West Seattle, Washington
30 Thursday
Another big springtime benefit to announce, with tickets available: West Seattleite-founded-and-led Northwest Hope & Healing is getting ready for its 14th annual fashion-show benefit, “Style ’16.” It’s at Showbox SODO this year, on Thursday, April 21st, VIP doors at 6:30, general admission at 7. From Amy Daly-Donovan:
Fashion. Fun. Fundraising. Firefighters!*
NW Hope & Healing supports local women as they undergo breast and gynecologic cancer treatment at Swedish Cancer Institute. Please join us for a great night out, and make a direct impact in local cancer patients’ lives. We are expecting 400 guests to enjoy a fantastic evening! Northwest Hope & Healing’s Patient Assistance Fund provides financial grants to women undergoing treatment who are struggling with expenses for essentials such as rent, transportation, prescriptions, groceries, and utility bills. In 2015, NWHH provided 388 grants and we want to be able to do more in 2016 and beyond. The fashion show is our biggest fundraiser of the year!
Tickets are on sale now at www.nwhopeandhealing.org. Choose from General Admission ($50), VIP ($125) or Runway VIP ($250) – more information on the levels is on our site. Single tickets and tables are available for purchase.
We are still looking for financial or in-kind sponsors as well as volunteers. Please contact Kristina Dahl, Executive Director, at kristina@nwhopeandhealing.org for more information.
The show will feature local boutiques (representing West Seattle: Carmilia’s, Coastal, West Seattle Runner), hair & makeup support from West Seattle’s Ola Salon, and models who are all breast and gynecologic cancer survivors or currently in treatment, many from West Seattle as well as Seattle and the Eastside.
*A special treat this year – we are pleased to announce that a bevy of Bellevue Firefighters will serve as our male models, participating in support of their colleague who is a breast cancer survivor and also modeling in the show!
(2015 WSB photo by Patrick Sand)
It’s one of a kind, once a year, and a way to get a closer look at an area of West Seattle you might only have driven or rode through – or never seen at all: The Fairmount Ravine community cleanup is next Saturday. From longtime coordinator John Lang:
Fairmount Ravine Preservation Group will sponsor the 24th Annual Spring Cleanup and Reforestation of Fairmount Ravine, Saturday, March 12th, at 8:30 am.
Meet at top of ravine (Forest St. and Fairmount Ave. – map). Wear boots and gloves. Bring a pruning saw if or large loppers if interested in removing ivy from trees. Delicious beverages and food from our local merchants will be provided.
We extend a special invitation to those who use the ravine to access the waterfront; please donate an hour of your time to keep this greenbelt healthy and pristine. More info – call John at 206-932-5151.
By the way, you don’t have to go up under the bridge, as shown in our photo from last year – lots to clean up at the surface, including, as John mentions, getting ivy off the trees. As he said following last year’s cleanup, “It is a great example of community pride and putting into action the teamwork necessary to tackle a difficult situation.”
As West Seattle Helpline executive director Chris Langeler describes it, it’s “the most delicious night of the year in West Seattle” – the Helpline’s big food-and-drink benefit Taste of West Seattle. Tickets are now on sale, and you’ll want to get yours early because this always sells out. They’re still adding food-and-drink vendors to the lineup, too, as well as sponsors – here’s the info:
Date: May 26th, 2016
Location: The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California Ave SW)
Time: 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm (VIP entry at 6:00 pm; General Admission at 6:30 pm)
Tickets are now available for the Taste of West Seattle 2016! This local, community-based food fair is the largest event of its kind in West Seattle. This year’s Taste will feature food and drink from more than 40 different restaurants, breweries, wineries, coffee shops, bakeries, chocolatiers, and more–all from right here in West Seattle!
All proceeds from the event go directly to the West Seattle Helpline’s emergency assistance and homelessness prevention programs. These services stabilize and support low-income individuals and families in West Seattle who are recovering from a crisis or unexpected hardship.
The Taste has drawn a sell-out crowd of more than 500 people for the past five years in a row. Make sure to get your tickets before they sell out!
