SMOKY SUNDAY: What’s happening/not happening in West Seattle today – UPDATED

(Saturday photo by Tami Lenzie)

Another smoky day – with the air-quality alert still in effect – but relief is on the way sometime tomorrow, they say. Meantime, here’s our Sunday list, starting with West Seattle church services (mostly online, with a few in-person additions):

ADMIRAL UCC: The worship service for today is here.

ALKI UCC: 10 am online service via Zoom – info and link on church’s home page.

ALL SOULS SEATTLE: Updated worship info is here – today is a drive-thru “Communion Sunday.”

BETHANY COMMUNITY CHURCH: Livestreaming for West Seattle here at 9:30 am.

CALVARY CHAPEL: Today’s service audio is here, plus 10 am in-person service, 6 pm online all-church prayer and 7 pm online evening worship (info on home page).

THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS: West Seattle Ward has Sunday services via Zoom at 10 am, one hour long, all welcome. They last an hour. Here’s the link.

EASTRIDGE CHURCH: Livestreaming here at 9 am and 11 am.

FAUNTLEROY UCC: Service will be streamed at 10 am on the church’s YouTube channel.

FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH OF WEST SEATTLE: Today’s online liturgy is here.

GRACE CHURCH: Livestreaming here, 10:30 am.

HALLOWS CHURCH: Streaming at 10 am via the church’s YouTube channel.

HOLY ROSARY CATHOLIC CHURCH: Livestreaming at 8:30 am ~~and 10:30 am~~ here. Also, “in-person” attendance by pre-registration for ~~both those~~ Sunday Masses (as well as 5 pm Saturdays); preregister here.

HOPE LUTHERAN: Today’s worship service and children’s story are viewable here.

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE CATHOLIC CHURCH: Livestreaming at 10 am, here. (To attend in-person Saturday Masses, register here.)

PEACE LUTHERAN: Livestreaming at 10:30 am on YouTube.

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH: 9 am, first parking-lot service in church/school lots – decorate your vehicle – bulletin is here, with info including the radio frequency. ONLINE: 10 am Kidz Club, 11:15 am Worship from the Sanctuary, both via YouTube (that bulletin is here).

TIBBETTS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH (WSB sponsor): The video service for today is here.

TRINITY CHURCH: Livestreaming here, 10 am. (In-person services too; registration required.)

WEST SEATTLE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: The video service for today is viewable here.

WEST SEATTLE CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE: Livestreaming here, 11 am.

WEST SIDE PRESBYTERIAN Livestreaming at 10 am on the church’s YouTube channel. (In-person prayer services during the week start Tuesday – info here.)

WESTSIDE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CONGREGATION: Livestreaming at 10:30 am – information on today’s service is here.

WESTWOOD CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY: Online (and in-person) worship at 11 am; info here.

Any other churches to add? Please email us – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!

Also today/tonight (subject to last-minute change, but this is what we know as of early today):

WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: Yes, the market says it’s ON despite the smoke. (And did you know they recently got approval to increase the capacity a bit, meaning less waiting in line?) 10 am-2 pm. Scroll down the page at this link to find the vendor list and map for this week. (Enter at California/Alaska)

DONATION DRIVE: 10 am-3 pm Sunday outside Alki UCC (6115 SW Hinds):

Starting this month, Alki UCC is inviting our generous neighbors to bring donations of school supplies and men’s casual/work clothing as well as non-perishable food.

We’re accepting all school supplies for all grades on behalf of one or more local schools to be distributed when students are back at in-person learning. Suggestions include backpacks, #2 pencils, black and blue ink pens, crayons, lined paper, glue, small scissors, colored pens, writing notebooks and colored paper.

Donations of clean, new or used men’s casual/work clothing are distributed through the Westside Interfaith Network’s hot lunch program for people experiencing homelessness, The Welcome Table. There is a constant and growing demand for denim apparel, khaki’s, hoodies, tee shirts, sweatshirts, clean underwear, socks, shoes and all kinds of outerwear for the fall and winter. Please … NO dress shirts, sport coats or suits.

Food donations are distributed through the White Center Food Bank. All contributions benefit our vulnerable neighbors in need.

