West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
That’s Moon the cat. Moon needs someplace to stay – short term or long term. His person, Sherry, lost her job, then got evicted this week, according to Delridge resident Paul Boyarin, who met Sherry at her recent yard sale. Now that she’s staying at an emergency shelter, she can’t keep Moon with her; the neighbor who’s watching him can’t keep him; Paul himself is maxed out with four foster cats; and local cat rescuers say they’re full to capacity right now. So Paul wonders if anyone in WSB-land would be interested in taking care of Moon, who’s about three years old, described as “very friendly and sweet” and “a well-loved indoor cat.” If you can help, here’s how to reach Paul: pzalic@yahoo.com
Not only will there be a West Seattle Edible Garden Tour again this year, there’ll also be a West Seattle Edible Garden Fair too. And you can help it grow – by spending an hour and half with organizers this Sunday afternoon. The Edible Garden Fair, involving Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle and the city Department of Neighborhoods, is set for May 23rd at South Seattle Community College, a day of “presentations and panel discussions about growing food,” according to the CHoSS website. But before it comes to fruition, it’s time for planning and strategizing – and that’ll happen at 1:30 this Sunday in the Common House at Duwamish Cohousing (6000 17th SW; here’s a map).
One of the headlines from tonight’s Alki Community Council meeting: President Jule Sugarman announced that management of the maintenance fund for the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza will move from Urban Sparks, which financially sponsored the Plaza Project Committee, to the ACC, with the Parks Department‘s blessing. “This does NOT mean we are raising money,” Sugarman stressed; instead, the council is creating a new committee — chaired by Plaza Project Committee co-chair Libby Carr — to oversee the extra maintenance, for which a $60,000-plus fund is already in place. Carr says that maintenance will include cleaning and staining the wood benches twice a year and washing and waxing the Statue of Liberty replica and its pedestal. Those jobs would be professionally done, but the new committee might rustle up volunteers for occasional work parties to do other kinds of cleanup, and would likely have regular meetings only a few times a year. Meantime, the additional bricks to be installed at the plaza are likely to be put in this spring, Carr said — along with the new time capsule — and replacements are in the works for the existing bricks that have had some deterioration problems. (Photo above left by David Hutchinson)
Here on WSB last week, you met Heart On My Sleeve in this story – three men, working out of a Pigeon Point duplex, hoping to change the world for the better, with recycled-material fashion, design, and music: Navy veteran Johnathan Oliver, former UW football player Shelton Sampson (shown above), and musician Art B. They were hopeful their “big break” was just around the corner; in the week and a half since we met them, some new excitement has materialized, starting with Seattle Fashion Week next month. Johnathan wrote to say:
Seattle Fashion Week has invited us to show our line. They also want us to serve as visual graphic directors for the show. We will also have the opportunity to design a piece for Vitamin Water. They are one of the sponsors for the event. They will be providing us with the money to purchase the materials needed for the piece. We have so many great ideas and I’m sure we would be able to make quite a statement at this show. We feel that a successful show can and will catapult us in the local fashion scene as well as the global.
Johnathan later e-mailed to say fashion-industry insider BJ Coleman has agreed to come here for the show, if they can figure out how to get him here. And that’s not all. They’ve been asked to perform some of their songs at a Fashion Week promo event on March 26, plus:
We will be creating 10 pieces for the fashion show. Each piece will have a charity associated to it. Such charities as The American Heart Association, the glass-blowing program in Tacoma. We are also creating a piece for Fashion Week that will be auctioned off at the Community School of West Seattle to raise money to replace technologies in their preschool. The kids will actually be helping us construct the piece as well.
They’ve been getting by on something of a shoestring – so in order to make all this happen, they have a wish list that you might be able to help with – read on to see it, plus an easy way to help:Read More
1. The Parks Department sent out a roundup today of sports-signup highlights at their facilities around West Seattle; check it out here.
2. Just got a City Hall advisory that Hizzoner will be volunteering at the High Point Habitat for Humanity construction site tomorrow. Celebrityish help is nothing new on the project; we covered Seahawks wives helping out back in February.
The White Center Food Bank, which also serves West Seattle south of SW Myrtle, is opening its doors one Saturday a month, as its clientele continues to grow. Full details at our partner site WhiteCenterNow.com.