Buy your tickets online – go here
Sign up to participate as a West Seattle food/drink vendor – go here
Promote your business at the Taste of West Seattle 2016 – go here
For more information – go here
Forecast says tomorrow’s weather will be better in the morning than in the afternoon. That’s good news for the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s quarterly Adopt-A-Street cleanup – which welcomes your help. New ANA president Larry Wymer sends the invite details:
WHERE: Metropolitan Market (2320 42nd Ave) — Meet at the outdoor awning area across from the floral department
WHEN: Meet up between 8:45-9:00 am; clean up 9 am-noon
GOODIES FOR YOU: Coffee, doughnuts, brown-bag lunch (all provided by Metropolitan Market)
SUPPLIES FOR YOU: Garbage bags, gloves, grabber tools, safety vests, etc.
All you have to do is show up, and wear/bring clothing/gear for wet weather just in case.
P.S. ANA’s next meeting is Tuesday (March 8th), 7 pm at The Sanctuary at Admiral (42nd SW/SW Lander), with the agenda featuring neighborhood safety, featuring Community Police Team Officer Jon Flores. All welcome.
It’s the annual question – when do Girl Scout Cookies go on sale? This year’s answer: Friday (March 4th). You can find the nearest location via the cookie finder here. Looks like West Seattle sales start outside Husky Deli at 3 pm, and more locations join in starting at 4. The locations closest to zip code 98106 are here; 98116, here; 98126, here; 98136, here; 98146, here. See the seven varieties available this year by going here.
That’s a taste of what you’ll be able to listen and dance to this Friday night (March 4th) at the fourth annual Big Band Dinner Dance presented by the West Seattle High School Music Program. Along with the WSHS Jazz Ensemble, the West Seattle Big Band will play – that’s who’s in the clip, performing “Mack the Knife” during a recent event (thanks to WSBB director Jim Edwards for sharing the video – the WSBB is all about helping local students). Dinner will be prepared and served by WSHS’s culinary program ProStart. Here’s how the night will go:
Dinner served 6-7 pm
Group lessons in basic swing dancing steps 6:30-7 pm
WSHS Jazz Band perform 7-7:30 pm
Door prizes and raffle prize drawings at 7:30 pm
West Seattle Big Band perform 7:30-9 pm
Buy your ticket in advance for $15 – that includes dinner and a door-prize ticket – or $17 at the door. E-mail westseattlehsmusic@gmail.com – or ask any WSHS music student you might happen to know!
P.S. As asked in a comment – yes, it’s at the school (3000 California SW); here’s our calendar listing.
Independent local businesses are more important than you might already know: For one, they’re the businesses creating most new jobs in the U.S.. Supporting your local indies means helping create jobs for your neighbors, and here’s one way to make that happen: Backing another local biz via Community Sourced Capital.
CSC isn’t your standard crowdfunding – it’s more like crowd-loaning; we’ve reported before on local businesses/organizations that used it for a boost, like The Westy two years ago. As mentioned here Monday, the latest is My Three Little Birds (WSB sponsor) in Morgan Junction – a resale boutique, community gathering place, and more – about to celebrate its second anniversary.
To grow and thrive, My Three Little Birds hopes to add an online store – so it can work with local families both in person and online – and to fund that, it’s working with Community Sourced Capital. That’s where you come in, to lend a hand, and a bit of capital that will be repaid – you can be an investor, helping a community business grow, without being a tycoon. Like most crowd-powered campaigns, this one came with a deadline, and My Three Little Birds must hit its minimum goal by the end of this weekend in order to receive any part of what supporters have committed already. Here’s how to be part of it!
Your dollar(s), donated to the West Seattle Helpline right now, will go farther thanks to matching funds, as the Helpline’s Chris Langeler explains:
In November 2015, Nucor Steel Seattle paired with one of their suppliers, Graymont, to provide $10,000 in community matching funds to the West Seattle Helpline. These funds were used to match donations made at the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Dinner & Auction. Their matching support helped make that night the most successful fundraising event in the history of the West Seattle Helpline!