WEST SEATTLE TOOL LIBRARY: Open 11 am-4 pm – need a tool to fix or improve something? (4408 Delridge Way SW)

(added) CAMP SECOND CHANCE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE: 2 pm online. If you have questions or concerns about West Seattle’s only city-sanctioned tiny-house encampment, or if you want to hear updates firsthand, be there. Link here; password 9701; access code 858 5523 4269; or, call 253-215-8782.

FREE TO-GO DINNER: White Center Community Dinner Church will serve to-go meals at 5 pm, outside, near the Bartell Drugs parking lot in White Center, SW Roxbury St. & 15th Ave. SW (9600 15th Ave SW)

CLOSURES/CHANGES: West Seattle Nursery planned to be closed today. Marination ma kai‘s outdoor seating is closed. (added) Second Gear Sports is closed again today: “We are remaining closed today, Sunday, due to continued air quality and the inability for customers to safely be outside our store while waiting for reduction in occupancy.” Their anniversary sale will be extended into next week.

Any other closures or changes? Let us know – text 206-293-6302 – thank you!

Just saying September 13, 2020 (9:41 am)

Is it me, or is it Irresponsible for the farmers market to remain open during such a dangerous time for people to be outdoors? If the mayor feels It necessary to close beaches, parks ect for being outdoors, why would it be ok to stroll around a market. There are other ways to get your veggies.

Joseph September 13, 2020 (12:46 pm)

Because food is a critical, essential item. It’s safer to be outside in the smoke at a farmer’s market than inside at a grocery store due to COVID-19. Parks shouldn’t be closed, anyway, which is why no other municipality around Seattle has closed them. I was at 3 open Bellevue parks and 2 Renton parks yesterday.
- Elijah September 13, 2020 (3:53 pm)
  
  OK, I’ll bite: Why did you visit 5 parks yesterday?
  - Joseph September 14, 2020 (2:12 pm)
    
    #1) Why not? #2) I work for a living and I had business in Factoria and Bellevue that day. I stopped to eat my lunch in Bellevue Downtown Park and cooled off in the water at Meydenbauer Park 2 blocks away. Then I hit Aubrey Davis Park on Mercer Island to meet a colleague and exchange paperwork. I watched a game of tennis from my HEPA-filtered car while there. After that I stopped at Alki for some photos and a short stroll and Lincoln Park to use the exercise bars for a quick set of pullups, rows, and bar dips. At each location there were people out and about doing normal activities.
- Elton September 13, 2020 (10:38 pm)
  
  I’ll also bite, why shouldn’t parks be closed when the air quality is hazardous? It would be reckless, bordering on legal liability, for the city to let parks remain open. They weren’t issuing citations (probably for logistical reason), but parks were closed.

Mj September 13, 2020 (10:26 am)

Just saying – then stay home and let others make there own choices.

psps September 13, 2020 (12:48 pm)

Wrong. “Their” choices aren’t affecting their safety but, rather, everyone else’s. It’s uninformed proclamations such as yours that have condemned us to still being stuck in the “denial” stage for over six months.
- Dr. No September 13, 2020 (2:01 pm)
  
  Actually psps, calling someone out for their grammar is pretty crummy- you must have some clear air up there. If someone chooses to venture out because of poor air quality, then that’s their choice. We live in a free country. I see your weak connection to the pandemic but this has nothing to do with it.
- Also John September 13, 2020 (4:03 pm)
  
  @psps…. Totally agree.
wilson September 13, 2020 (6:57 pm)

I’m with you MJ
heartless September 13, 2020 (7:33 pm)

Just a quick point: when people get sick in the US, how often do you think the cost of their care trickles back to taxpayers?

If you’re going to go full libertarian lunacy, as many of you are (or pretend to be), it’s something you simply must address.

Idiot doesn’t wear a seatbelt, gets hospitalized, who foots the bill? Everyone else.

Some guy thinks it’s a great idea to go visit 5 parks on a day when the air’s been replaced by smoke, they get sick–who foots the bill? Everyone else.

We live together in a society–you are not in a vacuum, and your actions have cascading consequences that you don’t seem to register (or care about).

But, by all means, continue whining about how your freedoms are being curtailed because big bad local government is asking you to stay inside and stay healthy. You’re a bunch of geniuses, you are.
- Joseph September 13, 2020 (8:23 pm)
  
  I visited 5 parks yesterday and spent several hours outside. You know what my negative effects were? ZERO. Not even itchy eyes or a cough. I’ve had WAY more discomfort from high tree pollen in the spring.
  - heartless September 13, 2020 (9:29 pm)
    
    Your argument is parallel to:
    
    I had 15 shots of bourbon yesterday and I’m just fine!
    