Michelle Baker is a born-and-raised West Seattleite – attended Lafayette Elementary, Madison Middle School, and West Seattle High School – but right now she’s in Butare, Rwanda (map), as part of her International Studies major at Seattle University. Before she left, she held a Beads for Life fundraiser to help Ugandan women – the photo above shows Michelle and mom Julie at the fundraiser. Now that she’s in Africa, Michelle is writing about her experiences online – michellejbaker.blogspot.com. But her trip is about more than studying; Michelle — a longtime soccer player — and her friend Caitlin, from Colorado, are also spending time in Uganda and have written a proposal to carry out a dream to help women through sports, by starting a soccer team in Northern Uganda. They need support, including money. Read on to see what they want to do and why:Read More
Andrea Mercado from the Log House Museum — where you can check out the history of West Seattle, noon-4 pm Thursdays-Sundays — just sent this note:
Stop in Sunday, March 15th, between 11-2 to help us move file cabinets, brochures, books and papers out from the Log House Museum upstairs. Besides being an enormous help to the Log House Museum and Southwest Seattle Historical Society, you will also get to see the inner sanctum of the museum (upstairs) which is not generally open to the public. (oooooooohhhhh)
A 105 year old log structure is always an adventure to maintain and a joy to work in, but the building cannot handle the weight of our modern-day conveniences.
For 30 minutes, an hour or two of your time… there will be goodies donated by the Alki Bakery and beverages to keep us all going.
The museum’s in the big beautiful historic house shown in the photo above, 61st/Stevens in Alki (map).
(Scouts from Troop 282 with donations from the 2008 “Scouting for Food”)
Heads-up on door-to-door visitors you DON’T need to be suspicious about – in fact, you’re going to want to welcome them warmly: The folks at West Seattle Boy Scout Troop 282 e-mailed with advance word of Scouting for Food, which will send Scouts into local neighborhoods the next two Saturdays:
Scouting for Food
March 14 and 21For twenty years, the Boy Scouts have worked together with community food banks to collect food for the hungry during the annual Scouting for Food drive. To date, more than 23 million cans of food have been collected for local community food banks. The Boy Scouts of America teaches the value of community service in all of its programs and the importance of helping others. Doing a Good Turn Daily is a cornerstone of the Scouting program.
Scouts from West Seattle Troop 282 will walk our neighborhoods delivering door hangers on Saturday, March 14. The following Saturday, March 21, Scouts will follow-up to collect non-perishable food item donations and deliver them to the West Seattle Food Bank. Emphasis is on food most needed for nutrition such as peanut butter, baby formula, packaged meals and canned goods, especially tuna, soups, stews, meats, fruits and vegetables.
Please help support the hungry in our community. It is more important now than it has been for many decades. Watch for a door hanger on your door and get your donations out early on March 21st, so you can join our Scouts in Doing a Good Turn Daily.
A bonus — donations to West Seattle Food Bank (and also White Center Food Bank, which serves part of West Seattle) count extra this month and next because of the Feinstein Challenge (explained here). ADDED 5:09 PM: First word of this came from Troop 282 – thank you! – but we also asked a followup question about other troops participating; we’re told that other area participants will include Troop 284 and Cub Scout Packs 282, 284, 285, 793, and 799. (As always, we really appreciate being able to share news like this with the rest of West Seattle, so whatever you and/or your group are up to, editor@westseattleblog.com – any time!)
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm, The Junction. Here’s this week’s fresh sheet.
WEST SEATTLE FASHION SHOW: Today’s the day, 2 pm at The Sanctuary at Admiral – full details here; part of the proceeds benefit West Seattle Food Bank.
JAZZ TO FIGHT LEUKEMIA AND LYMPHOMA: Tonight at Rocksport, 6 pm, live jazz! – with the proceeds going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Full details here.
We first showed you that photo back in October, in this story about Family Promise of West Seattle, the peninsula’s only agency helping homeless families, with a day center and arrangements for night lodging. Board member Donna Pierce e-mailed today to invite you to a benefit brunch:
West Seattle Blog readers are cordially invited to “Delivering on the Promise,” a brunch benefiting Family Promise of Seattle, this Saturday, March 7, from 10:30 AM ’til noon, at Fauntleroy Church. Brunch begins at 10:30, and a program follows at 11. Please come hear about Family Promise’s work in our community, coordinating a network of congregations and volunteers that provides fellowship, temporary housing and food for newly homeless families, while staff provides case management, advocacy and direction to help guests access the housing and employment resources they need to regain independence. Admission is free, and donations supporting the organization’s mission will be solicited during the program. RSVP 206-388-9170 or fundraiser@familypromiseofseattle.org
Whatever term you want to use, this invitation’s for you: TEAM Delridge, latest push for neighborhood efforts in the King County Food and Fitness Initiative, invites you to a get-together at 6:30 pm March 23rd. Food for thought, from the official invitation:
Does any or all of the following apply to you:
___ I live in the Delridge neighborhood.
___ I learn in the Delridge neighborhood.
___ I work in the Delridge neighborhood.
___ I play in the Delridge neighborhood.
___ I care about the Delridge neighborhood.Do you have ideas or thoughts on the accessibility of healthy food for your family or others’ families living, working, learning and playing in Delridge?
