Anne Czelder celebrated her 100th birthday at Daystar Retirement Village (WSB sponsor) today, and the folks at Daystar asked her about her advice for living to the century mark. Her reply – just four words – is in the short clip above. Happy birthday, Anne!

That’s what happened to Susan‘s car, 60 miles from home. The person who pulled over to help her happened to be practically a neighbor – but she doesn’t know his name, and asked if we’d help her find him. Here’s her story:

Driving home from Crystal Mountain on Sunday, my tire literally blew apart on Highway 410 outside of Greenwater. This angel of a human being (a fellow West Seattleite) stopped and helped me jack up and replace the blowout with the spare, in flip-flops and ski pants, with his 10-year-old waiting in their car. This was no easy feat, as the spare is wired in underneath the car, and apres-ski traffic was whipping by at 60 mph. After replacing the tire, he followed me to Highway 18 to make sure I was safe. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t get your name, but your kindness is so greatly appreciated and I’d love to treat you and your daughter to a Menchies!

Thank you so very much.
Susan

If you’re the mystery helper, you can comment below, or email us and we’ll forward your contact info.

(WSB photo: Michele Rhilinger with regional Discovery Shops coordinator Michael O’Sullivan)

If you haven’t been to the Discovery Shop in the West Seattle Junction, you might not realize that it’s a volunteer-powered day-in-day-out fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. In an after-hours ceremony at the shop last night, the organization presented longtime volunteer Michele Rhilinger with its national Denise Noel Discovery Volunteer Award. From the announcement:

The heart and soul of the local Discovery Shop for more than 10 years, Michele Rhilinger is well-known throughout the West Seattle community as a representative of the American Cancer Society. Through her talents in merchandising, she has created a standard for a very high level of appearance of the shop and an exceptional level of customer service. Despite retirement from her professional career, Michele stayed in the volunteer role and has dedicated countless days for the benefit of the shop and ultimately for cancer patients. Michele’s support of the Discovery Shop and American Cancer Society’s mission is unmatched and respected by many in the community.

Here’s what she told those who were gathered to celebrate:

The Discovery Shop (4535 California SW) had a particularly tough time in the pandemic, Michele reminded us – it had just reopened after a remodeling closure when everything had to shut down.

The report and photo are from Troop 282‘s Jay Brock:

Springtime means more adventures to be had in the SCOUTdoors. Troop 282 and Troop 284 of West Seattle would like to congratulate 5 of their scouts for completing their Scuba Open Water Certification and their Scuba Diving Merit Badges. On Sunday Aprit 3rd these scouts joined a number of Scouting divers that now can do conservation projects on land as well as under the sea. It was no easy task for them while still in school. The had to complete 15 hours of online learning, a couple of classroom hours, several hours training in a pool and four dives in the open waters of Puget Sound. A big shout out goes to Duncan as the Dive Instructor and Seattle Scuba for the course.

Troop 282 meets on Tuesdays at 7:30 at West Side Presbyterian Church and Troop 284 meets on Mondays at 7:00 at Explorer West Middle School. Now is a great time to join and be part of the action.

6:45 PM FRIDAY: Heidi’s sister confirms she’s been found, safe.

Earlier:

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Sent by Sarah, who sent this note under that heading, while explaining, “Just recently I have experienced several instances of road rage outside my home while getting my two children onto the Special Education Bus. People don’t understand how this system works and the buses are not all marked as Special Education. There are several contributing factors, including, no buses during COVID, reduced bus access for K-5 students forcing caregivers to drive children and be on the road with Special Education Buses.” Here’s her request to the community:

To Fellow Neighbors:

The key differences in how traditional large yellow buses operate vs smaller residential Special Education Buses operate.

First, children ride Special Education Buses for a number of reasons, some are physical and some are neurodivergent. For my family, we have two of our three children riding the Special Education bus and one fits into each category.

