TGIF and other reasons for thankfulness
We’re starting the day in a thankful mood — so first we want to post a public thank-you of our own. WSB may not look any different than it did a week ago, but it is running a lot more smoothly “under the hood,” thanks to a whole lot of time, energy, creativity, and sheer determination expended by STUART MAXWELL. We’ve known for months WSB simply had to move to a new “host” server because the old one was on the brink of doing what it did back in June, and worse — publishing a simple update or change took extra time just to wait for the server to deal with it (or not) — but because we needed to make the move without losing any of the thousands of posts, comments, and photos published on WSB in the past two years, and for some other reasons Stuart discovered along the way, it was way too complicated for us to handle (despite some bleary all-nighters during which we tried). We asked technically oriented crosstown friends for advice on a tech adviser — and the inquiries blazed a trail straight back to West Seattle (of course!), and, in fact, to someone who happened to have a site linked from our Other Blogs page (one of Stuart’s many projects is The New Big). So again, HUGE thanks to Stuart – his tireless, creative, good-natured, patient work has saved the site and our sanity, and is paving the way for more improvements. … Also on the thankfulness front – an unusual tale landed in the WSB inbox – someone who pulled off a last-minute wedding with a lot of West Seattle help:Read More
Followup on a past RRR
When we post your Reader Recommendation Requests, we don’t always hear how things worked out — with so many people in the WSB community willing to take time to answer RRRs with their suggestions and experiences, we are confident that connections are made. But this morning, Francine posted an update to her RRR from 2 weeks ago, and we thought you would want to know, so we are highlighting it here on the main page:
Thanks to one of the recommendations from a WSB reader, I hired two incredibly compassionate and helpful caregivers from an agency called Family Resource Center. But I have a sad update. My dear, sweet, courageous husband Mike lost his battle to brain cancer on Wednesday 11/28/07. It all happened so fast. He died peacefully at home surrounded by his family, friends and our devoted kitty, Adam (who never left his bed). Thanks to all for the recommendations and kind offers. I now know of two other people in West Seattle with brain tumors. We must work to find a cure for this horribly devastating disease. (see abta.org) Thanks again.
Our condolences to Francine … both of us lost parents to cancer, so we’ve “been there.” We hope she will let us all know if there is anything more we can do.
West Seattle High School grad makes All-Ivy team
That’s Darius Dale, posing during his senior year @ West Seattle High School for WSB contributing photographer Matt Durham, who reports that Darius has made the All-Ivy Football Team @ Yale (scroll down this page to “second team offense”). Matt recalls, “When I met Darius, he struck me as a gentle giant. He was very kind and intelligent, and students and staff appeared to have an high affection for Darius. If my memory serves me correctly I seem to recall Darius was carrying a 4.0 GPA at the time of the photo. On first impression he appeared to be such an outstandingly well-rounded teen that I attempted to recruit him into the fire service, telling him to finish college first.” This page details Darius’s achievements at WSHS and Yale, where he’s now a junior.
West Seattle weekend sights: Tool time
WSB contributing photographer Matt Durham took these photos at an every-other-month West Seattle event that your editors admit to having never heard of before … antique-tool enthusiasts gathering at the Alki Masonic Hall on the east edge of The Junction. Matt writes:
Today members shared information and auctioned tools designed for ship-building, scrimshaw and various other uses. The Pacific Northwest Tool Collectors invite all tool collectors and dealers to join them at their meetings. To attend, you must be a member of PNTC, a guest of a member, or register at the meeting. Contact info is at tooltimer.com.
(Prints of Matt’s WSB photos and his other work are available through his site, MattDurhamPhotography.com.)
Reader report: “Swag Lady” caught on camera
It was on our Events calendar, but not here on the main page — yesterday was the 156th anniversary of the Denny Party landing on Alki. Every year since 2001, WSB reader Margelyn reports, the “Swag Lady,” Natalie “Penny” Earnest, has decorated the Founders’ Monument as shown above. Margelyn says Penny’s swag of cedar with bird feathers and cones gathered from the beach is “her way of paying tribute both to the Denny Party who landed here on Nov 13, 1851 and to the Native Americans who helped them survive their first winter.” Closeup photo, also courtesy of Margelyn:
Margelyn adds: “Penny and her husband Mike, who passed away this year, have lived on the water at Alki Point since the early 1990’s and have been active in the Southwest Seattle Historical Society. Working with Pat Filer of the society’s Log House Museum, Penny was instrumental in getting Department of Neighborhoods funding to add plaques on the Founders Monument at the 2001 sesquicentennial naming the individual women of the Denny Party and acknowledging the role of the Duwamish and Suquamish people.” Here’s a closeup of her note on the Alki monument for yesterday’s anniversary:
Margelyn concludes, “Living right on the water at Alki Point and walking daily along the beach, Penny says she often thinks of the words attributed to Chief Seattle:”
And when the last Red Man shall have perished, and the memory of my tribe shall have become a myth among the White Men, these shores will swarm with the invisible dead of my tribe, and when your children’s children think themselves alone in the field, the store, the shop, upon the highway, or in the silence of the pathless woods, they will not be alone. In all the earth there is no place dedicated to solitude. At night when the streets of your cities and villages are silent and you think them deserted, they will throng with the returning hosts that once filled them and still love this beautiful land. The White Man will never be alone.
