West Seattle, Washington
03 Sunday
The West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival float has been making the rounds — including this past Saturday’s WS parade — and now its appearance in The Biggest Parade Of All is just days away. But as Hi-Yu President Tim Winston puts it:
“The 40 year-old Oldsmobile V-8 under that beautiful wrapping is overheating & our usual mechanical help is unavailable. Torchlight is a long parade and the street surface air temp is often close to 100 at the end of a hot day.”
Hi-Yu is a volunteer, nonprofit effort on a tight budget and they’re hoping someone out there can point them to “flexible and free” mechanical help for the float, ASAP. If you can come to the rescue, please e-mail Tim at info@hiyu.com — TIA from parade fans everywhere (who would hate to see West Seattle’s pride ‘n’ joy depart 4th Avenue on a tow truck!).
We’ve got a few dozen pix to share, so we’re going to do this in installments. This one’s all about the kids — specifically, the Rotary Club Kiddies’ Parade, which meandered down Cali an hour before the “main” parade.
Two of the most creative Kiddies’ Parade entries, after the click:
Besides the fact the no-parking signs have all been lovingly placed along Cali this Hi-Yu Parade Eve, much like the stockings hung by the chimney with care on Christmas Eve …
… our top reason why you should join us as parade spectators tomorrow, rain or shine, anywhere along Cali between Lander (south of Lafayette Elementary) and Edmunds (south edge of The Junction) … surprises! One example: parade organizers have just added a late entry, likely to be a crowd fave; let’s just say it’s a float honoring a Seattle landmark. See for yourself, starting at 11 am Saturday (after the 10 am kids’ parade). We don’t need sun to have a blast.
Bite Schmite; not a single reason to leave West Seattle this weekend. Harry Potter on campus! Parade! Free outdoor movie! Belly dancing! The WS Garden Tour! And that’s only the beginning (click ahead):Read More
Hey, leg lovers! Remember the virtual catcalls over the Spud mascot in our pic (photo back for an encore performance at right) from the Seafair Pirates Landing festivities weekend before last? The West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival American Legion Grand Parade lineup for Saturday morning promises the Spud mascot … you better be there just in case it’s The One With The Calves! (Reminders: #1, parade route here. #2, the 11 am parade is preceded by the Rotary Club Kiddies’ Parade, in which just about any junior WS-ite is welcome to participate — meet at Cali/Genesee by 10 am.)
This morning’s rain was just a memory by the time the West Seattle Big Band opened its annual Hi-Yu Festival Concert in the Park tonight at Hiawatha. Excellent, eclectic program … preceded by West Seattle’s Most Famous Politician, who said a few things about his home ‘hood’s annexation centennial and noted a new commemorative tree and plaque on the south side of the community center. We caught a more interesting scene on the sidelines pre-concert, which we would have liked to have dubbed the dog ‘n’ pony show if only a canine had been present:
Then, the tunes. This was the first time we’ve ever seen/heard the WS Big Band, a volunteer group which donates its time and money to promote music in public schools.
More pix and notes from the concert, plus your next chance to catch the WSBB, after the click:Read More
We’re counting down to the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival American Legion Grand Parade this Saturday morning (on Cali, starting at Lander, ending at Edmunds). Reason #4 it’s worth your time: Humor! The Furry Faces Foundation promises a “Flamingo King and Queen” (probably closer to life-size than the PFs at right); legendary local tv clown JP Patches will be back; so will the Seafair Clowns, and the wonderful Red Hat Society, sub-billed as “Stewed Tomatoes.” Who can resist?
With the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival American Legion Grand Parade just days away, your resident parade maniacs here have to kick the countdown machine into gear. And now that our favorite e-mail of the year — the sneak peek at the parade running order — has arrived, we can start with reason #5: More than 75 entries, including the only Seattle-area performance by the ever-wild Vancouver (B.C.) Motorcycle Police Drill Team (VPD photo at right from an ’06 appearance).
More Hi-Yu Festival fun tomorrow night: The West Seattle Big Band concert at Hiawatha Park (hopefully the weather will hold), following a speech by Hizzoner in honor of West Seattle’s annexation centennial. It all starts 7 pm. NOON UPDATE: A little more info from the mayor’s office – he will dedicate a commemorative plaque and tree as part of the pre-concert festivities.
