West Seattle, Washington
06 Wednesday
You can help the West Seattle Food Bank make sure families in need have turkeys this holiday – by buying one and dropping it off (or a $15 donation so they can buy one) at HomeStreet Bank (WSB sponsor) in The Junction until 2 pm. Above, one of the turkey donations that happened while we stopped by. HomeStreet is at 41st/Alaska – just look for the WS Food Bank van by the bank:
Also look for the friendly people, including Melodie VanHouten from HomeStreet and Jim Dean from the Food Bank board:
If you miss today’s drive, check the WSFB site to find the many ways you can donate, during the holiday season and the rest of the year.
(Photo courtesy Cindi Barker: Some of the plants that await you!)
Four West Seattle sites are part of the citywide Green Seattle Day workparty-a-thon tomorrow – but just one comes with the added notation “Needs some love” on the signup list: Orchard Street Ravine in the Gatewood/Morgan area. Organizers say it’s “a big effort (that) can use lots of willing hands”:
We are finishing some clearing and have 150 plants that need to get into the ground. After planting we will be laying burlap and bark down in preparation for the winter. So there are tasks of all kinds, please come for some or all of the time, tools will be provided, just bring your own gloves.
They’ll be working 9 am-1 pm, but even if you can only be there for part of that time, that would still be a BIG help. Directions are on this page, which is where you also can RSVP right now, to let organizers know help is on the way!
Every year, the West Seattle Helpline is a lifeline for people in need of short-term emergency help, and the community’s generosity is what enables that to happen. One week from tonight, you’re invited to help the Helpline and have a good time at its annual dinner/auction, 6:30-9 pm Friday, November 14th, at the Duwamish Longhouse in West Seattle (4705 W. Marginal Way SW). Getting your tickets is quick and easy – go here.
Two weeks from tomorrow night, it’s the West Seattle High School PTSA‘s big annual auction fundraiser to help the school and its students. Earlybird-discount ticket sales have been extended until tomorrow, so you have one more day to get your ticket at the lowest price, $40. Just go here – and then be at Brockey Center on the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) campus, 6 pm Friday, November 21st. (If you already have your ticket, check out that same link to preview some of the auction items!)
Hope the wind doesn’t whisk this bird away! It’s a reminder from the folks at West Seattle’s HomeStreet Bank (a just-returned WSB sponsor) that they’re hosting a turkey drive for the West Seattle Food Bank in just two days. On Saturday (November 8th), 11 am-2 pm, bring a 10-to-12-pound frozen turkey to donate, or $15 cash for WSFB to make its own purchase(s). HomeStreet is at 41st/Alaska.
Parenthood can be joyful. It can also be harrowing. Especially those early days and weeks when you realize a brand-new life is entirely in your hands … and no matter how well you prepared, you’re not sure you’re doing the right thing. The nonprofit West Seattle support group Early Days is for families with babies, and it’s expanding to a second weekly session. That means three of its volunteer leaders need training, and they are crowdfunding to help with part of the cost. One of the new facilitators, Jessica, mom of Oliver (photo above), tells her story:
After Oliver was born, [dad] Daniel stayed home with us for 3 weeks. The first week he was back at work was hard on me. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t crippling anxiety and isolation. Oliver had a lot of gas and grunted a lot, and while this was normal, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something could go terribly wrong at any time.
Sleep deprived and scared, I remember bringing him into the pediatrician, only to be told that what he was doing was very normal. That day, I told the ped that I was thinking about attending a support group at Nurturing Expressions called Early Days and she encouraged me to do so. The next day I threw some diapers in a bag, put clothes on and trekked down to the West Seattle Junction. And I am forever grateful that I did.
During that meeting parents at different places in the first year of their baby’s life talked openly about their struggles. I talked openly about mine, cried and was offered a reflection by one of the facilitators that I was not alone, that many parents had been through much of the same things I was going through. And I felt less anxious, less isolated. It was a major turning point for me.
When I decided to see my midwife about my postpartum mood disorder and start medication, I did it partly because I knew others had done the same, and that I wasn’t weak and this was something that would help me.
