West Seattle, Washington
31 Saturday
(WSB photo)(WSB photo – 2022’s Christmas Light Run participants. Will you be in this year’s photo?)
9:19 PM: One more Christmas-lights note … tomorrow’s the night you can join West Seattle neighbors and friends on a casual run to go see some brightly lit West Seattle homes: West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) presents its annual Christmas Light Run! Gather at the shop (2743 California SW) by 5 pm Sunday (December 17). If you haven’t already seen it in our Event Calendar and Holiday Guide, here’s what it’s all about:
Come for our fun annual tradition! We will map out a 2.5-to 3=mile route that is lit! Wear your reflective gear, head lamps, strands of lights, and festive gear!! Elves, Santas, dogs, kids, walkers and runners welcome. This is an easypaced group run to look at the festive lights. We will gather at the shop afterward for nog, cider, hot chocolate, and cookies. We are hoping someone will lead carols this year finally? We look forward to seeing you. Merry Merry!
11:25 PM: Here’s the route.
Every holiday season, C & P Coffee (5612 California; WSB sponsor) opens its doors to local artists and crafters to sell their work, and today’s the day. Among this year’s participants is local artist Jennifer Carrasco, participating in the C & P fair one last time:
She’s scaling down what’s been a prolific painting career. Other sights include these wood figures by Josh and Jim from Vashon Island:
And nature-inspired art by Alma from A Wild Braid:
See what treasures you find by visiting the C & P fair before 2 pm.
If you’re planning to tree-shop this weekend, two updates to the lot list in our West Seattle Holiday Guide:
(WSB photo, Holy Rosary lot last month)
HOLY ROSARY TREE LOT: Today (Saturday, December 16) is your last chance to shop this lot on the north side of the Holy Rosary campus (42nd SW between Dakota and Genesee):
Last day for the Holy Rosary tree lot. Still a good selection of fresh trees, wreaths, garland, and Hope Lutheran’s poinsettias. Opens 9 AM and closes when all items have sold. Stop on in and support the West Seattle Food Bank by bringing 5 cans of food and getting $5 off.
A portion of the lot’s proceeds go to nonprofits including WSFB. AFTERNOON UPDATE: As of noon, everything is half-price!
TREES BY THE SEA: The tree lot on Alki sold out earlier this week and is now closed for the season.
The photo is from Providence Mount St. Vincent, which welcomed a special pre-Christmas gift delivery today:
The Nucor team is hereby decreed to be THE best Santa’s elves this side of the North Pole as they deliver once again carloads of gifts and support to help make Christmas bright for the residents and caregivers of Providence Mount St. Vincent! This annual tradition yet again showcases the tremendous generosity of Nucor as they help so many in need throughout West Seattle.
What if Rudolph had the night off? That’s the theme of this tree we admired while visiting the Fauntleroy UCC Festival of Trees on its first public-display night earlier this week.
Another tree that might make you smile … the one with a Costco theme:
And then there’s the tree decked with hopes for peace, in many languages:
The festival doubles as a food drive – bring nonperishable food to donate and leave it under your favorite tree to “vote” for it. During our visit, this tree was the front-runner:
We learned that’s because it’s the entry from Alki UCC and that apparently brought a concentrated voting effort! In addition to the food drive, you can also have fun with a scavenger hunt while you’re there – check the 13 trees in the church Fellowship Hall for certain words or items. It’s open to viewing Saturday night, 6-7 pm, at 9140 California SW – right before the church’s free Christmas concert.
5:32 PM: Hectic night for Santa Claus as the holiday edition of the West Seattle Art Walk begins. You’ll find him first at West Seattle Realty (2715 California SW; WSB sponsor). It’s one of the official stops on the Art Walk list/map:
WS Realty also is showing the work of artist Brandi Quinn, who works in mixed media/acrylic. In Admiral, two other spots are offering extras tonight – here’s the map and list of Admiral participants:
West Seattle Grounds (2141 California SW) is also where you’ll find Sue Quigley, one of the three musicians performing mini-concerts for The Art of Music, 6-7:30 pm, as featured here. We’re headed southbound to The Junction, where starting at 6 pm, the Silver Belles will be singing, the Better As Brass Band will be blowing their horns, and that busy Santa guy will be roaming. More coverage to come.
5:54 PM: Above is Michael Doyle, one of the artists at a Holiday Bazaar inside Easy Street Records (4559 California SW) during the Art Walk. He’s selling “fun whimsical postcards and greeting cards,” plus art prints and original painting.” Jet City Beignet also is in the house. And ESR has tunes, too – “DJs Fishlure and Mike Steve – spinning all your holiday favorites.” … A bit south, Thoa Nguyen is the featured artist at ArtsWest (4711 California SW; WSB sponsor), in the gallery until 7 pm:
Her paintings are on display at ArtsWest until January 8th.
