Holidays 2535 results

West Seattle Halloween: Start the day with WS pumpkin pix

Happy Halloween! No pix of this yet, but last night, Walking on Logs at the end of The Bridge was surrounded by glowing jack-o-lanterns. Didn’t see it far enough in advance to pull over for pix. Eddie e-mailed that he saw cars there just after 8 pm. Let us know if you know who did it – and/or if you have pix! Now, the latest WSB’er pumpkins:

That’s from Meredith in Admiral. Next, a jack-o-lantern group from Benjamin at 13th/Webster:

And two from John Moore of Northwest Insurance Group (WSB sponsor):

John also sent an Obama-o-lantern — one of several we have, along with two other celebrity (nonpolitical, more or less) carvings; just click ahead:Read More

He’s big, he’s green, he’s … stolen: Be on the lookout

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He’s been on our Holidays page – and now sadly we have word that this inflatable “Boogie” (from “Nightmare Before Christmas”) is in the hands of thieves. Brian just e-mailed:

Unfortunately within the last 90 minutes, somebody came in our front yard near 42nd and Andover and stole him. We are checking with our neighbors to see if they saw anything or captured any footage on their security cameras.

Please send a message out to the wonderful people in West Seattle letting them know to be on the lookout for Boogie and alert the blog if they see him. And for those that may be reading this and know
anything about this, returning Boogie back to our front porch would be the right thing to do.

West Seattle Halloween: “Skeleton Theatre” preview

That’s probably the only front yard in West Seattle with not one, but two pirate ships (and our photo doesn’t even show the BIGGER one). It’s the scene of the third annual edition of the 36th/Hanford Halloween hit Skeleton Theatre; the final stages of construction were going fast and furious when we stopped by last night to check in with its creators, and what they’re assembling sounds more Hollywood than ever. The skeletons themselves were still in semi-hiding; more on them in a moment. During our visit, Chris Walker, wife Maia Low and a continually growing cast of friends, neighbors, and family members (meet some of them here) were toiling away to finish transforming the front yard into the stage for the free show that is bound to delight visitors Friday and Saturday nights – video clips just ahead, starting with the skeletons themselves (and the explanation of one skeleton’s mysterious origins):Read More

West Seattle scenes: 4 Halloween pix and non-holiday mystery art

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The first two pix are from tonight’s West Seattle Halloween highlights: First, a Johnny Cash pumpkin, plus a spider, thanks to Laura. Meantime, from 37th and Graham (map), an front-yard display sent by Emily, who says she and her husband love Halloween and add a bit more to the display daily (nightly?) during pre-Halloween week, and more pix can be found here:

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Even more jack-o-lanterns and Halloween pix tomorrow (send yours!). By the way, we dropped by the scene of Skeleton Theatre tonight and will publish that video-enhanced report tomorrow, as they get ready for two big nights Friday and Saturday (more Halloween events here). Now, one more photo – Keith spotted this at 44th/Oregon in The Junction and wondered if anyone knows who/what this is supposed to be:

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Co-publisher Patrick kicks off the guessing with “Stephen King?” But if you know for sure, or have a different guess, please enlighten! ADDED 10:54 PM: Just in, two pix from the annual Pathfinder K-8 pumpkin-carving celebration; Eric Baer reports about 150 participants, and sends these photos taken by Holly Rikhof:

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Eric says there were about twice as many jack-o-lanterns as could be squeezed into that shot!

Halloween countdown: Tonight’s West Seattle jack-o-lanterns

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Thanks to Susan and Kevin for sending that photo of their pirate pumpkins, from the wild seas south of The Junction. Next, a spacey creation:

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“That’s no moon – that’s …” Stephen‘s Death Star pumpkin. Last but by no means least, two jack-o-lanterns from Myrbob:

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Got one to share? Or spooky decorations? E-mail your pix to WSB! One more Halloweenish note – Remember the Thrill the World zombie dances on Saturday? Turns out that for the “official” world-record attempt – the West Seattleites (and their cohorts from the rest of the city) were the THIRD BIGGEST GROUP IN THE WORLD! Read all about it (and see more pix and video) at the Thrill the World-West Seattle blog.

