West Seattle, Washington
12 Tuesday
West Seattle has two new Eagle Scouts. Above are Nicholas Gjording and Jackson Carney of Troop 282, whose Court of Honor was held tonight at Camp Long. That’s also the site of Jackson’s Eagle Scout project, restoration of the park’s Wildlife Garden, as shown here last December. He’s a West Seattle High School junior; Nicholas is graduating from Garfield HS and headed for the UW – his Eagle Scout project was at a Scout camp in South King County. Tonight’s ceremony included troop history, with the invocation given by the troop’s first Eagle Scout, Rev. Dr. Ron Rice of West Side Presbyterian Church:
Guest speakers included another former West Seattle Eagle Scout you might recognize, King County Executive Dow Constantine, who had words of congratulations for Jackson and Nicholas as well as memories of his Scouting years:
And they heard from Alaska Airlines CEO Brad Tilden, also a West Seattleite.
Later this year, Troop 282 marks its 70th anniversary!
Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
“We have a real opportunity here.”
With regard to light rail and community planning in the Alaska Junction (and in West Seattle as a whole), that was one of the key themes Thursday night at the Junction Neighborhood Organization (JuNO) meeting at the Senior Center of West Seattle.
JuNO’s guest speaker was Lauren Flemister (pictured above), community planning manager from Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD), who gave an overview of the processes, how her office works with Sound Transit and how the public can get involved.
Flemister, along with leaders in attendance such as JuNO director Amanda Sawyer and Deb Barker (who was on the light-rail project Stakeholder Advisory Group and is on the West Seattle Transportation Coalition‘s board), agreed that with light rail coming to West Seattle in 2030, this will be a “long process” with many opportunities for public input. When Flemister was asked by Sawyer if the planning processes for the Alaska Junction and West Seattle are likely to be “typical” compared to other regional rail-expansion projects in the past, Flemister said no, because her office expects this latest process to be “much more robust.”
The junction has been a focal point for these light rail discussions — as we reported back in March, an overflow crowd gathered at the Senior Center to hear from Sound Transit officials, and back in November 2017 a top ST manager spoke at a JuNO meeting and promised “an interesting year and a half” ahead. (See our comprehensive light rail coverage here.)
Sawyer kicked off the Thursday meeting by putting in a plug for neighbors interested in serving as a JuNO officer to email juno@wsjuno.org or go to wsjuno.org. The group will be holding elections during their September meeting for the positions of president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. With all of the development and growth in the area, Sawyer said, now is a great time to get involved to “help create a collaborative vision and future for the Alaska Junction.” Sawyer noted that it’s an intentional effort to have a slate of elected officers for JuNO, and that although she’s currently the leader of the group, she wasn’t “elected” officially. She added that the group needs strong voices, representing both longtime residents as well as new neighbors and renters and business owners, particularly as light rail will be bringing transit stations and added density to the neighborhood. “It’s a decade-plus of discussion,” she said, “we’ll have some decisions to make soon but for much of it we’ll be waiting until much later,”
Sawyer then turned things over to Flemister for the remainder of the meeting, to lead the discussion on neighborhood planning and light rail. Flemister acknowledged that she was relatively new to Seattle and that this was her first community presentation of this type in the city, but is no stranger to large regional transit projects in the area, having worked on projects in the Tacoma area and south sound (focusing partially on property value impacts). She stepped through a slide presentation (see below) and took questions from attendees.
Family and friends will gather June 22nd to remember Richard “Rick” Oss. Here’s the remembrance that’s being shared with the community:
Richard “Rick” Oss passed away May 4, 2019 at age 68. Apart from his time in the Army, he was a lifelong West Seattleite, living in Arbor Heights, Alki, and his house of 40 years at the bottom of Charlestown Hill. Rick worked at Lucky Grocery while he attended Sealth HS (Class of ’68) and UW and also continued to work there summers when he became a teacher (The Bush School, St. James Academy).
After retiring from 20+ years as management at Boeing, Rick was blessed to return to his passion of teaching, this time with Seattle Public Schools and ultimately returning to Sealth to teach in the Special Education Department and The Bridge Program. Rick’s two passions were teaching and his faith (Hillcrest Pres, Westside Pres), which he brought into all aspects of his life. No matter the situation, Rick sought to demonstrate Christ’s grace, love, and acceptance to whomever he might meet and naturally fostered learning (especially encouraging others to ask questions and find answers). These traits were also the foundation of his life as a father, always supporting “his girls” through life’s many decisions and seasons.
Richard Oss is survived by his daughters and grandchildren (Lynnette Oss: Orin, Karis; Jen Secrest: Ezra, Georgette), his mother (Jo Oss), and his siblings (David Oss, Michele Malgren) and their families. Rick was preceded in death by his father (Richard “Dick” Oss).