The days with a baby are super long and the friends I have made have made them bearable. If I ever need someone, they are there for me.
Early Days is invaluable. For me, becoming a facilitator is an honor and a calling to give back to someone what was given to me. I hope that I can help new parents the way that I was helped. Please consider donating so that we can make this happen. Parents are missing “the village” and we are trying to bring it back. We need each other.
The GoFundMe page, specifically for this training, is here. Early Days, meantime, can be found online here.
P.S. WS Food Bank has a big event next Saturday – a turkey drive in the HomeStreet Bank (WSB sponsor) parking lot at 41st/Alaska, 11 am-2 pm – bring a 10-to-12-pound turkey or $15 cash.
Two events of note, both tomorrow night, related to the Ebola fight:
If you have a laptop and time to spare volunteering, that flyer explains how you can be a volunteer mapmaker to help first responders dealing with the Ebola crisis. All this, without leaving your home. The event’s at 6 pm tomorrow (Tuesday, November 4th) at the West Seattle (Admiral) Branch Library, 2306 42nd SW; if you can’t see the embedded flyer, here’s the PDF version.
Second event is not IN West Seattle, but you’re invited by one of your neighbors, West Seattleite Kristen Tetteh, who works with the Washington Global Health Alliance: At Town Hall downtown (1119 8th), an event at 6:30 tomorrow will “touch on the state of Ebola globally as well as how Seattle is preparing.” Medical, policy, education, and humanitarian reps will address “Ebola Facts and Fiction.” Tickets are $10 and available online.
As the season of school fundraisers continue … here’s a tasty one: The Culinary Council at South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) plans a one-night “pop-up restaurant event” to raise money. On November 18th, 6:30 pm at The Alhadeff Grill on campus, $50 will get you a five-course menu with wine pairings and an aperitif, with guest chefs including two alumni who also are current instructors. A silent auction will accompany the dinner; 100 percent of the night’s proceeds will benefit students and the program. Tickets are on sale now – you can buy yours, and/or find out more about the event, by going here.
Coming to the West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival tomorrow? First, take a quick detour, if you can, to help make Halloween happier for others. From West Seattle Girl Scout Troop 45172:
On Halloween night from 6-8 pm, Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission hosts an annual festival in the Youth Reach Out Center for kids and teens. They earn candy and other treats through fun games and competitions. To help make this fun and safe event a success, West Seattle Girl Scout Troop #45172 is holding a candy drive at The Junction QFC this Sunday from 9:30-11:30 during the Harvest Festival. Bring or buy a bag of wrapped candy to donate.
The store is at 42nd/Alaska, right across from Junction Plaza Park, where the costume parade will start at 11:30 during tomorrow’s festival.
Some have auctions, some have walk-a-thons, some have “direct drives” – whichever the method, it’s the time of year when PTAs ask for the support of their communities (and school funding has certainly been in the news lately). From Arbor Heights Elementary:
Join the Circle of Friends! The Arbor Heights Elementary PTA invites any and all members of the West Seattle community to Join the Circle of Friends by participating in our direct fundraising drive October 13-31st! 100% of funds raised by the PTA go to support programs that enrich the educational experience of students at Arbor Heights! The Arbor Heights PTA funds its $74,000 annual budget (which, shockingly, is bigger than our school’s operating budget provided by the State!) through various charitable giving events (membership drive, direct drive, annual auction, etc.).
This year PTA priorities (voted on by the membership) include: Young Authors Day, 5th Grade Camp, Instrumental Music, Kindergarten Aides, Playground Equipment, Academic Enrichment and Field Trips, Safety Patrol, Library, Global Reading Challenge, Sports Equipment, and Teacher Requests for innovative learning.
Visit arborheightses.seattleschools.org to learn more, download a donation
form, donate online, or set up a recurring donation! Thank you!
If you have a school fundraiser under way or coming up and want to invite the community to be part of it, please make sure we know about it – thanks!
