Reunion time, if you are a 1990 graduate of West Seattle High School! Noelle Knapp-Lucero wants to get the word out:
The WSHS Class of 90 is holding our 20-year reunion on the weekend of August 20.
We will meet at Rocksport (4209 SW Alaska) on Friday, August 20th, at 7:00 pm. The DJ starts at 9:00. Rocksport would like a headcount, so please let us know if you will be attending (see below for contact info). On Sunday, August 22, we will have a picnic at Lincoln Park. We have reserved tables 23-33 from 11:00-2:00 (see attached map for exact location within the park). There are two grills there and we can bring in our own if we like. To simplify matters, everyone should bring with them whatever they’d like to have for lunch.
That’s the word late today from SDOT – the concrete pour for the connection between the existing Spokane Street Viaduct and the new eastbound offramp at 4th Avenue is done, but it has to cure for two weeks before they can put on the finishing touches, then open the ramp and reopen the lane:
Today the contractor working for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) completed the final concrete pour to close the gap between the new eastbound Fourth Ave S off-ramp and the Spokane St Viaduct. The concrete will take approximately two weeks to cure; then crews will place an epoxy coat on the roadway and stripe it.
Please note, during concrete curing the area must be left clear to properly solidify, so crews will not be out on site.
If all goes well, that means the total closure will be closer to four weeks than the “up to six” first predicted.
Fruit and juice samples are part of what awaits you at the second Delridge Fresh Food Spot ‘Night Market’, in the north lot of Super 24 at Delridge/Findlay (map) till 8 pm tonight – the samples are free, but fresh produce is on sale too. The first Night Market, as part of transforming Delridge into a fresh-food oasis instead of its current “food desert” status, was held on a Saturday, but this one’s on a special night to link up with everybody out and about for Night Out. Just look for the signs:
(WSB video of Blue Angels’ flyby before landing at the Museum of Flight @ 3:15 pm today) ORIGINAL 3 PM REPORT: We are on the second-story balcony at the Museum of Flight, overlooking the Boeing Field runway from which the Blue Angels take off and land during their annual Seafair visit. Semi-official word here at MOF – subject to change, obviously! – is that the latest estimated time of arrival is 3:23 pm. Updates if/when we get them. And visuals once they’re here! P.S. A 787 is about to taxi here, too, bonus for aviation fans. P.P.S. KIRO TV promises a live feed here.
3:24 PM UPDATE: They arrived a few minutes earlier than predicted. We’re uploading the MOF flyby video now. They’ve just finished taxiing into their Seattle HQ “parking” spots on the south side of the MOF.
ADDED 3:44 PM: The flyby clip’s been up for about 15 minutes, and we’re adding one more – the jets taxiing, as seen from the MOF balcony (thanks to MOF for the surprise invite – we’ve never been up there before.)
Just announced today by PCC Natural Markets (WSB sponsor) – a remodeling project is set to start this month, and will continue through fall, with expected completion around the holiday season, according to PCC’s Tom Monahan. Highlights from the official announcement:
The deli will offer pizza made fresh on-site, a gelato bar, kombucha on draft, self-serve hot foods and a larger soup bar. The deli will continue to feature a variety of salads and entrees, but displayed in new cases and prepared in a remodeled kitchen.
The produce department will be relocated to the east side of the building, bathing the fruit and vegetable displays in natural light from large new windows along California Avenue. The grocery aisles will benefit from a more open layout and design and the meat department will receive a new prep area and feature new display cases.
The classroom will be moved to the southeast corner of the store. The state-of-the-art kitchen classroom will be surrounded in glass, so customers can see the acclaimed PCC Cooks instructors in action. PCC Cooks is an award-winning cooking school offering more than 1,000 classes annually, with plans of offering over 200 classes at the West Seattle store post-remodel.
The outside of the store will benefit from the remodel as well. New seating will be provided for customers and there will be cosmetic upgrades to the exterior.
SEAFAIR FLEET, EARLY SIGHTING: G. Jones shares that photo, taken before the morning “marine layer” started burning off, reporting that it shows”the Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser, USS Port Royal (CG 73) entering Elliott Bay to participate as part of the Seafair fleet … West Point lighthouse in the background.” The official Seafair Fleet”parade of ships,” including the Port Royal, is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, with tours Thursday-Sunday (here’s the info on the Seafair website).
BLUE ANGELS UPDATE: Per several sources, they’re currently expected to arrive at Boeing Field between 3 and 3:30 this afternoon. Note that this may change. We’ll add updates to this item if/when we get them – barring major West Seattle breaking news, we’ll be on scene (and tweeting at @westseattleblog).
