West Seattle, Washington
07 Monday
Mike shared that view from the Lincoln Park waterfront path tonight, as a beautiful weekend came to a close. Not everyone got to spend the weekend lazing around in the sun … dozens of volunteers worked hard on a variety of fundraisers. We’ve already reported on the ones for White Center Jubilee Days, for West Seattle Montessori (WSB sponsor), and for the Highland Park Improvement Club (and a family near and dear to their hearts) … here are shoutouts for a few more.
FIGHTING HUNGER: Keri DeTore and Ron Angeles were part of a full house of volunteers and supporters of the West Seattle Food Bank on Friday night at The Hall at Fauntleroy. The “Instruments of Change” dinner/auction was a hit once again, with the night including a keynote speech by former County Executive Ron Sims.
Saturday night, sports was in the spotlight at two fundraising dinners:
SEATTLE LUTHERAN FOOTBALL FUNDRAISER: In the kitchen at Seattle Lutheran High School on Saturday night, Julia, Shawne, Kerri and Holly worked to help make sure everybody got fed at the benefit dinner raising money for the football program. Two guest speakers were scheduled, as noted in our preview earlier in the week – Nesby Glasgow and Deacon Demetrius Duke Devers. P.S. The Saints have reason to be excited about baseball too – their undefeated team is off to postseason play.
WEST SEATTLE HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL/SOFTBALL DINNER: This all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner, also on Saturday night, included lots of donations – check out the dessert dash lineup:
Thanks to co-chair Kim Gearon (right) for sharing news about this event:
(added) The team’s postseason play starts Monday. Meantime, lots of other great events on the calendar as spring continues, of course!
(Photo copyright Bob Venezia – Puyallup Fair, 2011)
The schedule is out for the Seattle International Film Festival, and it includes an award-winning short film by West Seattle photographer Bob Venezia, who shares this announcement:
“Animated Amusements,” a short film by West Seattle photographer Bob Venezia, is an official selection of the Seattle International Film Festival. It will be shown on May 26th at 9:30 pm at the SIFF Cinema at the Uptown as part of the program, “Animation for Adults.”
Scenes of carnival rides at night are set to the music of the late Rebo Flordigan. Shot in time-lapse and moving at hundreds of times their normal speed, the rides take on a life of their own and display brilliant patterns in colored lights.
Tickets for the program are now on sale.
Originally shot in 3D, this movie won the Artistic Achievement Award at the 2011 convention of the National Stereoscopic Association. SIFF will be presenting the 2D version.
Read more about the movie here.
Bob Venezia is a stereoscopic (3D) photographer and Photoshop expert. His love of 3D photography started in childhood with his first ViewMaster but it wasn’t until 1995 that he began creating these images on his own. Bob has been listed in the “Who’s Who” of the Photographic Society of America every year since 2006 and has a 4 Star rating with the PSA. He has had more than 220 acceptances in PSA recognized Exhibitions since 2003, and has won numerous awards, including a dozen Gold medals.
In 2009 Bob was the top exhibitor worldwide of digital stereoscopic photography according to the PSA. In 2010 he ranked number two worldwide in two categories (digital and slides). His long exposure of the Brooklyn Bridge took first place in the Electronic section of the Stereo Photo of the Year Competition for 2009 and his image of gondolas at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas was named Stereo Photo of the Year for 2010.
SIFF side note – though several films were scheduled at the Admiral Theater in the past few years, the festival is not coming to West Seattle this time around.
West Seattle-based Nature Consortium got the chance to share its wisdom this week with visitors from thousands of miles away. The World Affairs Council brought over a delegation from South Africa to talk with half a dozen NC team members “about how we engage and empower youth and exchange ideas with them,” as NC founder/executive director Nancy Whitlock explained it. “It was a really great meeting.” The visiting delegation included a member of South Africa’s Parliament and representatives of organizations including Heal the Hood. Next week, one of their restoration work parties will have guest participants from Burma, also here to visit the WAC (which is located on the downtown waterfront).
