West Seattle, Washington
12 Tuesday
More than half a million classrooms around the country are reading about West Seattle’s seal pups and young Seal Sitters 
volunteers who help watch out for them. They’re the cover story of the Earth Day edition of Scholastic News, as Seal Sitters‘ Robin Lindsey reports on Blubberblog. As she points out, Seal Sitters is “one of the few marine-mammal stranding networks that encourage children to join …”; a third-grader volunteer named Noemi is shown in the Scholastic News story. Robin tells WSB, “Noemi and our kid Seal Sitters inspire us all!” (To find out how to volunteer – and how to reach Seal Sitters if you spot a marine mammal on a local beach – go here.)
Back on April 7th, we published Chief Sealth International High School football head coach Luther Carr III‘s call for pledges as his players prepared to participate in the MS Walk to help fight multiple sclerosis. Now that the big event is past, he wanted to share public words of thanks (and the team’s photo from MS Walk day):
Chief Sealth International Football would like to thank all of our community, family, and friends who assisted in our efforts to raise money for MS (multiple sclerosis). Along with thousands of others in the State of Washington we raised funds and walked on April 14, 2013, to find a cure for a world free of MS. At least 12,000 people in our Northwest community are living in chronic pain because of MS. Ridding the world of MS is a great cause, and our student-athletes learned a great lesson, giving back! Thank you again and Go Seahawks!!
According to the team’s page on the MS Walk site – where you can still make a donation – they raised more than four times their goal!
Congratulations to the five seniors shown in the photo shared by Marilyn Mears, who explains that they “were honored by AAUW (American Association of University Women) at the annual AAUW Scholars Recognition dessert reception … for their achievement in one of three STEM fields. High-achieving senior girls from eight Seattle high schools were honored. The keynote speaker was AAUW member Karen Troianello, Title IX pioneer. AAUW is a national organization of college graduates. AAUW’s mission is to advance equity for women and girls through advocay, education, and research.” From left in the photo are students Yessinia Rudy (West Seattle HS) – Technology; Sydney M. Sattler (Chief Sealth IHS) – Science; Janelle Maroney (Chief Sealth) – Math; Michiko Yoshino (West Seattle) – Math; and Kristin Lee (West Seattle) – Science.
11:52 AM: Just received from Eric Renn at West Seattle CrossFit:
Today, we are organizing a Team Red White and Blue “Response Run”. The run will be from the Statue of Liberty to Anchor Park and back, the typical 5k run on Alki … we will begin at 2 p.m. today and carry an American flag with us the entire way.
(Statue of Liberty Plaza is at 61st and Alki.)
3:57 PM: Scenes of the Response Run in the sunshine along Alki Beach:
(Photos by WSB’s Katie Meyer)
Preparing to hand off the flag, at Anchor Park:
Fixed flags around the state are all at half-staff today by decree of Governor Inslee.
ORIGINAL REPORT, 4:52 PM: From Lori McConnell at West Seattle Runner:
Wanted to let you know that we are hosting an impromptu group run tonight at 6 pm at West Seattle Runner as a way to honor our grief/deal with our grief about the Boston Marathon.
WSR is on the northwest corner of California/Charlestown.
(Photo courtesy Tim McConnell)
ADDED: Citywide media came out to cover the event – above, that’s Lori being interviewed. Here’s what KIRO TV wrote about the run.
(Screenshot from home page of new website)
If you attended West Seattle High School – the WSHS Alumni Association has news for you: A brand-new website! Jim Biava (Class of 1971) shares the announcement about what you’ll find there:
ATTENTION, WEST SEATTLE HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI! You can now access our new website with our own Social Network. It’s awesome! Check out the site at (officially) www.wshsalumniassociation.org however you can get there a variety of ways, one being www.wshsaa.org. Check it out the site! There is too much to mention here but the main Menu tabs, full of information, include Scholarships, Reunions, Hall of Fame, Merchandise and other links to videos. The Alumni Chinook will be on there soon too including Archived Editions. Wow there’s a lot of great stuff and more being added!
A couple video slideshows will be added to the site after this year’s All School Reunion, which will premiere a show of Westside High’s History and how we are all connected through time and space. The video slideshow contains more than 600 photos from 1920 through 2012. Are you in any of them? Seriously, are you immortalized in the video? Check it out at this year’s All School Reunion on June 7th, starting at 5 pm at the school.
