West Seattle, Washington
16 Thursday
If you are – or know someone who is – a West Seattleite who’s going to Boston to run the renowned marathon on Monday, Joe Drake wants to hear from you! He’ll be there again this year, and he’s already got a plan to meet up with other West Seattleites like last year, but in case there’s someone with whom he hasn’t connected yet, he asked us to put out the call! So anyone going from here who isn’t already planning to meet up for the West Seattleites’ group shot, please email him at jnldrake@gmail.com – thank you!
That Seattle Police video published today tells the story of why Officer Albert Khandzhayan got the department’s “Medal of Courage” for an incident that began in West Seattle. We reported on it the morning it happened – May 3, 2025 – though it got little other attention as it happened on a Saturday morning and was over relatively quickly. It started north of The Junction with a scene that terrified onlookers, not to mention the mom and children involved – her ex-boyfriend breaking out the window of her car, pulling her out, and driving away with the children. Officer Khandzhayan rescued them – and arrested him – in Boulevard Park.
This year’s Westside Awards. will be presented next month by the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce – but first, the organization is gathering nominations, and if you want to suggest a business, organization, or community leader, you have one more day! Here again are the four categories:
• Westside Business of the Year recognizes an established business (3 or more years in operation) demonstrating growth, excellence in customer service, and meaningful community involvement.
• Westside Emerging Business of the Year honors a newer business (under 3 years) already making its presence felt through innovation, community engagement and gaining momentum.
• Westside Not-for-Profit of the Year highlights a nonprofit whose dedication to service and social good has left a visible mark on West Seattle.
• Westsider of the Year recognizes an individual whose leadership, volunteerism, or service has strengthened the community.
Chamber board members choose the winners, who’ll be celebrated at a breakfast event May 20 at The Hall at Fauntleroy. To send in a nomination, use this form – by 5 pm tomorrow (Wednesday, April 15)! (See the list of past winners here.)
2:46 AM: SPD and SFD are arriving in The Triangle after a report that someone might have been shot near 36th SW and SW Snoqualmie. No confirmation yet.
2:52 AM: Still no victim or evidence of a shooting found, police say. The just-in-case SFD response is waiting at Station 32 (38th/Alaska).
2:55 AM: One officer reports talking to someone in the area who is saying what sounded to one 911 caller like a “shot” might have been “a car backfire.” Another officer then reported finding a trail of blood leading “across 35th toward the encampment and the golf course.”
3:20 AM: Apparently that led nowhere – though they haven’t acknowledged it over the air, the SFD log shows the responding units have just been cleared and the call’s been closed.
9:31 AM: Here’s the SPD report narrative:
At approximately 0239 hrs on 04/14/2026, one call came in to 911 stating that a male had possibly shot another male near 36 AV SW and SW Snoqualmie St. The caller, who wanted to remain anonymous, first reported hearing a gunshot, then when asked if anyone had been shot, they reported that there was a possible shooting victim. While several units were enroute to the location, other callers called in reporting a fight involving 2-4 males in the same area.
Several units arrived in the area. Found on S Snoqualmie St, just east of 36 AV S, was a pair
of shoes in the street and several small blood droplets on the south sidewalk.A XXX male was found in the same block, around the corner. He stated that he heard guys fighting in the street, but said there were no shots fired. Another witness, listed above, said that, from her apartment window, she saw three males running eastbound towards 35th AV SW, one of them stated that he was hurt. She said that she heard one of the other males tell the injured male that he should call 911 and he said that he would not do so. She said a vehicle pulled up, one male handed something to someone in the vehicle and the vehicle left southbound on 36th. She also stated that she may have heard the vehicle backfire.
We followed the trail of small blood drops eastbound across 35th to a tent on the east side of 35th, but the tent was empty.
An extensive check for any victims or evidence of a shooting was conducted with negative results. The scene was photographed and released.
Regional publications are reporting the death of mountaineering legend and former West Seattleite Jim Whittaker at age 97. We met him more than a decade ago, when the West Seattle mixed-use megadevelopment The Whittaker (4755 Fauntleroy Way SW, anchored by Whole Foods) was named for him.