Today we’re welcoming a new WSB sponsor, Ncompass Cottage Company, West Seattle’s only contractor specializing in backyard cottage design and construction. As reported here last fall, the city now issues backyard-cottage permits, which allow homeowners to build small dwellings on their property. Ncompass Cottage CompanyownersDrew Foster (photo, left) and Stefan Hansmire say the current demand for cottages includes people looking to house kids returning from college as well as people creating home-office space or making a place for older parents who want to be near family. Both say that building a cottage allows for a fun, livable dwelling that makes efficient use of the space available. Ncompass has built three cottages; two are in West Seattle — one by the Fauntleroy ferry terminal, the other in the Schmitz Park neighborhood. Overall, they have more than a decade of experience in the remodeling and construction trade, which also gives them experience with the permitting process needed to build a cottage. Drew and Stefan also have partnered with designers who have cottage floorplans on file and with finance people that they recommend to prospective clients. They say that they have streamlined the process to make it easier to get your cottage built. Ncompass Cottage Company belongs to the Better Business Bureau andBuilt Green Builders Association; Stefan and Drew both live in West Seattle and have kids in neighborhood schools. You’ll find Ncompass Cottage Company online at ncompasscottages.com, with contact information here.
We thank Ncompass Cottage Company for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; find our sponsor team, and info on joining, all here.
(Alki Beach 5K photo from September 2009)
Less than four weeks till the Alki Beach 5K Walk/Run (WSB sponsor) – coming up August 29th, benefiting Northwest Hope and Healing, a West Seattleite-run organization that helps newly diagnosed breast-cancer patients all over the region. If you’re not signed up yet, you can get a $5 discount on your registration fee during a special Alki Beach 5K Registration Party at Coastal (2532 Alki SW) this Friday, 4-7 pm. “Treats, drinks, giveaways” also are promised in the announcement on Coastal’s website – plus a 20 percent discount on one item, if you sign up while there. (If you just can’t make it to the party, you can register online by going here.)
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar: It’s “Night Out” in neighborhoods coast to coast, including dozens in West Seattle that have signed off to block off their streets for parties. Even if you’re not having one – do take note, you may drive your usual route home from work, and suddenly find a barricade requiring a detour; official hours are 6-9 pm. Some neighborhoods have bands; some are ending the night with outdoor movies! Thanks to everyone who e-mailed (etc.) to let us know we’re welcome to drop by for a photo; we’ll be out and about, reporting “live” (here and via Twitter), starting right at 6. … Tonight, hundreds of friends and family are expected at the Sealth/SW Athletic Complex baseball field (north of Westwood Village) for a candlelight vigil remembering West Seattle sailor Jarod Newlove, found dead in Afghanistan last week. It starts at 8 pm. (Organizers asked that our original announcement include their request for the media to stay away; WSB is honoring that request.) … By the Super 24 on Delridge, it’s the second “Night Market” to celebrate community and sell fresh food, 4-8 pm (here’s our coverage of the last one) … And on Alki, as noted here last night, free live music by Michael Powers, 6 pm, by the Bathhouse, bring chairs/blankets/nonperishable food-bank donations. … P.S. You may also see the Blue Angelsin the sky over (probably just eastern) West Seattle at some point today – they’re due to arrive at Boeing Field/Museum of Flight “mid-afternoon,” and once there’s OFFICIAL word of a specific arrival window, we’ll publish a separate update. … More on the Events calendar!
(From December 2009 – “current” and “future” views of Avalon Place site)
Last December, the project finished Design Review – now, construction’s about to start. Transitional Resources has officially announced August 14th as the date for its groundbreaking ceremony at the site of Avalon Place (2988 SW Avalon Way). Read on for the TR news release:Read More
If you take a look at the photos on this webpage – especially the one with the throng of dancers – you’ll get an idea of how popular the Trianon Ballroom in downtown Seattle must have been in its heyday. West Seattle writer/activist Georgie Bright Kunkel is casting a wide net to find others who danced at the Trianon, so they can join her at a reunion on this side of the bay. It’s eight weeks away, but she is hoping to get the word out in a big way. So she is sharing the following announcement and photo with WSB’ers too:
Georgie Bright Kunkel invites everyone who ever danced at the old Trianon Ballroom, formerly at 3rd and Wall in downtown Seattle, to a reunion to be held at Bridge Park Retirement Center – 3204 SW Morgan Street in West Seattle – on Sunday, September, 26th at 3 o’clock. The reason for this early invitation is to obtain RSVPs from as many people throughout Seattle as possible.