Who are those people in West Seattle High School’s Hall of Fame? Find out in a video slideshow about the members of the Hall of Fame presented in a way that you’ve never seen before also to be added to the site after its premiere at the ASR. There is even a cutting-edge Alumni Social Network within the site. I’ve talked with some who buy WSHS merchandise from for-profit sites pretending to be the West Seattle Alumni Association, thinking they are helping out our own. Now you can get your high-quality WSHS gear made by West Seattle Grads, made in West Seattle, for West Seattle. The proceeds benefit your Alumni Association.
I can go on and on but just go check it out for yourself and sign up for the Social Network – free and exclusive (password protected) for WSHS Alumni only. Go see who’s already a member. Check it out and then pass the word.
Family and friends are remembering David Franks, gone too soon at just 61. Here’s the tribute sent to us to share with you:
David A. Franks died unexpectedly March 29 of natural causes, one month short of his 62nd birthday. Though he lived in north Burien, he had lifelong ties to West Seattle. He grew up in the community, first in a house near the steel mill, then in the home his parents owned for more than 40 years on 42nd SW just south of Jefferson Square. Dave was in West Seattle every week, helping support the needs of his parents, and maintaining contact with friends and the families of two nieces who live here.
He was born April 30, 1951, in Seattle, graduated from West Seattle High School, and attended the University of Puget Sound. He had a career with the US Postal Service, where he rose from part-time mail handler to supervisor of the mail processing center at SeaTac Airport.
Dave was close to his large family, and had an extensive circle of friends, many dating to college days. A lifelong bachelor, Dave was a much-loved uncle to two generations of nieces and nephews, with whom he always was generous with time and gifts.
Arlene Wade, instrumental in the creation of the Log House Museum and Duwamish Longhouse, has died at age 69. Here’s the remembrance we’ve received to share with you:
Arlene Hinderlie Wade (1943-2013) passed away on March 25 after a 13-year battle with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
Arlene grew up in Port Orchard. She was the 1963 Seafair Queen during the ‘Century 21’ Seattle World’s Fair.
As President of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society in the 1990s, Arlene led the campaign to create the Log House Museum. She insisted on telling the story of the American settlers alongside that the Duwamish people, whose cause she championed for two decades. She shaped “The Spirit Returns” exhibit at the new Log House in 2000, which was the first time the story of the Duwamish and the American settlers was told side by side under one roof.
Paul Dorpat decribed her in his Seattle Then and Now column:
Not only does 6-year-old Beckett Howard-Kuzma of Seaview play basketball, he loves to watch hoops – and has an extra incentive to be watching as the NCAA men’s tournament plays out with Final Four games today and the championship Monday. As reported last night by our partners at The Seattle Times, Beckett has such a keen eye for talent that his ESPN Tournament Challenge bracket is tied for #6 out of more than eight million entries! Beckett’s proud mom Kelly Howard contacted us to share the news with West Seattle neighbors. She says her son “actually has 3 brackets going. They are all in the top 1% of the ESPN bracket challenge. He did pick Florida Gulf Coast to advance to the 2nd round in his 2 other brackets (but not the bracket that is #6 overall).” And she says the kindergartener “loves math and numbers in general.” Plus basketball – he played this winter via the West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) and even plays while visiting his grandparents in Arbor Heights, who put up a backyard hoop in his honor. You can see Beckett’s bracket here. What might he win besides bragging rights, you ask? All entries in the top 1 percent are entered in a drawing for a $10,000 Best Buy gift card.
5:57 PM UPDATE: Beckett’s pick for today’s first game was the winner – and he’s now tied for #4!