Highland Park Action Committee recap: Halloween; jail; “DV 101”

October 27, 2008 11:56 pm
|    Comments Off on Highland Park Action Committee recap: Halloween; jail; “DV 101”
 |   Highland Park | Holidays | West Seattle jail sites | West Seattle news

Big week for the Highland Park Action Committee — it’s sponsoring Highland Park Neighborhood Halloween on Friday night, with the Highland Park Improvement Club building as headquarters for family-geared fun. But first, tonight it was the regular monthly meeting, including a briefing on recognizing domestic violence and helping its victims, and the last-minute arrival of HPAC’s chair, fresh out of the City Councils budget hearing, with news about the ongoing fight against the potential construction of a city jail in West Seattle — read on for details:Read More

Halloween countdown: Jack-o-lanterns of the night

October 27, 2008 7:48 pm
|    Comments Off on Halloween countdown: Jack-o-lanterns of the night
 |   Holidays | Seen around town

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Thanks to Susan and Ben in Admiral for sharing their jack-o-lanterns; we’d love to showcase yours – send pix (creative outdoor decoration pix welcome too) to editor@westseattleblog.com! (P.S. We’ve added more Halloween events to the WSB Holidays page, and speaking of Admiral, the listing on that page for merchant trick-or-treating Friday now has a link to the map showing all 31 participants!).

2 West Seattle schools’ holiday bazaars looking for vendors

October 27, 2008 1:25 pm
|    Comments Off on 2 West Seattle schools’ holiday bazaars looking for vendors
 |   Holidays | West Seattle schools

Both are on the WSB Holidays page (along with tons more Halloween and winter-holidays events) but in case you’ve got something to sell at events like this, wanted to mention it quickly here too: holidaypresent.jpgArbor Heights Elementary has its bazaar 4-8 pm December 4th; table charge $25, call or e-mail Amy Christensen, 206/938-2634 or amychristensen_3@hotmail.comHighland Park Elementary has its bazaar 9 am (setup) to 3 pm December 6th, table charge $10, call Christie Sjostrom at 206/252-8250. (If you have an event coming up that’s NOT already on our Holidays page, or Events page if it’s not holiday-related, please e-mail us the info!)

West Seattle scene: Zombie Walk-ers stalk the streets

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Thanks to Courtney for capturing the aerial view of the sizable Zombie Walk that’s been heading through The Junction and up toward Admiral this afternoon/early evening – we mentioned it on the calendars, but you might still have been startled to see it; it’s a citywide event, and this year they decided to stalk West Seattle. (No relation to the zombies of the Thrill the World event yesterday, though some Thriller-dancers were reportedly considering joining in!) P.S. Lots of participants in the Zombie Walk means lots more pix online, including some posted by Tofublog and Kero360.

West Seattleite scenes: Preschoolers perusing pumpkins

October 26, 2008 4:08 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattleite scenes: Preschoolers perusing pumpkins
 |   Holidays | West Seattle people

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Thanks to Luckie for these photos of “the entire West Seattle YMCA Preschool” (the Y’s a WSB sponsor) taking its “annual trip to the Carpinito Brothers pumpkin patch in Kent.” Luckie continues: “There are few things more gleeful than 35+ preschoolers scrambling around acres of pumpkins. Best of all were the squishy dead pumpkins, which were a source of endless fascination.” That’s what you’re seeing here:

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Got a Halloweenish pic to share? Jack-o-lantern, decorations, or? E-mail us!

Photos: West Seattle Junction trick-or-treating

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Yes, by the time 3 o’clock approached, it was all too much for that West Seattle Junction trick-or-treating munchkin. But in the preceding two hours, such excitement:

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That’s the view looking over the Thrill the World dance encore toward the adoring crowd on the southwest corner of the Walk-All-Ways intersection. (See video of their Occidental Park “official” performance here; they’re at Admiral Theater tonight at 9.) Earlier at that same intersection:

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All along the streets of The Junction, businesspeople were waiting to hand out treats. Any guesses who this is?