Cups around candles to shelter the flames from the wind, dozens of people gathered last night for a vigil at West Seattle’s Vietnamese Cultural Center, remembering and honoring those lost in the Vietnam War, on the 37th anniversary of its April 30th, 1975, conclusion.
They paid tribute to not only the more than one million South Vietnamese lost, but also the 58,000 Americans who died. Center director Lee Bui spoke words of remembrance and reflection in Vietnamese, with pauses for English translation by Phuoc Huynh:
Earlier this year, the center dedicated its Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial (WSB coverage here), which served again last night to honor heroes:
Visitors are welcome at the center (2236 SW Orchard) every Saturday, noon-3 pm.
Kevin McClintic shares the photo of (from left) Tim Hossner, Ken Beres, and Phil Sweetland, installing a new wayfinding sign for Fauntleroy Church this evening at Wildwood/Fauntleroy, a block south of the ferry terminal and about three blocks west of the church. The old sign has been out of commission since an early-morning crash we covered two months ago – when a suspected drunk driver’s car crashed into it before winding up upside down on the sidewalk nearby.
For the second consecutive Saturday, valiant volunteers are helping the Walking On Logs Landscape Restoration Group literally dig in at one of West Seattle’s “gateway” spots – around the “Walking on Logs” sculptures on the slope west of the Fauntleroy Way SW end of the WS Bridge. There’s still time to go join them – they are working till about 4 and would appreciate even an hour or two of your time; today they’re planting, as part of a project to re-landscape the often-overgrown area. Access is via the frontage stretch of Fauntleroy upslope from the work zone, which you can reach from the eastward turn on 35th, just north of the bridge exit/entrance. (Thanks for sending the photo!)
4:28 PM UPDATE: Stopped by just before 4 – volunteers had wrapped up, but check out the empty planting containers in the foreground, showing how much they planted!
You can see the landscaping plan – funded in part by a city grant – in this story from earlier this month.
9:09 PM UPDATE: One of the Landscape Restoration Group volunteers, Sharonn Meeks, tells WSB the group planted 75 trees and 500 shrubs and indigenous plants, and volunteers “worked their hearts out.” Also from the group, Nancy Driver sent another photo:
Nancy promises an update later this week on today’s accomplishments and what’s next.
If you’ve headed eastbound on the high-rise West Seattle Bridge in the past hour-plus, you probably drove right by the Pigeon Point Spring Clean volunteers, hard at work in the little 22nd SW street-end park that’s something of a well-kept secret (“hidden jewel” is how Pigeon Point’s Pete Spalding describes it). It’s an annual tradition and they’ll be at it till about noon.
(Photo shared by Lauren: Six of the Eturnalife scarves, modeled)
We’re all familiar with bracelets for a cause, pins for a cause … how about a brightly colored eternity scarf for a cause? West Seattle native Lauren Holman e-mailed WSB to share the news about the business she and friends at the UW have created to raise money for nonprofits:
My name is Lauren Holman and I’m a senior majoring in Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the UW. I have lived in West Seattle my whole life, attending West Seattle Montessori and living in the same house above Beach Drive for 22 years. As part of my major, I’ve been fortunate enough to take a class on creating a company and myself and three friends decided to start an eternity scarf business through it.
The name of our company is eturnalife, and we are selling seven different colors of eternity scarves. What sets our company apart is that each scarf color corresponds to a cause. When you purchase one, the profits will go to the cause associated with the scarf. Each scarf is $28. Because we are doing this business for a class, we aren’t personally profiting … and we are giving back ALL of the money that is made above cost of producing these scarves. We are aiming to raise as much money as we can for these causes. Here are the colors and the charities associated with them:
Black – American Cancer Society (Cancer Research)
White – Children’s Hospital Seattle
Pink – American Cancer Society (Breast Cancer Research)
Blue – Humane Society
Purple – Autism Speaks
Red – AIDS Prevention
Green – People for Puget Sound (Environmental Conservation).
The scarves are available via the online shop on the Eturnalife website. Lauren and friends’ company is of course on Facebook too.