Though she has a new role on the world stage pending – a potential appointment as U.S. Ambassador to Japan – Caroline Kennedy is reported this morning to be planning to keep her date with West Seattle’s Sanislo Elementary. Sanislo librarian Craig Seasholes sends along formal word of Kennedy’s expected visit next Monday afternoon as part of National Library Week, for which she is honorary chair. Kennedy is coming to Seattle for a poetry event Monday night that isn’t in WS but will also feature Sanislo students (free but tickets required – get them here ASAP). During her visit to their school, she’s scheduled to meet with Poetry Club students. (2008 photo of Caroline Kennedy by Martyna Borkowski, via Wikimedia Commons)
Last Friday, we reported on a death at West Seattle Stadium the day before. Today, we know the man who died at the track was 44-year-old West Seattle resident Donald Markey; we have heard from his wife Leslie Markey, a native West Seattleite (who says old friends from WSHS/Madison/Alki would know her as Leslie Rhodes). She says her husband was in training for the upcoming physical exam to join the Seattle Police Department, and that she is thankful for SPD and Seattle Fire Department medics’ “beyond hope” efforts to save her husband’s life – “an unbelievable effort by our local fire and police.” Here is the remembrance she shared:
Donald Graham Markey, born March 8, 1969 died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 44 of a heart attack, on March 21, 2013. Son of Nancy Graham Markey (deceased) and John Cornelius Markey (deceased) of Charlotte, North Carolina. He is survived by his wife, Leslie C. Markey of Seattle; brother John Cornelius Markey, Jr. of Graham, North Carolina; Aunt and Uncle Steve and Cornelia Robinson of Charlotte, NC; and two beloved cats; Arnold and Abner.
Handsome, humorous, personable, and polite, Donald was smart, highly educated, motivated to be of service to others, and a man of faith. He was baptized a Christian in Anacortes in 2003. He was devoted to seeking a better understanding of God by exploring spirituality so that he could live in the sunlight of the spirit. He shared this journey with his wife. Donald’s relationship with Leslie began in 1999 and they then married in 2007 in Seattle, WA. He was blessed with a faith that worked, and it showed in the way he smiled, talked and loved.
(Photos courtesy Steph Brusig)
On the day the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments over whether to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act, hundreds of people rallied in downtown Seattle at noontime today to show support for marriage equality. West Seattleites participating included lead organizer Marley Blonsky, seen below during a TV interview, and wife Whitney Young, shown at her left.
West Seattleite Sarah Toce, editor-in-chief of The Seattle Lesbian, was among the speakers:
You can listen to audio of today’s Supreme Court session by going here.
West Seattleite Marley Blonsky sends word of a big rally downtown tomorrow for which she is lead organizer – a rally supporting nationwide marriage equality, on the day the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments in two cases. It’s at noon tomorrow (Wednesday, March 27) outside the federal courthouse at 700 Stewart Street (map) – here’s the Facebook event page with full details. (P.S. If Marley’s name sounds familiar – we published the announcement of her wedding last September, and then photographed her and wife Whitney Young in the marriage-license line at the King County Courthouse during that historic December night/morning.)
If you didn’t stay up to watch national grocery-bagging champ Andrew Borracchini‘s appearance on “The Late Show With David Letterman” around 12:20 am, the video is now available courtesy of the CBS website (thanks to WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli for spotting it first!). The appearance was rumored to be a possibility ever since Andrew, who has worked at Metropolitan Market-Admiral (WSB sponsor) for more than three years, won the title at the National Grocers Association‘s Las Vegas convention last month (by the way, video from the championship is now online too).
SUNDAY NIGHT: Proud family, friends, and fans will have to wait one extra night to see national grocery-bagging champ Andrew Borracchini on “The Late Show with David Letterman” – there’s late word that the show schedule now has the Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) team member appearing Tuesday night (March 26th), *not* Monday as first announced. Still 11:35 pm, Channel 7.
MONDAY MORNING: The Metropolitan Market PR folks now say there’s word CBS made a mistake in that revised schedule and that Andrew will now be on TONIGHT, as previously announced.
WSB reader Marcia sent us the link to that poem video recently, with no explanation other than saying poet Austin Mansell‘s parents are friends of hers from West Seattle and she thought it was a “wonderful poem” worth sharing with WSB-land. After watching it, we knew she was right. There’s a twist, so we’re not including “spoilers”; after watching it, if you are interested in finding out more about the author/reader and why he wrote it, click here to read what he told us when we contacted him to find out more. (Turns out he too is a West Seattle native.)