We recently learned that Nucor and Graymont have now allocated $2,414.77 in additional matching funds, specifically for utility assistance through our One-Time Assistance Program. By working with Seattle City Light, Seattle Public Utilities, and Puget Sound Energy, this program helps prevent electricity, water, and gas shutoffs for families recovering from an unexpected hardship.
We ask our neighbors to help us access these funds to keep the lights and heat on and the water running for local families through the rest of the cold weather season. All donations made online to the West Seattle Helpline before March 4th will be matched up to a total of $2,414.77. If we meet our goal, we will be able to help up to 100 additional members of our West Seattle community stay safe and warm in their homes while they get back on their feet!
To help West Seattle Helpline acquire these funds and be there for our neighbors in need, please make a contribution online by Friday, March 4th at:
Our sincere thanks to Nucor and Graymont for their generous donations and to the West Seattle community for their wonderful, ongoing support. The West Seattle Helpline’s motto is “Neighbors Helping Neighbors since 1989.” We are grateful every day to have the best neighbors anyone could ask for!
Helpline is a nonprofit that provides emergency assistance to “help prevent evictions and utility shutoffs (and) provide transportation assistance” and also hosts the West Seattle Clothesline, “a volunteer-run clothing donation and distribution center for low-income families.”
(Photo courtesy Bureau of Fearless Ideas)
It’s a world now where many if not most of us write more than we speak. That makes writing skills more valuable than ever – so if you can help local students improve theirs, this is for you:
The Greater Seattle Bureau of Fearless Ideas is the world-famous, volunteer-powered, Greenwood-based nonprofit writing and tutoring center that’s been serving kids across the Puget Sound area for the past decade. Our next mission: establishing a satellite bureau in White Center — a move that has us looking to build our volunteer ranks in the West Seattle and White Center areas. This winter and spring bring a number of volunteer opportunities at West Seattle schools, with bureau agents conducting writing workshops with students at Big Picture Middle School, Denny International Middle School, and Chief Sealth International High School. Have a few hours a week for 6-8 weeks to help the younger generation become better writers and communicators? Email David Schmader at david@fearlessideas.org. (And check out all things bureau-related at fearlessideas.org.)
(Gina and Ryan, working at the site recently – photo courtesy Janice Nyman)
Looking for something to do on Presidents Day tomorrow? 12 fruit trees are awaiting helping hands during an all-day planting party planned at the Chilberg Link community project, says Janice Nyman. We reported on the project three weeks ago. Just stop by 10 am-4 pm; here’s a map. (They’re also collecting online as part of the ongoing matching-funds drive for art to include in the “link” they’re creating to Emma Schmitz Memorial Overlook Park.)
The Chief Sealth International High School PTSA is out tonight with one last reminder – this year’s annual fundraising auction is one week from tonight (Saturday, February 20th, Brockey Center at South Seattle College [WSB sponsor]), and this year’s beneficiaries are Denny-Sealth Performing Arts and the PTSA. Last day to buy tickets is this Tuesday (February 16th) – you can do it online right now. Nicole Sipila from the PTSA adds, “Thank you for supporting our kids!”
A grad student who lives in West Seattle, Mike Northcutt, asked if we would share this announcement for independent research he’s conducting, self-funded, about local shopping, with a focus group this weekend. It’s a class project but the findings could benefit many:
Focus Group this Sunday to help small businesses in West Seattle.
Looking for 5-7 participants to join the conversation.
Topic: “The changing landscape for modern boutique retailers: How will they compete in the era of Amazon?”
Study is being conducted by a West Seattle resident / UW masters student and is aimed at delivering a beneficial report on issues such as: (1) How have shoppers’ expectations changed in the past 5 years? (2) How are people are using technology to drive purchasing decisions? (3) Why do people continue to shop at local stores when it is more convenient and cheaper to shop online?, and (4) How do millennials view brick and mortar local shopping? These and many other interesting topics will be discussed. This is a 4-week customer research study, with Sunday’s focus group being only the first leg. Findings from the study will be provided back to WSB in March for public viewing. If studies garner enough interest, a second study may follow.
