West Seattle, Washington
21 Tuesday
The sun’s appearance in time for this afternoon’s 10th-anniversary celebration at the High Point Branch Library is appropriate, since it graced the Miller Hayashi Architects-designed library’s dedication in June 2004 too, according to the Seattle Times (WSB partner) archives. On that day, this became the third location in 62 years to hold High Point’s public library.
Even if you aren’t interested in borrowing library materials, you can check out the branch for events such as story times (our top photo, in fact, shows a story time of sorts – when we stopped by a few minutes ago, library staff and patrons were sharing memories); they’re usually on the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar as well as the library’s online calendar of events. This afternoon’s celebration, meantime, continues at the branch (35th/Raymond) until 3:30 pm. (And when you visit, don’t miss the art!)
(WSB photo from 2012 parade)
Just under four weeks until the Fourth of July; if you were wondering – a few have asked – yes, the Kids’ Parade in Admiral is on! That’s the word from Jackie Clough, who took over parade coordination last year along with Allyson Schreck. They’re organizing it again this year and will have more details soon. It’s also on the agenda for next Tuesday night’s monthly meeting of the Admiral Neighborhood Association (7 pm June 10th at The Sanctuary), whose parade support each year including selling treats during the post-parade games at Hamilton Viewpoint Park. If you’re new to the area, this is West Seattle’s only 4th of July parade, and it’s a low-key, no-floats stroll through North Admiral neighborhoods, with kids, pets, bikes, scooters, strollers, wagons, decorations, costumes – here’s our coverage from last year (including video). So again, whether you want to be a participant or spectator, go ahead and mark your calendar for Friday, July 4th, 10 am start, 44th/Sunset.
If you want to close out the night on a hopeful note – and/or to hear about an easy way to do some good in the world – listen to this: 5-7 pm tomorrow, in White Center, you can help hundreds of schoolchildren reach out across the miles to help other kids. The helpers are not necessarily so well-off themselves, but one of their teachers explains that when they learned how much better they have it than some others, they had to do something. The event has been in our calendar a while but we didn’t have all the details Shoshanna Cohen shares:
I’m a 2nd grade teacher at Mount View Elementary, next to White Center, and I’m planning our school’s carnival this year. … It is not any regular carnival. Our school has a 87% free and reduced population, yet my 6th-grade carnival leadership team has learned about children in Honduras who are not as fortunate as us. For instance, education is only free until 6th grade in Honduras. From 7th grade on, you have to pay $500 tuition to attend school. The vast majority of the rural Honduran population does not have that kind of money. As part of our WE Day participation, we are raising $1000 to send to the non-profit Light of Esperanza, to help two deserving students in Vega Redonda, Honduras, attend 7th grade. The rest of the money raised will go to our PTA so that the school can afford field trips, special events, and sports for the 2014-2015 school year.
Again, this is happening 5-7 pm tomorrow (Friday, June 6th) at Mount View Elementary, 10811 12th Ave SW (map). The official invitation: “Come and celebrate the end of the school year with us with food, fun, bouncy houses, games, and GREAT prizes! Learn about our sister school in Vega Redonda, Honduras and how we are helping other children around the world! There will be free face painting and art projects too! This event is free to get in.”
At left, that’s Raindrops the cat. She is the inspiration for a benefit show at Skylark Café and Club this Friday night – the return of the West Side Glory variety show, which in turn was an evening spinoff from Seattle’s original drag brunch. West Seattleite Jeffrey Robert is hosting and producing, and proceeds benefit West Seattle’s Kitty Harbor cat/kitten shelter, which saved Raindrops after Jeffrey rescued her from a local road. So here’s how the story goes:
Back in December, Raindrops made an appearance on the WSB Lost/Found Pets Page, described as having been found on the bridge, though that wasn’t quite right, it turns out – Jeffrey says she was on the top of the overpass bridge connecting the West Seattle Bridge and Highway 99.