Last month, we followed up on a long-running discussion in the WSB Forums – about a $100 fee charged by Highline Medical Center‘s Urgent Care Clinic in West Seattle, not covered by all insurance companies, with prospective patients required to agree that they’ll pay it if their insurance doesn’t.
As we reported in that story, Highline’s administrator told WSB the fee is “for the higher costs of operating an urgent care facility during weekends and evening hours, when there is irregular demand for services. …” Adam and Gabrielle Kramer, who first surfaced the complaint, contend that the charge, which they say she had to agree to pay before she could be seen at the clinic for a neck problem last December, violates our state’s law against “balance billing,” and that is the root of the class-action lawsuit they have filed in King County Superior Court (see it here). After Adam Kramer sent us word of the suit this afternoon, we requested comment from Highline, but did not hear back; if and when we do, we will add their response here.
(Julie Schickling, “Volunteer of the Year,” with Council President Sally Clark; photo by Dina Johnson)
“Most neighborhoods don’t do what you’re doing right now,” City Council President Sally Clark told the first-ever “Gathering of Heroes: Celebrating Volunteers” event tonight, “taking a moment … to simply say ‘thank you’ to one another and recognize good deeds.”
(Photo by Holli Margell)
The “moment” was a two-hour event attended by more than 50 people from around eastern West Seattle – plus some neighbors from over the ridge – at High Point Neighborhood Center to celebrate volunteers working hard to improve the community, the people that organizers dubbed Delridge’s Unsung Heroes. You might recall, the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council put out the call for nominees – and while the original thought was to choose honorees from among them, they decided to celebrate everyone who was nominated. Then at night’s end, two finalists were announced for “Volunteer of the Year” – here’s the reading of the nominations, then the announcement of the winner, and a few words of explanation from Council President Clark about the Jefferson Awards for which that winner will be nominated:
The winner, Julie Schickling from the Highland Park Improvement Club (how she led the charge to save the HPIC building was well-told by our partners at the Seattle Times in 2009), and the other finalist, Alejandra Ruiz Diaz, from the Roxhill Elementary PTA, were among 27 honored individuals and groups. Here they are (including our truncated descriptions of how the event program explained their achievements):
from Highland Park
Betsy Harris – public-safety volunteer
Blair Johnson – “volunteered in multiple capacities”
Julie Schickling – “led the double facelift at the Highland Park Improvement Club”
Carolyn Stauffer – spray-park project leader, Westcrest Park expansion, more
from High Point
Mat McBride – Camp Long Advisory Council, chairs Delridge Neighborhoods District Council
Peter Miller – ESL computer lab teacher
from North Delridge
Gale Hurley – public safety
Dave Brown – preparedness
Jake Vanderplas – Greenways
Tammy & Chris Stewart – fighting drug houses/street activity
Amanda Leonard – saved “Delridge Day” in 2011, co-chairs North Delridge Neighborhood Council
Nancy Folsom – skatepark liaison, cleanup organizer
Betsy Hoffmeister – “gets things done when others see no way”
Vonetta Mangaoang – DESC advisory committee
Patrick Baer – Delridge Community Forum
Parie Hines – NDNC
Mike Dady – “diligent in his pursuit of a better community for more than 12 years”
Michael Taylor-Judd – “longtime advocate for transportation and transit”
Benjamin Canfield – preparedness
from Puget Ridge
Pamela Dore – Block Watch captain
Tasha Mosher – “Recovery Garden”
from Pigeon Point
Gene Recker – quiet steward, cleanups
Helen Shampain – directs Community Orchard of West Seattle
from Westwood
Alejandra Ruiz Diaz – active PTA parent @ Roxhill
“special groups & people”
Willard Brown – development of affordable housing, DNDA board president
Delridge Branch Library Homework Helper Team (John, Robyn, Jim, Linda, Michele, Elaine, Robert, Dang, Joyce, Phil, Gary)
Longfellow Creek stewards
Jay Mirro, Scott Blackstock, Mike Arizona, Kirsten Rohrbach
Those at the celebration, which included a buffet dinner sponsored by Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering and Events (other contributing sponsors included the Delridge Day Committee), also heard from Christa Mazzone-Palmberg from Sound Alliance. Organizers promise coverage to come on the Delridge Grassroots Leadership website. This was intended to be something of a pre-func to tomorrow’s Gathering of Neighbors – you’ll see more than a few of these dedicated volunteers there – hope to see you at Chief Sealth International High School during the GoN, 11 am-3 pm Saturday!