These buses are equipped with special seat belts and seats to ensure the safety of all the children; caregivers are REQUIRED to enter the bus and physically buckle the child into and out of the seat each day. The bus drivers are not allowed to do this, and due to certain circumstances, it may require more time to ensure the child is safely secured in the bus. I would very much like to remind impatient drivers that honking and yelling at the caregivers, driver, and kids does not make this process go any faster and instead can prolong the experience and induce feelings of fear, shame, and frustration for all involved.

There are also times that caregivers must pass on information crucial to a successful transfer to the school or for after-school pickup to the driver. This quick check-in typically occurs after the child is secured into the seat. This is not idle chit-chat, so please be patient.

Due to the fact that these buses serve several families each morning for the same school and each child can experience a range in how their day is going both physically and emotionally, it is not possible to have a set pickup and drop-off schedule. Therefore caregivers have children prepared before the bus arrives, most children utilizing this service cannot sit out and safely wait for the bus.

Options….?

It is possible on a residential road to turn around if you are stuck behind or in front of a bus that needs that extra time and go down another side street. I know this my be an inconvenience, but please know that the caregivers, children, and bus drivers understand. Please, refrain from honking, yelling, or driving up onto the curb. It scares the kids, they don’t understand what is happening and it is emotionally harmful to everyone involved.

Thank you, West Seattle Neighbors! (Here) is a helpful article with some graphics and other helpful tips about school bus safety, including things are camera and ticketing.

(Photos courtesy Rada Myroshnychenko)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is very personal for some people here in West Seattle.

16-year-old Rada Myroshnychenko is one of them. She is from Mykolayiv in southern Ukraine [map] – 5,700 miles away – and has been here about half a year as an exchange student at Chief Sealth International High School.

After hearing about Rada from her host family, we asked if we could interview her. She answered our questions via email.

What’s it like trying to stay in touch with your family when your home country is under attack? “I’m texting my mom every day because I’m worrying so much about them, every time I’m checking the news I’m texting my family back there right away to make sure if they’re okay. It’s really scary to hear the sirens or sometimes even shooting noises in the background of her voice messages that she’s sending me and of course they’re scared as well. They’re trying to convince me that everything is pretty much alright so I will not worry so much and as I know they’re doing everything possible to be safe in there.”

What should people here know about what’s happening? “What the Ukrainian nation values the most is freedom, that’s why our country is fighting for so many years with those who want to take this freedom away from us.” Rada also thinks it’s important for you to grasp the “scale” of what’s happening: “To understand the scale of what is happening: Imagine it being like 9/11 every day for 11 days straight in every city of every state – that is what is happening in Ukraine right now.”

She is heartened by the support for Ukraine here in the USA and around the world – including a downtown rally this past weekend.

“I actually really like to see all the support from other countries, no matter what it is. I already saw a lot of Ukrainian flags around the West Seattle area and Seattle in general and I also am really thankful to my host family, friends, and just to everyone who went to the rally on Saturday. Everything that the government and the people of each country are doing for Ukraine is what I appreciate to see the most these days. I like that people from different countries are interested in what is happening in Ukraine and trying to help as much as they can, I like that people understand how valuable the freedom and safety for our country is and that they’re trying to help us protect it.”

So if someone wants to help, we asked, what’s the best way, in Rada’s view? “The best thing right now is to donate to our medical centers and hospitals who are saving those who already suffered from the war, also you can donate to our army and volunteer defenders who are protecting our land.” She suggested these two links: Army – uahelp.monobank.ua and Red Cross – icrc.org/en/donate/ukraine

Will the war affect Rada’s plans to return home? She’s not sure yet – her exchange program is still in wait-and-see mode. She “always wanted people to get to know my country – Ukraine … how beautiful our culture, traditions, language, nature, and cities are.” She is sad that while her homeland is a subject of intense interest right now, “all you see … is ruins, fire, bombs, and people who are hiding from the war.” She hopes for a happy homecoming: “I really want to see all my favorite streets in Ukraine when I come back home, I want to meet with my family and friends in the places we love in safe and happy Ukraine – as it was before all of that started. I just want all that aggression to stop, and your donation and support is the best thing that can help us!”