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB – Jim Whittaker at The Whittaker’s dedication in 2016)
Mr. Whittaker was the first American to summit Mount Everest, in 1963. He and his wife Dianne Roberts, a photographer, were living in Port Townsend by the time the building-naming happened in 2014, but in an interview, Mr. Whittaker told us, “West Seattle is home … I went to Fauntleroy grade school, James Madison Middle School, West Seattle High School … That’s where I got my hiking and climbing inspiration. My parents loved nature and the outdoors – we would go to the beach in Lincoln Park. And then starting in grade school, I would walk up the Fauntleroy hill to Arbor Heights [where his family lived], even at lunchtime, so I got a lot of exercise.” You can read more about his storied life in this Cascadia Daily News obituary, which says plans have not yet been announced for a Celebration of Life.
If there’s a person, business, or organization you think deserves one of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s Westside Awards, here’s your chance! The Chamber has just announced that nominations are open:
Nominations close April 5, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. across four categories:
• Westside Business of the Year recognizes an established business (3 or more years in operation) demonstrating growth, excellence in customer service, and meaningful community involvement.
• Westside Emerging Business of the Year honors a newer business (under 3 years) already making its presence felt through innovation, community engagement and gaining momentum.
• Westside Not for Profit of the Year highlights a nonprofit whose dedication to service and social good has left a visible mark on West Seattle.
• Westsider of the Year recognizes an individual whose leadership, volunteerism, or service has strengthened the community.
“Every year, the nominations remind us just how much is happening in this community. The Westside Awards exist to make sure that work gets the recognition it deserves,” said Rachel Porter, Executive Director of the West Seattle Chamber. “We encourage anyone who has witnessed dedication to West Seattle to put in a nomination.”
Winners will be selected by the Chamber’s Board of Directors and recognized at the Annual Westside Awards Breakfast on Wednesday, May 20, 2026 at The Hall at Fauntleroy.
Nominations are free and open to the public. Submit at https://loom.ly/j2lcDkM
For more information about the Westside Awards, contact Rachel Porter at rachel@wschamber.com.
The West Seattle Chamber of Commerce is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization that has served the West Seattle business community since 1923. The Chamber advocates for local businesses, connects members, and works to strengthen the economic foundation that makes West Seattle a place where commerce and community grow together.
Here’s our coverage of last year’s awards breakfast; see the list of past winners here.
West Seattle’s Sanislo Elementary is thrilled on behalf of the school’s social worker Miss Dez, who has won a statewide award. The Sanislo PTA is hoping you’ll collaborate in celebrating:
Did you know that Sanislo’s social worker was named WA School Social Worker of the Year?
MEET MISS DEZ: This fall, when some Sanislo families faced the possibility of losing access to food and other basic necessities, Miss Dezirae Brown, Sanislo’s school social worker, sprang into action—helping organize a school food pantry to ensure students and their families had the essentials that they needed. She has since expanded, providing shelf-stable food, snacks, shoes, clothing, and school supplies.
Miss Dez’s Boutique is just one example of the care, leadership, and advocacy she brings to her work every day, uplifting students, families, and colleagues – helping each one feel seen, supported, and valued. She builds a safe environment for social, emotional development in small groups and guided counseling. She creates space for young people to stand up for their values and community, helping students find their voices in powerful ways. In moments like these, Miss Dez shows what it means to lead by example.
For this and so many other contributions to the Sanislo community, Miss Dez was recognized as Washington School Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers, Washington (NASW – WA) – a huge statewide recognition – right here in West Seattle!
The Sanislo PTA wants to celebrate Miss Dez’s incredible and well-deserved STATEWIDE RECOGNITION by hosting a joyful, community celebration – and other festivities – this month. Help us show Miss Dez our neighborhood’s gratitude for all the ways she supports our kids!
Please consider:
-Becoming an event sponsor for our community celebration of Miss Dez
-Contributing essentials (food and household items) for the school’s boutique pantry, or
-Donating prizes for our upcoming school carnival.
To learn more or get involved, please contact the Sanislo PTA at sanisloelementarypta@gmail.com or Jen at 917-715-7474.