Memorial set for man hit and killed while crossing 35th
Tonight before the High Point Neighborhood Association meets (6 pm, High Point Library), members of its Pedestrian Safety Committee plan a walking tour with City Council President Nick Licata. 
One of the recent tragedies that concern this group and other West Seattle residents is the accident at 35th/Othello on October 27th that killed longtime area resident and educator/engineer/inventor Oswald Clement. His memorial is now set for next Wednesday (11/14) at St. James Cathedral, according to friend and former student Sharon Stone, who has written an obituary to tell us all more about Mr. Clement and his life, which ended just two days short of his 86th birthday:Read More
“Open letter to the City Council”
Since the election results suggest the council will have a couple new members soon, they might be interested in what’s on the mind of one West Seattle resident whose “open letter to the council” was forwarded to us among others:Read More
One last act by “Art Attack”
Hands down the most memorable story we’ve had the privilege of telling you this week has been that of “West Seattle Art Attack,” an anonymous local glass artist who, while working on creations for nonprofit-benefit sales, decided to plant the not-quite-perfect productions in local yards. (Previous reports here, here, here, and here). WSAA’s heartstrings (ours too) were tugged by one comment below the 1st post, from Barbara, who wrote that she longed for a pumpkin in honor of her anniversary, Halloween, because her husband’s been in Iraq for their last two anniversaries. Well, as of tonight, she has one:
WSAA contacted WSB to ask if we could mediate a pumpkin delivery for Barbara. So we did; then she sent photos, as well as thanks for the pumpkin and for the anniversary card included by WSAA (in the bag seen below) — it wished Barbara and husband a happy anniversary, on behalf of everyone in WSB-land.
Imagine “Complaint-Free West Seattle”
Somehow we have missed the boat on the Complaint-Free World campaign that apparently is a major phenomenon. But it’s not too late. West Seattle’s own Nia Divas are planning a free event to kick off a campaign for a Complaint-Free WS … replete with complimentary purple bracelets like the ones shown above, while supplies last. It’s not till next weekend but it sounds so fun, we wanted to give it a shoutout tonight — a special event including refreshments, a free Nia class, and “time & facilitation to understand what constitutes complaining and how it dramatically affects our lives,” 9 am-11 am Saturday 11/10 at Youngstown Arts Center. Below, a letter from one of the organizers:Read More
Not just another accident victim
In the six days since a longtime West Seattle resident was hit and killed on 35th near Fire Station 37, we have learned more about the victim, 85-year-old Oswald Clement, and we wanted to highlight the fact that those organizing a memorial service for him are hoping to hear from others with memories:Read More
Thursday afternoon notes
-Some especially excellent comments today, and we want to call your attention to them in case you don’t usually read the comment sections of WSB posts. Below our report about the Northwest Art & Frame broken window, we just heard from “TR,” the early-morning dog-walker who spotted the damage and called authorities. And after this post updating the “West Seattle Art Attack” pumpkin surprises, we heard from people (Randie and Ben) at two of the houses “hit” by WSAA. Thanks to everybody for coming to WSB and adding new information!
-Several people e-mailed us yesterday about a mysterious sign near “Walking on Logs,” close to the relentlessly patrolled area where political signs have been turning up, and coming down. Last night we did pull over to check out that sign — it is a printout of the city sign ordinance, with the relevant section highlighted in a marker color that we can’t help describing as “angry red.” We’ll see shortly if they have gone after the signs just put up by a certain City Council candidate who seems determined to let us all know she (hearts) The Viaduct. (Including in-person sign-waving at 35th & Fauntleroy this morning.)
-If you’re interested in acupuncture, a reader e-mailed us recently suggesting that more people might want to know about a community acupuncture clinic at The Mount on Monday afternoons, run by Angie Hughes. “Reasonable price and an underutilized resource,” according to the reader, so we’re tacking it up on our equivalent of the virtual bulletin board, with this post.
