West Seattle, Washington
07 Wednesday
After noticing so many festively painted store windows in West Seattle, particularly in The Junction, we asked WSB contributor Ellen Cedergreen to photograph some of them for us to feature Christmas Eve/Day. We’ll publish a few installments tonight/tomorrow but this one kicks it off – the Bob Ross tribute in the windows at Talarico’s, by Sign Savant‘s Japhy Witte and Z. (Zach) Rockstad (who painted the vast majority of what we spotted). P.S. If you don’t remember Bob Ross – think public TV, painting, gentle voice, big hair. A closer look at some of the scenes:
No Bob in this one, but it’s cute just the same.
More holiday window art later!
Just received from Rebecka, who wanted to get the word out fast:
My family just witnessed a man take off with a package from our neighbor’s porch.
My husband stepped out to confront him and he immediately took off. We are on the corner of 42nd and Brandon. The guy was heading south in the alley between 42nd and 41st. By the time he rounded the corner, the guy was out of sight. We called it in to the police, but they were not even interested in getting a description, said it was too late to do anything.
Apparently this has been going on quite a bit in our hood for the last week. The guy was in his mid to late thirties, dark hair and goatee, black leather jacket, jeans, dark shoes. He looked as if he hadn’t slept for days, SUPER SKETCHY.
Just thought people should be aware if they are expecting deliveries today. This took place at 8:40 this morning.
(3 Wise Penguins? Window @ Curious Kidstuff; WSB photo by Ellen Cedergreen)
Whether you are celebrating or not, we hope some of this information will be helpful:
*West Seattle restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores open Christmas Eve and/or Day
*West Seattle Christmas Eve/Day church services (list is atop the Holidays page)
*Metro and Water Taxi changes for the holidays (through New Year’s)
*Seattle Parks facilities info for the holidays
*State liquor-store hours
If you are doing last-minute gift shopping, most if not all of your West Seattle shops are there for you today at least into the afternoon. Many of our Holiday Shopping Guide participants (24 local businesses) have today’s hours listed already; local businesses are also welcome to add a comment here with today’s plan. We also have a directory of ongoing sponsors, with links to websites and Facebook pages, here. (And thanks to Bartell Drugs for sending a tweet that they’re open till 9 pm in Admiral today.) … Looks like ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) has some tickets left for the final “A Tuna Christmas” show at 5 pm today. … And if you’re planning on going out for a beverage – this is the final day for Christmas Cocktails, with six local bars/lounges contributing $1 to charity for each purchase of a special drink that’s part of the promotion. … Need wrapping help? There’s one more round of fundraising gift-wrapping to help local animal-advocacy groups – 2-7 pm at Beveridge Place Pub in Morgan Junction.
It’s the little things. Earlier, the tale of the candy cane; tonight, a tale of greenery, from Jamie and Chelsea:
My wife and I were walking back to our Morgan Junction home from buying half-off garlands tonight at West Seattle Nursery, and in front of the [frame shop] and tae kwon do studio near Juneau, this nice woman appeared out of nowhere and asked if we wanted her spare wreath. Apparently she had an extra and since we were already loaded up with holiday spirit i.e. garlands she must have thought we needed more!
Thanks to this nice woman, and happy holidays to West Seattle!
That’s part of our video from last New Year’s Eve, when Highland Park neighbors launched a new holiday tradition, the “Not-So-Silent Night Parade” (more WSB coverage here). Tonight, there’s word from Highland Park Action Committee chair Dan Mullins that they’re doing it again:
If you want to have some fun this New Year’s Eve, Highland Park is the place to be! Bang on a drum or shake your tambourine as you travel along with the second annual “Not So Silent Night Parade.” March along with us on a 20-30 minute trip through Highland Park, making just enough noise to remind our neighbors that it’s New Year’s Eve.
Afterward, they’re planning more festivities in the parking lot (same as last year), as well as hot cider and cookies. It’ll all start and end at the Highland Park Improvement Club (12th/Holden; map), meet at 6:45 pm, parade starts at 7 and will last about half an hour. Also from the announcement:
Dress warm ’cause we are going, rain or moon-shine, and you may want to bring a flashlight and an umbrella! (or even better a flashlight taped inside an umbrella, so it glows!) Bring the kids in their strollers and your friendly dogs on their leashes.