She was badly hurt, too – including a broken leg. Jeffrey (photo at right) says she didn’t look like she was going to survive. He contacted Kitty Harbor, who arranged for surgery, and eventually she found a forever home. He plans to tell the entire story during West Side Glory on Friday night. They still don’t know how Raindrops ended up on that busy road – whether she was dumped, or maybe fell from a car she climbed into. But there she was.
Even if you’re not interested in a tale about a kitty – you might want to see the all-star lineup taking the stage starting at 9 pm Friday, including West Seattle’s rising-star comic Mona Concepcion and local burlesque performer Sibyl Darling. Along with the aforementioned performers, the lineup includes David Johnson, Emmett Montgomery, Beka Barry, Olivia LaGarce, Cherry Tart, Cherry Sur Bête, Honey Bucket, Abbey Drake, Deb Seymour, Peggy Platt, Sylvia O’Stayformore, Bella Luna & Michelle Pannell, SuperNova-Majesty, Matt Clear, “and more TBA” – plus a prize raffle.
It’s 21+ – Jeffrey allows, “We get a little bit naughty” – suggested donation $15. If you need a reminder, here’s the Facebook event page. Skylark is at 3803 Delridge Way SW.
With Memorial Day weekend opening the gate to summer, festival season is in view. This year, the Seafair Pirates Landing on Alki is earlier than usual – Saturday, June 28th. On a visit to the beach this morning, we noticed the newly placed promotional banners, making their annual appearance. There will of course be pirate sightings before then; according to their online schedule, they’ll be in the Portland Rose Parade this weekend (as will the Chief Sealth International High School Marching Band).
SIDE NOTE – ALSO IN JUNE: Two more big-event dates for your June calendar – the Westwood Village Street Fair on June 14th and the Morgan Junction Community Festival (co-sponsored by WSB) on June 21st.
Barbecue grills might be the official outdoor-cooking appliances of summer, but you can break the mold by joining in wood-fired baking with the Barton Street Community Garden and P-Patch, which invites you to drop by sometime this Sunday:
The 2014 gardening season is underway! To mark the start of summer, the Barton Street Community Garden and P-Patch will fire up its wood-fired masonry bread and pizza oven. Architect and designer/builder Chris Luthi, who led the project construction, will host. He’ll introduce the use of traditional community ovens as well as masonry oven cooking techniques. Neighbors are invited to join the event, which will feature baking bread and bagel in the morning and pizzas in the afternoon. Participants are encouraged to bring cheese, sauce and toppings for pizzas, and a limited amount of dough for bagels and pizzas will be provided. This informational and fundraising event is open to all.
WHO: Barton Street Community Garden and P-Patch
WHAT: Fire It Up! Bread and Pizza Oven Season Opener
WHERE: Barton St. Community Garden and P-Patch, SW Corner of SW Barton Street and 34th St. SW
WHEN: Sunday, May 25, 2014, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
WHAT TO BRING: Cheese, sauce, pizza toppings, drinks, chairs
Donations are warmly welcome!
This is the garden/P-patch’s third full growing year.
(WSB file photo of West Seattle Car Show in The Junction)
Though its founder is gone, the West Seattle Car Show is likely to go on. Its future was uncertain after the sudden, early death this past March of Michael Hoffman, who launched the show in 2008 and made it happen each year since, but after reaching out to seek your opinion last month, two local car-care businesses (both WSB sponsors) are moving forward with plans to keep it going – and asking for your help:
Following up on the West Seattle Blog poll regarding the West Seattle Car Show, published April 30, 2014, thank you for the overwhelmingly positive response. It is clear that the car show is an enormously popular community event.
Swedish Automotive, Inc. and West Seattle Autoworks are pleased to announce that we are moving forward with preparations for the West Seattle Car Show, scheduled for September 14th, 2014, to be located in the West Seattle Junction!
There are many details and pieces to put in place between now and then, and this is where we need your help … If you volunteered for the West Seattle Car Show in previous years (or would like to volunteer this year) or have key pieces of information regarding preparation for this event, and you are willing to share yourself as a resource, please email wscarshow@gmail.com with your contact information and a brief description of how you can help. Thank you in advance for your participation!