if you haven’t been yet – or even if you have – wander down to The Junction before Summer Fest ends 7 pm-ish. Part of the WSB team made another run through it this afternoon, catching street magic along the way:
Looks like the Saturday night Summer Fest street dance really rocked The Junction. Charles Redmond sent photos of the crowd and The Retros:
Only one week till the Hi-Yu Festival‘s American Legion Grand Parade (preceded by the kids’ parade) down Cali — our favorite WS event of the year (here’s our report from ’06). If you’re going to Summer Fest in The Junction today/tonight, you can check out the Hi-Yu group’s own float (which appears in other parades around the area too, such as Kent tomorrow), parked at the NW corner of Cali/Oregon:
8-11 am this morning, as part of the Hi-Yu Festival, the West Seattle Sportsmen’s Club is presiding over a temporary pond outside Seacrest Boathouse, for the annual Kids’ Fishing Derby. The latest WSSC newsletter mentions some changes this year. The group set up the pond last night; we stopped by and snapped some of the fish (200 rainbow trout):
We didn’t return to Summer Fest until most of the booths were preparing to fold up for the night, but there were still sights to be seen, such as this small train display outside the train shop (note the wishing well bowl and a lizard/dinosaur chewing on a car):
North of Oregon, the “car show” near the Rat City Rollergirls‘ booth turned out to be a grand total of three cars by the time we got there. Nonetheless, this classic was a sight to see, especially with its original $2400ish price sticker in the window:
Then it was time to head closer to the water, and we found ourselves at Seacrest, where the pier bustled with crab pots and fishing rods, with cotton-candy thundercloud-wannabes behind the downtown skyline:
Seacrest will also entertain young fisherfolk in the morning at a special pond set up for a Hi-Yu event. We’ll have more on that after dawn’s early light.
OK, our early scouting party’s first report from Summer Fest in The Junction: Metro Market’s kiosk was offering free brownie samples. We’ll be going back later to look for the Rat City Rollergirls, among others.
ÂÂÂ
ÂÂÂ
Summer Fest is of course the headliner, but this weekend also features the dinner/auction to save the Community School of WS site from going condo, DNDA’s big art auction, Sunday morning classics at Admiral Theater, low tides, and more … Click for the full list, as always:Read More
Tonight’s sunset managed to trump last night’s; here’s the view from Charlestown Hill, after we wandered The Junction checking out Summer Fest setup (lookin’ good, especially the Elliott Bay Brewing Co. outdoor area, which was already in full swing, including live music):
Just so you’re not startled trying to drive through The Junction tonight or tomorrow morning even before the festival begins — the city reminds us that the road closures for Summer Fest kick in at 6 tonight and continue till late Sunday night. (And in an outside-WS note, if you need to travel to the Eastside, remember this is one of those “520 bridge shutdown” weekends, 11 pm Friday till 5 am Monday.)
-So much going on at Summer Fest in The Junction next Friday-Saturday-Sunday, you just might have to go each day (and night). Besides the music lineup first mentioned here 2 weeks ago, the Summer Fest website has lots more details now about the rest of the fun (including what sounds like an absolute blast on Friday, with the Rat City Rollergirls, a car show, and more) plus a full list of vendors and exhibitors.
-Many community groups will be there Saturday & Sunday in hopes of grabbing your attention. Among them, the relatively new (and growing) Sustainable West Seattle promises a photo display of “sustainability in action” around WS; skatepark advocates will hold court, gather signatures, and show their stuff at a “temporary skatepark” (Wells Fargo parking lot) And if you missed the recent WS Emergency Preparedness event, just stop by the Megawatt/Morgan Community Association booth, where you’ll be able to get a free CD of the key info presented there (including our suggestions for getting online in times of trouble, and what you can do now to be sure you’ll be able to).
Time & place: Somewhere after noon today atop the Alki seawall. One of the hundreds of small children awaiting the Seafair Pirates‘ Landing said to an accompanying adult: “We’ve been here THREE HOURS!”
Said the adult: “Yeah, we’re not doing THIS again next year. We’ll just watch it on the news.”
Having watched this particular orchestration of the Seafair Pirates Landing two years in a row now (as we wrote last year, we had given up on the whole thing long ago, till we launched WSB and therefore felt dutybound to check it out) — we might do the same. Why, you ask? Click ahead for more, including more photos, and links to some other writeups already up online:Read More
Perhaps not surprising since WS is his backyard, of course, but still cool to hear the mayor will help commemorate West Seattle’s annexation centennial with a Hi-Yu appearance — click to read about it:Read More
Back in March, Dave from the Junction Association (and West 5) asked for WSB reader feedback on West Seattle Summer Fest. Now, 40 comments and three months later, Summer Fest is almost here, and Dave has sent us the music lineup as it stands now (noting that most bands have WS ties – either based here, or with members living here). This list is not even on the Summer Fest site as of this writing late Sunday night, so click ahead to be among the first to see it:Read More
| 3 COMMENTS