas lights — the Menashe Family display in the 5600 block of Beach Drive. We stopped by Sunday afternoon, as the front yard bustled with family and friends (plus the cherry picker), while the back yard held more components of the famous light show:
Inside, Linda Menashe showed us the photo postcard created to share the news of the display’s upcoming TV showcase. You might remember that last year, The Learning Channel sent a crew to document both the decorating, and the official switching-on of the show; here’s our video of one take, as family and friends loudly cheered the throwing of the switch:
Again, that was DECEMBER 2009 – the lights for this year are NOT on yet. As we reported a year ago, they said it would be part of a TV program this season – and indeed, as the Menashes’ postcard proclaims, they’ll be on TLC (Comcast channel xx) at 9 pm this Saturday night, December 4; the online listing says the show’s called “Invasion of the Christmas Lights 2,” and Linda Menashe says their share of it will run about 10 minutes. She has fond memories of the crew that spent a week in and around her house – “our basement was filled with the most gorgeous film equipment!” – and also told us that TLC found the family by discovering a past WSB report. Back to this year’s display – Linda’s daughter Joanna Menashe showed us some of this year’s new additions, like a holiday horse:
Other animated characters awaited in other nooks and crannies:
If all goes well – Joanna says now that she and her siblings are grown up, the decorating work goes a lot faster than it did when they were kids! – the lights will go on midweek. And then on Saturday night, her mom told us, the family will gather at son Jacob‘s house to watch the TLC show. Meantime, as per WSB tradition, we’d love to hear from you about other bright local lights displays – share the info (and photo if you get one) – thanks!
Late-night dog walkers on Graham at High Point Dr [map] were followed by a coyote after the courtesy patrol followed it down an alley. It looped down a walkway and came back to follow us on our block. Sophia and I ran for the porch and Steve ran it off. I am a country girl and believe in coexisting with wildlife; however, this life is more urban than wild and the coyote did not show the appropriate shyness or fear of 2 humans and a dog on a short leash. If I used an 18 foot flexi leash like most people do and also we were not aware of where our dog was and where the coyote was things could be different. Courtesy patrol is what pointed it out to us as it stood at the mouth of an alley we had just passed 30 seconds before and the car came around the corner toward us and caught it in its lamps. It was large for its breed and clearly hunting.
(Sophia is the Hughes-Jelens’ Italian greyhound.) Meantime … 2 other West Seattle sightings reported in the past few days. From Shannon on Friday afternoon:
I was just doing dishes and spotted a coyote hanging out in Greg Davis park through my window at 1pm today. He isn’t spooked by passing cars or my dog barking. Just a heads up to all the dog walkers that use those trails and park. It’s the corner of Brandon and 26th. [map]
And from John at 51st/College (map) early Wednesday afternoon:
FYI: Just saw a very healthy-looking coyote emerge from the greenbelt and walk down the street before ducking under our neighbor’s hedge.
2 SEALTH EVENTS AHEAD – FILM FEST AND MULTICULTURAL NIGHT: Received a note tonight about an event at Sealth this week – a Community Film Fest of Digital Stories, “short environmental videos made by youth in the global leadership class,” at 6 pm this Thursday in the school’s Little Theater (2600 SW Thistle), everyone invited (here’s the official flyer). Meantime, the PTSA is reminding the community about the upcoming Multicultural Night at Sealth, 6:30 pm December 9th, including music, dance, and spoken-word performances by school groups; more details here.
LAFAYETTE ELEMENTARY PLAYGROUND PROJECT: The “Play It Forward” committee raising money to match a $100,000 city grant – with January deadline looming – has set a meeting for December 6 to provide a progress report, and is inviting community input on project design. The meeting’s at 6:30 pm in the Lafayette library (2645 California SW). (Here’s our recent story about the project and the quest to match the grant.)