Sanislo is West Seattle’s “small but mighty” elementary, on Puget Ridge.
Unusual menu-board item at Ounces (3809 Delridge Way SW) this afternoon – cookies and beer! The beer garden/tap room is suggesting pairings today, while Troop 42099 is there selling cookies on the second weekend of cookie-booth season:
You can buy cookies whether or not you’re buying beer, by the way. This year’s cookies are $6/box except for gluten-free Toffee-tastic, which is priced at $7.
Cookie-selling teaches Girl Scouts entrepreneurial skills, and also enables them to support chosen causes – one focus for this troop is to help shelter pets. They’re at Ounces until 6 pm today and will be at the Junction QFC (42nd SW and SW Alaska) at 10 am Sunday. Lots of troops have booths all over West Seattle; you can look up times and locations here.
A week and a half ago, we brought you Alki resident Charlotte Starck‘s story about her plan to journey to Detroit with a creation that had a place in automotive-industry history as well as family history – a 1930 Fisher Body Napoleonic model coach built by her late grandfather Irvin Starck, a Boeing machinist who put 18,000 hours into it over 55 years. Now Charlotte, her brother Jim Starck, and their special delivery, have arrived.
We asked Charlotte to let us know when she got there so we could publish a followup. She and her brother transported the coach in its container, which her grandfather also built:
Charlotte said the delivery was a two-site adventure:
First we met General Motors Director of Corporate Giving and Heritage Heidi Magyar at the new global headquarters for General Motors. They just moved in mid-January.
Then north 25 minutes to the new GM Heritage Center under construction that is the home for the coach now. We handed off to left to right in top photo) Rebecca Bushman and Chief of Heritage Kevin Kirbitz.
It is by far the most beautiful. They have a few others.
Charlotte adds that they were told theirs is the only known documented 193 inaugural-year coach, and that many historians think the early 1930 Fisher Body Guild coaches might have been the most technically sophisticated youth-craftsmanship-competition objects ever made in the U.S.
P.S. She’s been invited back when the Heritage Center opens.
By Macey Wurm
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
It’s that time of year again! Girl Scout Cookie Booth season kicked off this afternoon with five different locations around The Junction, and more than 20 in all of West Seattle. We visited the booths (tables) in front of Husky Deli and Easy Street Records, which were just getting started at mid-afternoon. Additional booths were in the process of being set up in front of the Junction QFC, Jefferson Square Safeway, and A La Mode Pies around 4:00 p.m.
Across the street, Eliana and MJ, two members of Troop 41333, were setting up in front of Easy Street Records. The pair are eighth-graders who have been Girl Scouts since kindergarten.
These Girl Scouts are planning to sell cookies at the aforementioned locations several more times in the coming weeks, with full details on dates and times for Junction locations found here. Other locations in West Seattle can be accessed through the “Cookie Finder” by entering a zip code, which will direct you to the booths closest to you.
Looking to order cookies online? Girl Scouts of Western Washington also offers the Cookie Connector, which allows you to enter a zip code, and support a local troop in your area through buying online.
Proceeds from Girl Scout Cookie season go toward the local council, Girl Scouts of Western Washington, which operates from Bellingham down to Cowlitz County, and toward individual troops. There are currently more than 40 troops selling in West Seattle. Cookies run $6 a box, except for the gluten-free “Toffee-Tastic,” $7 per box; find out more about the cookie varieties here.
Sales will continue until March 15, marking a little under three weeks to get your cookies and support the Girl Scouts!
By Charlotte Starck
Special to West Seattle Blog
On March 3, my brother Jim Starck and I will board a plane to Detroit carrying something far too fragile to ship — our grandfather’s 1930 Fisher Body Napoleonic model coach, carefully secured inside the handcrafted wooden box he built for it himself.
It will be the first time the carriage has ever left the Seattle area.
(Irvin Starck and the carriage, photo in locket)
Nearly ninety-five years ago, as a teenager in South Dakota during the Great Depression, our grandfather, Irvin A. Starck, obtained one of the very first Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild model coach plans provided by the Guild – the inaugural year of what would become General Motors’ long running and most influential youth outreach and recruiting initiative aimed at getting boys into auto engineering.