They’re also recruiting volunteers to help direct traffic along the way – if you can volunteer to be a crossing guard, e-mail Dan at chair09@highlandpk.net.
Forget the mall – your last-minute holiday shopping can stay right here in West Seattle. Many stores are open on Christmas Eve, and right now, many of the shops in The Junction are open till 9 tonight for one last “Shop Late Thursday.” We checked on a few WSB Holiday Shopping Guide participants – you can get your art on at Twilight Artist Collective (4306 SW Alaska), above, or the sweet smell of gift-giving from knows perfume (4536 California SW):
We found Frances Smersh with some of the jewelry – they carry her creations as well as others – at the shop she and husband John recently relocated to The Junction (4540 California SW), Click! Design That Fits, which is open 11 am-3 pm on Christmas Eve:
Shoes? Handbags? Clementine is one option – that’s where we found Lisa:
And a few doors east, Angela is helping shoppers at Funky Jane’s Consignment (4455 California SW):
Thanks to Kirk for the tip on this – which has turned out to be more than a “simple” case of a business closing. SeaMart, the 16th SW/SW Holden (map) mini-market in Highland Park, is closing after Friday. Thanks to extensive research for WSB by contributor Deanie Schwarz, here’s what we’ve found out so far:
The property, which is also home to Zippy’s Giant Burgers and JoJo’s Fine Espresso, is in judicial foreclosure, according to SeaMart’s owner, Ed Choe, the building owner who’s been foreclosed on. Deanie spoke today with him as well as with the owners of Zippy’s and JoJo’s. They have both been trying to find out from the bank that’s taken possession of the building, UniBank*, what the status of their leases is – Zippy’s, for example, has a lease through next April but with a two-year-extension option, and the fate of that extension is now in question (they’re consulting a lawyer). Zippy’s owners Blaine and Rahel Cook say the bank asked them if they had any interest in buying the space and named a price that was too high, based on a valuation from two years ago. The bank reportedly already has bids for a possible “short sale” of the property. Meantime, store owner Choe says he tried to refinance but couldn’t qualify; he and his wife have had a tough year, losing a child a few months ago, and now their business, but he told Deanie, “We still have our health, and we will be OK.” They had been commuting from Edmonds and admit that was rough too. So what’s next? The only thing for sure is that SeaMart is closing after tomorrow and has a closeout sale under way on just about everything except beer and cigarettes. We’ll keep you updated on what happens with the rest.
*DECEMBER 31ST UPDATE: We have corrected the name of the bank in the story – it’s UniBank, not Union.
After three public meetings, official activity on the planned driving range at West Seattle Golf Course is in a lull, according to Seattle Parks’ Garrett Farrell. But local golfers are ramping up their concerns about the most recent proposal (unveiled at the third meeting), which would lead to changes on three holes of the course itself. First, the official update from Farrell:
Parks is evaluating the community feedback to date while gathering better detail on the proposed range and how it fits the site.
A ball trespass study to determine how much netting is required and other pieces that help evaluate costs have arrived in the past month.
I anticipate being back out in front of the community in early 2011 with an update on status.
Now, the latest on concerns. A new “Save West Seattle Golf Course” Facebook page has been set up, urging people concerned about the latest version of the driving-range proposal to contact City Councilmembers and other city leaders. The site includes a version of an open letter sent to WSB by Kurt Niedermeier, who is a member of the West Seattle Golf Club Board, though he stresses his letter is not an official statement on behalf of the board – read on:Read More
It’s not just Christmas Eve-Eve – December 23rd is also the date for Festivus, a cantankerous winter anti-holiday spun off from the classic comedy TV show “Seinfeld.” If you’ve been to Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) in recent weeks, you’ve probably seen the Festivus pole, maybe even written a note for the “Airing of Grievances” which is part of the … event. Hotwire proprietor Lora proclaimed 10 am this morning as the time to come “celebrate” Festivus at her shop in The Junction (where they’ve also been collecting donations for pets – “Festivus for the pets of us”). Christopher Boffoli was there on behalf of WSB, and you can see his video above. (Don’t miss Dharma the dog, midway through!)