This Tuesday morning brings the City Council Committee on the Built Environment‘s next hearing for the proposal to rezone a block-plus along California SW south of Admiral. The three-year-old proposal would rezone the area to allow taller buildings and bigger businesses; here’s our coverage of the committee’s first meeting about it, week before last. As decided then, the council will listen to oral arguments Tuesday, from both the neighbors who are fighting it by filing appeals, and from supporters. The agenda is here, with links to documents including the council’s official briefing memo; it’s the first item on the agenda for the 9 am Tuesday meeting at City Hall. Here’s our archive of coverage dating back to when the proposal was first made public in November 2007. There is no specific project proposed in the rezoning area, but supporters have argued that the new zoning will make “nicer” redevelopment more likely. If the committee does not vote on it Tuesday, they would take it up again next week; once they have voted, it goes to the full council for a final decision.
(Photo added 4:53 pm, taken from Upper Fauntleroy)
It’s not West Seattle, but many people can see it from here, so it’s news here too — we have received calls/notes about a big plume of smoke visible from Vashon Island, if you have a view in that direction.
4:49 PM UPDATE: It’s a fire, according to scanner traffic. One source on Twitter says it’s a three-story house. And crews are still actively fighting it. We don’t have location info so far, aside from one crew telling another “come down as if you were going to the Cove Motel.”
5:08 PM UPDATE: KING 5 has posted this video from viewer Brady Miller (note that it is preceded by a short commercial – placed by their site, not ours):
5:23 PM UPDATE: The scanner mentions “Paige Lane” as the command. That’s on the northwest side of Vashon (here’s a map). We’ll add any additional information we find later; moving back on to more WS news now.
At the last West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, while noting that local crime has been down lately, Southwest Precinct leadership also warned that some categories invariably go up during the holiday season. Too soon to crunch the local stats but we have received more direct reports in the past few days than we have for a while, and this one from Sandy is the latest:
Sometime between 10 pm and 11 pm last night my Subaru Outback was broken into and when the perps couldn’t find anything, they egged the inside of the car. ARRRGH!! This was at 45th and Andover in the Genesee neighborhood of West Seattle. When I discovered this, I saw a young man running through the neighborhood. I called 911 and the operator was very blase about it. I saw the same young man running through the neighborhood between 11:30 pm and midnight and again called 911. This time I got a different operator who said he would send a patrol car through the neighborhood.
If your name or message isn’t part of the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza already – you’re running out of opportunities. David Hutchinson sends the latest on the brick/plaque sales (which pay for ongoing plaza maintenance, so that doesn’t come out of dwindling public funds):
The Alki Community Council would like to thank all those who have supported the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza this past year through the purchase of engraved bricks and plaques. Seattle Parks & Recreation has notified us that our most recent order for 168 additional bricks arrived at their warehouse in West Seattle last week. Now that the recent cold weather has moderated, Parks will be determining a date for installing them in the Plaza. This will bring the total number of engraved bricks installed to over 2,700. In accordance with our agreement with the Plaza designers, to preserve the spiral pattern on the main plaza floor, only about 130 bricks remain available for sale. Bricks will be installed each spring and fall until this supply is exhausted.
Order forms may be picked up from the info boxes at the Plaza or downloaded from the Sealady website at: www.sealady.org/brickform.pdf
There are also 4 bronze Tribute Plaques available for sale. Information on these can be obtained at: www.sealady.org
Proceeds from the sale of the bricks and plaques are turned over to Seattle Parks & Recreation, and are placed in a dedicated fund that is used to maintain the Statue and Plaza. By the end of this year, the ACC will have raised almost $40,000 for this fund.
Thanks again for your support, and we wish everyone a happy holiday season.