He had a natural-born talent for building things and hoped to enter it by the Guild contest.
But, life happened. He was living in poverty during the Depression. He scrambled to work multiple jobs to survive. And just couldn’t sacrifice the time to focus on the model before the submission deadline.
But he never got rid of it. He kept it. For a someday.
We didn’t fully understand how poor he was then – until much later. One Thanksgiving, I noticed he never put mashed potatoes on his plate. (It was our favorite.) I finally asked why. He replied, “During the Depression, we didn’t have money for food. At one point, he said, that’s all we had. I had to eat potatoes for a few weeks.” He hated them ever since.
That moment stuck with me. As an adolescent, it was the first time I became aware of how fortunate I was to have food on the table every night. When he explained more of those days, it gave new meaning to the unfinished coach.
Eventually he moved to Seattle, was hired at Boeing, and spent 30 years as a machinist building airplanes. Precision became his profession.
And one day, he started to work on it again. Slowly. In the evenings after his shifts on the line, or when our grandmother was a little grumpy. Down to the garage he would go. To his own creative world. Under dim lights, hunched over his workbench with his glasses low on his nose.
The oversized plans, yellow with age, were mounted on the wall above as he shaped parts so small he sometimes held them in a vice. If a tool did not exist to create a detail, he fabricated one. He built the tool to build the design pressed into leather. He made tools to craft the intricate patterns that embellished the plated wheels. Complex parts didn’t stop him. He just built them.
He kept at it. This was not tinkering. It was mastery.
In 1985 — fifty-five years after getting the plans — he announced it was finished. That same year, he entered it in the model competition at the Washington State (Puyallup) Fair and won the top prize, a Blue Ribbon. News of the precision craftsmanship traveled from the fairgrounds all the way to General Motors headquarters in Detroit.
An executive wrote inviting him to place the carriage in the GM Heritage Museum.
He declined.
Having only recently completed it after more than half a century, he told us, with a chuckle, “I just finished it.” He wanted a little time to appreciate his own work.
Some facts from the Fair:
Irvin A. Starck’s Fisher Body Napoleonic Model Coach:
• Purchased: 1930 (first-year issue of the Guild contest)
• Completed: 1985 – Seattle, Washington
• Blue Ribbon: Washington State Puyallup Fair (1985)
• Estimated labor: 18,000 hours
• Approximate parts: 2,000
The Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild contest was created during the Great Depression as both a recruiting pipeline and a youth outreach initiative.
Thousands of teenagers and their families participated. The 1/18-scale Napoleonic coach — based on Fisher Body’s iconic emblem inspired by Napoleon Bonaparte’s ceremonial carriage — became a symbol of craftsmanship and design excellence during the transition from horse-drawn transport to the automobile age.
My brother and I talked and agreed that it was time for others to see it. We contacted Kevin Kirbitz, Chief of GM Heritage. Over the decades, he has seen several surviving Guild coaches in fair shape. But he told us they had not seen one with this level of beauty and precision craftsmanship. General Motors is opening a new Heritage Center museum next spring, and Kevin said they would be honored to include our grandfather’s carriage in the permanent collection.
Now, 40 years after he first declined GM’s invitation — and nearly 95 years after he got the original plans — our grandfather’s carriage will finally return to Detroit.
It’s an emotional trip, because we love our grandfather so much and miss him dearly; he died in 2002. He taught us how to finish something you start. How to be patient when you don’t see all the pieces. How to find solutions and move forward. And how to do work you can be proud of.
Before it departs the Pacific Northwest, we believe this represents more than industrial history. It is a Seattle story — a Boeing machinist’s Depression-era dream completed over fifty-five years in a garage, honored at the Washington State Fair, and now returning to Detroit as part of American industrial heritage.
We will depart March 3rd to deliver it to the GM Heritage Center in Grand Blanc, Michigan.
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Charlotte Starck is a former journalist currently engaged in civic and community service as president of the Alki Community Council.