To remember Rick, a casual Fellowship Hour to share memories will be held 9:30 AM-11:30 AM Saturday, June 22, at Lincoln Park Shelter #1. Please bring your memories of Rick, either written down or ready to share in his memorial book. Rick’s daughters will share briefly around 10 AM (others may speak as well). As there will be coffee and baked goods, please RSVP if possible. However, in the spirit of making it something Rick would actually want to attend, RSVP is absolutely not required.
In lieu of flowers, please consider giving in his name to www.treehouseforkids.org or donate basic school supplies directly to your local school.
(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)
After school gets out for summer later this month, more than two dozen West Seattle High School students have special study opportunities to look forward to! From teacher Meghan Schumacher:
This summer, 27 students from West Seattle High School will be studying abroad for one month with CIEE, the Center for International Educational Exchange, a nonprofit organization which coordinates high school and college international exchanges.
Most of these students (78%) are traveling with some kind of scholarship, and they are going all over the world. West Seattle High School is the only school in the district that is participating in this program.
Students will be participating in three types of programs: Language and Culture Programs, including French, Spanish, Chinese, and Italian; Service and Leadership Programs such as youth mentorship and advancing children’s health in Senegal, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico; and Global Discovery Programs where students will be learning about topics such as theater, wildlife conservation, creative arts, aquatic ecosystems, and marine science in London, Botswana, Australia, Italy, Spain and Portugal.
We very much appreciate the support of the teachers, parents, and community members of these students, encouraging them to apply and to put their best foot forward.
Schumacher is WSHS’s French teacher and also the school coordinator; she says WSHS has a special partnership with CIEE, as a “Global Navigator School.”
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
While some of our area’s longrunning community groups are grappling with where their future lies, the area’s newer “super-group” is continuing to rev up.
The District 1 Community Network – which has been in formative stages since late last year – will work through the summer, with its major initiatives now tentatively on a timeline for fall.
We sat in on the D1CN’s May 28th meeting at the Duwamish Tribe Longhouse.
Organizations represented included the hosting Duwamish Tribe as well as the Junction Neighborhood Organization, Genesee-Schmitz Neighborhood Council, Fauntleroy Community Association, West Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs, Delridge Neighborhoods District Council, Morgan Community Association, Southwest District Council, Admiral Neighborhood Association, West Seattle Transportation Coalition, South Park Senior Center, and South Park Neighborhood Association.
D1CN is working on two major initiatives right now:
The planned reopening of Southwest Pool – our area’s only city-run indoor pool – has been pushed back again. First it was supposed to reopen, after a month of work including getting a new liner, on May 27th; then a “partial reopening” was announced for June 12th; now the pool’s website says it won’t reopen at all until June 24th:
We promise we’re getting there! Just a couple more repairs are needed to the pool shell. We will post a grand reopening schedule by Wed., June 12. It will include a series of free drop-in swims that will take place during the first week, as a thank you for all your patience.
Outdoor Colman Pool, which has been open on weekends for a month, starts its seven-day-a-week summer operations next Saturday (June 15th) – see the schedule here.
11:31 AM: Going on a month and a half after we first started getting reports about, and photos of. The West Seattle Turkey, it’s still hanging out on the peninsula. The photos above and below were sent last night by Monica Zaborac.
And from a few days earlier, this photo’s from Jeremy Barnes:
Though the sightings started in April in southwest West Seattle and steadily moved north, then east, it has been consistently reported south/southeast of Admiral for a few weeks now. Still no hint of its origin. P.S. Thanks for the updates!
ADDED 1:30 PM: A photo from this morning, same general vicinity, courtesy of James Craig:
(Photo by Mark Jaroslaw)
Happy Sunday! Seven highlights:
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm, see what’s fresh. Note for gardeners: Plant purveyors Langley Fine Gardens said last week that today would be their final WSFM visit of the season. (California SW between SW Oregon and SW Alaska)
FRISBEE! 10 am at Walt Hundley Playfield, you’re invited to play with West Seattle Ultimate Family Frisbee. (34th SW/SW Myrtle)
MEET THE GREYHOUNDS: 11 am-1 pm, Greyhound Pets Inc. invites you to a meet-and-greet at Admiral Mud Bay. (2611 California SW)
COLMAN POOL: You can swim this afternoon/evening at West Seattle’s outdoor saltwater public pool, on the beach at Lincoln Park. Noon-7 pm; see the session-specific schedule here. (8603 Fauntleroy Way SW)
WHITE CENTER PRIDE: The five-day celebration concludes today, highlighted by a Sunday Funday Fair, all ages welcome, with featured vendors, at Future Primitive Brewing, noon-4 pm. (9832 14th SW)
TOUR THE ALKI POINT LIGHTHOUSE: Third chance this season! The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary invites you to come see the historic lighthouse, 1-4 pm (last group enters at 3:45 pm). Free. (3201 Alki SW)
KNIFE-SHARPENING SINK BRIDGE CLASS: 3-5 pm at West Seattle Tool Library. A few spots in this class remained when we checked earlier today – go here if you’re interested! (4408 Delridge Way SW)
MORE! You can always see the full list for today/tonight/beyond on our complete calendar.
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