Watch for updates as the planning continues!
Everyone was a winner at this year’s Taste of West Seattle, including the food-and-beverage fest’s hundreds of attendees, and the benefiting/organizing West Seattle Helpline, whose emergency-assistance work depends on not only Taste-goers, but sponsors/donors such as Metropolitan Market, which presented Helpline with a $10,000 check:
From left, that’s Brooks, Megan, Carol, Jude, and Brent. And then there are … the Taste winners, chosen by attendees! Fresh Bistro, which is about to celebrate its 5th anniversary, won Best Bite for its “Carlton Farms Pork Confit”, described as stuffed filo cups with pickled kohlrabi, confit pork, smoked almond butter, blackberry vin, and micro-arugula. Chef Shun, center below with Adam and Mary, created it:
The best sweet taste was won for a second consecutive year by Stuffed Cakes.
Back to the savory … Salty’s brought oyster buckets featuring Firecracker Prawns:
You can probably guess what Harry’s Chicken Joint – represented by Catherine and Patty – dished up:
Also on hand, from just about a block away, Endolyne Joe’s, with Andrea and Rich:
Lora from Hotwire Online Coffeehouse:
Did you know The Cask in the Admiral District is under new ownership? Marty was at the Taste:
And major Taste sponsor – not to mention, host! – Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering/Hall at Fauntleroy proprietor David Haggerty (below left) took a moment to pose with Rev. Ron Marshall from the Helpline board:
Also among the topline sponsors, HomeStreet Bank. Congratulations to all for a fun, successful night!
ADDED 9:18 AM FRIDAY: A few more notes courtesy of Helpline board president Brooks Riendl: More than $50,000 raised; second and third place winners in the voting, for Best Taste, #2 Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes, #3 Blackboard Bistro; for Best Sweet, #2 Ma’Ono, #3 Bakery Nouveau.
(Per our customary disclosure – those mentioned above include multiple current WSB sponsors: Metropolitan Market, Salty’s on Alki, Harry’s Chicken Joint, Endolyne Joe’s, Hotwire Online Coffeehouse, and HomeStreet Bank. They and the dozens of other sponsors and participants all gave WS Helpline a boost by donating food, beverages, and personnel, and/or funding. Go here to find out more about what WS Helpline does.)
Thanks to Lynn Hall for sharing the view from Alki as dusk approached tonight. Looking a week into the future – next Sunday (May 18th) brings a doubleheader to the beach: West Seattle 5K (co=sponsored by WSB) starts the day, followed by the SDOT-organized Summer Streets festival (still known informally as “car-free day” though its scope scaled way down years ago). As has been the case since 2011, Alki Avenue is only closed in the heart of the beach zone – 56th to 63rd – once the race wraps up around 11 am. Here’s this year’s map:
No full list of activities/festival participants yet – we hope to see that by midweek – but as noted here last month, the Alki Beach Creeps Bicycle Club is leading a costume/bicycle parade for the second year, 1 pm from 63rd/Alki, so get ready for that! (And sign up for the WS5K if you haven’t already.) See you at the beach …
The event announcements shared with us daily are published via the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, where you can browse days/weeks ahead at any time to see what’s coming up. The PNTA store in North Delridge just sent the most unusual announcement we’ve received in a while, so we’re sharing it here too:
PNTA is hosting the Semi-Finals for the 5th Annual Crypticon Seattle Makeup Contest on Saturday, May 3rd, with round 1 starting at 10:30 am and round 2 starting at 12:30 pm. Over the course of an hour, each contestant will create their best horror fx makeup look, (a la Syfy’s Face Off). This is a free event, and families are welcome!
The top 5 contestants will advance to the final round of competition, which will be held live at Crypticon Seattle over Memorial Day weekend. For more information about the May 3rd event, please see the event page. PNTA, Seattle’s theatrical supply store, is located at 2414 SW Andover St (near Delridge Way). Plenty of free parking.
