West Seattle, Washington
28 Wednesday
(photo courtesy West Seattle Nursery)
That’s one of the photos we featured last March with our first in a series of “West Seattle shop cat” stories – that’s Seth from West Seattle Nursery, and we’re not exaggerating when we speculate that thousands of West Seattleites have met him. Galen Guffy from WSN has just sent word that Seth is missing, and asks folks to be on the lookout for him:
Our beloved nursery cat is missing. His name is Seth and he is a huge black, brown and grey tabby cat about 18 lbs and approximately 7 years old.
The last time we saw him was December 20 at about 6 pm. He didn’t come in when we closed, even though we called and called, and he wasn’t here waiting for us when we opened. This is highly unusual as he is always here in the morning waiting to be let in if he stayed out the night before or begging for his breakfast from the opening staff. In all the years we’ve had him he’s never ventured more than a couple blocks away from the nursery. We spent the morning combing our neighborhood looking for him and calling animal control to see if anyone has brought him in.
We are really worried about him and would appreciate it if you could let your readers know and ask them to contact us if they’ve seen him. We would be so very grateful.
The nursery’s number is 206-935-9276. Seth will also be on the WSB Pets page shortly.
That’s Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) proprietor Lora Lewis with some of the items that have come in for the Pet Giving Tree at Hotwire. Teri Ensley from Furry Faces Foundation says two-thirds of the tree’s 24 tags have been taken, and the presents are now starting to come in – including more than 100 pounds of donated pet food. Teri says, “We took (the) first load of ‘pet gifts’ to White Center Food Bank. Both Rick Jump and Audrey Zemke were there so they helped unload with big smiles on their faces. Since some of the items came in Christmas gift bags, they are going to give them to their clients in the bags–so it truly is a pet gift. The next load of pet gifts will be taken to West Seattle Food Bank. Thanks again to Lora Lewis of Hotwire for coming up with this brilliant giving tree and thanks to everyone that is taking their time and money to help animal companions be able to stay with their people.” This is just one of MANY Giving Trees around West Seattle – and this weekend is PRIME TIME to go see which one still have unclaimed tags, so that you can help make this a merrier Christmas for somebody – go to the West Seattle Holidays page and look for the Giving Trees/Fundraisers list. (Also, re: Furry Faces, note their Wrap It Up wrapping fundraiser at Shadow Land 1-6 pm today!)
If you’ve been following the saga of that distinctive crow rescued by Forest Lawn Cemetery staff before it froze to death the other day, Forest Lawn’s Jeff Jorgenson has been posting updates in comments. Most recent one – looks like a reunion is imminent:
Hello all!! Friday update!
Thanks to someone here on the WSB, the breeder called me from Alabama – Corvid Ranch – just as we were discussing the move to Sarvey. He provided me with the band information and an address that matches up with the cemetery such that there is no question as to who belongs to this crow. I have a call into them and am awaiting their return. So, for the time being, the six month old crow is comfortably resting with private fireplace and blanket until the owner gets home. Thanks again WSBers!!!
This one’s a little too unusual to just go on the WSB Pets page with all the other lost/found critters … Jeff Jorgenson at Forest Lawn Cemetery (east edge of High Point) shared that photo, explaining, “I think it is an African pied crow. It is banded and has clipped wings and is very friendly and loves to hang out on shoulders. We found it this morning next to the flagpole nearly frozen. It’s pretty certain that it wouldn’t have made it through the night.” If you have any idea whose crow this is, 206-932-0050 is Jeff’s office number.
TWO FUNDRAISERS FOR OFFICERS’ FAMILIES: It’s the 2nd of two days for the Papa John’s Pizza “profits to the Lakewood officers’ families” fundraiser – as reported here last night (with help from many commenters), the response was massive. There’s another way to enjoy yummy food and know you’re helping the officers’ families: Pasta dinner for a $10 donation at both West Seattle Merrill Gardens (WSB sponsor) locations, 5-7 tonight – details here.
ANIMALS FIRST FOUNDATION FUN @ FEEDBACK: Fundraiser tonight at the Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) on behalf of Animals First Foundation – 7 pm, $10 donation gets you snacks, games, and a chance to hear from local animal advocates including West Seattle’s own Teri Ensley of Furry Faces Foundation.