We’ve heard a thousand times before that Delridge needs a grocery store. Is that true? Would a farmers’ market be best? You tell us!
Join other community members just like yourself who are striving to eat healthier, practicing collective action and moving more!
Topics for discussion and prioritization:
What kinds of businesses, organizations, and programs will make a more vibrant Delridge?
What are our largest community concerns, and how can they be addressed?For more information on the exciting initiative or to RSVP for the community meeting, please contact Phillippia Goldsmith at (206) 923-0917 x 116 or via e-mail at phillippiag@dnda.org
Sarah Bonzer e-mailed today to ask if we’d share a request that she in turn is sharing on behalf of her friend and co-worker, Katie Hogan; both of them live in West Seattle – that’s a candid photo of Katie at left, sent after we asked Sarah for one to go with this story. Before reading Katie’s request, you should hear what Sarah has to say about her friend Katie:
Katie was diagnosed with advanced cancer three years ago and I’ll never forget the day she made the announcement in our conference room at work. You don’t wish something like this on anyone, let alone a woman in her thirties with a young daughter and husband who has survived his own bout with cancer. Katie is one of the gentlest, most caring, considerate and hard working individuals you’ll ever meet. My life is better for having known her during this time, if that is at all possible. Sadly, Katie likely won’t live a full life like the rest of us. Yet in her final years, she stays committed to organizations such as the one she describes below which have supported her during this journey.
The organization is called the Young Survival Coalition; its Seattle branch has less than $40 left in its “Sunshine Fund.” Sarah says even $10 would be a big help – but you don’t have to take her word for it; read Katie’s note, by clicking ahead:Read More
As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child – and in the case of this story, it takes a village of fundraisers to rustle up the money for programs to help kids. The West Seattle Family YMCA (WSB sponsor) gathered fundraising volunteers at The Hall at Fauntleroy tonight for the Partners With Youth Campaign “victory celebration”: More than $202,000 raised, close to the $205K target (half of the total $410K goal, with the other half raised by the Y’s Board of Managers). This money goes to keep YMCA programs accessible to kids, teens, and families in West Seattle, Vashon, and South Park. Tonight’s event brought together volunteers to report their individual achievements – those who exceeded certain personal goals got T-shirts – the photo above shows Katie Taylor, director of the Y’s afterschool program at Madison, calling out goal-exceeders’ names. (The Y website offers online-donation opportunities, by the way.)
It’s the rectangle of grass on the northwest corner of Alaska/42nd, at the foot of one tall building now, with more in the works across Alaska. Tonight, you are invited to share the next step toward turning Junction Plaza Park from future park to developed park: The newly energized Friends of Junction Plaza Park will gather at 6:30 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle, a block away from the park site. Recent reports here about the project have drawn comments wondering why the price tag to finish the park is $350,000; even if you’re among the skeptics, bring your questions and ideas – what’s needed even more than money is a pledge of volunteer time to get the job done. (Park-vision rendering, above left.)
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm today in The Junction, 44th/Alaska; you can see the newest “fresh sheet” here – with greens, prawns, and mutton, among the newer offerings.
DELRIDGE PRODUCE CO-OP INFO AT THE MARKET: Galena White‘s been working hard to find and organize volunteers to make the co-op dream happen, and today she’s planning a booth at the Farmers’ Market, so look for her there. She’s also set up a new online site for co-op-related communication; find it here, and if you’re on Facebook, be sure to friend her there too.
GOT ROOM IN YOUR HOME/HEART FOR ANOTHER PET? Bernadette Cassidy of The Wash Dog in Morgan Junction e-mailed (editor@westseattleblog.com) to share the news that the King County Animal Shelter will be there today, noon-4 pm, with adoptable dogs and cats. And if you adopt one, Bernadette’s got a bonus for you – a free self-serve wash.
