West Seattle, Washington
14 Wednesday
(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
“The Food Bank is awesome!”
That onstage exclamation from West Seattle Food Bank client Alina embodied the mood at the WSFB’s Saturday night Instruments of Change celebration.
The 12th annual celebration of the WSFB’s biggest fundraiser of the year filled the event space at the Seattle Design Center in SODO. And it helped fill the WSFB’s coffers – with silent and live auction bidding, plus Funds for Food paddle-raising, totaling $161,557 before employer matches, WSFB development director Judi Yazzolino reported today.
Also onstage was 18-year WSFB executive director Fran Yeatts, who drew a standing ovation before she even spoke a word. She introduced the staff and board members who help ensure WSFB runs smoothly in the fight against hunger – serving 11,500 people last year alone, some just once, some week in and week out.
She noted WSFB’s services and programs such as the Baby and Child Corner in partnership with WestSide Baby, and the Backpack Program. And she paid tribute to volunteers.
(L-R, CoHo Team’s Tonya Hennen and Cara Mohammadian with WSFB executive director Fran Yeatts)
Yeatts introduced this year’s Instrument of Change award recipients, the CoHo Team of Windermere Agents, whose Cara Mohammadian has been a longtime WSFB board member. She accepted the award, explaining that the CoHo Team was founded almost 20 years ago, and that community support is a vital part of its mission.
Another highlight: The spotlight on Alina, a West Seattle resident who suddenly became a single mom when her marriage “fell apart” after her baby was born. Food Bank programs like the Baby Corner and bookshelf really helped, she said, adding that the stigma attached to seeking help should go away – the community should “be partners together and help each other.” Her backstory was told in a video played before she came on stage to thank WSFB supporters. That stigma had initially affected her: “When I first went to the Food Bank, I was a little ashamed,” she said, coming from an immigrant family that didn’t accept help from anyone. But meeting her daughter’s needs forced her to get over that. “The Food Bank is awesome!” she exclaimed. It provides healthy food “so my daughter’s not eating ramen. … Thank you, every single one of you.”
Food was not only what the night funded; it also inspired some of the night’s generous giving. The dessert dash, for example, saw donors winning delectable creations by WSFB supporters including these three WSB sponsors – West Seattle Thriftway, Metropolitan Market, and Salty’s on Alki.
Live and silent auctions featured an array of items from tableside cocktail preparation by Peel and Press and The Bridge, to a stay at the acclaimed Willows Lodge, to a home taco party catered by Pecado Bueno, to social-event tickets donated by Joe Jeannot, to Backpack Program founder Rosslyn Shea‘s 10-person Kenyan dinner, which went for $1,000.
(The program that provides food that kids can take home for the weekend now serves 14 West Seattle schools!) $1,900 bought a lucky bidder a week in a 3-bedroom luxury condo on the beach at Seaside, Oregon. WSFB board president Ben Viscon of Viscon Cellars (WSB sponsor) donated, with Duos, a wine dinner that went for $1,400.
The night’s success was in no small part because of community sponsors, and the WSFB acknnowledged them again in today’s wrapup:
Thanks to Nucor, HomeStreet Bank, First Lutheran Church of West Seattle, Aegis Living, Viscon Cellars and our entire group of generous sponsors for covering the majority of the cost of this event so that the proceeds can go directly to help the 11,500 individuals that we will serve this year.
Many sponsors were represented among the attendees – here’s Nam Le, West Seattle branch manager/vice president for HomeStreet Bank (which is also a WSB sponsor):
He’s also on the WSFB board, as is Rev. Ron Marshall from First Lutheran:
WSFB partners were there to enjoy the night too – below, WestSide Baby’s executive director Nancy Woodland and husband Tim Woodland:
The WS Food Bank‘s next big event is the Grand Affair cocktail party on September 21st.