Georgie will MC with a little comedy and introduce the guests who will share their experience at the Trianon. Bill Teasley will play guitar so guests can sing along to the tunes popular during WWII. There will be a display of antique postcards of the Trianon era, Shirley Temple dolls popular at the time, and a collection of Saturday Evening Post covers of the WWII era. If you danced at the Trianon Ballroom or know someone who did, please call Helen Teasley at 246-1501 or Georgie at 935-8663 to RSVP.
The city has announced grants for two dozen community-group-spearheaded technology programs around Seattle – and one is in West Seattle. The grants are made through the Technology Matching Fund – all listed here. The one here is a $19,800 grant to upgrade the technology center at Westwood Heights, “with hardware and software to provide low income seniors and residents with disabilities instruction in basic computers, accessing online health resources, Internet safety and job readiness.”
Three of the next four nights, you are invited to enjoy free outdoor concerts in West Seattle – starting with tomorrow night at the beach! From Mary Pat Byington:
Come enjoy local artist Michael Powers play his Jazz, Rhythm and Blues music at the Alki Bathhouse. The concert will start at 6 p.m. Bring your family and friends with a picnic basket, lawn chairs, and blankets for an evening of music by the water. We are collecting non-perishable food items for the local food bank during the concert.
Then on Thursday night, it’s the second of six Summer Concerts at Hiawatha, presented by the Admiral Neighborhood Association, co-sponsored by a long list of local businesses and individuals including WSB. 6:30 pm Thursday on the east lawn at Hiawatha Community Center, it’sBack Burner – bring a picnic dinner, and bring the whole family – the kids can go test samples at the PCC Kid Picks truck, too!
And on Friday night, it’s the first of four outdoor concerts at The Mount, with Mariachi Fiesta Mexicana – doors open at Providence Mount St. Vincent (4831 35th SW) around 5 for dinner sales (optional; there’s also a beer/wine garden for 21+, and kids’ activities) – music starts at 6 – full series details here.
(July 2009 Seafair fleet “parade” photo by Mark Rhea)
Not specifically West Seattle, but widespread interest, and you’ll see some of these Seafair spectacles from here, so here goes: We’re awaiting a specific time-frame for the Blue Angels‘ “mid-afternoon” arrival tomorrow – here’s their previously announced schedule for the week. Then on Wednesday afternoon, you’ll see the Seafair fleet arrive in Elliott Bay, en route to where they’ll dock for tours: 4 ships are expected from the U.S. Navy, 3 from the Canadian Navy – this page on the Seafair site has full details (including tour times). 6:24 PM: Ryan reminds us via Facebook that we should include the link to the I-90 bridge closure times for the Blue Angels’ flights Thursday-Sunday – here it is.
(WSB photo showing Zebra burglary damage, just after police arrived on July 19th)
We promised a followup on the broken-glass burglaries we’ve been covering in the past two weeks – starting with one at The Swinery on July 16 – so here’s the newest information from Southwest Precinct Lt. Norm James. He confirms:
We do indeed have a commercial burglary pattern in West Seattle. To date, we’ve had 8 confirmed smash and grab burglaries that fit within our pattern since the middle of July. The burglar typically breaks a window to gain entry, grabs a cash register/vending machine, then flees.
Lt. James says another common point is that they’re happening in the early morning hours. He says King County Sheriff’s Office detectives also are investigating similar cases, and working with SPD counterparts “to coordinate the investigation.” Meantime, the Southwest Precinct is checking to see if any other SPD precincts have noticed similar trends. As for what else is being done about this new “burglary pattern,” Lt. James continues:
We have advised businesses to try to make it inconvenient for burglars to access cash registers/vending machines. We are also putting out directed patrols in the areas of these burglaries. As always, we ask for the community’s assistance in reporting suspicious people and activities. At this time we’ve been asking businesses with cameras focusing on the exterior of their buildings (to) review those tapes every 24 hours and report suspicious activity.
The most recent smash-and-grab was early Saturday at the liquor store in The Junction (WSB coverage here – our story also lists the previous ones we covered, and has a comment that adds to the list).
(WSB photo taken during the reinstallation last Wednesday)
Five days after the West Seattle Rotary Viewpoint Park totem pole was reinstalled (WSB video coverage here), WS Rotary has just sent new details about the rededication celebration planned for August 10th (one week from tomorrow), as well as an invitation to join in a work party at the park this weekend:
The public is invited to join the Rotary Club of West Seattle as we celebrate the return and rededication of West Seattle’s beloved Totem Pole. The Totem was recently refurbished and re-installed at The Rotary Viewpoint Park on 35th and Alaska SW. We are honored to have the original carver Robin Young, Cecile Hansen, Duwamish Tribal Chairperson and other dignitaries as our guests.