More highlights from the current edition of the West Seattle Weekend Lineup (jump here to the full Saturday list):
RAT CITY RUMMAGE: In White Center, the first-ever Rat City Rummage takes over the old skating rink, 10 am-6 pm, and we’re told vendor spaces are sold out, should be lots to browse and buy.
SANISLO USED-BOOK SALE: The 4th graders at Sanislo Elementary are having a Used Book Sale, 10 am-3 pm, to raise money to go to camp on Vashon. Never been to the school? Here’s a map.
JUNCTION PARKING REVIEW WALKING TOUR: Even if you didn’t RSVP, you’ll still be welcome to join in. Noon-2 pm, meet at Cupcake Royale (California/Alaska). Archived coverage of the parking review is here; by the way, the results of the Fremont parking review are being installed as we speak.
A week ago, we told you about the new campaign to enlist community support in pledging volunteer time to help Junction Plaza Park qualify for a Neighborhood Matching Fund grant. An update now from West Seattle Junction Association‘s Susan Melrose:
As you may know, the effort to build Junction Plaza Park have been underway for several years. But this is the year we make it happen! We are in a good position to complete fundraising for the park this year. A brief update – we ‘value engineered’ the cost down to $350k, have already raised $55k mostly thanks to the Seattle Parks Foundation, and have a solid plan for securing large donors and grants. We are currently asking for $100k from the Neighborhood Matching Funds Grant.
Now community volunteer hours are needed to build support for the park and help win our grant from the Neighborhood Matching Funds. Friends of Junction Plaza Park is hosting its first meeting on Tuesday, March 3 from 6:30-7:30 pm in the Nelson Room at the Senior Center.
If you’d like to help build community support, please see the attached information and volunteer opportunities. And most importantly… Take the pledge by April 6th! It’s easy for individuals to pledge a handful of hours and the results are satisfying. Businesses and organizations can take the pledge too.
The pledge form is on the second page of this JP Park fact sheet. You can e-mail it to junctionplazapark@yahoo.com.
Thanks to everyone who sends in event announcements – their main home on WSB is the West Seattle-wide Events calendar (with listings now stretching on into fall), but as often and possible, when something unusual comes in, we do our best to mention it here too, like this: Here’s an announcement just received for the West Seattle Fashion Show, less than two weeks away:
The historic Sanctuary at Admiral (2656 42nd Avenue SW) will be the
venue for the upcoming West Seattle Fashion Show on Sunday, March 8,
2009 from 2 pm to 5 pm. Light refreshments will be provided.Admission for this teens-and-older event is $10 plus a donation of
canned or packaged food. Portions of the proceeds and the donated
food will be given to the West Seattle Food Bank. Helping neighbors
during the local economic downturn is the impetus for the fundraising
and the fashion show focus adds a fun element for the attendees.The event sponsors are West Seattle businesses – Designer Labels
Consignment Boutique, the Sanctuary at Admiral, Clementine (shoe
shop), Elliot Hair Salon, Small Clothes (kids re-sale, Coffee to a Tea
w/ Sugar and Herban Feast Catering.Clothing for the fashion show will be provided by Designer Labels and
available for purchase. Other shop sponsors will have merchandise for
sale as well.
Sunday night, we brought you the story of Allison Dennis, a West Seattle mom whose son Jack (photo left) is autistic, campaigning to get a bill mandating insurance coverage of autism treatment — “Shayan’s Law“ — through the Legislature. Allison says the bill is on the brink of death unless action is taken today:
Senator Karen Keiser, chair of the Senate Health Care Committee, has today to call SB5203 up for a vote in an executive session or it dies.
Shayan’s Law (SB5203) offers protection against the prevalent insurance coverage denials of medically necessary treatments for children on the autism spectrum at an identical cost to Washington State as the Neuro-Developmental Therapies (NDT) bill [HB1412] that proposes to do the same, but falls short due to insurance coverage loopholes within the bill. The insurance industry has carefully crafted provisions that render the NDT bill utterly meaningless for all developmentally disabled individuals who need services, not just the ones on the Autism Spectrum. The influence of the insurance industry is allowing the NDT bill to gain traction on the House side.
Ultimately, states pay in cases of untreated or undertreated populations and SB5203 puts the cost of health care back where it belongs. Shayan’s Law will hold insurance companies accountable for covering diagnosis and medically necessary, evidence based treatment of autism. Under Shayan’s Law, insurers will not be able to get out of accepting their share of this devastating medical condition, as they have been for years here in Washington and around the nation.
