West Seattle, Washington
24 Wednesday
Tonight, we found ourselves wandering the streets of Highland Park, where we came across this house at 7925 9th Ave. SW (map; also, we have added it to our clickable map of all the displays featured on WSB this season, which you can access any time from our new Holidays page). Rolled the window down to get the picture and even heard Christmas music. By the way, tomorrow evening, we’ll bring you a narrated video tour of West Seattle’s most famous display, the Menashes’ lights on Beach Drive.
This morning, we launched a new WSB page to help you enjoy the holiday season — our Holidays page (it has its own tab in the navigation under the header throughout the site, or you can bookmark it here). Right now, it features West Seattle holiday events through New Year’s, plus our ongoing West Seattle Christmas lights map and a link to our West Seattle Christmas tree price check; at the top of the page each day, you will also see highlighted holiday events for that day/night. 
This page is presented by a brand-new WSB sponsor, West Seattle Christian Church (on the north side of The Junction, at the SE corner of 42nd/Genesee). West Seattle Christian Church is a growing church offering a lot more than worship services — it also is parent to the Ginomai artists’ studio facility right across the street at the SW corner of 42nd/Genesee — which among other things is a must-visit stop during the monthly West Seattle Art Walk; the next one is coming up Thursday 12/13 — we stopped at Ginomai during last month’s Art Walk and met several artists, then browsed the merchandise others were selling in the Ginomai community room. In addition, WSCC is home to West Seattle Christian Preschool, which is currently enrolling (find out more here). We thank WSCC for supporting WSB, along with our other sponsors, who are listed on this page along with info on how prospective advertisers can join them. (And if you have suggestions for additional features to add to the Holidays page, please let us know – we’ll be tweaking it at least once daily as the season rolls on!)
As former apartment-dwellers, we particularly appreciate balcony brightness – and you can find a lot of it around West Seattle, especially along Harbor and Alki – but this trio of balconies is from California Avenue just south of Morgan Junction. We’re still scouting for lights and happy to get your suggestions; besides the new archive of featured lights, we also have created a map locating every place we’ve shown – click on each marker and you’ll see its location as well as a thumbnail photo. We’ll continue to update the map as each night goes by. (One more holiday note – it got a bit lost in the weather coverage but we posted our annual West Seattle Christmas tree price check yesterday afternoon.)
THIS IS OUR 2007 PRICE CHECK – FIND OUR WEST SEATTLE 2008 LIST HERE
Just back from making the rounds of every West Seattle Christmas tree seller we know of. (If we missed one – we’ll admit to not checking arterials east of Delridge to look for indies – please let us know and we’ll get out to scout it.) We chose a couple representative tree sizes for comparison’s sake – 5-6′ Noble Fir, 6-7′ Noble Fir, 5-6′ Douglas Fir. Here’s what we found, north to south, including any special notes – caveat, this is from an in-person survey conducted today; pricing changes certainly could happen before you make your tree-shopping trip:Read More
Tonight’s spotlight is on the newly lit (see video feature below) West Seattle Community Christmas Tree (44th/Alaska, aka Farmers’ Market parking lot). By the way, we’ve created an archive for all the West Seattle Christmas lights we’ve featured since mid-November; you’ll find them all here.
As we mentioned below — great turnout, big crowd despite the slush/sleet/cold. We’ve broken our coverage into four video clips; first, the big moment — Jack Miller from Husky Deli and family members lighting the tree; you see a little bit of the Endolyne Children’s Choir at the end, more from them in one of the clips added below.
Next, the local radio star (and West Seattle resident) who MC’d the event, plus the Endolyne kids (and more):Read More
Still seems to be a chance you might get caught in a flurry (here’s the latest forecast) — but what could be more Christmasy? Day 1 of Hometown Holidays in The Junction starts @ noon; remember to bring donations for the Warm Clothes Drive (at left, we caught up with West Seattle Junction Association executive director Susan Melrose a short time ago at HH HQ — aka the Farmers’ Market parking lot — with one of the first donations). The full list of today’s activities, noon-7 pm, in stores and all around The Junction, is now posted online here. (And you can peek ahead to tomorrow’s 10 am-5 pm lineup here.) Tonight’s highlight, of course, will be the Christmas Tree Lighting, starting with Dickens Carolers music @ 5:30 and the ceremony commencing @ 6. Here’s the tree, just about ready for the switch to be thrown; see you there!