Congratulations to the team behind “Seattle Now & Then: The Historic Hundred,” which has won three awards! The 244-page coffee-table book published last year by Documentary Media is the creation o writer and photographer Paul Dorpat and Jean Sherrard, with West Seattle’s Clay Eals as editor and introduction writer. The awards:
— The Independent Book Publishers Association Ben Franklin Awards, Silver for Regional Books (note the commemorative sticker on the cover in the photo above!)
— The Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPYs), Bronze for West Pacific / Best Regional Non-Fiction
— The Association for King County Historical Organizations (AKCHO) Virginia Marie Folkins Award
Details are here, including video of one award presentation. And if you happen to be joining the Rotary Club for West Seattle tomorrow morning (8 am at the Alki Masonic Center in The Junction), you can congratulate Eals in person; he’ll be making the 32nd presentation about “Historic Hundred.”
Love wine? Love community? The two are paired this Saturday night at Highland Park Improvement Club‘s Uncorked! wine-tasting fundraiser. This is HPIC’s centennial year, so the party is extra-special.
Here’s what happens when you show up at HPIC starting at 5:30 Saturday (May 18th):
Upon entrance, you will receive a 2 commemorative wineglasses for tasting Old and New varietals. You will be invited to enjoy special tastings, while you peruse the raffle baskets and purchase raffle tickets. You can gaze upon the art donated by local artists, whose work will be up for bidding through our deservedly competitive (and fun!) Silent Art Auction. As always, an array of excellent, epicurean food will be provided for your noshing pleasure.
During the wine tasting, you’ll get an opportunity to taste side-by-side the same varietal from the Old World and the New World. Tables will enjoy a fun and enlightening journey that explores the differences between Old and New. Following the tasting, a select amount of the wines presented for tasting will be available for purchase by the glass, or by the bottle (to take home) at a discounted rate. And, for the beer-lovers who attend, we will be selling a selection of quality beers.
And again this year, we present Wine Roulette, where you purchase a chance to win a high-value bottle of wine for the bargain price of a ticket.
Our annual winetasting event is a big fundraiser for the club, and all the money received goes to support building and site improvements. This year we are installing our long dreamed for wish-list item, the audio updgrade (previewed last year!), that will enhance experiences like Uncorked for years to come.
HPIC – at 1116 SW Holden – also is home to countless community events, classes, and meetings year-round. With five days to go, you have two ways to be part of it:
Buy a ticket
Become a sponsor (we’re among the community businesses and organizations already on the list)
See you there!
Two election notes:
FILING WEEK BEGINS: Though local candidates have been able for months to register their campaigns with the state and city, they’re not officially ballot-bound until and unless they register with King County. The official Filing Week began today; by end of day Friday, would-be candidates file paperwork and pay fees as listed here (or submit one petition signature in lieu of each dollar of the fee). In what’s expected to be the year’s hottest race in our area, Brendan Kolding is the first to officially file for City Council District 1 (West Seattle/South Park). Another West Seattle/South Park position that will be on the ballot is Seattle School Board District 6; West Seattleite Molly Mitchell filed today to run. Here’s the full county list of who filed for what as of late today; the county will update that list twice daily between now and Friday.
CANDIDATE CONVERSATIONS: Your next public opportunity to hear from City Council District 1 candidates is Wednesday, when Phil Tavel and Isaiah Willoughby are scheduled guests at the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting, 7 pm Wednesday (May 15th) at Neighborhood House High Point (6400 Sylvan Way SW). DNDC chair Mat McBride explains the format – not a debate or forum:
Each candidate will share some opening thoughts with you (probably related to things voters are interested in), and then we open up for dialog. It’s the same format DNDC uses with most of our guests (elected or otherwise), a good model that provides a personal connection.
Next month’s DNDC meeting, on June 19th, is scheduled to feature two more candidates, Kolding and incumbent Lisa Herbold.
