For the future, near and far
Just four months into its hopefully long lifespan, Sustainable West Seattle continues to grow. Tomorrow night, you’re invited to its next meeting — 7 pm, Camp Long, family-friendly, so kids are welcome — where county and city reps will talk about transportation and climate-change issues, respectively. The latter is of special note, with a Seattle CAN (Climate Action Now) kickoff event in WS next Saturday. (Here’s a new reason to care about climate change.) If you can’t make tomorrow’s meeting, see the Sustainable WS website, which includes contact info for the people running its action groups (Energy, Transportation, Food & Health, Water & Waste Reduction, Green Building & Planning).
3-Day walkers in West Seattle: Seen and heard
The goal is the same — momentum toward a breast-cancer cure — but the Race for the Cure and the 3-Day Walk are very different, even to watch. The former is an intense, relatively brief crowd event; the latter, we learned along Lincoln Park and Beach Drive and Alki Ave this morning, is no giant throng with the hundreds of walkers passing at once, but instead a steady stream, sometimes one by one:
Emotions run high — watching the 3-Dayers while shadowing them for a few miles from the other side of the street brought us to tears at times, perhaps intensified by the fact we both lost our moms to cancer — but that includes joyful emotions; the 3-Day clearly is boisterous and celebratory, as were the people who could be found all along the route this morning, cheering the walkers from the sidewalk (or honking from the street):
Along Alki Ave’s Condo Row, signs and pink ribbons cropped up on balconies:
And all along the shore, the walkers streamed on by:
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By 10 am, while the fastest/earliest walkers were out of West Seattle and headed for this afternoon’s ceremonies at Seattle Center, the last group members were still walking along Beach Drive, just past the whimsically decorated rest stop set up at Me-Kwa-Mooks:
Before a few final pictures … a reminder why this matters.
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Driver alert: 3-Day walkers in WS in the am
The entire route is not publicly released, but from some sightings around WS tonight, you can put together the path the 3-Day walkers will be taking starting early tomorrow morning. Once they are bused from where they’re camping tonight, it looks like they’ll start at Lincoln Park, where we found this line of temporary relief stations in the south parking lot:
The route from there appears to go along Fauntleroy, then down to Beach Drive and around to Alki, where, as we’ve mentioned previously, an “official cheering station” will be set up in the 1700 block of Alki Ave from 7:40 till 10:15 am. The walkers then proceed toward downtown, where the 3Day ends with ceremonies at Seattle Center. We thought the route from Alki was probably the obvious path along the low bridge, but one e-mail tonight reports another line of Honey Buckets at the park at 26th/Genesee so sounds like there’s a detour along the way — drivers in the morning, please be extra cautious and watch out for this big event on our WS roads.
Fighting with their feet
The fight against breast cancer will hit WS streets these next two Sundays. This Sunday morning, 7:40-10:15 am, an official cheering station is planned in the 1700 block of Alki Ave for the Breast Cancer 3Day Walk participants who started their journey this morning. (Among them is Courtney, whose site is featured on our Other Blogs in WS page.) The following Sunday (9/16), the Northwest Hope & Healing Half Marathon, plus new 5K run/walk, will take place in WS, starting at Lincoln Park and continuing along Alki (and other points for the half-marathoners). NW Hope & Healing helps newly diagnosed breast-cancer patients who need assistance with non-medical aspects of their life, such as child care and transportation. Find out more about the Half-Marathon & 5K, and get signup forms, here.
While things are quiet: Looking ahead
Many big things coming up this month in WS. Here are a few we haven’t mentioned yet …
WEDNESDAY — First day of school for Seattle Public Schools (and many private schools too). Note that Cleveland HS is no longer in the Boren building on Delridge; its own new building is done. However, South Lake HS continues its temporary stay in the old Hughes building; and Fairmount Park Elementary will be empty after closing in June.
THURSDAY — Shoppers go wild! It’s the Fall Fashion Affair in The Junction, 7-10 pm at Sweetie, Edie’s, Clementine, and Carmilia’s.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH — The Northwest Hope & Healing Breast Cancer Half Marathon, with an added 5K Walk/Run if the half-m is a bit much. Sign up now at Capers in The Junction or get the registration form online and send it in.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH — First-ever fundraising breakfast for Southwest Youth & Family Services, 7:30 am @ Salty’s on Alki. Read more at the SWYFS website about all the people their programs help.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22ND — Annual dinner & auction to raise $ for the Log House Museum, 5 pm @ Alki Masonic Hall in The Junction. Call the LHM for tickets (938-5293).