West Seattle Halloween ’07
Even as some of the bar parties just start getting into gear, we are in for the night. We traveled north to south, east to west, across West Seattle, including a stop at Skeleton Theatre (we’ll put up video in the morning — it’s playing again tomorrow night, so you have another chance to go see for yourself). We saw luminaria and lights, costumes from A(ngels) to Z(ombies), but we’re also glad to be back at WSB HQ sharing your Halloween scenes — including this last round of photos before the Witching Hour arrives. First, from the inbox: Tigger turned up to greet trick-or-treaters at Westwood Village tonight:
More major cuteness from the inbox: Baby Nate goes crustacean for his first Halloween:
We had seen this cool decoration outside a house not far from Skeleton Theatre but didn’t get a picture – Todd did:
Todd also was one of 2 people who sent us a photo of “Feed-O” the scary cat – this “Feed-O” photo is by MIST, who says the cat “was spitting out gummy rats”!
Now a final round of jack-o-lanterns. From Danny and Diane, a pumpkin with a statement:
A seasonal pumpkin array, from “mtnester” of Shorewood:
Huindekmi sent this next one and noted, “We don’t carve our pumpkin till Halloween”:
And the proud wife of Dan sends his creation, saying, “he just LOVES Halloween” …
Speaking of attacks – we have heard one more time from “West Seattle Art Attack,” who e-mailed WSB to say: “I placed a final pumpkin tonight in a deserving yard. It was a very pretty purple and pink one that my wife didn’t want to part with. I’ve discreetly checked on a couple of my previous placements and they haven’t moved. I’m not sure if the owners even know they are there.” Quick! Go check your yard (or tell your friends to check theirs)! You don’t want an unnoticed WSAA pumpkin sitting out there till spring … 11:55 PM ADDENDUM: This blogger tells the sorrowful saga of a nearly trick-or-treater-less night for her first West Seattle Halloween. Boo!
“West Seattle Art Attack” caught on camera
OK, maybe “caught on camera” isn’t entirely the best phrase, since this photo (and others) came from “West Seattle Art Attack” him/herself — and proves they have accomplices — shown here at one of the five houses where they say they left pumpkins last night. (Catch up on what this is all about by reading yesterday’s first post and later update.) Ahead, see if you recognize the four other distinctively decorated homes “hit” last night — plus, beneath the photos, one caveat from WSAA:Read More
Big beefy buy
4 weeks after we told you about WSB reader Meghen‘s invitation to others to join the West Seattle Meateaters meat-buying club she was forming to get sustainably raised meat through Thundering Hooves – they just got their first delivery over the weekend. Meghen sent us the photo above, and told WSB that Thundering Hooves declared the WS delivery their biggest first-time order ever. They’ve got unlimited room for more people to join before the next delivery December 1st; you can sign up any time up till the Monday before the delivery (in this case, that would be November 26th) by going to the Thundering Hooves site and looking for West Seattle Meateaters. (Or e-mail Meghen directly with questions by clicking here.)
West Seattle’s new State Senator
Photos just in — courtesy of M. Thomas (thank you!) — from today’s swearing-in of West Seattle’s State Sen. Joe McDermott, after the King County Council (shown in the second photo) officially appointed him. (Top photo shows Sen. McDermott taking the oath of office with a former State Senator from West Seattle, Judge Mike Heavey.)
If you don’t know a lot about Sen. McDermott, check out his bio on the State House site. Among many other things, he formerly taught at South Seattle Community College; on a completely tangential note now, SSCC happens to be where the WSB video crew attended the Northwest Wine Academy release party this evening; clips and info coming up late tonight.
“By their works ye shall know them …”
The oft-quoted Bible line (Luke 13:26) could certainly apply to members of West Seattle Christian Church, who were out doing community work today instead of attending services (which were canceled for the occasion). As pastor Dan Jacobs blogged, “We’ll be serving our community as a show of love and the reality of our faith.” He told WSB some of the projects for the day included graffiti removal behind the Junction post office, landscape cleanup in Junction parking areas along 44th, serving breakfast to local fire stations, assembling AIDS caregiver support kits to be shipped to Africa and cold-weather supplies for city homeless shelters, and projects at Schmitz Park Elementary.
No “Gathering” till next year
The community-connection organization Megawatt has called off this year’s “Gathering of Neighbors” showcase, which had been scheduled for November 3rd. An e-mail announcement sent out last night by Megawatt leaders says the group has been focused on a “strategic planning process” and adds: “We are incredibly proud of our community events and programs, and over the next few months will work to support these programs by focusing on and building our organizational infrastructure. As part of this process, we have made a strategic decision to postpone … Gathering of Neighbors until 2008.” Megawatt says it will continue offering its community “field trips,” including an artist-studio tour on October 25th; more info on the Megawatt website (and the listings are on our frequently updated West Seattle-wide Events page too). For anyone who already signed up for the now-canceled Gathering of Neighbors, Megawatt says it will refund the table fees within the next few days.
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