6:30 PM: We found Santa in The Junction, stopping by VAIN West Seattle (4513 California SW):
VAIN is showcasing fragrance tonight – with The Phoenix and The Fool, as well as the Seattle Perfumers Discovery Set (among the participants in that set is WSB sponsor Filigree & Shadow). Like most of tonight’s artist-reception events, this one continues until 8 pm … At CAPERS (4511 California SW), two artists are in the spotlight tonight, including glass artist Melissa Misoda:
We’ve also caught up with the Silver Belles carolers and Better As Brass band – video of both when we get back to HQ.
8:32 PM: Here’s part of an original song that was in the Silver Belles’ repertoire tonight:
And Better As Brass is in our clip with part of a TV-show classic:
BAB is scheduled to be in The Junction again next Thursday night too, for the season’s final Shop Late Thursday.
This is the eighth and final night of Hanukkah, and the second year the Torah Learning Center of West Seattle has lit a 12-foot-high Grand Menorah at Alki Beach. Rabbi Eli Duban climbed a ladder with a tiki torch to set the eight lights – one for each night – ablaze:
He spoke briefly about the light of the Jewish spirit triumphing over antisemitism, and had words of gratitude (update: here’s the video):
The gathering also had a festive note, with songs and treats (jelly donuts and chocolate coins).
Throughout the season, our <West Seattle Holiday Guide features a list of local donation drives that welcome your help. Some of them are about to wrap up so that the beneficiary organizations have time to get the gifts to recipients, so we’re nudging you in case you’ve been meaning to drop something off. Here are three that are about to conclude:
JOY DRIVE FOR WESTSIDE BABY AT VILLAGE GREEN: Through today, Village Green West Seattle (2615 SW Barton; WSB sponsor) is collecting items for WestSide Baby – see this flyer for the wish list. Bring donations to Building 2 (The Hearthside).
TREEHOUSE DONATION DRIVE AT ALKI BIKE AND BOARD: Tomorrow is the last day for this drive.You can go here to see what Alki Bike and Board (2606 California SW; WSB sponsor) is collecting. One request: “Please make sure all items are NEW or in GREAT used condition.”
ADOPT-A-FAMILY ASSISTANCE: Also concluding tomorrow: West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) has adopted a family for holiday help – details here.
Some others have later deadlines, and our Holiday Guide list also includes some requests for monetary donations. Any last-minute additions? Please email info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
Santa! Carolers! Mini-concerts! And … artists! That’s all in the plan for Thursday night’s holiday edition of the West Seattle Art Walk.
From Alki to Admiral to The Junction to Morgan Junction, dozens of venues will either be featuring artists or food/drink specials, as the list above shows. Beyond that, you’ll find holiday extras – plus three mini-concerts for The Art of Music.
(WSB photo: Santa in The Junction during 2022’s holiday Art Walk)
HOLIDAY EXTRAS IN THE JUNCTION: The Silver Belles caroling, Santa Claus roaming, the Better as Brass band playing at the KeyBank corner, and Shop Late Thursday at participating stores.
HOLIDAY EXTRAS IN ADMIRAL: Hot cocoa and ornament-making at West Seattle Grounds (2141 California SW), Santa Claus meet-and-greet at West Seattle Realty (2715 California SW; WSB sponsor), and an ugly sweater tournament at Soiree (3278 California SW).
THE ART OF MUSIC: All three of these performances are scheduled for 6 pm-7:45 pm:
Sue Quigley at West Seattle Grounds
Rik Wright‘s Fundamental Forces at Great American Diner (4752 California SW)
Matt Cecil at Zeeks Pizza (6459 California SW)
As for the art – scroll through the preview post on the Art Walk website to see who’s showing their work – for example, if you’re going to West Seattle Grounds for the music and/or holiday extras mentioned above, you’ll see orca photos by PNW Orca Pod Squad Photography …. muralist Desmond Hansen will be at John L. Scott West Seattle (4445 California SW) … glass art by Melissa Misoda is part of what’ll be featured at CAPERS (4511 California SW) … browse and buy work by multiple artists at Jet City Labs (4547 California SW) plus gift-wrapping by Clay Cauldron (5-8 pm) … Most artist receptions will be 5-8 pm, but doublecheck with individual venues. Again, this is all happening Thursday (December 14) … see you out along the Art Walk!