That’s the note up at DutchBoy Coffee in Highland Park (southeast corner of 16th/Holden). Proprietor Jenni Watkins has announced she’s closing the stand after almost 2 1/2 years. “I am the 4th business owner to operate a coffee stand on my corner and I tried to be the last one,” she told WSB by e-mail. “Sadly the way our world works, with business taxes, beverage tax, and the increasing cost of rent I cannot remain open. … I hope someone can carry on the neighborhood magic somehow. I want to let my customers know how they changed my life in great ways & I’ll miss serving great coffee.” As the sign says, she plans to stay open a few more weeks, so you can stop by to wish her well.
1:47 PM: SFD has a full response going to a possible house fire in the 5200 block of 46th SW. More to come.
1:50 PM: SFD is arriving and reports flames are showing. Avoid the area – it’s a huge response.
1:55 PM: That’s a TV helicopter, in case you’re wondering. Our crew has arrived – we’ll be adding photos.
2:08 PM: The photo above is from SFD, which reports the fire is under control. Here’s our newest photo:
No word yet of injuries but we’re told a kitten was rescued. (Photo added)
2:19 PM: We’ve talked again with SFD. 4 people were home when the fire started. One has been taken to the hospital for evaluation. There’s some damage to a house next door.
2:37 PM: Some of the SFD units have been dismissed.
(Photo added 9:54 am, looking toward 59th SW crash-response scene)
9:33 AM: Seattle Fire is arriving at a crash on 59th SW south of Admiral Way [map] with a “rescue extrication” response. Power lines are down. Updates to come.
9:42 AM: The collision involves two cars per SFD. Medics have radioed that two people are seriously hurt.
9:50 AM: Given the narrow, split configuration of 59th in that area, some response vehicles are on eastbound Admiral too, so be careful if you have to travel that street.
10:03 AM: Photos added. This is on the southbound, one-way section of 59th SW. The injured people are being taken to Harborview by SFD medic units. Both were in the same car, we’re tol. As mentioned earlier, power lines are down; a pole is visibly leaning, across the northbound/downhill side:
10:18 AM: Police tell us the collision actually happened on the downhill/NB side of 59th and both cars came down the embankment.
(Added: Christopher Boffoli’s aerial view)
Both injured people were in the car in the background. The driver of the one in the foreground is OK and talking to media. He says firefighters told him the other driver might have had a medical emergency preceding the collision. Meantime, SPD’s Traffic Collision Investigation detectives are responding, so the scene will be closed for some hours.
(SFD photo)
11:21 AM: The photo above was tweeted by SFD, showing the car they had to cut into to free the injured driver and passenger, who are reported to be in critical and stable condition. A commenter also notes that power is out in the area; the City Light map shows 75 customers affected, with a current restoration estimate after 1 pm.
12:18 PM: Update from SFD – the driver in critical condition is a 69-year-old man; his passenger, a 67-year-old woman, serious but stable. The other driver, a 61-year-old man, was unhurt. (added) Here’s part of what Jim Lee told reporters:
The power-outage restoration estimate for the area is now just after 4:30 pm.
1:19 PM: Kersti Muul tells us Seattle City Light is on scene with a replacement pole and other repair work under way.
3 PM: Just went through the area. SCL is still working on the northbound side but it looks like there’s enough room to pass.
3:38 PM: SPD confirms that a medical emergency caused the crash. Otherwise, the only new detail in this just-posted SPD Blotter summary is that two members of the crew that had been working on southbound 59th suffered minor injuries from the falling wires.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/ Is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE/ West Seattle-relevant traffic cams HERE)
6:55 AM: Good morning! Here’s traffic/transit info you should know as the week begins:
35TH/AVALON BUS STOP: This alert about the northbound stop closure on 35th just south of Avalon finally went out on Friday.
35TH, AVALON WORK: In case you missed it last week, here’s the latest on where crews are working.
26TH/ANDOVER WORK: A utility project will affect travel along Andover at 26th starting today.
STADIUM ZONE: The Mariners are back home starting tonight, 7:10 pm vs. Oakland. And that means the West Seattle Water Taxi will run into the late night.
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