In the spirit of Small Business Saturday (the new name for the day after Black Friday), we’re celebrating Small Business Everyday – as last Monday reminded us, our peninsula can be an island, so self-sufficiency via strong businesses (etc.) is vital! We learned recently about two West Seattleites co-owning an organic-baby-clothing company founded this year: Nathanial Duris of Arbor Heights is a co-owner of b(earth) – that’s his son Dash, modeling some of their creations. He explains, “We are a collection of eco-conscious friends who hope to reduce our impact on the planet – starting at birth – by making eco-thoughtful clothing and accessories for our children and the children of our friends.” According to Nathanial, they’re using “only 100% organic, sweatshop-free cotton, (and) water-based inks on our printed products,” plus they “also strive to work with local designers … and printing and embroidery shops whenever possible to help strengthen our local communities. We have also developed a philanthropic project called the Re-b(earth) project where when customers outgrow their clothing, we collect the garments, donate them to WestSide Baby, & give the customers a discount for future orders.” They’re doing most of their selling online right now, but they do have a few retail partners, including smallclothes in West Seattle.
If you peer at that photo, you’ll see Rob, aka the bee rescuer, who has sent one more followup, after noting the intense interest in the previous chapter of the saga. If you’re just joining us: Monday’s storm brought down trees in Lincoln Park – and one had been home to a wild beehive, found in pieces on the ground, as shown here. The bees were rescued by a West Seattleite who usually keeps bees elsewhere; after he posted an update in comments here, we asked if he would share more info/photos, which he did here – and now, today, even more in a new chapter, involving a box, vacuum, and tunnel:
On Friday, the roads were clear and Thanksgiving well-celebrated, so I was able to fetch some better bee-keeping equipment for the “rescued” Lincoln Park hive. I repacked the hive into the new box, along with fresh comb foundation frames:
I improvised a “bee vacuum” to suck up bees who had chosen to fly around the room instead of letting themselves be moved into their new home:
This was just a plastic gallon jug mounted on a dust-buster, with a mesh bag covering the vacuum intake, so the bees wouldn’t get sucked in. I could then pour these stragglers back into the hive and seal it up.
In order to keep the hive indoors in its weakened state, I constructed a sealed cardboard gangway out a gap in a window:
The girls have found their passageway, but are still not too enthusiastic about how cold it is outdoors. If this configuration proves stable, I intend to keep them like this until perhaps April at which time, they’ll should be ready to move back outside. We’ll see how it goes. For more pictures and video, visit Trileigh‘s “Bees in the Bedroom” collection on Flickr.
The top photo, by the way, not only shows Rob through the window, but that’s also the outside view of the bee box and “tunnel” entry.
(Photo added Sunday evening – the Pathfinder K-8 wreath sales mentioned below)
In contrast to event-laden Saturday (scroll down the home page to see all the coverage!), today is relatively low-key around West Seattle – at least so far as our Events calendar goes. But there’s still plenty to do. Going to the West Seattle Farmers’ Market? The Pathfinder K-8 school community is scheduled to start selling its handmade wreaths today – raising money to help subsidize students’ outdoor education – more details here (scroll down). Also at the market, 10 am-2 pm as always at 44th/Alaska, here’s what the weekly Ripe ‘n’ Ready list says you’ll find. … Also in The Junction: Friends of the Animals Foundation will have adoptable pets at Next to Nature today (still checking on the times) … And in the “not just Small Business Saturday but Small Business Everyday” vein, three WSB sponsors are among the local businesses that can help you savor your Sunday: Skylark Café (3803 Delridge Way) serves brunch till 3 pm and then there’s all-ages, no-cover live music tonight, with Petros (from Foundry Fire) at 7 pm, The Frost Giantsat 8:30 pm (full calendar here); at C & P Coffee (5612 California SW), your Sunday-afternoon relaxation will include live music 3-5 pm by Jacob McCaslin (full calendar here); and at Feedback Lounge (6451 California SW), Sunday ribs have returned, starting at 5 pm.