West Seattleite-founded, White Center-headquartered WestSide Baby is hosting a big party of sorts right now – more than 90 volunteers RSVP’d for tonight’s Sip and Sort event. The turnout included groups from Holy Rosary and Eastside-based Trupanion.
The sorting involves donated items – WestSide Baby can always use help sorting them for distribution to clients and partners, ultimately helping thousands of local families.
As featured in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide‘s “Giving Opportunities” section, you’re invited to help WS Baby this season too – you can donate diapers, new/gently used children’s clothing, and/or money, or host a “Joy Drive“ of your own! (Or volunteer.)
In that short video, you’ll see and hear the students of Skunk Works Robotics 1983, an organization we’ve told you about before, serving youth in West Seattle and beyond. As one of the West Seattle participants, Jonah, explains, “Skunk Works is truly amazing. I have learned or improved so many skills like leadership, computer aided design (CAD), communication/presentation skills and so many more. We also teach programming, fabrication, data analysis, and electrical skills, plus many other soft skills. All this is taught by building a robot in 6 weeks and then competing at multiple competitions across Washington and the United States.” Getting ready for, and going to, those competitions costs money. Skunk Works launched a fundraiser for Giving Tuesday, and while we missed the chance to tell you about it then, they’re keeping it open through the holidays – you can donate here.
(WSB photo, Saturday night, projected art by B Anthony Nelson)
If you weren’t at Saturday night’s GLOWS (Glorious Lights of West Seattle) festival in The Junction to see the community-created art – you have another chance: All week, the projections continue on the south-facing wall of Alaska House (the apartment building bordering Junction Plaza Park). We don’t have the exact hours but we went through The Junction around 6:30 pm and the projections, with the artists’ name and their creations, were already under way. West Seattle Junction Association executive director Chris Mackay says they’re working on making the art available online, too.
P.S. If you skipped the festival, you also missed an hour of amazing holiday performances by an all-star group of local singers and musicians – we have 10 clips, plus the set list, in this report.
If you could give a few hours Wednesday afternoon, Neighborhood House asked us to share this last-minute call for holiday-party help:
Volunteer at Neighborhood House
December 13 | 2 – 5 pmThe Winter Wonderland event is Neighborhood House’s winter celebration for children and their families living in the West Seattle High Point area. The event provides a fun space for children and their families to engage outside the preschool classroom.
We’re seeking 20 volunteers to set up the event, help with children activities, serve food, and clean up. Link to sign up: x.gldn.io/e/lQmiqI30hFb
Neighborhood House is at 6400 Sylvan Way SW.
For a second consecutive night, Junction Plaza Park was the setting for a winter-holiday lighting ceremony – last night a Christmas tree, tonight a Hanukkah menorah. This is the fourth night of the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights. Despite this being a “time of rising antisemitism around the world,” as Kol HaNeshamah Rabbi Sabine Meyer described it – as a security guard stood watch on the park’s edge – her congregation was there again this year to be “visibly Jewish” and to take a stand for freedom:
Along with candle-lighting, the progressive synagogue offered donuts to any and all in attendance:
Orin Reynolds led Hanukkah songs including these two:
West Seattle has one more public Hanukkah celebration scheduled this year – the Torah Learning Center of West Seattle plans to light its giant menorah on Alki at (updated) 4 pm Thursday, the eighth and final night.
There’s light at the end of the calendar tunnel … we are now at the earliest sunset point (rounded, 4:17 pm) and next Friday (December 15), it starts getting later (rounded, 4:18 pm). The sunrise, though, doesn’t start getting earlier until January 7th. Meantime, we have holiday lights to keep things bright. The photo above is from Stacey: “We are in White Center and have lots of Christmas lights. I’m not sure if we are too far from WS. 11343 4th Pl SW.” Yes, we do feature lights just outside the city limits a couple times per season! Keep the West Seattle and vicinity tips coming – with or without photos/video – at westseattleblog@gmail.com; scroll through this archive to see what we’ve already shown (and previous years, too).
Another holiday donation drive in The Junction – this one until 1 pm at Seattle Fire Station 32 in The Triangle (38th/Alaska). There you’ll find U.S. Marines on behalf of Toys For Tots, accepting new, unwrapped toys – and, this year for the first time, nonperishable food. In our photo are Lance Corporal Boze, Private First Class Camacho, and Lance Corporal Nguyen.
P.S. If you can’t get to this collection point, other drives with at least a few days left are listed in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide – scroll down to Giving Opportunities!
