More scenes from along California SW – some hotdogging going on outside Village Woodworks:
The treats included cider as well as candy outside Next-to-Nature:
And we spotted a surprise at the corner of California/Alaska – campaigning:
Hutchison’s West Seattle-residing opponent in the King County Executive race, County Council Chair Dow Constantine, will be in The Junction tomorrow for one last big campaign bash – 4 pm Sunday @ West 5. As for Halloween – events into the wee hours are all listed here. Next trick-or-treating event, Westwood Village, 4-7 pm. And if you’re in the south-of-Admiral area, The Swinery is giving out bacon caramels:
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli) ADDED 5:56 PM: Thanks to Diane for sharing the photo of what she declared to be the cutest costume she saw in The Junction:
Too bad the magic wand doesn’t work when it comes to gutting pumpkins! These are photos shared by Holly Rikhof (thank you!) from last night’s Pathfinder K-8 pumpkin-carving party – perhaps the biggest en-masse jack-o-lantern carve-a-thon on the peninsula each Halloween. And a good chance to get face-to-face with the end result:
Then, of course, the classic group shot:
We’ll be out and about today but would love to include your pix in the WSB Halloween coverage too – e-mail them, tweet them, share them on the WSB Flickr group or share them with us on FB (we’re at facebook.com/westseattleblog) – thanks and have fun – more coverage to come, with Trick or Treat at The Junction coming up 1-3, Halloween Howl at Hiawatha 2:30-4:30 pm, Westwood Village trick-or-treating 4-7 pm, and more ….
Thanks to Keri for sharing a shot of the “pirate ship” that will be the main set of Skeleton Theatre again this year, tonight and tomorrow night, 6-9 pm at 36th/Hanford (directions & map) – West Seattle’s one and only animatronic Halloween extravaganza (2008 coverage here; 2007 coverage here; tons of behind-the-scenes info and videos on the ST website). That’s just one of the Halloween events in store — we have two separate ways for you to check the complete list of everything that’s going on this morning, afternoon and evening:
As for the non-Halloween happenings, there’s mayoral candidate Mike McGinn‘s “town hall” at West Seattle (Admiral) Branch Library at 10:15 this morning, the third one he’s had in West Seattle. And remember that today’s the last day of the 2009 season for the King County Water Taxi‘s West Seattle-to-downtown run; here’s the schedule, if you want to catch one last ride.
Blustery outside but ghoulishly warm inside at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) tonight, for the second consecutive night of pre-Halloween partying … last night, Nightmare on Morgan Street to benefit West Seattle Helpline; Friday night, Zombie Dance Party on behalf of local roller-derby teams. P.S. Congrats to The Feedback for winning “Best Cocktail” in the “Best of Western Washington.” Now, off to Luna Park Cafe for a dayside scene:
Heleyna Holmes photographed Batman and Batgirl after they found the Batmobile at Luna Park. Also in the costume realm, a scene from a classroom:
That’s Seattle Lutheran High School English teacher Leslee Myers taking the occasion Friday morning to dress in period garb as if the classroom were a radio studio, playing the classic “War of the Worlds” from exactly 71 years ago. (That classic, by the way, also happens to be the inspiration for West Seattle High School Drama Club‘s fall play, which has a 2:30 pm matinee today.)
The windy weather’s not scaring away trick-or-treaters in the Admiral business district – that first shot is our drive-by photo from the Admiral/California intersection. Out of the car, we got candy-handing-out action at Click! Design That Fits(WSB sponsor) with co-proprietor John Smersh greeting trick-or-treaters:
And near Admiral Theater (where goofy-scary Theatresports improv is onstage at 8 tonight), Don Wahl from Alki Mail and Dispatch set up a table to meet candy-seekers who might not otherwise make it several blocks west on Admiral to his place:
More than two dozen other merchants are participating (here’s the map), continuing till 6 pm; tomorrow, it’s Trick or Treat at The Junction from 1 pm to 3 pm and Westwood Village trick-or-treating 4-7 pm. Lots more before, during, and after, of course.