Some requests for volunteer help that we receive and publish may sound a little vague, and if that’s what’s kept you from lending a hand, here’s something different, and very specific, from the WSB inbox:
ElderFriends, a volunteer-based program of local non-profit Full Life Care, matches elders with friendly volunteer visitors who help relieve isolation and loneliness. We foster mutually rewarding friendships between our elders and volunteers. Pairs are matched based on geography, similar interests, and shared life experiences. We currently have 7 elders in and around West Seattle who are waiting to be matched with a volunteer. This is a great way to build a lasting friendship, while making a significant difference in the life of an elder in your community.
We ask that volunteers commit to visit an elder friend at least twice a month for one year. It is important that volunteers are comfortable listening attentively, initiating conversation, and being sensitive to the needs of isolated older adults. Volunteers must be over the age of 18, must pass a background check, and must attend a one-time training session.
If you’re interested in volunteering, or have questions about the ElderFriends program, you can contact Ginger Seybold, Director of Volunteer Programs, at 206.224.3790 or gingers@fulllifecare.org. You can also fill out a volunteer application online at www.elderfriends.org and someone will contact you.
Story and photos by Keri DeTore
West Seattle Blog contributor
Did you notice the lights and cameras set up at Cupcake Royale in The Junction on Monday?
That was a crew from Bellevue-based Expedia, interviewing local travel writers who have applied their storytelling and outreach skills to fundraising for international projects.
West Seattleites Beth Whitman (photo left) and Pam Mandel (photo right), along with Debbie Dubrow (center, from Mount Baker), are longtime travelers and writers who publish blog-format sites where they share their experiences, and their tips and tricks for smarter, easier travel. Along with Michelle Duffy (not pictured), they found each other through their writing, and began meeting regularly at Cupcake Royale to share stories and support.
At one point, they wondered, “What MORE can we do?” They wanted a way to bring together the travel-blog community, and unite it around a cause. After doing some research, realizing that others in that community wanted “something to latch onto,” and finding other groups with strong fundraising models, the four women created Passports with Purpose.
Services are planned this Saturday for George Carfrae, whose family shares this remembrance:
George Carfrae, 77, of West Seattle, passed away from complications related to Parkinson’s disease April 9, 2012. He died peacefully, surrounded by his family. George was born in Seattle January 2, 1935.
He graduated from West Seattle HS in 1953 and received an Associate’s degree from South Seattle Community College.
George married Joyce Thomason April 23, 1954. He worked as a cost estimator at Todd Shipyards and Foss Maritime and served in the US Army from 1957-1965. He enjoyed gardening, traveling and playing cribbage.
As young runners go, Seattle Lutheran High School senior Matt Haggerty is one busy guy. First, we found out this morning (via a tip from John) that Matt ran the famous Boston Marathon this morning – finishing 227th out of 27,000 runners, in under 2 hours, 51 minutes! (Tipster John notes that “it was 74 degrees at the start of the race.”) Here at home, Matthew has turned his love for running into community-minded efforts; last fall, we reported on his “Ritual Running” senior project (in our first story, in fact, he mentioned his Boston Marathon plans), and earlier this month, we talked to him at West Seattle Stadium as he led other SLHS students on a fundraising/awareness-raising preview to the recent “Day Without Shoes.”
As part of Ritual Running, he has been collecting shoe and money donations for Haiti via One World Running. Here’s a video he recently shared about what his project’s covered so far (including last fall’s Ritual Running 10K, which Matt says raised more than $1,100 plus 250 pounds of shoes):
Ritual Running, Matt tells us, still does group runs twice a week from the Alki Bathhouse – you can contact him to get on the list and join in – ritualrunning@gmail.com – and congrats again on the Boston Marathon achievement. (According to the SLHS Twitter feed, he was the youngest runner!)