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That’s Dawn Leverett, president of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce board – for today, the Cham-BOO! of Commerce – outside Windermere Real Estate. We also found potentially shadowy characters outside Shadow Land:

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Here’s who greeted trick-or-treaters at Zamboanga:

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Back at Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor), Thrill the World-West Seattle organizer Lora Lewis was still in zombie garb, attacking her “Project Runway” star barista Blayne:

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As for the West Seattle citizenry, a little cooking humor for Chris and Steve (with baby Owen):

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Having been to a few conferences lately, we could appreciate the costume on the left side of this pic:

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The Junction event was the first of three business-district trick-or-treating events this Halloween season. The other two are on Halloween, next Friday — the Admiral merchants welcome you 3 to 6 pm (see the WSB Holidays page for full details on the giveaway that’s involved) and Westwood Village 5-7 pm. Here’s hoping Friday has weather like today’s … like these two from Forsythe Studio, the sunshine was truly, well, groovy:

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‘Cause if Halloween isn’t nice too, there will be just one thing to say: D’oh!

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With that, we bid you adios:

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(That photo is courtesy Meredith; all previous photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick and Junior Member of the Team Torin)

West Seattle Halloween is more like Hallo-week

October 23, 2008 2:47 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle Halloween is more like Hallo-week
 |   Fun stuff to do | Holidays | Seen around town

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Thanks to Melissa for that photo of her window decorations on 42nd north of Fauntleroy in Morgan Junction. You’re welcome to send us a pic of yours – and/or your jack-o-lantern – westseattleblog@yahoo.com – meantime, this gives us an excuse to remind you that the big wave of West Seattle Halloween events starts TOMORROW, continuing through this weekend, and on to the “real” Halloween in eight days. On the WSB Holidays page, you’ll find the times/locations for events for all ages, including three different sessions of business-district trick-or-treating – The Junction this Saturday, Admiral and Westwood Village on Halloween. (P.S. A recent addition is the West Seattle Helpline Fall Masquerade and Wine Tasting a week from today; RSVP by tomorrow.)

West Seattle scenes: New price; new tree; new Hallo-window

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Our first sighting of sub-$3 gas in this price-drop cycle – California/Charlestown 7-11. (Tuesday afternoon addendum – have since seen many sub-$3 WS stations, lowest is $2.93 at Arco and “Ruxbury.”) Got the tip from West Seattle Junction Association executive director Susan Melrose, who also revealed that the official Junction Christmas tree has been replaced:

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The newly planted Fraser fir replaces the previous tree, which just hadn’t been happy in that spot and had gotten to the point where it was easy to imagine the poor thing catching fire if subjected to this year’s tree-lighting ceremony (even with low-heat LEDs). Elsewhere in The Junction, we spotted Halloween window decorations in the works at the Senior Center of West Seattle building:

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Just around the corner, the Stop ‘n’ Shop is closed for several weeks of remodeling, with a grand reopening scheduled for November 15th (more soon on what’s in the works there).

3 site notes: Crime Watch and Holidays on WSB, updates on WCN

October 18, 2008 9:18 pm
|    Comments Off on 3 site notes: Crime Watch and Holidays on WSB, updates on WCN
 |   Crime | Holidays | West Seattle online | White Center

WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH ADDITION: You may have heard that Seattle Police have launched a website with short summaries of major crime incidents around the city, SPD Blotter. They have made RSS feeds available, separated by precinct, so we have added the Southwest Precinct feed from SPD Blotter to the WSB Crime Watch page (automated links, similar to the format you’ll find on our Blogs and More pages).

punkin.jpgHOLIDAYS PAGE UPDATES: Thanks to everyone who’s sent word of more West Seattle Halloween events since we announced the WSB Holidays page, which starts with Halloween happenings (lots next Fri-Sat-Sun plus of course Halloween night itself) and continues through the winter holidays. If you’re planning something to which West Seattleites are welcome, please e-mail us the who/what/when/where, editor@westseattleblog.com, any time.

whitecentericon.jpgFROM PARTNER SITE WHITE CENTER NOW: After two and a half months, White Center Now continues to update White Center news and information seven days a week, with multiple updates most days – like today: Here’s news of a new men’s salon coming to White Center; and here you’ll find new photos from the ongoing pier-removal work at Hicks Lake (now there’s a MASSIVE crane on the job).