(Apple pie “before” photo, courtesy Bells of the Sound)
Before we hunker down and get really serious for the day – after a rough commute for many – let’s talk pie. Not for right now, sorry. This is one you have to plan for. It’s an annual pie-making/selling/giving event here in West Seattle, and we don’t always get word in time for you to join in, but this year, we did. From Shirley:
Would you like to donate an Apple Pie to help feed the homeless through the Union Gospel Mission this Thanksgiving? Or, Would you like a homemade Apple Pie for Thanksgiving – but don’t have time to make it?
If either of these is tempting, we can help you out! Bells of the Sound is making homemade Apple Pies for Thanksgiving and we’d be delighted to make one for you. Pies will be available on the 15th of November – ready to freeze. Return the completed form to Shirley Lindberg, Bells of the Sound, c/o Tibbetts United Methodist Church, 3941 41st Ave SW, Seattle, 98116; call me at 206-300-5724; or email me at Director@BellsOfTheSound.org for questions or more information. Please pre-order your pie by November 2nd. We only make enough for the pies that have been pre-ordered.
Also, if you love making apple pies, please feel free to email me as well. We have previously made between 600 and 700 pies on our Pie-Making Day – and extra hands are always welcome.
Holiday concerts have also been scheduled, and you can check the Bells of the Sound website for a concert near you. The West Seattle concert is scheduled for Tibbetts United Methodist Church on Friday, December 12th at 7:30 pm.
Tuesday night, the Junction Neighborhood Organization meets – and it’s not just a chance to hear and talk about projects and issues in the area, it’s also a chance to help your neighborhood be prepared! From Ellen West:
Earlier this year, JUNO committed to joining with West Seattle Be Prepared and to create a Emergency Communication Hub in the Alaska Junction area. We’ve approached Hope Lutheran, who will partner with us on hosting the Hub location. So now we’re ready to form the Hub team and start training with the other West Seattle Hubs. Please come to the next JUNO meeting on Tuesday, October 21st, 6:30 at the West Seattle Senior Center, 4217 SW Oregon, to become a volunteer for this important work! For more information, please e-mail Ellen, ellenwestchina@gmail.com
Haven’t heard about the Hubs? They’re explained at westseattlebeprepared.org – go here.
Lyric soprano Vicky Oxley and mezzo-soprano Linda Rough are the Opera Belles, and their 10-song “Parade of Operatic Hits” was the perfect note to end a sunny Sunday in Fauntleroy. With accompanist Hartwig Eichberg, they sang the music of nine composers in a house-recital benefit for Southwest Youth and Family Services, whose director Steve Daschle was their opening act, explaining Delridge-based SWYFS’s community work to help thousands of people every year, in multiple ways:
Susan Lantz-Dey from the SWYFS Board hosted the recital and a wine/cheese reception preceding it.
P.S. The song in our clip is an original Opera Belles arrangement of “Voi Che Sapete” from Mozart‘s “Marriage of Figaro.”
(WSB photo, March 2014)
Last spring’s first-ever group consignment sale benefiting West Seattle Co-Op Preschools was wildly popular – and organizers are doing it again. News for shoppers and would-be consigners, from Erin:
West Seattle Co-Op Preschool system is very excited to be hosting a kids’ Consignment sale on November 8th from 9-1 pm at the West Seattle VFW Hall to help fund scholarships for families in need.
We are also in need of consigners, anyone can consign at this sale. The seller can set their own prices and will make 65% of the asking price and the host will take 35%. The consigner will be paid for the sold items when they pick up their unsold items at the sales conclusion on November 8th.
This sale will be a great thing for families to make some money with their gently used bay/kids gear and to buy low-cost, good-quality items for their kids; for the school system to be able to continue providing scholarships for families who might not be able to afford preschool otherwise; and to bring the community together! For more information: www.westseattlepreschool.org
Sale info is also on Facebook and Twitter.
