West Seattle, Washington
11 Thursday
Just posted on the Caring Bridge website set up by the family of Tony Genzale, the proprietor of Tony’s Market at 35th/Barton in West Seattle who died last weekend (here’s our Saturday night report) – the date, time and place for his memorial services: The Rosary will be at 7 pm next Monday, December 13th; the funeral Mass will be at 10:30 am the following Wednesday, December 15th. Both will be held at St. Francis of Assisi, 15236 21st SW in Burien, where Tony lived until losing his long battle with cancer at age 61. (Photo is from the website for the SW Sewer Commission, on which Tony served.)
Two days after the latest West Seattle Volunteer Recognition Awards ceremony, here’s another major celebration of local volunteer power: Tonight at The Hall at Fauntleroy, people who volunteer for the West Seattle Food Bank were in the spotlight, at the annual holiday-season dinner given in their honor. Among them, the three women in our photo, who are among the food bank’s longest-serving volunteers – Norma Arbow, Caroline Boone, and Asenath Brozovich – volunteering is for people of ALL ages! There are lots of ways you too can help the food bank, even if you don’t volunteer your time – other ways to help are listed on this page of the WS Food Bank website. (And you can give money any time!)
The Southwest Precinct sends holiday greetings and a wish for a (continued) low-crime season. Toward that end, precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen asked if we would share an SPD-provided list of holiday-specific crime-prevention tips with you. Even if you’re sure you’ve heard them all before – take another look. You’ll find the full list after the jump:
Gatewood Elementary students have just gathered a quarter-ton of pennies — but that’s only half their charitable work. Teacher Darren Radu, who also shared the photo, explains:
Over the past 4 weeks, kids from all classrooms worked together to bring in close to 500 pounds of pennies (and other coins) as part of the 2010 Penny Harvest. The bags of coins were shipped off to the local Penny Harvest offices last Thursday.
The next steps for the kids (in the New Year) will be to convene a Philanthropy Roundtable, where students from each grade will come together to research organizations working for justice in the community, country, and world, and determine which organizations are in most need of support. The Philanthropy Roundtable will then allocate grant funds from the pennies raised to these organizations. One of the Roundtable’s most important criteria is ‘leverage per dollar’ – the Philanthropists use their research to allocate funds in a way that works most effectively to make a positive difference in the world. Last year, Gatewood students awarded Penny Harvest grants to PAWS, Haiti Relief, the Mockingbird Society, and Child Haven. They had some guidance from teachers, but did most of the research and made the final decisions on where to send the money themselves.
The attached photo shows some of our many ‘harvesters’ with a few of the 30-pound bags they filled.
Big gratitude to the Gatewood community, families, and friends, for supporting this worthwhile work!
Darren Radu
4th/5th Teacher at Gatewood Elementary
ADDED 7:12 PM: Via Facebook, Stacey tells us Madison Middle School collected for Penny Harvest too – about 300 pounds.
Following our earlier report about Walt Hundley Playfield getting Parks and Green Spaces Levy money for new turf, as recommended by the levy’s Oversight Committee last night, here’s more big news from that meeting: Of the two West Seattle projects that were finalists for money from the levy’s Opportunity Fund, both will get money – one from the fund, one from other sources. The committee is recommending $520,000 for Puget Ridge Edible Park, a site for edible gardening, education, and more, proposed for a parcel in the 5200 block of 18th SW. (Added Wednesday – Stu Hennessey tells WSB that work should start next spring.) And it’s recommending that the Highland Park Spray Park – originally scheduled for a very basic installation where the HP wading pool is now – get “inflation funding” so that it’ll get the water- (and fun-) maximizing features that community advocates led by Carolyn Stauffer were asking for. The recommendations need approval from acting Parks Superintendent Christopher Williams, and then the City Council will vote on them next year.
That’s the map showing where the state’s installing automatic closure gates that are supposed to go down almost instantly if there’s a big earthquake, to keep traffic off the Alaskan Way Viaduct until it’s checked out. The work to install those gates has necessitated ramp and lane closures, and more are ahead in the next week, just announced and all listed here.