A creative entry in this afternoon’s pumpkin-carving contest at Keller Williams in The Junction – his name’s not Jack but you can call him Trevor-O-Lantern. The pumpkin contest was coupled with a chili cookoff, and look who we found sampling the entries:
Among the many Halloween Eve options today/tonight (all here), two pumpkin events of special note: First, noon today is the pumpkin-carving contest and chili cookoff at Keller Williams Realty in The Junction (4452 California SW) at noon (details on the Halloween page); bring chili and/or the pumpkin you already carved – they’ll be displaying entries during tomorrow’s Trick-or-Treat At The Junction. Then tonight, one of the biggest carve-a-ganzas in West Seattle each year – the Pathfinder K-8 pumpkin-carving spectacular (Eric shared the photo above last year, saying those were only about HALF the jack-o-lanterns!). Laura sent us extra details: It’s at Pathfinder (1901 SW Genesee) 5:30-7:30 pm tonight, come in costume, B-Y-O-P, soup and snacks provided, but please bring a pumpkin dessert, bowl and spoon for soup, and carving tools as well as the aforementioned pumpkin. We’ll be scaring up more previews later …
Recognize the West Seattle Helpline luminary who’s among the mystery greeters for the Nightmare on Morgan Street masquerade ball/Helpline fundraiser at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor)? The party continues till closing time tonight, and it’s a great cause, since Helpline just keeps expanding its scope – we reported recently on the Clothesline clothing bank now helping seniors, too. Meantime, some at tonight’s party managed to rustle up costumes that economized on the need for clothing:
From left, Shannon and Andrea ready to shake things up. And there’s even more Halloween partying tomorrow night at Feedback Lounge – the Zombie Dance Party for two roller-derby squads – one of whom is already named on one of the jack-o-lanterns below:
Just added a few more events to the Halloween page, by the way – not too late for us to add anything that you see missing!
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
With trick-or-treating in the Admiral business district tomorrow afternoon, and with Junction and Westwood Village merchants on Saturday (all on the Halloween page), not to mention neighborhood t-or-t Saturday night, we checked the forecast: You might need a little waterproofing. Breezy tomorrow, rainy tomorrow night, showery Saturday.
As mentioned earlier, the Halloween/Harvest festivities are gearing up bigtime as of today. Many family activities are at your friendly neighborhood city-operated community centers, like High Point CC, where we dropped in on Toddler Pumpkinpalooza this morning. Above, some of the young artists, ready for their close-up(s) – and here are some of the finished creations:
Tomorrow night, High Point and several other community centers have carnival-style events – all listed on the WSB Halloween page, where you’ll get the full rundown, from trick-or-treating to trunk-or-treating to 21+-only revelry. (And if you have a jack-o-lantern or decorations pic you’d love to share with thousands of your neighbors, send it this way or add to the WSB Flickr group!)
1st short update from tonight’s Highland Park Action Committee meeting: Never too soon to think New Year’s Eve, even with Halloween yet to come. This year, there’s talk of a parade to precede the annual New Year’s Eve party at the Highland Park Improvement Club building (site of tonight’s HPAC meeting) – walking through area neighborhoods (on the sidewalks), with drums and noisemakers, along a pre-mapped route, inviting neighbors to join in along the way, then returning to HPIC for the party, potentially with Cirque de Flambe‘ performing in the HPIC parking lot. HPAC chair Dan Mullins says the idea came from ex-HPAC officer Rory Denovan, inspired by New Year’s Eve revelry seen in Spain. The plan’s still taking shape but sounds like HP might be the fun place to be December 31st. Also discussed at tonight’s meeting, the impending start of design work for the West Seattle (Westcrest) Reservoir park project, with design consultants to be chosen soon (now that the application window is closed; first public meeting is set for Dec. 3), area crime trends and a semi-surprise appearance by one of the crews from Fire Station 11 – more later.
Just a few nights till Halloween – and the fun really gets into gear tonight at 6 pm, with pumpkin-carving and a monster-movie double feature at Freshy’s Coffee. That’s one of many events on the WSB Halloween page. There are of course the events ON Halloween – such as the one where you might find characters such as those at left; the guy in the horns, second from right, is one of our fellow Seattle neighborhood newsies, Jordan from Wallingford’s own Wallyhood, who will be over here on the peninsula Saturday night as mastermind of “Hive Mind Halloween XV: Things That Go Bump in the Night” (that’s his wife in the pic sporting the then-bump who has since debuted as Baby Z). HMH starts at 9 pm Saturday at Youngstown Arts Center, costumes REQUIRED, 21+, $20 at the door, all proceeds benefit Youngstown and Room to Read, which builds schools and libraries in countries including Nepal and Cambodia, providing scholarships for girls there too. The Halloween page also includes the trick-or-treating lowdown – Admiral on Friday (check the map with the list of participants), The Junction and Westwood on Saturday, with lots of other players too. (And remember you get an extra hour for revelry Saturday night, since Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 am Sunday, when we’ll “fall back” an hour.)