From West Seattle to Tukwila, hundreds of volunteers teamed up today for another productive Duwamish Alive! multi-site work party. In the West Duwamish Greenbelt at Pigeon Point Park, Nature Consortium and EarthCorps led the way – volunteers we saw there included NC founder Nancy Whitlock:
The 100-plus people at work at this site alone also included Green River Community College students. And we even met Harriet the helpful Corgi:
Eleven sites were on the list for Duwamish Alive! today. Watch duwamishalive.org for word of next spring’s edition. And watch WSB for other opportunities to help with cleanups and planting parties around the community just about EVERY weekend (for example – North Delridge could use your help one week from today!).
Two upcoming sports events feature friendly faceoffs between our area’s two biggest public schools – both spotlighting the fight against cancer:
HULING BOWL, FRIDAY NIGHT: The Huling Bowl – trophy and all! – is the name of the annual football game between Chief Sealth International High School and West Seattle High School, and you’re invited to this year’s edition at 7 pm tomorrow (Friday), Southwest Athletic Complex (2601 SW Thistle, across from the Sealth campus).
Sealth’s bulletin announces it as a “pink-out,” urging everyone to wear pink to show support for the fight against breast cancer. That will be especially meaningful for Sealth running back Daron Camacho, who e-mailed us overnight asking if we would let folks know that “I dedicate the game to my Godmom Margarita Vidrio, who is fighting breast cancer.” You’ll see Daron on the field wearing #11.
VOLLEYBALL, MONDAY NIGHT: Thanks to Jim Bowe for sharing the announcement:
On Monday, October 20th at 7 pm, West Seattle HS Volleyball hosts Chief Sealth in what is always a great Metro League volleyball match. The WSHS volleyball girls are making this night Cancer Awareness Night. Admission to the event is free. There will be opportunities for people to donate to cancer research if they choose to do so; however, attendance and awareness is really the goal.
The WSHS gym is on the southwest side of the school, right off the parking lot, at 3000 California SW.
Another new venture just announced: Seattle Farm School, founded by West Seattleite Katie Stemp, who is looking for teachers to be part of it. She explains, “We are dedicated to preserving the home arts and growing our community in sustainable practices through affordable classes. We are going to be starting classes in mid November at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (same location as the Tool Library) on Delridge, just south of the bridge. I’m gathering teachers from our community who are skilled in the following subjects and interested in teaching one or many classes with us. Here are the subjects that I am looking for people who have experience and are willing to teach:”
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Another school-fundraiser auction to announce! West Seattle High School PTSA sends word of its annual auction on Friday, November 21st, at Brockey Center on the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) campus:
West Seattle High School’s annual auction supports all students to “Reach for the Stars” by raising funds for academics, arts, and athletics. Buy tickets and donate at wshs.schoolauction.net/2014. Oct. 31st is the deadline for early-bird tickets at $40; regular price in November is $50 per person. Items for the live auction are needed and can be donated through the link above. Contact wshsptsaauction@gmail.com with questions.
Does YOUR school have a big fundraiser coming up? Make sure we know so we can get it into the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar *and* publish an announcement like this. editor@westseattleblog.com any time!
Fall is fundraiser season, especially for local schools – if you haven’t sent info about yours yet, please do (editor@westseattleblog.com)! This morning, we have a reminder about Chief Sealth International High School‘s 6th annual Passport to Excellence Dinner and Auction. It’s a combined benefit presented by Sealth’s PTSA and Athletics, as well as by Denny-Sealth Performing Arts. The auction is just three weeks away – 5:30 pm Saturday, November 1st at Brockey Center on the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) campus. Early-bird tickets, at the lowest rate, are available through Monday – buy online here. Organizers are happily accepting donated auction items – “goods, services, and experiences- all unique and practical are welcome”; those too can be offered online by going here (through October 22nd). And businesses interested in being an event sponsor can e-mail sahamilton@Q.com to get details.
From West Seattle, south along the Duwamish River, and even to a few spots southeast of where our map ends, October 18th is the fall edition of Duwamish Alive! – 11 work parties to help the river, its watershed, and everyone/everything living in/along them. You only need to commit four hours that day – registration is at 9:30, then you’ll be helping out 10 am-2 pm. Here’s where to go to choose your site and sign up.