West Seattle Halloween events (and beyond): Holidays page up

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(decorations spotted on 42nd north of The Junction; seen some? got some? e-mail us!)

Zombies on California Ave! A “ghostly gala”! Trick-or-treating in The Junction and Admiral business districts! And looking beyond – dates for the Christmas Ship‘s West Seattle visits! All part of the WSB Holidays calendar page that’s now up; many thanks to those who already have e-mailed us about scheduled events to include on that page and our regular Events calendar – if you know of something that’s scheduled for Halloween or the winter-holiday season (November through New Year’s) and it’s not on the Holidays page, please e-mail us the basic info! We’ll continue to add info to the page as it comes in. (And also, for the holidays page and elsewhere, we’ll feature photos of West Seattle jack-o-lanterns and holiday lights again this year – e-mail your photos and/or your sightings!)

Holiday spirit, anyone? West Seattle Eagles’ invitation

October 14, 2008 4:23 pm
|    Comments Off on Holiday spirit, anyone? West Seattle Eagles’ invitation
 |   Fun stuff to do | Holidays | West Seattle news

holidaypresent.jpgWe’re still putting the finishing touches on our Holidays page (Halloween through New Year’s; but all the events we know about are already on the WSB Events page, if you can’t wait for a sneak peek) – and we have word that the West Seattle Eagles still have room for vendors at their holiday bazaar THIS Saturday – and at a turkey dinner afterward!

The West Seattle Eagles are having a holiday bazaar Saturday, October 18th, from 10 AM-5 PM. The Eagles are located at 4426 California Ave SW.

We are currently looking for vendors. Cost for a table is $15. We would like to keep the bazaar for arts, crafts, gift items, and baked goods for the holiday season. There will be no “White Elephant” or “Garage Sale” tables allowed. If interested in a table rental, or for general questions about the event, please contact Mary Lou Wilkerson at (206) 938-4426.

The Children’s Orthopedic Guild will be preparing a wonderful turkey dinner with all the trimmings to follow the bazaar at 5:30 PM. Both the bazaar and dinner are open to the public.

You can find the Eagles online at westseattleeagles.org.

Of politics, and pumpkins (yours)

obamapumkn.jpgOur first WSB’er jack-o-lantern photo of 2008 – and appropriately enough, it’s a political pumpkin. Thanks to HunterG and family, who report this is their way of combining their excitement about Halloween and the election. Yes, if you send a Palin or McCain pumpkin, we’ll show that too, not to mention pumpkins that have nothing to do with politics. We featured West Seattle jack-o-lanterns this time last year, both the photos you sent and the ones we picked up around town, and we’re doing it again this year, so if you’ve got a pic to share or a location to report, please e-mail us. Meantime, back to politics — first-time events listing so it’s a special shoutout: The West Seattle Democratic Women invite all to their October 23 lunch, 11:15 am at the West Seattle Golf Course, with a program including King County Democrats Chair Susan Sheary speaking on I-26/Non-Partisan Elections (perhaps the most complicated measure on the November ballot, and we’ll be writing separately about it later this week), as well as West Seattle school-board rep Steve Sundquist and the Democrat running for state treasurer, Jim McIntire. To make a lunch reservation, e-mail wsdwomen@yahoo.com or call (206) 935-3216 before 10/22. More election info later today (and here, anytime) – if you vote by mail, start watching your mailbox, because ballots are going out this week.