The family of longtime West Seattleite Angelina Marie Fuda shares this remembrance, on the eve of her memorial:
Angelina Marie Fuda passed away peacefully, surrounded by family and close friends, on 4-8-2012 of a cancer-related illness. Memorial Services will be held on Monday, 4-16, 10:30 am at Holy Rosary Parish in West Seattle. There will be a private burial at Calvary Cemetery in Seattle.
Angelina was born 1-21-1930 in Brookside, Colorado, to James and Mary Madonna. She moved to Seattle in the early 1940s, went to St Mary’s grade school, and on to Immaculate Conception for high school. While there, she met the love of her life, Felix Fuda, who she married in 1951. She left her job at the Mission Macaroni Factory in the early 1950s, when she was expecting her first child.
As the family expanded, they moved to West Seattle, to the same residence that they’ve been in for the past 56 years.
This month, Rebuilding Together Seattle volunteers are doing work inside and out at a home in the Charlestown/Genesee area, and today about 50 Safeway workers joined the project, as part of their company’s monthlong campaign focusing on disability awareness. They spent the day providing free labor at the home that belongs to Shawn, who is living with multiple sclerosis, and Katy, who works with special-needs students at a Seattle elementary school in addition to being caregiver for Shawn.
RTS describes the work at Shawn and Katy’s home as including “a new stove and range hood, updating the bathtub to a shower, installing grab bars and hand rails, replacing kitchen flooring, repairing and staining the back deck, repairing the fence, painting several rooms, organizing and removing clutter, and completing yard work.” The Seattle affiliate of Rebuilding Together is one of 200 coast-to-coast; its website includes info on how to seek help from, or offer help to, the nonprofit.
On the brink of boating season, the West Seattle Yacht Club threw an open-house party at the Alki Masonic Lodge tonight for members and friends old and new. From left, WSYC officers: Purser Jodi Thomas, Yeoman Marie Gonzales, Commodore Tammie Legg, Vice Commodore Mary Ann Lobdell, Rear Commodore Julie Ethier. West Seattle Yacht Club invites all boaters and boating enthusiasts to join us at the annual WSYC Open House. In a note to WSB earlier in the week, VC Mary Ann had written, “There is no boat too small nor too big, or lack of for that matter. We are a social club that revolves around friendships and boating. There are monthly General Meetings held at the Alki Masonic Temple in the non-summer months. We promote at least 10 boat outings each year, most of which are accessible by car and RV.” As if to underscore that, on our way out we were stopped by a couple members who in the course of conversation insisted, “You don’t have to have a boat” – you can be a “social member.” Whether you have a boat or not, find out more about WSYC here; the club just celebrated its 49th birthday.
From the family of L. Nadine Heinz-Brongil:
With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of a beloved wife, mother, daughter, and friend.
Friends of a longtime local fitness instructor who’s fighting brain cancer (“and winning!” they add) have organized what you could call a fitting fundraiser to help with her medical bills – 3 workouts in 3 studios in 3 hours on April 21st (with three instructors teaching each type during each of those hour). The event’s at 
Sure enough, 4 months after graduating, I bought a condo on Alki Ave.” That was three years ago. He and Robin have been together about a year, though they’ve known each other since their freshman year in Pullman. 
First, a bit about Jessica, who says her camps are fulfilling a dream she never knew she had! “As a girl, I loved math until 3rd grade, when we focused on memorizing our multiplication tables. At that time, I struggled. I recall crying as we practiced flashcards at home, unable to remember the facts, and hiding my papers in class- embarrassed that I didn’t pass. I never found a love of math again until I was getting my Masters in Education and learned about how people actually learn mathematical concepts! Now I know that studies show that girls perform better on tasks that involve problem solving, and often get more correct answers, but tend to work more carefully and slowly than boys.”
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