Right now at the West Seattle Farmers’ Market, volunteers from the Kiwanis Club await your donations of coats and warm clothing! Until 1:30 this afternoon, their booth at the south end of the market, right past the barricades at California/Alaska, is headquarters for the West Seattle Junction Hometown Holidays Cocoa and Coat Drive – cocoa for donors! Everything collected goes to the people helped by the West Seattle Food Bank. (Our photo shows all the donations from the first filled barrel being offloaded so there’s room for more!)
That was a curtain call of sorts for local musicians who were part of a musical showcase during The Junction’s GLOWS festival that could have been an event all its own – an assemblage of “West Seattle All-Stars” led by Jay Cates, performing holiday songs for about an hour right before the tree lighting and projected-art show. For the finale, Ayron Jones – soon to head out on a world tour – with a wistful rendition of “Silent Night“:
Some holiday history, with The Sonics‘ “Santa Claus” performed by Scott Helgason, David Cinnamon, and Zach Rourke here’s a sample:
Tomo Nakayama took on “White Christmas“:
And then there was “Blue Christmas” by BB Jones and Peder Nelson of Sulk:
The inescapable classic “All I Want for Christmas” sung by Z:
Rachael Reis, Billy Joe Huels, and friends with “Santa Baby“:
“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” promised Cameron Lavi-Jones of King Youngblood:
B Anthony Nelson and Johnny Nails delivered a bluesy “Run Run Rudolph“:
Cates – who credited Nelson with producing the All-Star assemblage – contributed “Winter Wonderland”:
And our last clip features Cates and “Voice of the Mariners” Tom Hutyler dueting on “Little Drummer Boy“:
That’s not even the entirety of the show – but enough to give you an idea of what an epic holiday concert it turned out to be. (Asterisks mark a few performers whose names we didn’t catch – we hope to fix that by obtaining a list ASAP.)
MONDAY UPDATE: We’ve replaced those asterisks with names – here’s the set list; here’s the slide deck of performer names with QR codes you can use to find out more about them.
Earlier coverage: Festival’s first two hours – including video of Endolyne Children’s Choir, West Seattle School of Rock, and ArtsWest‘s “Snowed In” cast – covered here; the tree lighting and art projection, here.
That’s the official West Seattle Junction Christmas tree, on the south edge of Junction Plaza Park, officially lit during tonight’s GLOWS (Glorious Lights of West Seattle) festival, after a countdown led by Junction entrepreneur (and Christmas-lights enthusiast) Jack Menashe, six of his grandchildren, and Santa Claus:
Once the tree was on …
… it was time to start the projected community-contributed art display on the side of Alaska House on the north side of the park – we recorded some of this first-ever display on video, but you really had to be there to appreciate it:
One more report to come from tonight’s festival – some of the performances from Jay Cates’ All-Star Ensemble of West Seattle musicians! (Here’s our first report, with photos and video from the first two hours.)
(WSB photos/video unless otherwise credited)
4:18 PM: Never mind the rain – the West Seattle Junction’s biggest event of the holiday season is happening now. SW Alaska is closed to vehicle traffic between California and 41st, for the Night Market (vendor list/map here), tree lighting, and Glorious Lights of West Seattle (GLOWS) festival. Here’s the schedule for what’s onstage (42nd/Alaska intersection), following host Marco Collins’ welcome:
4:00-5:00: Costume contestants walk through tunnel of lights [alley west of the park]
4:05: Endolyne Children’s Choir performance
4:30: School of Rock performance
5:00: Host in the Audience with Christmas music
5:15: ArtsWest performance from ‘Snowed In‘
5:30: Light Costume Contest on Stage* [here’s how the contest works]
6:00: The Jay Cates West Seattle All-Star Jazz Ensemble
7:00: Menashe Public Address & Tree Lighting
7:15: West Seattle GLOWS Art Projection Spectacular [on side of Alaska House north of park]
8:00: Close of event
Updates to come!
4:30 PM: Found Santa Claus! Meanwhile, the Endolyne Children’s Choir is just wrapping up its festival-opening performance:
Steps away, the Tunnel of Lights (alley between the park and Panterelli) is open for costume contestants – and photo ops:
Host Marco Collins is sporting an illuminated hat:
The beer/wine garden is open on the southeast corner of 42nd/Alaska, near the stage. More coverage to come!
5 PM: Just concluding the second performance, West Seattle School of Rock:
Costume-contest judging by the crowd is coming up in about half an hour.
5:25 PM: ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) brought a song from “Snowed In”:
The rain’s very light, so no umbrellas needed currently.