This year’s West Seattle Rock Club show has not one, but two silent auctions – including the one above, just for kids. Admission to the show, which started today and continues tomorrow, is free, with members displaying their collections and showing some of the skills it takes to turn a rock or gem into a shining collection piece.
You’ll also find vendors selling gems, minerals, tools, and jewelry:
More demonstrations and hands-on activities for all ages, plus refreshments, all happening again tomorrow in the Masonic Center at 40th and Edmunds, 10 am-5 pm.
Still time to get to the West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) Healthy Kids Day in The Triangle – thanks to Maria for the photos!
It’s on at 36th/Snoqualmie until 1 pm. Here’s what Healthy Kids Day is all about.
The rain held off until JUST after the simultaneous egg hunts at West Seattle-area city-run community centers – above and below, our photos from High Point CC:
Next two are from Hiawatha CC, shared by Jason Grotelueschen:
We also went to South Park CC:
And (added late Saturday night) thanks to Tom from the Southwest Advisory Council for sharing photos from their egg hunt and April Pools Day events:
Alki and Delridge CC’s had egg-hunt events too.
9:42 AM: Our first photo in from the first egg hunt of the day – West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor), popular as ever – this little egg-seeker just wanted to stop down and enjoy his finds!
ADDED 11:02 AM: Thanks to Mike Katz for sharing this photo:
Eleanore and Mimi meet the Easter Bunny! Many thanks to Thriftway for their 27th annual Easter Egg Hunt! We had such a great time. We’d like to thank all the staff for putting in such a wonderful community event.
ADDED 3:24 PM: More WSB photos, starting with a different “Easter bunny” encounter in the store:
Egg hunters and families just kept streaming in:
Treasure even turned up by the coffee bar …
… and we spotted a basket at a checkstand …
… and a chance to recycle the plastic eggs on the way out!
Thriftway has dozens of its own photos from today on the store’s Facebook page.
(2011 WSB photo by Stephanie Chacharon)
Two weeks and two days until your chance to enjoy a fun and fashionable night and help Northwest Hope and Healing, the West Seattle/West Seattleite-founded and -run organization that helps cancer patients. Tickets are on sale now for “Style ’14,” which includes a runway fashion show that features models who are also breast-cancer survivors, as well as prize drawings, a fund-a-need event, and more. It’s on Thursday, May 1st; you can just attend the show, or you can buy a VIP ticket which includes a pre-event party, cocktail reception, “heavy appetizers,” reserved seats, and a thank-you gift. Doors open at 6:30 pm for VIP, 7 pm for general admission, and the show starts at 7:30 pm; it’s a 21+ event. Though it’s outside West Seattle, at Showbox SODO, not only does it involve NWHH’s West Seattle leadership, it also involves West Seattle businesses including West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor), Carmilia’s, Coastal, Ola, Twala Intimates, and more, as well as West Seattleites who are on the volunteer planning committee. You can buy your ticket online here (see the left sidebar of that page).
(WSB photo from 2013 Thriftway egg hunt)
If you have one or more kids determined to have the most fun possible at the Easter Eve egg hunts in West Seattle and vicinity on Saturday – here’s where to go, and when:
9 am – West Seattle Thriftway (California/Fauntleroy/Morgan; WSB sponsor) egg hunt
10 am – Seattle Parks & Rec community center egg hunt of your choice:
*********Alki – 5817 SW Stevens – is billed as for ages 11 and under
*********Delridge – 4501 Delridge Way SW – for ages 3-11
*********Hiawatha – 2700 California SW – for 3-11
*********High Point – 6920 34th SW – for 3-11
*********South Park – 8319 8th Ave. S. – for ages 1-10
11 am – Eastridge Church egg hunt at Lincoln Park (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW) – bring donations for the diaper drive for WestSide Baby
We’re still adding other special weekend events to the calendar, so if you have something for Saturday/Sunday (including services), it’s not too late – editor@westseattleblog.com.
The West Seattle Cup soccer tournament/festival for local kids and families continues to take shape. We first mentioned it here in January – and now it’s just two months away. From organizer Terry Kegel:
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