Double wedding at ‘Nickelsville’ encampment, on its anniversary

(Bride Thelema, aka “TJ,” tosses her bouquet)
Thanks to Kevin McClintic for sharing photos and info about a noontime event today: As previewed in a news release on Friday, Mother’s Day was wedding day for two couples at the eastern West Seattle encampment that calls itself “Nickelsville.” The day also marked exactly a year since the encampment returned to the spot where it began in fall 2008 – at that time, under the administration of its namesake, it was evicted days later, but this time, it’s been allowed to stay, though not allowed to hook up to city services. Kevin says that today at the camp, “the wedding overshadowed the 1 year anniversary by a long shot.” The Christian Crusaders Motorcycle Club of Tacoma officiated; Kevin says most are fully ordained ministers:

TJ’s groom is Charlie Smith; the couple at right, Charlie’s brother Josh Smith and his bride Barbie Houseman. TJ and Charlie are camp residents; Josh and Barbie used to be, but, according to this WSB Forums post, found housing before their baby was born. Before the noontime ceremony, Kevin reports, “The CCMC showed up about 11 AM with about a dozen bikes (mostly Harleys) and a box truck with a trailer. They brought all the food needed, a powerful generator, two propane BBQs, and lots of donations for NV residents consisting of boots, blankets, clothing, and other needed items!” He got them to pose for a group shot before they left around 2:30 pm.

Meantime, on Friday, the city released its “draft investment plan for homeless services” – how it proposes to better appropriate and track tens of millions of dollars spent on those services each year – and is inviting public comment. Read about it here.

7 Replies to "Double wedding at 'Nickelsville' encampment, on its anniversary "

  • Silly Goose May 13, 2012 (11:08 pm)

    This is a fantastic story and what a blessing that the Crusaders donated so much needed supplies and their time. Bravo to you guys and congrats to the new couples may you have a long and blessed marriage and your children grow up healty and happy.

  • Brian M. May 14, 2012 (8:14 am)

    I loved seeing the picture of the Crusaders with the box truck. It warms my heart to see such generosity.

  • SJoy May 14, 2012 (9:35 am)

    Congrats on the marriages!!!

    Bikers are awesome!!! Some of the kindest, most generous souls…. this goes to show that you should never judge a book by it’s cover :-)

  • miws May 14, 2012 (11:02 am)

    It was a great day, and it was so wonderful to share this event with my friends!

    .

    Not only was this all made possible by the generosity and hard work of The Christian Crusaders, but from Kevin, and several other WSB’ers that have become friends/supporters/advocates for Nickelsville, as well!

    .

    And, I got to hold the baby!

    .

    Mike

  • datamuse May 14, 2012 (11:35 am)

    What a cool thing for the Crusaders to do. Congratulations to the happy couples!

  • TM May 14, 2012 (10:04 pm)

    Very cool, congrats to the couples!

  • CCMM May 19, 2012 (10:12 pm)

    The Christian Crusaders are a group of men who serve Jesus Christ and minister to people. They are not a motorcycle club

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