Columbus Day observance today: What you need to know

BANKS: Most if not all closed
MAIL: Regular delivery, no; Express Mail, yes.
SCHOOLS: Open (public schools had Friday off for a “professional development day”)
STATE GOVERNMENT: Open
LOCAL GOVERNMENT: Open (including courts)
PARKING: Regular weekday rates/hours
TRANSIT: Regular
LIBRARIES: Open

2 weekend-before-Halloween notes just in

Didn’t want to wait too late to share these, since so many folks nail down Halloween plans early. First – while at West Seattle Bowl this afternoon, we found out about half a dozen lanes are left for Halloween Family Glow Zone bowling on Sunday 10/26, 5:30-7:30 pm – $70/lane, up to 6 people, shoe rental, pizza, and soda included – plus there’ll be a costume contest, with prizes. Call 932-3731 to ask about reservations. Second – a P-I blog points us to this nefarious plan for that same day; looks like the 4th annual Seattle Zombie Walk is targeting West Seattle. (No known relation to the Thrill the World-West Seattle zombies who’ll be dancing in the world-record attempt downtown on Saturday 10/25, with a Junction encore at 2 pm that day during Junction trick-or-treating.)

Looking ahead to Halloween: Skeleton Theatre

That’s one of our clips from the 2007 edition of Skeleton Theatre, the intricately staged animatronic Halloween show in a West Seattle yard, mobbed last year – just checked back on their Web site to see what’s in store this year, and it seems they’re plotting “a bigger concept … the 7 animatronic creatures this year (including a parrot) will be on two large pirate ships.” They’re planning shows 6-9 pm Halloween night and the night after.

Just to put a bug in your ear, er, knife in your pumpkin

October 2, 2008 7:33 am
|    Comments Off on Just to put a bug in your ear, er, knife in your pumpkin
 |   Holidays

Halloween’s just four weeks away, pumpkins are at the stores and produce stands, and you might be starting to think jack-o-lantern. We want to showcase your creations like we did last year (see some examples here), so once you get around to it, be sure to get pix and send them to us — editor@westseattleblog.com — so we can share.

1 month till Halloween, 2 chilling notes: Zombies, ghosts, witches

ZOMBIES, AKA “THRILL THE WORLD WEST SEATTLE”: An update from Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) proprietor Lora Lewis and her Thrill the World/West Seattle corps of dancers practicing to join the world-record attempt on October 25th: For the actual performance counting toward the record, they’ve joined up with the Seattle Thrillers, and will be in the 200-plus crowd dancing that day at Westlake, with an encore to follow during Trick or Treat in The Junction the same day and at Admiral Theater later that night. You can still join the dancers at the next edition of what Lora calls the “newbie zombie” class – tomorrow (Wednesday), 8:15 pm, West Seattle Christian Church (the full list of rehearsal times and places is on the Thrill the World/West Seattle blog home page).

GHOSTS AND WITCHES: West Seattle-based The Anunnaki Project has announced its annual Halloween event: “The Ghost Game: Tales of 13 Witches,” 8:30 pm Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at Youngstown Arts Center, described as follows: “This year’s production, which focuses on tales of witches from world folklore and mythology, features performances by members of The Cabiri performance troupe along with several guest artists including aerialist and butoh dancer Mary Cutrera and Courtnee Papastathis (aka Zita the Aerialist). Steffon Moody, an outrageously engaging humorist, physical performer and songster who has entertained audiences regionally and nationally for the past 20 years, will be playing Guto, the horribly charming yet sinister master of ceremonies. Steffon is a founding member of the UMO Ensemble (Vashon) and is currently a performer with the Big Apple Circus (NYC). Guests at the event will be woven into the evening’s festivities as storytellers, soothsayers, and supplicants as a procession of witches both entrancing and terrifying is presented. On Halloween night, the performances will be followed by a costume contest and reception with the artists.” Dessert too. Age 16 and up. Tickets are being sold by tables of 5, online via Brown Paper Tickets.

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle without waste …

Even though Christmas decorations are on sale at Costco already (anywhere else? no, wait, we don’t want to know) – it’s not that we’re trying to rush you into holiday mode too soon – we just happened to notice King County is inviting businesses to sign up RIGHT NOW to be part of “Waste-Free Holidays”here’s the link.