One more Labor Day weekend event to recap: The “Work It, West Seattle” bike ride. The photo and report are from Don Brubeck of West Seattle Bike Connections:

The highlight of our Labor Day weekend ride (Saturday) was meeting Jack Block and Vicki Schmitz-Block at Jack Block Park. Jack told us about the sawmills, shipyards, and creosote plant and the docks. Great to hear his stories of skipping afternoon classes at WSHS to go down to the dock to unload bananas with other kids, starting his longshoreman career at age 15, and eventually becoming a Port Commissioner and working to clean up the pollution and create the park named after him.

We had great presentations by historian Judy Bentley about the Delridge working-class neighborhoods and the steelworkers union; Phil Hoffman about the sawmills at Alki and logging; Dora-Faye Hendricks at the Nucor Steel plant; and 10-year old Asher, resident at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, about Cooper School and the artists who live and work there now.

This was a Cascade Bicycle Club ride hosted by West Seattle Bike Connections and Southwest Seattle Historical Society. Jeff McCord and Valerie Kendall from SWSHS lined up the speakers.

Your next chance to get involved with WSBC is its monthly meeting, 6:30 pm tomorrow (Tuesday, September 4th) at Neighborhood House High Point (6400 Sylvan Way SW) – here’s the agenda preview.