If interested, please fill out this quick questionnaire (1-2 minutes). Selected participants will receive a $15 tab at the selected location for a beverage and pastry etc. The session will take approximately 1.5 – 2.0 hrs and will be held this Sunday (time and location TBA). This will be more formal than an open “meetup” as it will be a moderated focus group style format.
(WSB file photo from low tide at Constellation Park)
Spring and summer are rolling this way, sure as the tide, and if you love being out on our beaches, here’s a unique volunteer opportunity:
Volunteer with the Seattle Aquarium at a beach near you!
Why do barnacles stand on their heads? What do sea stars like to eat? How do moon snails lay their eggs? Learn to answer these and other fun questions by volunteering as a Seattle Aquarium Beach Naturalist this summer. Naturalists receive training in the spring, and then spend three low-tide days educating beach visitors about inter-tidal life and beach etiquette at one of eleven Puget Sound beaches, including Constellation Park and Lincoln Park in West Seattle.
Training begins on March 2.
If interested, please email beachnaturalist@seattleaquarium.org, call 206-693-6189, or visit seattleaquarium.org/beach-naturalist. Registration required.
See this flyer for more info.
(WSB photo)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
While action on the homelessness emergency might seem to be mostly on the shoulders of adults – dealing with everything from encampments to taxes – homelessness has caught the attention of young people too.
We heard this week from Amy Ijeoma, a West Seattle High School junior who along with classmate Lexus Greenway made it the focus of a project they’re presenting in a regional competition tomorrow. We sat down with Amy after school on Thursday at WSHS to talk about it.
It’s the STAR (Students Taking Action with Recognition) Events competition as part of FCCLA (Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America). Their job: To come up with an action plan and present it to event officials, which they’ll do along with one other WSHS team and others from around the area, Saturday at Ingraham. They’re competing in the “advocacy” category, one of 15 categories.
As part of it, they are urging community members to do their part. They’re focused on Hope Place, which is a program for families experiencing homelessness. Amy says that volunteering is even more valuable than donating – “better to be there and see it yourself rather than throw some money and say that you’ve helped” – though Union Gospel Mission, which operates Hope Place, would be happy with contributions in either. You can tutor homeless elementary students, for example (volunteering info here; donating info here).
While working on the project, Amy says, she and Lexus have been going to Hope Place themselves “once or twice a month … to interact with the kids there.” It’s not just a shelter but also has a children’s activity center and continuing education for women, in areas from parenting to relationships and more, to help them successfully transition out of homelessness.
With us as we talked were two of the teacher/advisers of the program, Raya Klein and Brooke Huddleston, who explained that the students learned about Hope Place from WSHS’s new career specialist Helen Maynard, whose background includes nonprofit work. Visitors from Home Place presented at a WSHS assembly earlier in the year.
So tomorrow, Amy and Lexus have a 40-slide deck to present, about their goal, their plan, what kind of impact they’ve had, both through volunteering and through raising awareness on campus, including the poster with which Amy is posing in our photo above. “We want to get you thinking,” she says. They’re planning more posters, including some with statistics, and the causes of homelessness.
Teacher Klein adds that it’s an issue the school’s student-leadership ASB has embraced as well. And if more in the community are interested in helping – especially volunteering – that’s a win, regardless of how Amy and Lexus, and WSHS’s other team (also focused on homelessness, we’re told), do tomorrow.
The photo and report are from Joleen Post of the West Seattle & Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsor):
Tonight, more than 100 YMCA volunteers and staff kicked off the Together We Can Build a Better Us campaign at The Hall at Fauntleroy! 2016 is an exciting year at the West Seattle & Fauntleroy YMCA and the goal is to raise $400,000 by March 16.
$350,000 will be designated to the Youth and Family Programs Fund. This enables the Y to offer West Seattle kids the chance to develop their full potential through academic support and enrichment, camps, youth sports, swimming, after-school programs, early learning, and more. Many of the Y’s school-based academic-support programs are free thanks to community donations. For Y programs with a fee, this fund supports families who cannot afford the full cost.