34TH DISTRICT DEMOCRATS’ HOLIDAY PARTY: No business, just celebration, says the 34th DDs’ website, capping a year in which one of their own longtime members ascended to the County Executive’s office. 6 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy. It’s a potluck, so don’t come empty-handed. P.S. Congratulations to the 34th DDs’ webmaster Bill Schrier, who’s also City of Seattle Chief Information Officer, and in that capacity has just landed on the Computerworld Top 100 list of Premier IT Leaders
For more holiday haps – the West Seattle Holidays page is chock-full (just three days till the Christmas Ship‘s big West Seattle weekend, and four days till the next Hometown Holidays Sunday in The Junction!) – and for other events, including a Stand for Children recruitment event in WS tonight, see the WSB West Seattle Events page.
Today we’re welcoming our newest WSB sponsor, Seattle Cat Sitter. Sasha Goodwin lives in West Seattle and that’s where she started her business, offering in-home 
cat-sitting services to keep your cat happy and healthy while you are away. She’s offering a special discount as Seattle Cat Sitter joins the WSB sponsor team – 10 percent off for first-time clients. Sasha says she’s proud to be part of the West Seattle business community, and she’s also a West Seattle volunteer, helping out at Next To Nature in The Junction, with cats that are there from Friends of the Animals, looking for their forever homes. Seattle Cat Sitter is licensed, bonded and insured, and in addition to cat-sitting, Sasha also offers other services: She can run holiday errands and deliver cakes, flowers, etc., for special occasions. Call Sasha at (206) 409-6040, e-mail info@seattlecatsitter.com, or check the Seattle Cat Sitter website at seattlecatsitter.com.
We thank Seattle Cat Sitter for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; find our sponsor team, and info on joining, all here.
After last weekend’s Morgan Junction Pet Adoption Stroll, somebody asked if all the pets looking for their forever homes found them. Not entirely … here we have Snoops from Saving Great Animals, whom Cheryl explains “was rescued off death row at the last minute, there solely due to over-crowding in a high-kill shelter. He is now ready for a loving forever home! Snoops is between 1-2 years old and weighs about 70 lbs and is a striking mix of shepherd and St. Bernard. He is tall and thick and healthy. He is GREAT with EVERYONE, and loves men, women, and children!!! He’s a little on the happy, spastic/rambunctious side, so he probably wouldn’t be suited for small kids without close supervision or until he learns to be careful moving around them.” She adds, “He is updated on his shots, micro-chipped and is going to be neutered this week.” There is an adoption fee; for more info, you can contact Cheryl at cherylrescue@gmail.com.
Out of the WSB inbox – a request for help, from Rob:
I was hoping that you could help me in our search for the owner of a dog that was on leash outside Prost on California Ave on Monday, November 16th at around 5:45 pm. At about this time, I was bitten on the face by this dog and ended up in the emergency room with severe lacerations to my upper and lower lips.
It is required that hospitals report all dog bites to King County Health, who called me this morning and told me that if I wasn’t able to locate the dog and the owner, they would recommend that I get a rabies vaccination. The treatment would be painful and I would like to avoid this if at all possible. I need to find the owner to obtain some information that would allow me to avoid any more pain.
Rob’s story continues – read on:Read More
From now till 4 pm, you’ll find adoptable pets at three places along a half-mile of California SW in Morgan Junction. The photo above shows Ted, who we found at The Wash Dog (6400 California); other pets looking for their forever home are at Pet Elements (6701 California) and Stella Ruffington (7003 California). ADDED 3:30 PM: A pic shared by the folks at Stella R’s – this is Butch Cassidy the cat:
Still time to go find a new friend!