Flocks of fun
September is almost here, and with it arrives your annual chance to pull a fun stunt for a good cause: 
The Furry Faces Foundation is offering you the chance to send somebody a flock of plastic pink flamingos — 10 bucks for every five birds you would like them to land in your target’s yard. To quote the FFF press release, “All flamingo flocks are modestly accessorized with Hawaiian leis, boas or Mardi Gras jewelry and after a 24-48 hour stay over, they will mysteriously disappear.” The concept has a few more fun enhancements, including the ability to purchase “insurance” against somebody sending a flock your way. You can order a flamingo flock by e-mall (furryfaces@hotmail.com), phone (932-1652), or by picking up/dropping off an application at Hotwire Coffee or Pet Elements.
Plum job
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That could be the fruit from your overladen trees, filling a car and eventually bellies, rather than rotting in your yard or on your sidewalk. Aviva sent us the photo and this explanation:
Got Fruit?
We’ve got pickers! It’s that time of year again when neighborhood fruit trees are laden with ripe pears, apples, and plums. Perhaps you’ve seen a tree in your neighborhood with fruit starting to fall. Maybe you even own one of those trees, but never get around to getting the ladder out to pick, and the canner out to make plum preserves.
This year, consider contacting the Community Fruit Tree Harvest, an organization which matches volunteer harvesters with fruit tree owners. Fruit is picked and delivered to organizations such as the West Seattle Food Bank.
Fruit should be pesticide-free, worm-free, and on the tree. If you know of a tree, would like to pick, or know of a organization in West Seattle who could benefit from the harvest, contact aviva@duwamish.net or info@lawnandgardenhotline.org.
Free tix, cool pix
There’s a new link in the gray navigation bar atop the Admiral Theater home page, enticingly titled FREE TICKETS. Click it and you’ll find this page about its restoration project. Donate $40 and they promise a name plate on a new seat, plus two tickets to any regular Admiral showing. Photos on the page include two historic pix, 1930 and 1949.
Tuesday: Happening today & tonight
FREEWAY FRIGHT ’07, FOURTH-TO-LAST WEEKDAY: The I-5 work crews have reached a milestone. (Maybe we’re just punchy; we childishly giggled at the text clump toward the end of that WSDOT page’s full web address: Crewsfinishjoints …) Now they’ve just got some more paving to do — weather permitting. Only two lanes open till they’re done. To check the live cams before your commute, go here.
PRIMARY ELECTION ’07, 7 AM-8 PM FOR IN-PERSON VOTERS: On the ballot you will see City Council races, Port Commission races, the School Board District 6 race, a smattering of county contests, and 2 park levies. All the info you could possibly want, even video voters’ guides, can be found from the list of links here. (We’ll have links to results here tonight.)
HELP FIGHT, AND PREVENT, CRIME, 7 PM TONIGHT: Everyone’s invited to tonight’s meeting of the West Seattle Community Safety Partnership, 7-8:30 pm @ the SW Precinct. Main topic: Protecting your home from burglary. You’ll also hear updates on recent area crime, and neighborhood reports.
It’s in their nature — and yours
Every week in our West Seattle weekend lineup, we include the “work parties” that are set up each month at sites that are among our area’s most precious natural treasures. For example, the Brandon Street Natural Area, which is a section of the Longfellow Creek Legacy Trail, where Jay Mirro leads the monthly events and is hoping to see a few more folks turn out today. He writes:
Brandon Street Natural Area is just west of the corner of 26th and Brandon Street (2 blocks west of Delridge). We work from 10-2. Volunteers can expect to pull weeds and wheelbarrow mulch. It is a family friendly day of work along a beautiful day section of the trail by Longfellow Creek. Folks should bring water and a lunch.