$50,000 will be designated toward the Building Fund, supporting the upcoming West Seattle YMCA facility expansion and renovation. The Y has already raised nearly $3.64 million locally toward an overall goal of $4 million. Construction on the expansion and renovation will start when the Y receives building permits this spring. Learn more at OurNewY.org.
Donors may choose which fund they prefer to support or designate their gift to the Community’s Greatest Need. Since this year is a big one for the Y – the West Seattle & Fauntleroy YMCA Board is diving in and matching every new and increased gift.
You can help by giving to the Y’s just-launched Together We Can Build a Better Us campaign here.
Another local school is hoping you can help send its 5th graders to outdoor-education camp. Roxhill Elementary‘s counselor launched the crowdfunding campaign and the tax-deductible donations go through the Roxhill PTSA, whose co-president e-mailed to ask if we would share it:
The intention is to raise money to send Roxhill kids to camp and field trips since we do not have the funds to do so this year. Roxhill is a school in need. … 80% of our students are on free and reduced lunch. Many of our students have never had the chance to attend camp or other field trips that enrich their education.
The donation link is here.
If you need a haircut soon – heads up:
Next week brings the 23rd annual “Have a Heart Day” at Illusions Hair Design (WSB sponsor) – Saturday, February 13th.
This is the annual day when Illusions opens for haircuts – at reduced prices for women’s and men’s cuts (teens/kids at full price) – with every cent of the proceeds benefiting local nonprofits.
Proprietor Sue Lindblom (left) says this year’s edition will help the West Seattle Helpline – which provides emergency assistance to people in need – and Pencil Me In For Kids, which provides school supplies to local public-elementary-school students in need.
“Everyone donates their time,” Sue explained when we sat down for a quick chat in Illusions’ lobby at 5619 California SW. She had already been in business for 16 years when she came up with the idea in 1994. “We thought, gosh, we wanted to give something back to the community, so we’ve been doing this (and other community-benefit campaigns) ever since, because that’s what makes you part of the community.”
Sue is part of the West Seattle community through and through – even “born in The Junction,” half a mile from her salon, she points out.
“Have a Heart Day” isn’t just a chance to do a good deed while getting a good haircut. It’s also something of a party. “We’ll have some treats for the customers who come in, and it’s just kind of fun – several of us will be hanging around.” You’ll get a chance to learn about the beneficiary nonprofits, too, and “you just walk away with a real good feeling,” as Sue puts it. It’s fun for them too – “we meet a lot of nice people we’ve never met before.”
But they have a limited number of appointments that day, so call Illusions ASAP – 206-938-3675 – if you want to “Have a Heart” on this special day.
So it’s brunch time more than breakfast time now, but – as previewed in our West Seattle Sunday list – you can still get pancakes and fixins at Hiawatha Community Center until noon.
The money raised goes to the scholarship fund to help cover the costs of programs so everyone can participate regardless of whether they can afford it.
This is on until noon. Hiawatha is at 2700 California SW.
(WSB photo from 2013 Hiawatha pancake breakfast)
Pancake breakfasts are a time-honored and tasty way to raise some money – and this Sunday is one of the biggest ones of the year, Hiawatha Community Center‘s annual pancake breakfast. 8 am-noon on Sunday (January 31st) you’re invited into the gym at 2700 California SW for all-you-can-eat pancakes with butter and syrup; sausage, fruit, and bagels available too. $6 for people 13 and up; $5 for ages 3 to 12; free for ages 2 and under. Proceeds benefit the scholarship fund to ensure that more people can enjoy programs at Hiawatha.
One day after a worker was killed while working in a trench alongside an Admiral home, the King County Medical Examiner’s office has identified him: 36-year-old Harold Felton. And in response to community members who have asked what they can do to help Mr. Felton’s family, his brother-in-law has announced a GoFundMe page on behalf of wife Jenna and baby daughter Grace. Find it here.
The page says, in part:
With his loss my sister will have to support her daughter and try to do what she can in the face of this unbearable loss. Funeral expenses are always high and she and Harold are modest people, but he was the only source of income for their family. Any expenses over that which covers the funeral will be devoted to helping take care of Jenna and Grace during this trying time.