Some of the news we share from local schools is quickly summarizable – a photo, a few words. This report is more verbose – because it’s about words. Just before what became this snow-extended Thanksgiving break (most students have been out since noontime Monday, if not earlier), West Seattle High School language-arts teacher Kira Hopkinsshared her news about WSHS and Writers in the Schools, working with her ninth-grade students. Here’s what WITS writer-in-residence Katie Ogle writes about her experiences so far – including a sample of student work:
Writers in the Schools at West Seattle High School
Writers in the Schools, a program of Seattle Arts and Lectures, employs local teaching artists to bring creative writing into King County public schools–and I, Katie Ogle, am delighted to be a 2010 writer-in-residence at West Seattle High School.
I visit Kira Hopkins’ four 9th-grade Language Arts classes each Friday. The early morning classes are usually still waking up and the afternoon classes are sprinting toward the imminent weekend, and yet they still are able to give me astute observations about published work I bring in to examine and push themselves to create stunning responses to my challenging writing prompts.
So far we are learning about the autonomy the writer has over language, the efficacy of literary devices, and how to develop honest, interesting poetry and writing. In keeping with Mrs. Hopkins’ course-theme, Identity, we have written self-portrait poems, odes to cherished objects, and poetic memoirs. I am so pleased to share one of many sharp and well-crafted poems that has come out of our short time together:
Click ahead to read that “well-crafted poem,” and a bit more from Katie Ogle:Read More
A second West Seattle Crime Watch report tonight – this one from John and Lisa, asking that it be shared “for neighborhood awareness”:
When: Wee hours after Black Friday
Where: 7000 block of 13th SW, near Riverview Park [map]
Multi-vehicle, VERY aggressive break-ins of cars and house porches, driveways. They stole lots and didn’t restrict their choices and if they saw items on your porch, those were taken too.
Items ranges from work truck oxygen tanks, scooter, backpacks from vehicles, and more. Lots of time spent searching thru cars. Police report made and multiple case numbers issued.
That’s our personal favorite song from the Helmstetler Family Spectacularmusic-synched Christmas-lights show, which began its second year at 3908 SW Charlestown (map; across from the water tower) tonight. The first number was preceded by an official lighting ceremony – special guest pushing the button, Zack Lystedt, a Maple Valley teenager who suffered a brain injury after going back into a football game in 2006 following a hard hit – that inspired a history-making law signed by Governor Gregoire last year. In his honor, his family chose Pushing Boundaries as the nonprofit to benefit from any donations made during the show tonight. Zach’s dad Victor spoke briefly at the start of our video – the man on the right is Jim Winder, Helmstetler family friend and mastermind of the lighting extravaganza:
If you go watch in your car – you’ll hear the synchronized music on 101.9. Bring a donation for the West Seattle Food Bank– there’s a donation bin right in front of the house. This year the show even has its own website at westseattlelights.com, loaded with information from directions to schedule, and more. And if last year is any indication, we know Jim will soon have much-better clips of the show than ours, so watch for those.
Kenyon Hall is one of West Seattle’s semi-secret magical places, and tonight its doors are open, inviting you inside for a food-and-music (silent auction too!) fundraiser, benefiting former Café Revo proprietor Sofia Goff and her children. It’s continuing till midnight; just before it started, Kenyon Hall’s Lou Magor sent out this final reminder with an overview:
We’ll have lots of entertainment, including Bob White at the organ, singing by Debbie Sweetland, Connie Corrick, Hugh Hastings, Phyllis Stewart, David Parker’s Ragtime piano, Comedy Juggling with Matt Baker, and general silliness at the eighty-eight with yours truly.
All evening we’ll have a silent auction and a raffle. Lots of items have been donated from neighbors, businesses, and community friends.
We’re asking for a $20 donation to Sofia from each person who attends, but will accept other amounts. Everything we take in will go directly to Sofia.
More details at caferevo.com, which also explains the backstory, if you hadn’t heard it before. Kenyon Hall is at 7904 35th SW (map).