It is unthinkable that our lawmakers would choose less protection for the same cost to the state (NDT bill), especially in the current economic crisis. Eight states have passed Autism Insurance Reform similar to Shayan’s Law and 32 more have taken it up this year. We want the same protection for our children. Now more than ever, our state needs relief from the societal costs when children don’t get the intervention they need. Now more than ever, our children need these benefits.
As a Washington voter, I expect fiscally responsible decision making that will yield significantly lower societal costs of autism. SB5203 is an opportunity that Washington State lawmakers cannot afford to pass up. I urge anyone similarly concerned to call Karen Keiser and ask that SB5203 be put to an executive session vote. The deadline for a vote is the 25th – today. Please take part in the legislative process. Grassroots efforts do work and voter participation does make a difference! Her number is 360-786-7664.
West Seattle’s 34th District State Senator Joe McDermott is a co-sponsor of SB5203, but this district’s two State Representatives, Eileen Cody and Sharon Nelson, are supporting the “NDT bill” (HB1412) that Dennis and other autism advocates say has too many loopholes.
Following our visit to West Seattle Girl Scouts’ cookie-case-sorting operation on Saturday, we found out a lot more about what the local Scouts are up to (including this). Now there’s one more event we wanted to share with you, because this one could use your help too: Tuesday night at Holy Rosary, more than two dozen Girl Scouts got together to put together AIDS- and malaria-fighting kits to send overseas, as part of the GS “World Thinking Day,” which had as its 2009 goal for “girls worldwide to say ‘we can stop the spread of AIDS, malaria, and other diseases’.” Fifth-grader Caroline Rouse worked to organize the project, as we learned when we met Caroline and her mom at the cookie loading dock; last night, she led her fellow Scouts in a game as part of the event:
The kits (which include items such as malaria-fighting mosquito netting) cost about $30 each to put together. Girl Scouts from all over West Seattle have been chipping in to buy them, but you can help too – some local businesses and other organizations already have — just e-mail kriskrop@msn.com to say you’d like to donate. Meantime, we’re glad to share what YOUR organization – kids OR adults – is up to, whether it’s an event listing or a heads-up about something like this; e-mail WSB at editor@westseattleblog.com any time (or if you’d prefer a different contact method, all of ours are listed here).
VIADUCT/TUNNEL: Tonight’s the open house at Madison Middle School – drop by any time between 5:30 and 7:30 pm, express your opinion, ask questions, and get a closer look at exactly how it’s envisioned that traffic flow between West Seattle and downtown (and points beyond) will work under the current proposal. (A similar open house happened in Ballard last night; here’s coverage from our fellow neighborhood-news site MyBallard.com; disclosure, WSDOT has an ad running here through tonight to promote the open house.)
HEALTHY YOUTH PARTNERSHIP: At left, coordinator Renae Gaines and chair Phil Tavel, in a photo we took at the last meeting of the Southwest Healthy Youth Partnership, which works to make sure West Seattle-area kids and families have the information they need to grow up safely — in particular, to stay away from alcohol use and abuse. As we reported before the last meeting, the group conducted a West Seattle-wide survey (results here) that turned up some interesting discoveries, including the fact that anti-drinking messages also need to be targeted at families with elementary-age children — before they get into middle school, where peer pressure and alcohol availability can intensify. Tonight’s meeting is at 7 pm at Madison Middle School, and the more people-power they can get to help spread their message throughout the community, the better.
WEST SEATTLE LITTLE LEAGUE: There’s another opportunity for in-person registration tonight – thanks to Cami MacNamara for sharing the news:
West Seattle Little League will be holding the LAST in person registration this evening from 7–9 PM at West Seattle High School , Room 212 ( 3000 California Ave SW ). Please visit http://westseattlelittleleague.com/registration.html for registration forms and payment information. If you are mailing in your registration, all registrations MUST be postmarked by today, February 24th, 2009!
GENERATION BIG: A new program aiming to get more adults, especially seniors, involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound is offering info and taking signups this morning at the Senior Center of West Seattle in The Junction, 10 am. Hundreds of kids are waiting to be matched with “Bigs,” and this program makes it easier than ever to help out with a small time commitment each week. See the flyer here.
FAT TUESDAY “RACE”: Metropolitan Market in Admiral is scheduled to be the site of Fat Tuesday fun this morning at 11 am — involving a treat called paczkis, an eating contest, and a run around the building. You’re invited; full details on the market’s events calendar.
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