Pretty sure this is the first owl-attack report we’ve received in our five years of WSB’ing. Just out of the the inbox, from CS:
Just thought it of interest that my neighbor was attacked by an aggressive owl about 7:45 AM this morning as she was jogging up Bonair in North Admiral. The owl evidently grabbed at the top of her head. The neighbor said this was her second encounter with the Bonair owls. We were wondering if any other neighbors have had an encounter with the Bonair owls.
Rooting around for information on owl attacks, we came up with this 2006 story from the Seattle Times (WSB partner). No conclusions there as to why it happens – this isn’t even breeding season!
(September 2010 WSB photo)
Three months after the city-owned playfield in High Point got its new name, Walt Hundley Playfield (the photo above is from WSB coverage of the September ceremony), it’s getting something else new: Synthetic turf. That’s one of the decisions made at last night’s Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee meeting; the money will come from savings in other projects, including the Delridge Playfield turf work that’s under way right now. Seattle Parks‘ Susan Golub says this is pending City Council approval. Tim McMonigle from the West Seattle Soccer Club tells WSB that High Point is one of the last two lighted dirt fields in the city (the other one, Washington, will get turf in this funding too). He adds, “This is great news … The Hundley field is centrally located in West Seattle, and is in a diverse area that will get a lot of use. The West Seattle Soccer Club is looking forward to Delridge coming online next month and to the Hundley conversion, as late in the season our grass fields can get pretty messy and frequently close. I’m sure there will be other sports organizations that will want this field developed with them in mind as well, much like Hiawatha and Delridge, so it is win-win for the West Seattle community.” The Hundley Playfield turf isn’t the only West Seattle news from last night’s Oversight Committee meeting – a separate story on Opportunity Fund decisions is coming up next.
A month and a half ago, Cara Kroenke at Southwest Youth and Family Services put out a call for help on behalf of the family members who survived an afternoon of deadly violence inside a West Seattle home in September – the murder-suicide shootings that left four members of the Phan/Harm family dead. We talked last night with Cara, who says a recent media report that the survivors were virtually homeless is not true – she has been working with them daily since October. They should shortly all have “permanent” new homes – she says the widower of the woman who opened fire now has an apartment of his own, while the other family members are awaiting final word on a 3-bedroom rental house. The woman who was shot, but survived, will get her bowling-alley job back when she’s ready to work again, Cara says. And the family is working to plan a memorial that in Cambodian tradition, according to Cara, is even more important than the first funeral – the 100-day remembrance. Read on for more about that and what the family needs now:Read More
If you arent sure what the Southwest Design Review Board is/does, that’s understandable, since it (like the city’s other DRBs) hasn’t made news much this year – only two meetings! It’s an all-volunteer, city-convened board that reviews major development proposals for this area (full explanation here). Just a few years ago, the board was meeting for most if not all of its potential twice-monthly sessions, but if there’s no project to review, there’s no meeting. The board needs full membership, though, just in case, and that’s why we’re sharing a final reminder about an opening; application deadline this Friday. Each member on the board (current roster here) has a role – and the one that’s opening represents the local business community. (You do not have to be a business owner, just able to review development applications through the “how would this affect local business?” prism.) Interested in applying? Get the application here; read more in the original citywide announcement here.
Those are youth musicians from West Seattle Community Orchestras, rehearsing last night at Chief Sealth International High School for the holiday concert they’ll be part of tonight – same place – 6:30 pm. Adults $5, children $1, but as the poster says, extra donations are always appreciated! … Tonight’s lineup also includes your chance to find out why the Duwamish River cleanup “feasibility study” matters to everyone in our area – find out about it, and have your say, 5:30-8:30 pm at Concord Elementary in South Park. … The Senior Center of West Seattle presents “Spirit of Salsa,” 10-10:45 am, for fun and exercise, no partner necessary, $10 drop-in … Enjoy your West Seattle Community Centers (WSB sponsor) to the fullest – sign up for winter classes (Southwest Pool, too) starting at noon today – find the info online by going here. … And remember our special holiday links: Events list here, shopping guide here.
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