Santa Claus has arrived in West Seattle! His four-weekend visit to Westwood Village began today; he’ll be back noon-4 pm tomorrow (and Dec. 4-5, 11-12, 18-19) – bring a food-bank donation; they’re collecting diapers for WestSide Baby, too, and there’s free gift wrapping, with donations accepted for local nonprofits. (Santa’s in The Junction, too, during Hometown Holidays on Dec. 5, 12, 19, 11 am-3 pm, with photos at Donna Ryan Photography, donations benefiting WS Baby.) Speaking of The Junction, on its northern edge the Holy Rosary School Christmas Tree Sale started today in its new location, with the traditional blessing, led this year by Father Mike Raschko:
From there, Father Raschko mentioned he was back to resume watching the Huskies game; perhaps that was an auspicious start to the HR tree season, since as you’ve probably heard, they won in the last minute. As we noted in this Thursday story, the new location is between the Holy Rosary school building and playground, off SW Dakota. Trees have also arrived at West Seattle Produce:
We dropped by today after getting a couple reports of roasting chestnuts. Those, we seem to have missed, but we found Victoria and Eric Straus, up from the South Sound, freshly cinnamon-glazing a few other types of nuts:
They told us they’ll be back at WS Produce (4721 Fauntleroy Way SW) tomorrow, starting around noon, and the weekends of December 11th and 18th.
Still time to get over to Camp Long Lodge and join in the Sustainable West Seattle Money-Free Shopping Spree. There you’ll find a SWS leader doing double duty today – Stu Hennessey not only is participating in the spree, which is part of “Green Saturday,” he’s also been a leading local advocate for “Small Business Saturday” (his Alki Bike and Board was among the West Seattle businesses featured in TV coverage). The “Shopping Spree” is a chance to exchange handmade items or service offerings, without money, to get holiday gifts – you’ll also find Steve Tracy there with his metal creations:
And this quilted wall hanging is the work of Lin Sierra:
Camp Long Lodge is at 5200 35th SW – look for the trademark Seattle Parks striped sign along 35th.
Out of the WSB inbox, from a neighbor who didn’t want her name used:
Just learned that my neighbor (2 doors down) was (burglarized) this morning in broad daylight. They left their home at 9 AM and returned at Noon and many electronics were boosted. Most of us on the street were home during that time, but didn’t notice anything.
Another neighbor thinks she saw an older model rust-colored car in the driveway during that time. Around 11 AM, I went on a walk nearby … didn’t notice anything at their house, but did take notice of a car fitting a similar description further down the road. It was a 80’s style small sedan, rusty red color with a bit of a loud muffler/engine. I noticed the car because it was older looking and it was driving rather fast and loud down the road while I was walking.
House is between Dakota and Andover on 50th Ave SW. [map]
The city’s “My Neighborhood” map often shows incidents like this within a day or two – but e-mails like this can get the word out quicker. The map’s default view is for reports filed during the week preceding your map view – three West Seattle burglaries are shown on or since last Saturday, November 20th: that date in the 3300 block of Admiral Way; last Sunday (11/21) in the 8600 block of 35th SW; Wednesday (11/24) in the 12000 block of Marine View Drive.
There are many reasons to head over to the Duwamish Longhouse in eastern West Seattle (4705 West Marginal Way SW) this afternoon – and one of them is Duwamish Tribe chair Cecile Hansen‘s famous frybread. She and her granddaughters were in the longhouse kitchen working on it when we stopped by earlier to get photos from the Native Art Fair, continuing till 5 tonight. Close to the main entrance, you’ll find Duwamish artist Virginia Nelson and husband Tim:
She has fuzzy purses and wallets, among other items, while he’s selling an eclectic doorstop made from a paver, decorated like a snowman – and you can even get them in Husky or Cougar garb. (The Cougs outsell the Huskies, the Nelsons insist.) Next to their table, you will find Duwamish Designs by DeAnn – including dolls made from cedar bark and cattails:
She told us, “I’m not a patient person … but making these has taught me patience,” as she shepherds the entire artistic process, starting with harvesting the cattails and bark. (In the left corner of the photo are beaded bookmarks she is also selling.) You’ll also find hats, wall-hangings, even tribal-art Christmas stockings.