The latest random-act-of-holiday-kindness report to land in the WSB inbox is from Michael, who lives near West Seattle High School:
To whoever is leaving candy canes on doors–THANKS!!
My wife found a candy cane on our front door with the message: “Thank you for your lights, we love them!” I don’t believe that this is a new thing in West Seattle but it’s new to us. Nice holiday spirit!
Just out of the WSB inbox, from Jennifer:
Are you alone on Christmas Day and need to burn some humbug energy? Or maybe you just want to get out of the house for an hour and get your daily run on. A small group of us are doing a 10K run along Alki, rain or shine, to raise a few bucks for a friend who is heading to Africa to volunteer for three months in 2011. We’ll meet at 11 am. This is very low key. If interested, e-mail for more details … read30@yahoo.com
Any other activities, let us know; meantime, we are continuing to tweak the list of West Seattle restaurant/coffee shop/grocery store Christmas Eve/Day hours – you can find it here, and it’s linked from our updated-all-season-long West Seattle Holidays page (where you also will find Christmas Eve/Day church services).
Just announced this morning, new ownership in the works for Harbor Island’s Todd Shipyards – Portland-based Vigor Industrial. Details from the Seattle Times (WSB partner); from Vigor’s site, here’s the news release in which the companies announced the deal.
Though school’s out till the New Year, you can still send e-mail or leave a message to help with this – WSB’ers have answered the call before:
The marketing teacher at West Seattle High School could use your help.
In January, 30 marketing students from West Seattle High School will go to the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue to compete in marketing competitions. We need judges to judge the marketing presentations for students from all around the Puget Sound Area at the Meydenbauer Center on Wednesday, January 12th, 2011, from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm. If you have any business experience or enjoy helping out students we could use judges to watch and score the student marketing presentations.
Please contact Michelle Sloan, Marketing Teacher, West Seattle High School, masloan@seattleschools.org, 206-252-8861.
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
It’s Christmas Eve-Eve, and you can start the revelry this morning with the Festivus celebration at Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) at 10 am … Also in The Junction, 6-9 pm tonight, it’s the final Shop Late Thursday before Christmas (participants are highlighted here, including WSB West Seattle Holiday Shopping Guide sponsors Clementine, Knows Perfume, Click! Design That Fits, and Twilight Artist Collective) … Once you have that afternoon/evening shopping done, animal advocates are ready to wrap it up for you, 4-8 pm at Rocksport (details in this WSB Forums post) … The Admiral Theater‘s annual free Christmas movie is tonight, 7 pm, the Jim Carrey-voiced “A Christmas Carol” – bring a pet item to donate to the Humane Society … Also, one holiday open house – Illusions Hair Design (WSB sponsor), 9 am-7 pm – and one party, Heartland Café, 7 pm (Facebook invite here).
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*A mystery surrounds a green Ford pickup truck and its driver, seen doing off-roading-style maneuvers in the mud, kicking up dirt and grass and driving through private yards in the 2400 block of SW Juneau on Monday around noon. Alarmed when the driver suddenly stopped alongside the yard of a child-care center and smiled, the caregiver hustled the children away from the area. They were unhurt, and the truck left the area “without further incident.” Here’s the mystery: The truck had a “Seattle City Parks” placard on its side. A parks supervisor told officers that no employees were working in the area at that time, no trucks in the parking lot had mud splatter, and that the partial license plate reported did not match any Parks Department vehicle. The driver was a white man, age 22-29.
Six more summaries ahead:Read More
After 38 years, Liberty Bell Printing is closed in The Junction, though the business itself will continue on. As first reported here two weeks ago, Liberty Bell is only closing its retail storefront, but it’s a momentous occasion just the same, since it’s one of the oldest businesses in The Junction. Christopher Boffoli was there for WSB when Michael Hoffman, who’s owned it for a decade, closed the doors tonight one last time. Michael will continue offering printing and design services without a storefront, via libertybellprinting.com.