West Seattle’s own Officer Lumpy from the Seafair Clowns was among the familiar faces – well, OK, familiar costumes – making an appearance at West Seattle Bowl this morning for the annual Seafair Commodores Bowl-A-Thon. Even with Seafair season a few months away, it’s never too soon to raise money for the Seafair Scholarship Program for Women – one of its many beneficiaries, 2012 Miss Seafair Veronica Asence, posed with the Commodores’ Commandant Paul Davis and Chief of Staff Kathryn Bohot:
It’s only three months till the official Seafair kickoff on June 21st; the Seafair Pirates‘ landing on Alki is just about two weeks after that, July 6th; you can see this year’s full Seafair schedule here.
One of the clubs whose meetings are regularly featured in the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, the West Seattle Cooking Club, is changing its schedule. It has long met mostly on Monday afternoons, but now it’s changing to every other Sunday, we’re told by WSCC’s Jenn Gibson. That starts with this Sunday, 3 pm, at Beveridge Place Pub, when the theme will be “breakfast cereal” – so you’re asked to make and bring something involving a recipe using breakfast cereal. Because of Easter, the next meeting will be three weeks after that (“Foods Inspired by the Movies” on April 14th), and we’ll have the rest of the calendar in ours – or check the WSCC website.
Front and center in that photo is Dave Nichols, a West Seattleite who has just been honored with The President’s Volunteer Service Award. He was photographed with colleagues from ShelterBox USA – the work for which he was honored. ShelterBox is an international disaster-relief organization that helps in the aftermath of disasters both natural and human-caused, delivering green boxes with “emergency tented shelter and other lifesaving supplies,” as the organization describes it. Dave works to raise awareness and money, which helped ShelterBox assist people caught up in more than 30 disasters in 23 countries last year alone – “providing families with disaster-relief tents, cook stoves, water purification units, blankets, mosquito nets, children’s packs, and other essential equipment.” P.S. You can assist ShelterBox’s mission through online donations at shelterboxusa.org.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: On Sunday night 3/24, it was announced this appearance will be on Tuesday 3/26 instead)
(National Grocers Association photo from last month’s competition)
Just in from Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) – Andrew Borracchini, the Admiral store staffer who is the national champion “Best Bagger,” will show his skills on “The Late Show with David Letterman” next Monday (March 25). It airs on Channel 7 in our area, just after 11:30 pm. Andrew won the title during the National Grocers Association’s convention in Las Vegas last month, the second year in a row he has gone to the competition as our state’s “Best Bagger,” the first time he’s won the national title.
As festive as Seattle’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade (WSB coverage here) was, just imagine being part of a parade *in* Ireland – as were West Seattleite Brad Burzynski and family: Jules, Bella, and Sophia. Brad shared photos from this morning, and a report
Started our day with a traditional Irish breakfast of bacon, sausage, fried mushrooms, blood sausage, egg, toast and (since it’s a special day) Bailey’s Irish Cream in our coffee. We marched in the People’s Parade representing West Seattle. Before we came we all got sweatshirts from our local Irish pub – A Terrible Beauty. Although the day started out snowing and raining, by the time the parade started, the weather dried up a bit and we had an awesome time. We heard people speaking Italian, German, Russian, and many other languages like Canadian. We saw flags from all over the world. This has been a great week and we are glad we could send a little bit of Dublin back home to our dear West Seattle.
The People’s Parade is explained here – a first-time offering in Dublin, as part of the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade and a weeklong celebration reaching out to visitors from around the world as well as locals.
(Photo courtesy Tomboy Exchange)
One month ago, we reported on Fran Dunaway and Naomi Gonzalez, the West Seattleites who went to the crowdfunding site Kickstarter in search of $75,000 to launch a clothing line geared to women 40+ called Tomboy Exchange. Today they’re celebrating success, with supporters helping them meet and exceed that goal. Their official announcement says the $76,000 they raised “will launch TomboyX’s first line into full production and help start an online boutique.” The clothing will be made here in Seattle, they reiterate: “It’s an important factor to TomboyX that the clothing is designed and made locally — to keep jobs in America, stimulate the economy, and offer the best quality garments possible.” Keep an eye on tomboyexchange.com.
One more weekend community cleanup that brightened West Seattle – thanks to Brian Callanan for the photo and report:
Eighth grader Gabriel Berger (in glasses, right) picked up trash along 35th Ave SW with a group from OLG as his eighth-grade service project. Another pickup at 9:30 am next Sunday, just outside OLG church. We picked up well over 100 pounds of trash in forty-five minutes!
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