Joining the WSB sponsor lineup this morning: ArtsWest in The Junction, where “O. Henry’s The Gifts of the Magi” opens on Wednesday. (ArtsWest provided the photo at left, taken by WSB contributing photographer Matt Durham — who provides official photos for many AW productions; it shows Jessica Skerritt as Della Dillingham.) As described on the ArtsWest website, “Gifts of the Magi” is “a musical version of the classic O. Henry story about a young married couple, flat broke, but rich in love.” It plays Dec. 5-23; the best place to see the list of days/times is on this page where you also can buy advance tickets online. Or you can drop by ArtsWest while you’re in The Junction this weekend for Hometown Holidays; the AW team also suggests that tickets make great holiday gifts (season tickets start at $99; two adult tickets for $58; gift certificates $5 and up; the Box Office has more details @ 206-938-0339). Thanks to ArtsWest for supporting WSB, and thanks to our other sponsors, listed on this page along with info on how other prospective advertisers can join them.
From just west of Westwood Village, on 30th south of Barton (map). Got bright lights or seen some? Please let us know (and thanks to those who’ve e-mailed sightings already!).
Don’t get freaked by flakes in the forecast; it’s Hometown Holidays weekend, with the official West Seattle Christmas Tree Lighting on Saturday night, a chance to share a charity fundraising breakfast with the West Seattle Kiwanis before the fun, and then later, a charity-fundraising dinner with the West Seattle Eagles (that’s all happening in The Junction too), a chance to explore Youngstown Cultural Arts Center during its Open House, a free Sunday night concert by the African Children’s Choir, and a ton more — 44 West Seattle events starting just a few hours from now:Read More
On the west side of 50th, south of Edmunds (map). Got bright lights, or seen some? Please let us know! (P.S. We have updated the photo in last night’s post about the ’07 debut of the Menashe family‘s Beach Drive display, putting in a new one courtesy of Christopher Shoemaker, who took it after helping the family with the finishing touches.)
As part of Hometown Holidays in The Junction this weekend, 
there’s a Warm Clothes Drive under way for area families. As Susan Melrose, executive director of the West Seattle Junction Association, explains: “We are looking for all types of warm clothes to keep all members of our community warm through the winter. Clean out your children’s closet and hand-be-down piles looking for all types of winter clothes including jackets, pajamas, boots, long underwear, sweaters, socks, and more. We will collect these items at Hometown Holidays Headquarters (44th Ave SW and Alaska) all weekend long. WestSide Baby will pick up the loot on Sunday (December 2) at 5 pm. And if you don’t have these items, you can help this organization by bringing diapers too.”
Earlier than usual tonight because as West Seattle Christmas lights go, this is breaking news – the Menashe family’s famous display on Beach Drive was finally on in full glory when we drove by a short time ago – THURSDAY NIGHT UPDATE: we’ve replaced our original cameraphone photo with a pic courtesy of Christopher Shoemaker, who took it after helping the Menashes with the finishing touches:
The house is on the water side of Beach Drive roughly halfway between Me-Kwa-Mooks and Lowman Beach. Meantime, if you’ve put up, or seen, an especially bright (or unique) display, please let us know about it!
West Seattle holiday gifts ‘n’ stuff with an extra punch – plus a request for ideas from you:
POINSETTIAS TO HELP STUDENTS: Today’s the deadline to get orders in for the Chief Sealth High School Band fundraising poinsettia sale; full details in our original post – we just checked and they DO have some left!
BOOKS FOR WESTSIDE BABY: This Saturday, during Hometown Holidays weekend, Square 1 Books in Jefferson Square is having a unique sale — as described on the Square One blog, “Purchase any children’s book from us Dec. 1-2 for 15 percent off and we will donate the book to WestSide Baby. The books will be distributed to families in need in December.”
CALENDARS FOR CANINES: Wendy Hughes-Jelen, from the High Point K-9 Club and other endeavors, has created the 2008 IGGY Ambassadors Calendar, which she describes further: “Entitled ‘Personal images of the dogs we love, photographed by members of IGGY Ambassadors — Emerald City (Italian Greyhounds of the Northwest)’, it is a large and elegant calendar, something to be treasured by ALL dog lovers.” 16% of the price of each calendar (what’s left after printing costs & the lulu.com publisher’s fee) goes to “help pay for vet bills and other costs associated with the very active Northwest Italian greyhound rescue community.” You can preview the calendar here; you can order it here.
NOW, A QUESTION FOR YOU: This came in as a WSB Reader Recommendation Request but relates to the topic of “gifts that keep on giving” — Adam e-mailed, “In lieu of giving presents, my wife and I have donated money which we might normally spend on presents to some of the many worthwhile charities. We are searching for recommendations for legitimate local charities for Iraq veterans and their families. Any reader suggestions?”