    I drive without a seatbelt and have NEVER had an accident!
    
    I’ve smoked a pack a day for 50 years and I am cancer-free!
    
    These are called anecdotal fallacies, and are examples of spurious reasoning.
    
    But beyond all that, I simply find it bizarre and worrisome that you are going down the path of claiming this smoky air isn’t unhealthy. I mean… Do you actually believe that? Do you actually believe the air quality isn’t unhealthy? If so, what on earth makes you think that?
    - Joseph September 13, 2020 (10:35 pm)
      
      Acute, short-term exposure to this level of air pollution is not hazardous to healthy individuals. Human lungs and nasal passages are self-cleaning and can shed 2.5 to 10+ micron particles easily after a few days of exposure. I’m 56 years old, a non-smoker, exercise regularly, have no heart or pulmonary problems, and live an active, healthy lifestyle. However, I’m not running my daily 2-3 miles until we get below 100 AQI. Our elderly neighbor with advanced heart disease walked a mile to the grocery store with no ill effects. But that’s her choice. Our air quality is only at the “very unhealthy” level, like Twinkies, cigarettes, and fatty meats. None of those will kill anyone right away, either, and would take years of regular consumption to cause damage. If we were to reach the “hazardous” AQI levels of 400-500+ that Oregon is experiencing, I wouldn’t leave the house even to buy eggs without a painting respirator. But we’re nowhere near that here, thank God.
    - anonyme September 14, 2020 (7:46 am)
      
      Heartless, I completely agree with both your posts. So many people are so self-absorbed, with no seeming ability to understand that actions have consequences beyond Mr. (or Ms.) Number One.
  - Elton September 13, 2020 (10:42 pm)
    
    You get the Darwin award today, buddy. Bad air quality at current levels doesn’t mean you drop dead from inhaling it, it means that inhaling it has long term health impacts. People don’t smoke a cigarette and then die the next day, but chronic smoking often leads to fatal diseases.Keeping parks open requires city officials, they’re probably closed primarily for the same reason the nursery is closed: putting employees at risk for the benefit of other Darwin award winners doesn’t make sense.

Cycleman September 13, 2020 (11:05 am)

Mj, that’s what I think Just saying was saying. Why close the beaches and the parks and not other things. Let people make their own decisions.

Jim September 13, 2020 (11:17 am)

MJ – Exactly! Enough with the Big Brother mentality.

Agree September 13, 2020 (4:06 pm)

@Jim… I agree. If I feel sick I should be allowed to mingle with crowds, unmasked, coughing up a storm.
- Jim September 13, 2020 (6:03 pm)
  
  Agree – you are way off track. The original post was about closing the Farmer’s Market because of the smoke. COVID has nothing to do with it. Unless, of course, you’re saying the Farmer’s Market shouldn’t be allowed to open at any time. I think Joseph addressed that issue.
  - Jenny September 14, 2020 (6:56 am)
    
    Are you not aware of the connection between respiratory viruses (such as COVID) and respiratory irritants (such as the very unhealthily air quality we’re experiencing)?
- Resident September 13, 2020 (7:47 pm)
  
  Way to stay on point…

curbfeeler September 13, 2020 (12:58 pm)

Foot ferry Friday. Frightfully foggy.

heartless September 13, 2020 (2:24 pm)

Alarming and also amusingly alliterative!

Colette F Moss September 13, 2020 (1:47 pm)

Thank you for this list! This is the “we got this” type of community spirit needed. Thank you!

Kate September 13, 2020 (4:44 pm)

Am I the only one that out there that thinks #wegotthis is not a great motivational hashtag when the globe is dealing with a highly contagious virus? I always cringe a bit when I see it. It reminds me of North and South Dakota’s campaign against meth “We’re On It” (I have a hard time believing that’s even true).

heartless September 13, 2020 (7:35 pm)

That’s funny. Very nice.
Resident September 13, 2020 (7:48 pm)

I like it. It is positive and motivating. I don’t like most of these types of slogans but this one is fine.

Sorry, comment time is over.