(WSB photo, September 2014)
That’s the Baby Pantry at the White Center Food Bank – using space that was home to a King County Public Health clinic before it moved to Greenbridge, where it was about to be closed until the county found a private partner to help keep it open. Partnerships are a big part of the WCFB’s operations – the Baby Pantry, for example, is in partnership with WestSide Baby. And the food bank couldn’t serve thousands of West Seattle and White Center (and a bit beyond) residents without being in a partnership with you and so many other community donors. Now they’re inviting you to what’s both a celebration and fundraiser, a week and a half away:
The White Center Food Bank’s 10th Annual Harvest Dinner and Auction is taking place this year at 5:30 pm on Saturday, October 18 at the Brockey Center at South Seattle College. In addition to the festivities of a dinner, drinks, and live music, there are plenty of incredible items up for auction, including Seahawks tickets, many different theater tickets, a three stone diamond ring from Wyatt’s Jewelers, roundtrip tickets on Alaska Airlines, a week at a condo in Hawaii, and so much more.
This is the White Center Food Bank’s biggest fundraiser of the year, and allows us to continue doing great work for this community. In 2013, White Center Food Bank served more than 60,000 people in the White Center, West Seattle, and Burien community, and we count on this auction to continue serving even more people next year. We are grateful to every one of our donors for making it possible to do this important work, and we count on your continued support to continue serving our community.
Tickets are available online through Brown Paper Tickets for $75 each (here), and more information – including daily updates about items available at the auction – is available (here).
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call our Development Director Kristina Dahl at (206) 762-2848 or email kristina@whitecenterfoodbank.org.
“We want to see this through your eyes – we’re interested in a dialogue.”
With that, two Seattle Planning Commissioners, both West Seattleites, are inviting you to be part of the dialogue about the future of The Junction and vicinity with a walk-and-talk event next Saturday (October 11th), 10 am.
They came to September’s Junction Neighborhood Organization meeting to initiate the dialogue, and we since have received official confirmation and the invitation itself (see above, or click here for the PDF version) – RSVP for updates on where they’re planning to meet (we’ll also have that here, later in the week).
Commissioners Jeanne Krikawa and Luis Borrero said they realize many might not even have heard about the Seattle Planning Commission, an independent, but city-convened/funded, group of appointees. That’s why they and commission policy analyst Jesseca Brand visited JuNO, to talk about not just what they do but also about looking at The Junction’s “walkshed” – what “essential components of livability” it has, and doesn’t have. Those were described as parks, plazas, libraries, community centers, wayfinding, green streets, bike infrastructure, as laid out in the Seattle Transit Communities report a few years back.
If any of those elements don’t exist in a “transit community,” they should be only “a stop or two away.” Here’s the slide deck Borrero and Krikawa showed JuNO:
This all figures into the Seattle 2035 process to update the city’s Comprehensive Plan, a major project for the Planning Commission right now, and one that has already resulted in a variety of events.
Even if this all sounds a little too wonky for you, remember that a process more than 15 years ago set the stage for much is what’s happening now. That’s what designated The Junction and vicinity as a Hub Urban Village – one meant to encourage workplaces to locate in the area, not just residences and services, the commissioners told JuNO.
In turn, JuNO director René Commons and attendees told Krikawa and Borrero that the Junction “walkshed” is definitely missing some of what are supposed to be hub characteristics – no nearby community centers, libraries, public schools.
The commissioners in turn asked those in attendance how they feel about The Junction’s growth. We’d summarize the various answers as “trepidational,” as well as eager for more transit – but join next Saturday’s walking tour, and tell them yourselves.
The bottom line of all this is consideration of how The Junction and vicinity should be viewed in the decades ahead, as a prism through which to see growth and the choices to be made. It’s a rare chance for more of a big picture look than the piecemeal decision-making so many have decried in the past few years. If you’re interested in having a say – or at least listening – be part of the tour next Saturday, and the conversation to follow.
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