Thursday (February 26) is the first day you’ll see local Girl Scouts selling cookies inside/outside local stores, among other places. As always, the times and locations are listed on the Girl Scouts of Western Washington website – a quick check by zip code shows the earliest local booth on the schedule that day is Husky Deli (4721 California SW), starting at 3 pm Thursday; most other locations don’t start up that day until 4 pm. Look for your nearest location(s) by scrolling down this page to the search-by-zip-code box. Wondering which cookies are available this year? Look here – though you might not find all those cookies at all booths.
(WSB photo, last month)
Nam Suk Nasatka, longtime proprietor of Lee’s Produce in South Delridge, has been laid to rest, while her store carries on. Her family is asking the community for one final tribute in her memory – donations to the White Center Food Bank. Daniel Horst, who’s helping organize the memorial fundraiser, asked us to publish the link. The fundraiser page says Lee’s Produce had partnered with WCFB for more than a decade, providing produce gift certificates to expand access to vegetables and fruit. Ms. Nasatka was 75 years old when cancer ended her life.
(WSB photos by Torin Record-Sand)
Earlier this week, while monitoring SFD radio calls, we heard the dispatcher make a short announcement about a firefighter’s impending retirement, with well-wishes for the firefighter, Patrick Dunn, described as most recently serving on Ladder 13, the fire truck based at Station 37 in Sunrise Heights. This morning, Dunn, family, colleagues, and friends gathered at Easy Street Records for a breakfast celebration; we stopped in toward the end for photos:
Dunn tells us he’s been with SFD for 29 1/2 years, and spent time at Belltown’s Station 2 and the U-District’s Station 17 as well as West Seattle’s Station 37. What’s next? “Getting healthy,” plus a trip to Europe to see his daughter, who’s studying abroad, and then will “launch my next chapter.” He told us his favorite memory is “the caliber of people I’ve worked with.”
Listings for Julie Garbutt‘s weekly free “Walking for Well-Being” walks in Lincoln Park are fixtures on the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar. But she’s just adjusted the meetup location, so we’re calling attention to it here on the main page too:
Walking for Well-Being, Wednesdays @ Meet at 47th/SW Fontanelle
Walking for Well-Being — Move together in nature, Wednesdays/Saturdays @ Lincoln Park 10:00 AM
Join Walking for Well-Being for Movement & Community! Walk together with fellow West Seattleites in and around Lincoln Park –Rain or Shine.
This free weekly walk is organized by Julie Garbutt of Waypower Coaching and takes place at a conversational pace covering 2.5 miles in an hour. All fitness levels are welcome.
Meet us at the corner of 47th Ave SW & SW Fontanelle (near the 76 Gas station). We leave promptly at the listed start times, so please plan to arrive early.The start is next to the black mailbox at the north Lincoln Park Service Entrance at the intersection of 47th Avenue SW and SW Fontanelle Street and features plentiful street parking.
Got something for our calendar? westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
SATURDAY NOON UPDATE: The missing man’s family reports he’s been found.
Earlier:
It’s already Saturday in Paris, where Bakery Nouveau owner William Leaman has just 3 days left before his second Coupe du Monde de Boulangerie competition, this time as a coach.
We first told you in October about Leaman’s return to the competition two decades after winning it as a member of Team USA in 2005. Since agreeing to coach last year, he’s been traveling regularly to practice with the 3 bakers selected from around the U.S for the competition. The team made it past the preliminary round last October in Las Vegas, and has been focused on the finals ever since.
(photos by William Leaman)
Leaman shared a photo of a recent practice day, showing the breads, pastries, savory “snacks,” and an artistic piece that depicts “the great inventions of your country” that each team must produce in a single day. They’re up against nine other teams from around the world. The competition is held every 2-3 years.
“We are done with practice and made our adjustments to the French flour; honestly, we feel pretty good!” said Leaman.
Next they will search Paris’ higher-end markets for finishing touches. “We have 2 more days to select the best possible ingredients we can find to garnish our products.”
Leaman says they’re staying across the street from Porte De Versailles, the exhibition hall where the competition is held, making it a hassle-free commute when it’s showtime very early in the morning on January 20th. Team USA will bake alongside Brazil, France, Japan, and Senegal. The following day, it will be Canada, Chinese Taipei, Denmark, Morocco, and South Korea, with judges announcing winners on January 22nd.