Mr. Felton was working on what city documents describe as side-sewer repair alongside a house near 36th SW and SW Hanford when dirt suddenly fell into the trench yesterday morning. A huge response of firefighters and rescue equipment converged but was unable to dig their way to Mr. Felton in time.
State Labor and Industries is investigating; we just checked again with spokesperson Elaine Fischer, and she says it will be at least a month before they have anything to say. As we reported yesterday, and as Fischer reiterated today, the company working at the site, Arbor Heights-based Alki Construction, has no record of safety problems. This was the first trench-work death in our state in more than seven years.
Outdoor-education camp is a highlight of the year for many students in our area. But it comes with a cost, and that’s a challenge for some schools and families. The fifth-grade teachers at Highland Park Elementary are trying an online fundraiser to help make sure none of their students are left behind, and one of their colleagues asked if we could share the link in hopes of inspiring some community generosity. From the teachers’ explanation:
Every year, we get to watch our students learn in a way that cannot be provided inside the four walls of a classroom. It is absolutely amazing to see the transformation under which many students go as they see a world beyond the one where they live.
You’ll find the fundraiser here. (For more on some of HPES’s challenges, read our report on a community conversation in 2014.)
Tomorrow, Sunday, and subsequent weekends into mid-March, you are invited to join West Seattle’s newest neighborhood-beautification campaign – on the sloped median of Chilberg Avenue between Genesee and Douglas, just east of Beach Drive, leading to Emma Schmitz Memorial Overlook Park.
(WSB photo showing part of the project area)
A group of neighbors, Friends of the Chilberg Link, successfully applied for a Neighborhood Matching Fund grant, $8,900 to be matched by more than $10,000 in volunteer work and contributions. Janice Nyman – herself an arborist and architect – sent word that their work parties are about to begin and they’re inviting participation.
“Although its looking pretty raw right now,” she said, “I think it’s going to be quite pretty: Fruit trees, pollinator wild flowers, berries!” You can see the plan here.
The announcement adds that “Friends of the Chilberg Link will remove invasives, prune vegetation, plant edible plants, and create an area for rainwater holding and a secured art piece. Work parties will be held in the winter and spring of 2016. Professional landscape firms will be hired to lead the community in landscape installation, including: Mariposa Naturescapes, Garden Cycles, and Black Lotus Landscaping LLC.”
The project will evoke the area’s history, according to research done by local historian Judy Bentley – a one-lane road ran through a meadow filled with wildflowers.
At the northern end of the Schmitz property, a single-lane dirt road wound down a hill through substantially uninhabited meadow to a dead end a block beyond Carroll Street.
When walking to and from the old Alki School [at Chilberg Ave. SW/59th and Carroll], we frequently preferred the trail along Chilberg Avenue, to enjoy some of the most beautiful wild flowers in the open fields and leading up into ‘The woods,’ the hillside forest.” (Lillevand Papers, SWSHS).
“We love the historical reference to a winding meadow with wildflowers, so we are using it as the basis of our design,” Nyman says.
Join them Saturdays and Sundays, 10:30 am-12:30 pm. You’re asked to “bring shovels, pruners, and gloves”; cardboard donations are welcome too, as is the donated use of yard-waste containers. Questions? Contact Nyman at nymanarc@gmail.com.
P.S. If you or someone you know has more information about the history of Chilberg Avenue, please contact Bentley at bentley.judy@gmail.com or Lissa Kramer at the Log House Museum.
Tomorrow night, you have an extra-special opportunity to play trivia hosted by longtime Talarico’s trivia host Phillip Tavel, while helping the Senior Center of West Seattle! Doors open Tuesday at 7, with trivia starting at 7:30, at the Senior Center (in the Sisson Building, California/Oregon). $12/person if you sign up in advance, at sc-ws.org or by phone at 206-932-4044, extension 1; $15/person at the door. The Senior Center needs an extra boost this year because of a funding cut, as reported here last month. No-host bar and snacks will be available. Go show what you know!
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