(Referendum 71 supporters demonstrated in The Junction again Sunday – from left, WSUU members Rose Fitzpatrick with her dog Rivet, Cynthia Townsend, and president Paula vanHaagen)
You can’t have a say on Referendum 71, Initiative 1033, King County Executive and Seattle Mayor – among other hot issues – if you’re not registered to vote. Today is your absolute last chance – if you’re not registered in this state but want to be, today’s the deadline but you have to go to the King County Elections office in Tukwila – here are the directions; they’re open till 4:30 pm.
Another big West Seattle real-estate deal reported by McQuaid Real Estate: The Halcyon Apartments on Lincoln Park Way (Google Street View above) have sold for $2.8 million. The 23-unit building had never been up for sale before – the sellers were the couple who built it more than 40 years ago, according to McQuaid’s announcement of the deal.
That’s Seattle Parks HQ at Denny Park downtown – and it’s the place to be at 7 pm tonight for the next meeting of the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee, which has reviewed a LOT of West Seattle projects in recent months. Tonight’s big agenda item – draft criteria for use of the levy’s Opportunity Fund (once the draft criteria get approval, they’ll be published tomorrow, and a public hearing is set for November 9, as reported here).
(Twitpic from @springhill_ws, showing the winner in Spring Hill‘s staff pumpkin-carving contest, by Xuan)
A quick reminder that it is now The Week Before Halloween, and you can scare up all the fun that’s leading up to the big night, as well as what’s happening on Halloween itself, by checking out the WSB Halloween page. Two October 31st notes that have nothing to do with Halloween, but we should mention them now so they don’t sneak up on you – 1. Saturday’s the last day of the season for the King County Water Taxi‘s West Seattle run; 2. Daylight Saving Time ends that night (technically 2 am Sunday – you’ll “fall back” an hour).
We’ve had a slew of Halloween-related events on the Events Calendar pagefor a while but have finally organized them onto one special West Seattle Halloween page. The events start this week and run through the day after Halloween; we’ve grouped them by type (trick-or-treat events, etc.). Besides including the ones we’ve received notes about, we’ve looked around online, but realize we may not have found everything, so if yours is missing, we appreciate a note (e-mail, Facebook, whatever works for you) with a bit of information, even if it’s just a weblink – we’ll continue updating this as the listings come in. Now through Halloween, you can find the list any time by clicking the Halloween tab in the navigation bar below our header.
We’ve been adding Halloween events to the WSB Events calendar as fast as they come in – and here’s another: The Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) now has two bashes Halloween week – 6 pm Thursday 10/29 it’s the “Nightmare on Morgan Street” masquerade ball (poster) to benefit West Seattle Helpline; 8 pm Friday 10/30, it’s the “Zombie Dance Party” (poster) benefiting teams from the Rat City Rollergirls and Jet City Rollergirls. (Halloween-style fun starts heating up this weekend – if you have an event, make sure it’s on our calendar – editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!)
ADDED 12:33 PM: Another announcement has come in: 2:30-4:30 pm Halloween afternoon at Hiawatha Community Center, West Seattle Dawg, Muttley Crew Cuts and The Wash Dog are presenting a pet-friendly event, Halloween Howl, including a dog costume contest and pet psychics. Rex at WS Dawg says they’re selling tickets now – it’s a benefit for West Seattle Food Bank.
The huge highlight of tonight’sAdmiral Neighborhood Association meeting was an update on the Admiral Safeway redevelopment project – sneak peek of what the Southwest Design Review Board will see/hear a week from Thursday. That’ll take us a while to put together so first, 4 short notes from the meeting:
SUMMER CONCERTS AT HIAWATHA: The success of this series (which we were proud to co-sponsor) left no question that ANA would do it again next year. Katy Walum said they’re planning a six-concert series again, but to avoid bumping too close to the West Seattle Hi-Yu Concert in the Park, which will be later than usual in 2010, they will start the Thursday night series on 7/29/2010 and continue it till 9/2/2010.
ADMIRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT TRICK-OR-TREATING: Parris Sadow from Max and Quinn’s Atomic Boys Shop-O-Rama is spearheading the event – as noted here a month ago, the date/time is set for the day before Halloween, Friday 10/30, 3-6 pm, but she had a few additional details, such as, 31 businesses are signed up to participate – centered around Admiral/California (no further south than Wiseman’s Appliance, and as far north as the building just past Click! Design That Fits [WSB sponsor]).
ANA OFFICER ELECTIONS: The current officers have to step down because of term limits – three one-year terms – so nominations are being taken now for elections at next month’s meeting. Nominees so far include Jim Del Ciello and Katy Walum for president and Ann Limbaugh for vice president.
MAYORAL ELECTION STRAW POLL: It’s been a tradition for ANA president Mark Wainwright to get each meeting going with an icebreaker – asking a question, then going around the room to get everyone’s answer. Tonight, it was “who do you back for mayor?” No winner emerged — Mallahan/McGinn/undecided virtually tied. (As Karl de Jong pointed out, ballots go into the mail tomorrow, so voting will start by the end of the week.)