Thanks to Ian for sending the photo. He happened onto this streetcorner signwaving tonight just outside Dakota Place Park north of The Junction. Ian didn’t catch the specific reason for the demonstration, but we note that in addition to February being Black History Month, this week is Black Lives Matter at School Week throughout Seattle Public Schools.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

It’s almost Girl Scout Cookie time, and this year some local Girl Scouts are making special sales that will provide the tasty treats to hundreds more local families than usual.

(L-R, Cascadia’s Jillian Moore & Jeremy Vrablik, mom Kari Scheff & Scout Kyla Scheff, WSFB’s Lester Yuh & Karla Marifjeren)

Cascadia Produce is owned and operated by a West Seattle couple, Jillian Moore and Jeremy Vrablik. Their produce-packing business made a big pandemic pivot to help ease food insecurity. They now specialize in emergency food boxes – creating and distributing about 10,000 a month. This year, they plan to buy hundreds of boxes of Girl Scout Cookies from local Scouts and add them to the boxes.

One place through which they provide boxes is the West Seattle Food Bank. On Mondays, they provide boxes that are picked up by DoorDash drivers and taken to recipients who can’t come to WSFB to get them. These boxes are funded by Food Bank donors, but Cascadia also packs boxes paid for by state funds. The funding for those boxes runs out soon, but Gov. Jay Inslee‘s supplementary-budget proposal includes $74 million to extend that funding through the state Department of Agriculture. The proposal is currently before the state Legislature.

We talked with the Cascadia duo on Monday just before their weekly distribution at WSFB, joined by one of the West Seattle Scouts from whom they plan to buy cookies, Kyla Scheff from Troop 45180. The eight-year Scout says she and her troopmates appreciate Cascadia Produce’s support; her troop will be selling cookies online this year, and pre-ordering is already under way

Cascadia, meantime, is working on the logistics of their bulk Girl Scout Cookies purchases. They look at it as another way of locally reinvesting the funding they get from the state, as they do with whatever’s in season, when their suppliers include many women- and BIPOC-owned farms. Side note – they also fight food insecurity in their own North Delridge neighborhood, with Carrot Man’s Carrot Stand, stocked with box leftovers free to anyone who needs it:

(Photo courtesy Jillian Moore)

If you want to support their work, you can ask legislators to back continued funding for food insecurity relief. Contact info is here – we’re in the 34th District, and you can find contact info for local House Reps. Eileen Cody and Joe Fitzgibbon and Sen. Joe Nguyen there. And if you want to buy cookies – Scouts are selling to friends and family now, and official sales start February 11th. (New flavor this year – Adventurefuls!)

“I think in general our community could benefit from getting closer to the issues of homelessness,” says West Seattle resident Tomasz Biernacki. He’s been working hard himself to try to facilitate that. Three years ago, he produced the documentary “Trickle Down Town,” focusing on people with different relationships to the homelessness crisis. He’s spent a lot of time volunteering, including co-founding the tiny-home-building program Sound Foundations NW, which launched at Camp Second Chance in West Seattle. More recently, he’s helped coordinate volunteers and funding for West Seattle’s only cold-weather shelter at the Veterans’ Center in The Triangle. And now Biernacki is co-producing a podcast, “You Know Me Now.” Here’s the description:

You Know Me Now is a Seattle based podcast, storytelling and journalism project giving voice to those marginalized in our community. From these life stories we hope to spark conversation and connection. We are doing this with the sole purpose of bringing us all closer together so that we can better address the issues that divide us.

When we listen to those living different lives or views from our own, we begin a journey of understanding. An understanding of not only those around us, but also ourselves. To move forward, we must know that everyone has their own truth. It begins by not being right or wrong, but rather by listening.

Those sharing openly and vulnerably do so with the hope of non-judgment in return. This is the beginning of coming closer.

The first episode, hosted by Seattle architect and advocate Rex Hohlbein, is an introduction of sorts, running 13 minutes. You can listen to it by going here.