At Hiawatha this afternoon, Halloween Howl wrapped up with those five costumed canines taking home a variety of prizes. And their owners deserved prizes for the fun they had trying to corral all five to sit still long enough! The folks at West Seattle Dawg compiled the full winners’ list:
1st Place Buddy dressed as Mr. T – Mini Poodle
2nd Place Sydney dressed as a Scarecrow – Mixed Breed
3rd Place Jin Jing dressed as Lady Bug – Sharpei
4th Place Daisy dressed as Angel – Golden Retriever
5th Place Seamus Shovelpaws dressed as Pumpkin
While we were there, we got a closer look at Seamus S., who did a great job of posing:
WS Dawg shared a few of their photos, too – including this one featuring Buddy the winner with King County Council Chair/County Executive candidate Dow Constantine, who was on his way out the Hiawatha door just as we arrived:
Local pet-related entrepreneurs showed their wares at the event too – Bette Allen (one of your editor’s channel 13 co-workers long ago and far away) has come up with a handy new way for dog owners to get the scoop:
WS Dawg’s Rex Post says, “We raised over $116 in cash donations and 102 lbs of food donations at the event and will pick up some of the participating locations food donations on Monday to get our grand total. … The event was a great success.”
Last year’s winner came from West Seattle – will it happen two years in a row? Just got the link from CityDog Magazine 
via Twitter – voting has begun, among the five finalists (including Murphy, the West Seattle winner, reported here Sept. 21) chosen in the past few months of photo shoots. Cast your vote here. By the way, in addition to Murphy, we have one other pitch for West Seattle votes – WSB’er Jo from Alki says another of the candidates, Scout the three-legged border collie (right), is her “grand-dog” – living with her son and daughter-in-law – and deserves a look. May the best dog win! (Here’s the voting link again.)
More dog news: When the Seattle Humane Society‘s big yellow MaxMobile was at West Seattle Thriftway the other day, Michele sent a photo of a German Shepherd named Baron who was there awaiting his “forever home.” Tonight, we got a note confirming he did – Brent wrote in to say thanks for the news about Baron, with the photo above:
Baron (was a name given by the shelter) now going by “Payton” has a new family and a new buddy “Indy,” a 5 year old German Shepherd, and is doing well very well in his new surroundings. Baron is wearing the harness.
Got room to give somebody a new forever home? The MaxMobile calendar shows it’s coming back to West Seattle twice in the next eight days – Pet Pros in Westwood Village next Friday, then Next to Nature in The Junction two days later.
That video shows what you might call a victory howl for the canine volunteers at Westcrest Park Off-Leash Area this morning, as they and human companions finished spreading wood chips at the newly created “special needs” area at West Seattle’s only off-leash park – a section that’s more easily accessible for disabled/elderly users. We first reported earlier this week on Westcrest OLA steward Steve McElhenney‘s effort to make this happen; during this morning’s work party, we asked Steve to tell us more about the volunteer efforts and their result:
If you’re a Westcrest OLA user and want to keep up with other volunteer efforts (among other topics), you can join their Yahoo! mailing list by going here.
That’s Baron the German Shepherd, a 4-year-old male, one of the pets at West Seattle Thriftway right now, till 3 pm, with the Humane Society’s Maxmobile, looking for their “forever homes.” Michele at Thriftway adds that besides additional dogs, “Also in the truck are adoptable cats. One kitten, a few adolescents and some adults.”
Wood chips await helping hands to move them into place for a new feature at Westcrest Park Off-Leash Area in Highland Park, West Seattle’s only official off-leash area: Westcrest steward Steve McElhenney tells WSB that this will be “a new “special needs” area of the park. I pitched my idea to Seattle Parks a few weeks ago to clear out an area right inside the offleash area north parking lot to create access for the elderly and disabled folks with dogs that had a hard time getting to the upper area.” Steve says that, thanks to Dennis Dylan and crew at the tree-service company JTS, they have lots of chips waiting to be spread – volunteers are welcome to join in and help 6-8 pm tomorrow night and 10 am-noon Saturday.
At Alki UCC‘s “Blessing of the Animals” service this morning, Rev. Diane Darling ministers to Joe Mitter’s canine companion, while elsewhere in the sanctuary, other prospective bless-ees awaited:
Then at noon, St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church welcomed community members to an informal outdoor event, where Brother Kris Wilder from the Order of St. Francis blessed 16-year-old Pizazz:
The Order, by the way, has members from around the country, as you can see here, though Brother Wilder is from West Seattle; it’s not a cloistered order. One other photo from the St. John event, as participants milled about in the sunshine:
These events are traditional for many churches on or near the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals. In addition to today’s events, Providence Mount St. Vincent welcomed residents’ and visitors’ pets for blessings on Saturday morning.