Nice day to work outdoors, too, with the cloud cover. Drop by & be a hero. If you’re wondering first, what’s a work party really like – Lina Rose from EarthCorps wrote us with a recap and some pix from the West Duwamish Greenbelt event last weekend; like the one today at Brandon Street, it involved a lot of mulch:
Click ahead to read Lina’s recap (including what this work will enable volunteers to do next time), see more pix (including one that might answer questions such as “gosh, would I really fit in at one of those work parties?”), and find out about an event next weekend:Read More
Tonight’s the night….for Night Out
All over West Seattle — and much of the rest of the country — you’ll see something you don’t usually see in most neighborhoods: Neighbors out in the street, sharing good times, good food, good ideas. It’s Night Out, the sleek new-ish name for what once upon a time was known as National Night Out Against Crime. Neighborhoods that met the deadline for registering their events with the Seattle Police Southwest Precinct here in WS will get to close off (non-arterial) streets for their block parties. SPD said they were unable to provide us with a list, but some neighborhoods told us about their locations; others were posted online. Click ahead for the latest list (updated as people send us more locations); if you’re involved in any Night Out event tonight, we invite you to send us a photo afterward for posting here at WSB (represent!).Read More
Ercolini Park: A sign & a party
It’s on the same type of frame as a “for sale” sign, but this sign (right) at the Ercolini Park site on Alaska west of The Junction can be best described as “for info.” Right now, it’s stocked with flyers for a block party alongside the park site during Night Out tomorrow (6-9 pm, along 48th SW between Alaska and Oregon); park organizer Bill Barna says they’ll be accepting donations during the party as they finish up their last round of fundraising following a city matching-funds grant. (Speaking of Night Out, if your neighborhood is having a party and you don’t mind telling us about it in case any neighbors haven’t heard, leave a comment here or e-mail us; city organizers say they can’t give us an area-wide list. Also we’re hoping to post Night Out pix afterward, so even if you don’t tell us about your party in advance, take a pic and send it to us!)
Just hours remain to get in on Night Out
Tomorrow’s the deadline to sign up your block for a night of crime-fighting, community-building, street-closing fun: 
Night Out 2007 is Tuesday, August 7, 6-10 pm. Find out how to sign up for it here. If you’re in the “Weed & Seed” grant area of South Delridge/downtown White Center, you might be able to get a small grant for supplies (not food); click here to e-mail the folks responsible for that. If you’re in the Beach Drive area, BDB has been working to organize a get-together there. If you’re in Fairmount Springs (northeast of Morgan Junction), their invite is online. Pigeon Point has a location posted too. Wherever you are in WS, if you have a Night Out get-together, take a pic that night, send it to us, we would love to post it in our follow-ups.
Calling all mechanics: Can you help Hi-Yu?
The West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival float has been making the rounds — including this past Saturday’s WS parade — and now its appearance in The Biggest Parade Of All is just days away. But as Hi-Yu President Tim Winston puts it:
“The 40 year-old Oldsmobile V-8 under that beautiful wrapping is overheating & our usual mechanical help is unavailable. Torchlight is a long parade and the street surface air temp is often close to 100 at the end of a hot day.”
Hi-Yu is a volunteer, nonprofit effort on a tight budget and they’re hoping someone out there can point them to “flexible and free” mechanical help for the float, ASAP. If you can come to the rescue, please e-mail Tim at info@hiyu.com — TIA from parade fans everywhere (who would hate to see West Seattle’s pride ‘n’ joy depart 4th Avenue on a tow truck!).
City cash for two WS projects
The folks working on Ercolini Park on SW Alaska just west of The Junction are in line for a $90,000 Neighborhood Matching Fund Award from the city — this isn’t a giveaway, but a hard-fought win that’s only possible when community members commit time and money to projects, enough to impress city leaders to chip in. Ercolini Park organizer Bill Barna says they have a little more fundraising to do — $6K worth — you can go to the Ercolini Park website to find out how to contact them to chip in $ (or anything else the project needs). Congratulations also are in order to Gatewood Elementary School; the next phase of its playground project also is in line for a $90K matching-fund grant. (Full list of matching-fund projects citywide, including a South Park skatepark, is readable here.)
2 simple ways to help WS families
#1 — Buy a backpack (or more than one) and donate it to the West Seattle Helpline back-to-school backpack drive, under way right this very moment. They hope to hand out hundreds next month. Drop off the backpack(s) at Capers in The Junction, or at Helpline’s new HQ in the WS Community Resource Center, 35th & Morgan (Tues-Thurs, 10 am-2 pm).
#2 — Pre-order your copy of the new “Harry Potter” book from Square 1 Books in Jefferson Square before Friday, and $5 will go to WestSide Baby — plus you’ll get two tickets to a special “Harry Potter” event at the Admiral Theater on Friday. (It’s also not too soon to start gearing up for WestSide Baby’s “Stuff the Bus” diaper drive on 7/29!)
Ten days till 
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