(WSB photo, this morning)
On New Year’s Eve, we reported on the death of a beloved figure in the South Delridge/White Center community, Lee’s Produce owner Nam Suk Nasatka. Readers had noted the produce market has been closed at times in recent days and wondered about its status. We went over today and found it was open again; they tell us they’re going to do their best to keep it open, in her honor. Meantime, cards at the store have the time, date, and place for her Celebration of Life:
The 1-5 pm gathering on Sunday, February 1, is planned at The Cove in Normandy Park (1500 SW Shorebrook Drive). Ms. Nasatka had worked at Lee’s for more than 40 years, and after the first 10 years, became its owner. She was 75 years old.
Seattle City Council’s Joy Hollingsworth and Rob Saka, with Rogers-Wright’s mother Sheila Winston and stepfather Edward Winston
Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
A local basketball legend and her family were honored Friday night at Chief Sealth International High School, as January 9 was officially declared “Regina Rogers-Wright Day” in the city of Seattle.
Rogers-Wright, who died in November 2024 at the age of 35, was a star player for Sealth in the 2000s, with numerous honors including state tournament MVP and Metro League Player of the Year, and went on to be an All-Pac 12 standout for the University of Washington (highlights here) before beginning a career as a beloved coach and mentor in her community.
During a moving ceremony held between the Sealth’s girls’ JV and varsity home basketball games against visiting Mt. Tahoma on Friday night, Seattle District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka spoke about Rogers-Wright’s legacy of “excellence, athleticism and eliteness” that “will live on forever.” He then read the proclamation alongside newly elected Council President Joy Hollingsworth, as Rogers-Wright’s family was recognized:
Here is our video of the ceremony:
And here’s the official proclamation:
Rogers-Wright’s twin brother Reggie Rogers Jr. is a Sealth ’07 alumni and is head coach of the Mt. Tahoma girls’ basketball team. He shared emotional memories of his sister and her lasting impact on and off the court, praising her for “above all, being a mother to Arries,” her young son. Rogers thanked the Sealth community for their steady support and for hosting the game and ceremony and “welcoming us back.”
The family wore commemorative pins in her honor:
As we reported back in 2020, Sealth honored Rogers-Wright and retired her #34 jersey. A banner still hangs proudly in the Sealth gym:
As the ceremony concluded, the Sealth and Mt. Tahoma varsity girls’ teams took the court, including Sealth senior Alysse Bland:
And freshman Mia Caldera:
Sealth jumped out to a dominating 14-0 early lead, before Mt. Tahoma settled in and battled back. At halftime, head coach Will Pablo‘s team led 26-15:
Sealth’s band and cheer squad kept fans entertained:
The action in the second half was evenly matched, but with Sealth maintaining the lead, and at the final buzzer it was 47-37 in favor of the Seahawks.
Sealth is now 4-8 on the season, and plays on the road against Highline on Monday (January 12th) at 7:15 pm.
(1/1/2025 WSB photo by Dave Gershgorn)
As noted in our Event Calendar and Holiday Guide, we haven’t been sure about the status of the Alki Beach New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim because we hadn’t heard from or been able to reach longtime organizer Mark Ufkes. This morning, his announcement arrived, with an explanation of why it’s later than usual:
January 1, 2026
New Year’s Day Alki Beach Polar Bear SwimWe go into the water at 10:00 am sharp!
(After the countdown from 10, 9, 8 . .)
Bring good water shoes, warm clothes to change into, a towel and your hopes and dreams for 2026. Holding hands with your neighbors as you go in, always makes it easier!!
New Request:
Please bring a donation for our local food banks. Drop them in the Costco black tubs that will be placed all along the sidewalk.
Message of thanks to the good people of West Seattle:
My amazing, beautiful wife Lois Schipper and I would like to thank you all, from the bottom of our hearts, for always being so kind to us during our three decades here. And for being such great neighbors too. Between our many friends, family, and so many great public school teachers, you all have helped us nurture our two boys to adulthood and made our lives so much fuller.