From SDOT, an alert for late-night drivers heading westbound toward West Seattle from I-5 or Beacon Hill tonight:
Tonight at midnight there will be an estimated 10-minute-long rolling slowdown of westbound traffic on the Spokane Street Viaduct (West Seattle Bridge), at the point just west of Sixth Avenue South. The contractor working for the Seattle Department of Transportation to widen the Spokane Street Viaduct must remove a light pole on the side of the bridge, working from below with a crawler crane to detach the pole and position it away from the Viaduct and onto the ground. As a safety precaution, Washington State Patrol will be on site to provide traffic control, leading a rolling slowdown until this brief construction task is completed.
From Seattle Parks this afternoon, what you can expect from their community centers, parks, pools, etc. in the next few weeks – read on!Read More
An in-the-works educational-TV show that’s already out on the Web, “Team Marco Polo,” has a local link this Christmas – the goofy holiday video you can watch above, whose cast includes three West Seattle youth, according to producer William Yeakle:
Matt, Siena, and Gabi Jeakle and 10,000 viewers have been dancing with Santa in a
YouTube video that has caught on this Christmas season. The video, The Santa Claus Dance, with more than 10,000 total views in 3 versions, is from the TV show Team Marco Polo, produced by Filmateria Studios, based in Seattle. Matt, Siena, and Gabi join veteran actors Jonathan Wright and Ethan Newberry in skits for the new show, which has shot 13 episodes and is currently in the editing process. The web version of the show is already becoming a staple in many classrooms. Producers have received positive comments from teachers in Hawaii, Colorado, New York, and Iceland.In addition to the YouTube version of the show, producers have completed a CD and two books and are producing an iPhone app. The show is slated to hit TV screens and bookshelves in the fall of 2011, but complete shows and more than 50 snippets can be seen on the Team Marco Polo YouTube Channel now. Fans can also join the beta website: teammarcopolo.com
From Kristin, who encountered this solicitor late this morning:
I just had a guy come to my door claiming to want to wash my carpets. When I said no thanks, he wanted to do my floors or upholstery – one room for free. He had no ID, and forgot to ask until after he was gone. He was on foot – no van anywhere in sight. I’m near Graham and 38th.
(He may have been perfectly legit, but we share these alerts just in case.)
Caveat, this is a work-in-progress: WSB contributor/researcher Katie Meyer has done a tremendous amount of work to gather the info, but she’s still tying up loose ends, and we’ve still got a lot of links to add. That said, since we’re getting a lot of requests, we’re publishing the first “who’s open in West Seattle on the holiday” take for your reference (the link will remain the same as we tweak). This year, it includes who’s open for groceries, coffee, and/or dining on Christmas Eve and/or Day, so read carefully! And if you have firsthand knowledge of anything different/missing, please comment or e-mail us – thanks.
(Photos courtesy Cary Kemp)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
“My dream of owning my own pizzeria is a reality!”
That’s what Cary Kemp told WSB this morning, now that he’s signed the lease for the Admiral space (4213 SW College; map) where he plans to open a wood-fired pizzeria.
We talked with Cary a few days ago, so we could be ready to share details about his restaurant, Pizzeria 22 (Ventidue) once everything was official.
He’s been in the pizza business a while – just without his own fixed location, till now.
A few special events on the WSB West Seattle Events and West Seattle Holidays calendars: The monthly Poetrybridge reading/open-mike event at C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor) is tonight, sign-ups at 6:45 pm, event at 7 (more details here) … Another holiday service specially geared for people in the midst of a “Blue Christmas” because of loss or other challenges, 7 pm at Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation … For your holiday shopping needs today/tonight, check out the WSB Holiday Shopping Guide and Coupons pages for deals and special hours; the guide includes sponsor Bin 41‘s wine-tasting event 5:30-7 pm tonight in The Junction … Just got word there are still some trees left, now half-price, at the Holy Rosary Tree Lot, last day, open 11 am-6 pm or till sold out.
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