Inside the Highland Park Improvement Club – just look for that building, and the signs, at 12th/Holden (map) – today’s Holiday Bazaar is so vendor-packed, organizer Tiffany Silver-Brace says she even had to turn down some would-be sellers. The 20-plus that you will find inside the historic HPIC building include Amy Bradley of DragonTamer Design, who is a beading artist (and offers classes, too):
Amaranta is there too, with Dia de Los Muertos-inspired creations:
(If you miss today’s event, she’ll be at the upcoming South Park Art Under $100, which she’s promoting with mini-flyers at her HPIC table.) We also found treats, dolls, gift baskets, scented waxes, hats, much more, and of course – your chance to show off Highland Park pride:
The bazaar continues till 4 today. There’s street parking alongside 12th stretching north of HPIC if its lot looks full.
On this “Small Business Saturday,” remember the smaller business districts of West Seattle too – like Luna Park, along Avalon Way just south of the West Seattle Bridge, where you will find Avalon Glassworks. Luckie shared photos from today’s glassblowing demonstration, featuring glass jellyfish created by guest artist Richard Lowrie.
You can go watch till 5 pm today – and Luckie also notes that Avalon Glassworks has a food drive under way; bring a donation and you’ll get $1 off a purchase.
On this first Small Business Saturday, one small business in West Seattle won’t be welcoming customers today.
But not because its proprietor doesn’t want to!
Monica Skov is beyond eager to get her West Seattle Fabric Company open for business at 2210 California SW, where would-be customers are sticking their heads in to ask the big question: When will it be open? Answer: First half of December – Monica’s expecting to announce her grand-opening date sometime next week.
In the meantime, she is stocking the store; many have asked us for a progress report since our original story appeared last month, so we stopped in for an update a few days before the wintry weather started dominating the news. The photo above shows the north wall that’s filled with notions; other shelves in the store were starting to fill with fabrics, from flannel to oilcloth and many types inbetween, including patterns specifically for creating kids’ items (one based on the popular board book “Very Hungry Caterpillar” caught our eye). She plans to carry a “small selection of simple patterns” too. And the step-up section with most of the fabric has a central shelf on which you’ll be able to leave your choices till you’re ready to check out and have them cut into the length you need.
“It’s like the walk-in closet of my dreams,” she smiled, showing us around.
Monica also showed off other spaces in the store – spaces you might not have seen even if you visited the space in its previous incarnations. She is hoping to host classes — and eventually group gatherings — in those back spaces, which even include kitchenette and bathroom access (left over from an earlier life as residential space), describing it as “a place for people to be creative.” Not just experts: “I want to inspire people of all ages that maybe don’t even know how to sew!”
But till opening day, the bolts of fabric are just part of the nuts and bolts of opening a business – inventory, database. Then sometime next month, it’ll be time to welcome those “creative” customers, who have been without a fabric store in West Seattle for two and a half years.
Three West Seattle businesses got a quick spotlight in that KING 5 story aired during last night’s newscast – all because they’re getting the word out that today is Small Business Saturday nationwide, meant to be a counterpoint to the bigbox-store emphasis during Black Friday. Watch the story and you’ll see Alki Bike and Board,CAPERS, and Sweetie. (Alki Bike and Board also is part of the WSB West Seattle Holiday Shopping/Business Guide, which we’re offering as another advertising showcase for local businesses this holiday season. They’ve got special deals; so does Clementine, another participant, which also has a hat trunk show/artist reception today. Also among those in the midst of a sale: WSB sponsor Mountain to Sound Outfitters.) One thing to consider about small local businesses: As Monday’s snow and road/bus woes reminded us, our peninsula can sometimes be more like an island, and a thriving local business community means you can find what you need here, especially during those times when you can’t (or don’t want to) leave!
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