West Seattle artist Karen Lyons shares news of an “online studio tour” in which she’s participating, to celebrate Halloween and to raise money for bat conservation. It’s a fun site to wander if you have at least a few minutes to spare – halloweenstudiotour.com – and you can contact Karen at woosel@wildmail.com if you want to know more.
Two more big Halloween-vicinity events have just been announced. First, a Halloween edition of Indoor Movies on the Wall:
Just got word from Lora at Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) that “Nightmare Before Christmas” will be shown at the West Seattle Christian Church Activity Center (site of last winter’s indoor movies, and steps away from the summer outdoor-movie site), 7 pm Friday, October 30th – free! B/Y/O chair/blanket. Lora adds, “We’re also collecting food for the food banks – bring in a can and get a raffle ticket for one of our spooktacular prizes.” One other Halloween-week event just unveiled:
NIGHTMARE ON MORGAN STREET: Well, actually, on California SW – where the Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) has just announced this masquerade ball for 6 pm Thursday, October 29, to raise money for West Seattle Helpline. Suggested donation $10; costume contest, raffle, live DJ, food and drink specials. (And the Feedback will get you in the Halloween mood a week from tonight with Punk Rock Pumpkin-Carving, 7-9 pm during the monthly West Seattle Art Walk, Thursday 10/8 – the “punk-ins” will be sold afterward.)
The business-district trick-or-treat trifecta for West Seattle is now locked in – as noted in the past week or so, the Admiral District will be handing out treats 3-6 pm Friday 10/30, The Junction will welcome trick-or-treaters 1-3 pm Saturday 10/31, and Westwood Village manager Stuart Crandall has just announced their trick-or-treat session will be 4-7 pm 10/31. It’s all on the WSB Events calendar now in case you lose track and want to check back!
As reported recently, The Junction is having its trick-or-treating event 1-3 pm on Halloween (Saturday 10/31) … and now we know that the Admiral District merchants will offer theirs the day before, Friday 10/30, 3-6 pm – that word just in from Kent and Parris Sadow at Max and Quinn’s Atomic Boys Shop-O-Rama, this year’s event coordinators. Haven’t heard from Westwood Village yet if/when they’re having one, but we’ll be checking.
EAT LOCAL NOW: This event celebrating locally grown food, with sponsors including Sustainable West Seattle and CoolMom.org, is now just a month away, and tickets are on sale: 5 pm October 11th at the Alki Masonic Hall in The Junction. Read more about it here; buy tickets here.
SPEAKING OF FOOD: Just this morning, we noted The Swinery (taking over 3207 California SW) was chronicling its push toward an expected opening next week. Tonight WSB contributor Christopher Boffoli has learned from Swinery proprietor Gabriel Claycamp that last-minute renovation challenges have pushed that date back to September 21st.
JUNCTION TRICK-OR-TREATING: Jennifer e-mailed tonight to ask whether this megapopular annual event will be on Halloween itself, since it’s a Saturday this year, or the week before. The West Seattle Junction Association has scheduled it for 1-3 pm Saturday, October 31st, so go ahead and mark your calendars. We’re also asking Admiral merchants what they’re planning to do and will share that information when we get it.
(photo of Sunday afternoon rainbow, courtesy of Babs) BUSES: Metro is on a Sunday schedule; Sound Transit is also on a Sunday schedule (same for ST light rail, but Sounder trains are NOT running) KING COUNTY WATER TAXI: West Seattle-downtown route, and its land shuttles, are on a Saturday schedule STATE FERRIES: Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth is on a “holiday weekend” schedule MAIL DELIVERY?No TRASH/RECYCLING/YARD WASTE PICKUP?Regular schedule, if you are usually on Mondays LIBRARIES: Not till tomorrow LIQUOR STORES: Most are open 11 am-7 pm, including West Seattle and White Center MOST GOVERNMENT AGENCIES: Closed FREE STREET PARKING IN PAY STATION/METER ZONES?Yes COFFEE: Labor Day doesn’t usually have as many closures as the winter holidays so we don’t have a complete list, but we can tell you that the two coffee providers on the WSB sponsor roster are both open: Hotwire Online Coffeehouse 7 am-6 pm, Coffee at the Heights 7 am-2 pm
This year, there’s talk of a parade to precede the annual New Year’s Eve party at the 
That’s one of many events on 
for a while but have finally organized them onto one special 
We’ve been adding Halloween events to the 
The huge highlight of tonight’s 
| 13 COMMENTS