For Lois and me, 2025 has been especially difficult. Lois, my executive-functioning spouse, has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. We are crushed. Also, we both spent many years working with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), providing humanitarian assistance in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and the former Soviet Union before we moved to West Seattle, then White Center. Lois is a Public Health Nurse and expert on at-risk moms and babies, and I worked on food security and democratic pluralism efforts.
For those who might have missed, USAID was the federal entity that Elon Musk “fed to the woodchipper” earlier this year. The entire USAID world-wide staff of over 10,000 good Americans all lost their jobs in one day. Like us, these professionals dedicated their lives to helping the most vulnerable around the world on behalf of the American people.
So, for Lois and me, we will be holding hands, and as we go running into Puget Sound, we will be washing away the stain of our spiritually-crippled President and his spineless Republican party.
And what we want from the New Year is to pack our remaining healthy time together with every service adventure we can fit in, and every day, be thankful that we are blessed to live in this generous, wonderful community with all of you good people.
Last year, over 1,500 went into the water. So come on down and join us on Thursday, January 1. Bring your food bank donation and get there a little early, as we go into the water at 10:00 am sharp after the countdown. And remember, don’t waste a day. Our lives are shorter than we think.
Be strong in 2026.
Sincerely,
Mark L. Ufkes and Lois A. Schipper
(WSB photo of Rachel Porter at November light-rail forum)
Congratulations to West Seattle Chamber of Commerce executive director Rachel Porter, honored by the national Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives in its 2025 list of “Forty Under 40,” which is explained by the organization:
This annual recognition program showcases 40 of the industry’s top emerging leaders who have demonstrated success in their careers and made significant contributions to the communities they serve. The list includes CEOs and staff professionals from a wide variety of roles and chamber sizes. Honored for their creativity, dedication and commitment to identifying innovative solutions that will help shape the future of the chamber profession.
The announcement of Porter’s honor also notes:
ACCE has over 1,600 chambers of commerce and related business and economic development organizations
as members, representing more than 9,000 professionals in the industry. Eligible chamber professionals must be nominated by their chamber’s president/CEO, direct supervisor or board chair. Candidates must demonstrate meaningful involvement in the advancement of their community and proven professional success within their chamber.
The full list of honorees is here. Porter has been executive director of the WS Chamber since summer 2023.
The Tuesday after Black Friday is traditionally its flip side … Giving Tuesday. We publish giving opportunities almost every day, and your inbox is likely brimming with requests today. We have a few to share, starting with this one sent to us by a friend of the family. Less than two weeks ago, 34-year-old Darby Bukowski died in childbirth. Her son Wyatt survived and is with his dad Jackson. Friends and family are crowdfunding not only for current expenses but to provide for Wyatt’s future. Friend Karla, in sharing this link about Darby, told us, “She was so excited to become a mother, and I was so looking forward to her experiencing the wonderful support and community she would have found among the families and neighbors who make this area so special. Darby was a true joy to be around. She made everyone feel welcome and seen, and she had a natural gift for putting people at ease. Her bright, beautiful smile was contagious.” Karla tells us that Darby’s due date had been November 19, and she died as Wyatt was born November 22, so he was born full-term.
(WSB video of Ashton performing at this year’s West Seattle Summer Fest)
A young singer/keyboardist who often busks at the West Seattle Farmers’ Market wasn’t there this past Sunday.
But there’s a good reason for that.
Nine-year-old Ashton Hart Wecker is getting ready for the biggest show of his young life – thousands of miles from his home in West Seattle. Ashton’s parents Noah and Angie explain:
He has been invited to perform in New York City as part of the global non-profit Kids Rock for Kids. This organization brings together talented young musicians from around the world to put on performances that empower kids while raising money for various charities.
Ashton will be among one of the youngest musicians performing and the only one representing the Pacific Northwest, sharing the stage with kids from across the U.S., the U.K., Ecuador, and Italy.
The show is this Saturday, December 6, at The Bitter End, which Ashton’s parents note is “the oldest rock venue in NYC.”
Ashton was spotlighted on WSB this past January, performing at West Seattle Nursery (WSB sponsor) as WSN presented a gift to Mode Music Studios (WSB sponsor) and Mode Music and Performing Arts, both of which he’s studied at.
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