On a hedge west of The Junction, along Erskine west of Hudson (map here; we will have an all-inclusive map shortly showing all the lights we’re featuring). And for those who are on Menashe Watch along Beach Drive — drove by again tonight, they’re not quite there yet, but the first night that house is lit in all its glory, you’ll hear about it here. Meantime, if you have bright lights or have seen some somewhere, please e-mail us about ’em so we can add them to our West Seattle Christmas lights patrol; if you’re looking for holiday events, with or without lights, the list just keeps getting longer on our everything-West-Seattle Events page.
This weekend is going to be the biggest holiday bash ever in The Junction, and we are thrilled that the West Seattle Junction Association has chosen to advertise on WSB to make double-extra-triple-sure you know about Hometown Holidays (joining our other fabulous WSB sponsors — Hotwire Coffee and Garlic Jim’s Pizza in The Junction, Click! Design That Fits in the Admiral District, local Realtor Bill Barna, and local Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist Rhonda Porter.) As the holiday season really gets into swing, we’ve already brought you previews of the two-day Hometown Holidays celebration – including last week, when we alerted you that the WSJA website had posted new details, including word of a new location for the official West Seattle Christmas Tree (which will be lit during a don’t-miss ceremony at 6 pm Saturday). Now the fun is just days away: Noon-7 pm Saturday, 10 am-5 pm Sunday. Here are even more details (see you there!):Read More
Always a cheery sight on 35th … it’s the holiday lights of historic Fire Station 37 (to be replaced by a new station a few blocks away; that city link says construction should start late next year). Got bright lights or seen some? E-mail WSB!
One of the brightest business displays we’ve seen so far – the little Sleepless shack on Harbor Ave. Got bright lights or seen some? E-mail us!
As you head out today, to the Farmers’ Market perhaps, or just to enjoy the sunshine, you might want to poke your head inside some of your favorite West Seattle shops. 
We’ve started to hear from more stores planning special events during the holiday shopping season (like the early-early-bird Black Friday sale we covered @ Friends & Company); to name just a few, Husky Deli is having a holiday open house 5-9 pm next Friday (11/30) that’s also a 75th anniversary celebration (historic photos here); much-appreciated WSB sponsor Click! Design That Fits in the Admiral District is planning December “Late Night Thursdays” with treats on 12/6, 12/13, and 12/20 where they’re staying open till at least 8 pm (or longer; “we just hang around until people leave,” Click! co-owner Frances Smersh told WSB); less than a block from Click!, Shanti Salon and Spa has a holiday open house with refreshments 6:30-8:30 pm Thursday 12/13; the Junction Association says a variety of retailers are planning promotions during Hometown Holidays next weekend; between Admiral and Alaska Junctions, Saturday night shopping parties are the plan at basic green box, with wine and cheese. We’re going to drop by as many WS businesses as possible to keep track of what’s planned for the holiday season, but with so many of them, we’d also love to hear from local retailers directly, and from shoppers who hear about upcoming events. E-mail or call us; here’s all the contact info.
One of the brightest houses in Fauntleroy is on 44th just south of the Fauntleroy/Wildwood/Brace Point tricorner intersection (map). Got bright lights, or saw some? E-mail us!
Now you know the holiday season is really here — West Seattle’s most famous nonprofit Christmas tree lot just opened at noon today, in the parking lot south of Admiral Safeway as usual. We stopped by for video as the volunteers were finishing final preparations late this morning — first clip, some of those volunteers hard at work pre-opening:
Here’s Scott Willhite talking about some of what’s new at the lot this year, plus where the tree $ goes:
The Holy Rosary lot has its own website with more info. (By next weekend, by the way, we’ll be surveying all WS tree-sellers for our annual price-check.)
Walking behind West Seattle’s Most Famous Politician and spouse Sharon Nickels in this morning’s downtown holiday parade was a posse of people in green T-shirts emblazoned in white, SAVE SANTA (you can catch a glimpse in our photo above). Turns out that’s the latest offshoot of the city climate-change-fighting campaign.
So a particular chain retailer at Westwood Village had this incredible laptop deal. Got there when they opened at 6 am … 100 people in line, plotting near-military strategy for bargain reconnaissance. We retreated. Friendlier crowd at the one Junction store that opened its doors at 5 am, the rubber-stamping store Friends and Company, where we caught up with proprietor Doris Goulet and her early-bird shoppers during the first half-hour:
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