Date: Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Time: 5:00 PM
Where: Rotary Viewpoint Park at 35th and Alaska SW
After the ceremony, all are invited to join the Rotary Club at the West Seattle Golf Course Fox Den Grille as we continue our celebration. Refreshments will be available for purchase.
A Work Party to spruce up the park is scheduled for Saturday, August 7th starting at 8:30 AM . Volunteers are needed if you would like to help.
For more information, please contact Shirley Clough at s.clough@comcast.net or 206-293-2773.
Last week’s reinstallation followed restoration and repainting work at Artech, more than seven months after the pole was stolen and taken to Oregon, where it was found along with another totem pole that had been stolen from its display site at the Renton Fred Meyer. ADDED 7:03 PM: An unusual view of the newly reinstalled West Seattle totem pole, taken Friday and shared today by Colby:
With a little over a month till the new school year, Westside School is moving out of its just-south-of-West-Seattle building and into its new Sunrise Heights headquarters at the former EC Hughes Elementary (7740 34th SW). This is the “full campus move” mentioned in an update last month; the school announced four months ago that it had reached an agreement to lease the Hughes site from Seattle Public Schools ($3,750/month for at least the first 3 years). (Two other closed campuses in West Seattle, Fairmount Park and Genesee Hill, had been offered for lease, but no takers.) Westside’s former neighbor, Explorer West Middle School, announced in June it’ll take over the classrooms left empty by Westside’s move. This is one of two major West Seattle school moves this month – Chief Sealth International High School is moving out of its temporary site at the former Boren Junior High on Delridge after two years of renovation work at its permanent campus in Westwood.
FIRST “HAPPENING NOW” REPORT AT 8:15 AM: Just a few minutes ago, the backhoe bit into the back side of the former Pegasus Pizza storefront on Alki (2758 Alki SW). It’s been sitting vacant since the restaurant moved next door 2 years ago. For now, you won’t see anything driving by on Alki Avenue, though, because the work has started behind the building. 8:44 AM UPDATE: Here’s our video from the first crunch (after the backhoe operator carefully plucked a few metal pieces from atop the building – including the satellite/microwave dish and a piece of ventilation/cooling equipment):
A permit’s been granted for the “shell/core” of a new building to be put up at the site. 11 AM UPDATE: Three hours in, the demolition crew is moving to the front of the building – this video shows the second-story front wall coming down (first half of clip and then second part, toward the end of the clip):
Those who’ve come to watch include Pegasus team members past and present who have been sharing memories as they watch the building come down, piece by piece. Among those here is the building’s owner, who tells WSB that the one-story commercial building he’s putting up has “multiple” interested parties so far – but no leases signed yet.
3:45 PM UPDATE: By mid-afternoon, the teardown was all done (and the sun was finally out) – cleanup, of course, remains to be done, before construction. Just before noon, the backhoe was dumping debris into the back of a big hauling truck, but you can see what remained after that, and after the rest of the demolition.
(Photo above added 11:54 pm, from DC in North Admiral; next photo is courtesy of Erik)
Thanks to everybody who’s sharing their photos of tonight’s sunset. As noted earlier (when we were talking about the “golden sunlight” that preceded it), this is attributed to smoke in the atmosphere from fires all over the region. Whatever the case, the sunset drew a crowd; we watched from Lowman Beach, where at least a dozen people had set up chairs to watch the sun slip behind the Olympics – and we heard one applaud after the last bit of pinkish red was gone.
(Photo above, courtesy of Cam; next photo, tweeted by @lumpacy, republished with permission)
Ken Wise, Rotarian, totem-pole sleuth, local businessman, and lifelong West Seattleite, died today.
Mr. Wise, longtime owner of West Fuel, had been fighting cancer. He and fellow Rotarian Duane Ruud tracked down what happened to the West Seattle Rotary Viewpoint Park totem pole last December, even before police could crack the case. He wasn’t well enough to come see it reinstalled last Wednesday, but his son was there, and friends planned to go visit him immediately afterward. Its rededication is set for August 10th. (EDITED MONDAY – We are now told there are no official service plans so far.).
WEDNESDAY UPDATE: The service is now officially confirmed for 11 am August 19 at Fauntleroy Church.
Today we’re welcoming a new WSB sponsor, 
From the 
Georgie Bright Kunkel invites everyone who ever danced at the old Trianon Ballroom, formerly at 3rd and Wall in downtown Seattle, to a reunion to be held at Bridge Park Retirement Center – 3204 SW Morgan Street in West Seattle – on Sunday, September, 26th at 3 o’clock. The reason for this early invitation is to obtain RSVPs from as many people throughout Seattle as possible. 
| Comments Off on West Seattle High School Class of 1990 Reunion: Time to RSVP!