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm as always, 44th/Alaska. The Ripe ‘n’ Ready list is back online, and you can see the long list here.
BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS – TWO OPTIONS: Today is the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, Patron Saint of Animals, a traditional time for “Blessing of the Animals” events – and you have two options today – Alki UCC (62nd/Hinds; map) is having a special service at 10 am (read more here), and St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church is presenting a festival-style outdoor event in the adjacent West Seattle High School parking lot starting at noon (here’s our coverage from last year).
CROP WALK: Alki UCC is also, as usual, the starting point for the annual Seattle CROP Walk to fight hunger; you will see walkers, many with special vests, some carrying signs, on a route around Alki Point starting around 1:30 pm (if you want to join them, register at 1).
FREE YOGA: It’s in the Freebies/Deals/Sales section of the WSB Forums, too, but if you missed it – SoundYoga (WSB sponsor) is offering one of its periodic Free Sunday Yoga sessions today, 11 am-12:15 pm.
Yet more of today’s highlights in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup.
We stopped by one of the Prudential NW food drive spots – West Seattle Thriftway – just intending to get a photo to add to the advance blurb published this morning, but Kristi Freeburg and helper Audrey made such a cute picture, we’re showcasing them separately. Audrey was there to make a point: Local food banks need pet food donations too. The Prudential drive is over but you can help the local food banks any time – follow the links: West Seattle Food Bank and White Center Food Bank. Meantime, here’s a photo you could caption “Bird’s Eye View from Nerd’s Eye View”:
Gatewood author/artist Pam Mandel (best known for her site Nerd’s Eye View) shared that photo taken at Alki.
Tomorrow at 10:30 am, Providence Mount St. Vincent hosts the first of three “Blessing of the Animals” events scheduled for West Seattle this weekend. In honor of that, our occasional series of stories about West Seattle “shop cats” returns with the tale of the cats at The Mount:
By Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Fifteen years ago, when the assisted-living (and more) center known to West Seattleites as “The Mount” underwent a major philosophical shift from a “medical model” to a “social model,” it instilled some major changes: Nurses stopped wearing starched uniforms and switched to regular clothes; strict waking and sleeping schedules were abolished; cheerful dayrooms were built — and a cat moved in.
Nurse Manager Brenda Jennings, who has seen many changes at The Mount over the past 30 years, says that the new watermark for staff and clients was to see The Mount as home. Residents are not seen as “sick people” — they are essentially well, but with chronic conditions; they are allowed to direct their own care and be more independent. Cats have become an important part of that home culture.
The Mount has five different units which are known as “neighborhoods” and each neighborhood has its own cat.
CENTENNIAL WALK: Holy Rosary is yet another of the West Seattle churches celebrating its 100th anniversary – and pastoral associate Patrick Barredo sends word of the next event in the celebration, coming up tomorrow:
This Saturday, October 3, members of Holy Rosary Church will have a pilgrimage, walking from Holy Rosary Church (starting at 11 am), and arriving at St. John Episcopal Church at 11:30 am. During Holy Rosary’s Centennial year, this pilgrimage marks a return to history, for St. John Episcopal Church sits on the second location of Holy Rosary Parish. (The first location is at Hanford and Hill, and the current location is the third site.)
Members of St. John Church will be “at home” at 11:00 am saying our prayers and awaiting the arrival of Holy Rosary pilgrims. There will be a course to follow through St. John Church marking particular spots used by the former Holy Rosary church. When it seems like a good time to begin, there will be a short liturgy based on “An Order for Service for Noonday” from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979, led by Rev. Peter DeVeau of St. John and Fr. John Madigan of Holy Rosary.
Afterwards, there will be a lunch of soup and sandwiches in the upstairs Parish Hall, in the general air space of what was the first Holy Rosary School.
We don’t have the exact route they’ll take, but here’s a G-map showing the distance from Holy Rosary to St. John.
“BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS” EVENTS REMINDERS: St. John the Baptist Episcopal is also one of three venues where you and your pet(s) can participate in this tradition this weekend, honoring the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals: Providence Mount St. Vincent, 10:30 am Saturday (meet in the front lobby); Alki UCC, special service 10 am Sunday in the sanctuary; St. John the Baptist, Sunday in the West Seattle High School parking lot next door.
Again this fall, three “Blessing of the Animals” events are scheduled in West Seattle – in case you haven’t seen them on the Events calendar yet, we’re mentioning them here since they’re just a little more than a week away: Providence Mount St. Vincent, 10:30 am October 3rd (meet in the front lobby); Alki UCC, special service 10 am October 4th (sanctuary); St. John the Baptist, noon October 4th in the nearby West Seattle High School parking lot. (Photo above is from St. John’s event last year.) All are open to any and all pets and their owners. Blessings are scheduled in many places around the country/world in honor of the feast day for St. Francis of Assisi (patron saint of animals), which is Oct. 4th this year.
That’s Murphy – who’s now in the finals for this year’s Cover Dog search by West Seattle-based CityDog Magazine. Editor Brandie Ahlgren sent the photo and this note:
The winning dog from the CityDog Cover Dog Model Search at West Seattle Thriftway is Murphy, a soft-coated wheaten terrier. He’s a cutie and nothing like what we’ve featured on the cover in the past.
After winning the CityDog Cover Dog Model Search at West Seattle Thriftway, Murphy is now a finalist with four other dogs to compete to be on the cover of the Winter issue of CityDog Magazine. And, with Murphy’s help, we were able to raise over $1,000 for the Doney Memorial Animal Clinic.
We have one cover dog model search remaining – this Sunday, September 27 at FidoFEST to benefit the Seattle Humane Society [info]. After that dog is selected, ballots will be sent and the people’s voice will be heard on which dog will be the winning dog to grace the cover of CityDog Magazine. Dog lovers may still enter their dog in the cover dog model search at FidoFEST or sign up to receive a ballot by e-mail at www.citydogmagazine.com.
CityDog came to Thriftway on August 16; we took a photo. Last year’s Cover Dog winner was from the West Seattle “tryouts” – Cohen (here’s his cover). We’ll let you know when voting begins!
ADDED: A little more info about Murphy, from his person, forwarded by CityDog’s Brandie:
Murphy turned 1 year old on August 30th.
Likes:
Any kind of attention
Smiling
All toys (especially ones that make noise)
Full body wiggling to greet people and wagging his tail
Shaking hands and giving high fives
Sleeping under the kitchen table
Any food smell!
“Helping” in the garden
Trips to MontanaDislikes:
Vacuums
Brooms
Dogs/People that don’t like to playFavorite West Seattle hangouts:
-Walks in the Junction. He especially likes the people eating ice cream outside of
Husky’s and the enticing smells outside of Bakery Nouveau.
-Car rides on Alki with the wind in his hair!
-Getting treats/attention at Mud Bay and Next to Nature
Accordions doing ABBA? That video is from a California performance last fall by Those Darn Accordions, who are at Admiral Theater tonight, 2343 California SW (map), 8 pm. But first – what to do today? In the shopping mood? Fauntleroy Church‘s Second-Time Sale:
9 am-3 pm, bountiful bargains, 9140 California SW (map). From there, head north to get your car washed for a good cause; you can support the West Seattle High School volleyball team by taking your wheels to their wash in the WSHS parking lot (3000 California SW; map) 10 am-2 pm. Once your car’s clean — how about bringing home a new furry friend?
We saw those cute little guys at a Southwest Community Center foster cat Adopt-A-Thon last fall; today, another group of home-seeking kitties will be at SWCC, noon-3 pm. Then you can do even more to help reduce cat overpopulation by going to a benefit tonight for FCAT, which traps and sterilizes feral cats; Dong Khanh Cafe (9655 16th SW; map) is where you’ll find the fun, food and music, starting at 5 pm. One more event for tonight: West Seattle Montessori School (WSB sponsor) wants to show off its brand-new campus and invites you to an open house tonight for tours, free food and fun – 5:30-7:30 pm, 11215 15th SW (map).
More events in the latest West Seattle Weekend Lineup!
| 16 COMMENTS