6 PM: An hour of music is about to launch – with some surprise All-Stars joining Jay Cates – and then it’s tree time. This past half-hour, the costume competition winners were chosen by audience acclamation. At center below is Archer, who won the “individual” category with her costume of “many jellyfish”:
(added) Closer look:
Archer said she worked for months on the costume! Junction merchants donated the prizes – they’re presenting this whole thing, in fact, as it’s a West Seattle Junction Association production (with community co-sponsors including WSB).
(Added) The “groups” winner was “Santa and Lucy the dog”:
(Added) Three clips from the costume contest – dogs here, individuals here, groups here … Enjoy the break in the rain – the Night Market continues until 8:
And 7:15 pm is when the light projections of community GLOWS contributions are set to start, on the Alaska House wall high above Junction Plaza Park.
8:09 PM: The tree was lit, the community art projected, the serious rain held off … and the All-Stars were so awesome, we’re breaking those videos out into a separate (updated) third report, after Report #2 shows the tree lighting itself … all ahead.
Here’s an advance reminder about two one-day donation drives on Sunday:
(2020 photo courtesy WSFB, when 500+ coats were donated!)
COCOA AND COAT DRIVE AT WS FARMERS’ MARKET: As the West Seattle Food Bank – which handles much more than food – reminded us earlier this week, warm clothing is a BIG need right now. So Sunday’s West Seattle Junction Hometown Holidays Cocoa and Coat Drive event is just in time. Between 10 am to 1:30 pm, bring coats and other warm clothing to the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle booth at the south end of the market (California/Alaska) and have a cup of cocoa.
TOYS FOR TOTS AT FIRE STATION 32: The Seattle Fire Department is partnering with Toys For Tots for one-time collection events at five fire stations around the city tomorrow, and Fire Station 32 (38th/Alaska) in The Junction is one of them. On Sunday between 11 am and 1 pm, firefighters will be ready to receive your donation of new, unwrapped toys. This year, they’re collecting nonperishable food, too.
Among the many holiday events listed in the West Seattle Holiday Guide for this weekend is a one-of-a-kind event we’re previewing for families who might have have heard about it yet – the West Seattle Toy Exchange, 9 am-noon Saturday at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse. Here’s how organizers explain it:
What is this event? A sustainable, affordable opportunity to swap out (or donate) the gently-used, no-longer- exciting toys in your home. We will also have a bake sale, coffee and cocoa by donation to support the Louisa Boren STEM K8 PTA
What to exchange: toys! Puzzles, Legos and toys are encouraged, Please do not bring books, clothing or sporting equipment
What are the rules? This event is for anyone looking to trade toys, donate toys, or whowould like to take some toys to gift to kids. You do not need to donate any toys to participate. Please, no resellers.
What happens to unclaimed toys? Any unclaimed toys at the end of the event will be donated to charity
Fauntleroy Schoolhouse is at 9131 California SW. (If you haven’t been there, transportation/parking info is on the event website.)
Here’s the newest information for tomorrow night’s big events in The Junction – the Night Market, tree lighting, and GLOWS festival:
That’s the production company’s site map, with WEST at the top. Notice one important update from what we’ve been mentioning – SW Alaska will be closed between California and 41st, stretching one block further east than previous years. The tree is still in Junction Plaza Park as always, but note that the stage is actually in the 42nd/Alaska intersection. Most of Alaska west of 42nd will be filled with Night Market vendors (two shops on that stretch, A la Mode Pies and Panterelli, will be serving from their regular locations). On Alaska east of 42nd, you’ll find two food trucks, Tabassum and BlackStar Kebab, near the beer/wine garden. Here’s the list and locations of Night Market vendors. And here’s the updated schedule of events, 4 pm-8 pm:
4:00: Festival begins. Host Marco Collins introduction. Night Market and Beer & Wine Garden are open.
4:00-5:00: Costume contestants walk through tunnel of lights
4:05: Endolyne Children’s Choir performance
4:30: School of Rock performance
5:00: Host in the Audience with Christmas music
5:15: ArtsWest performance from ‘Snowed In‘
5:30: Light Costume Contest on Stage* (here’s how the contest works)
6:00: The Jay Cates West Seattle All-Star Jazz Ensemble – led by Jay Cates and featuring an all-West Seattle ensemble
7:00: Menashe Public Address & Tree Lighting
7:15: West Seattle GLOWS Art Projection Spectacular
8:00: Close of event
It’s not too late to get a light costume ready for tomorrow’s contest – here are full details on that. See you in The Junction tomorrow night (whatever the weather)!
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