West Seattle, Washington
24 Thursday
When Food Network re-broadcasts the “Iron Chef America” season 9 finale today, you’ll see a West Seattleite challenging an Iron Chef – Chef Wayne Johnson (executive chef of Andaluca downtown) taking on Michael Symon. The show is on at (updated) 5 pm and 11 pm; it was taped in New York months ago, but “Chef Wayne” was sworn to secrecy regarding even the ingredient he had to tackle. (Since the show already aired several days ago, if you don’t mind spoilers, you can find out who won, and what ingredient was involved, by reading this Puget Sound Business Journal story.) He’s been at the helm of Andaluca for more than 11 years, with honors including being named one of the “Top Chefs in America” by Black Enterprise Magazine; he’s also vice president of the nonprofit Culinary Wonders USA.
5:57 PM NOTE: If you see this on Saturday evening – there’s one more showing ahead (confirmed with program guide), 11 pm.
A memorial service is planned tomorrow for 86-year-old Chris Holm, one of West Seattle’s real-life “Rosie the Riveters.” (We featured her in Christopher Boffoli‘s report on one of the local “Rosie” gatherings in 2009.) Her family wrote this obituary:
Clarissa Elizabeth Holm (Sherbon)
September 23, 1924 – July 31, 2011
Chris Holm passed away unexpectedly while leading the social-hour discussion at her West Seattle Church on Sunday, July 31, 2011. Chris was a vibrant woman, still living life to its fullest and enjoying her many day-to-day activities with zest and utter enthusiasm. She was a beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother, wife, sister and friend. Everyone was surprised by her death and feel deeply saddened to lose the cornerstone, centerpiece, rock and foundation for our family and her community of friends.
Chris was born in Sioux Falls, SD, moving immediately to Walnut Grove, MN. She lived the quintessential “Little House on the Prairie” life, growing up in the famous Olsen store, working hard on the farm, and spending any free time playing on the banks of Plum Creek. She moved to Seattle and in her early twenties during WWII and worked hard at Boeing as one of the famous Rosie the Riveters.
Sunday is the big community benefit party that friends are throwing at The Bridge (4439 35th SW) for Tracy Dart, the West Seattleite who is on her third round of fighting breast cancer 
and has raised tens of thousands of dollars to help researchers make progress that could benefit millions. Tracy has never asked for help for herself – but friends and supporters decided it was time to step in and get her some. Here are the event details (7-10 pm, live music, donation at the door). We checked in with one of the organizers, Lisa Dawson, to ask about last-minute needs; Lisa says they’re still accepting donations for the drawing, and “could also use a few more volunteers to help out that night.” If you can help on either front, e-mail info@wehearttracydart.com. And even if you can’t go, you can donate to help Tracy (who wrote on her own site about the challenges of dealing with everyday life while in a fight for your life) – use the PayPal button on the right side of the We Heart Tracy Dart site.
Today we welcome a new sponsor, The Kenney, West Seattle’s original senior-living community. If you or a loved one is looking for a place where you can get a little help with such things as managing your medications, bathing and dressing, meal or activity reminders, The Kenney would like you to know that they have been providing that kind of care for a little over a century.
Here’s what else they would like you to know: At The Kenney, we provide life how it’s supposed to be lived. Here, we’re all about community – staying active, making new friends, loving life – while also serving each resident’s unique and individual needs. You’ll live each day to the fullest at The Kenney, secure in the knowledge that you’ll be cared for, in good health or poor health, for the rest of your life. Whether you join our community in independent living, assisted living, or our nursing and rehab center, you’ll be able to access all lifestyles at The Kenney if and when you need them. As a not-for-profit community, our only priorities are our residents’ comfort, security and care. Our revenue is used to enrich the lives of the people who live here, not to pay investors. And, we have a better staff-to-resident ratio than most for-profit retirement communities. That’s the not-for-profit difference. As resident Gisela Schultz says, “The Kenney feels like a tight-knit family, and best of all, I don’t have to worry about home repairs and yard work. I wish I had moved here ten years ago!”
The Kenney‘s staff belong to the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the West Seattle Champions BNI Group, and Aging Services of Washington. On the Web, you’ll find The Kenney at thekenney.org; on Facebook, they’re here. They’re at 7125 Fauntleroy Way, 206-937-2800.
We thank The Kenney for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
The event’s not in West Seattle, but West Seattleites abound in the regional plan for the first-ever National Can-It-Forward Day. It’ll actually be a two-day event at Pike Place Market on August 13-14, featuring Canning Across America, for which Alki-based cooking author/advocate Kim O’Donnel (foreground of photo at right) is a founding member. Kim sent the official announcement, noting that other West Seattleites involved with the can-stravaganza include The Shibaguyz:
In its third season of spreading the love for “putting up” food, Canning Across America is cooking up its most exciting endeavor to date. Mark your calendars for the weekend of August 13-14, when Canning Across America will be preserving up a storm at Seattle’s Pike Place Market.
Looking for something to do tomorrow? The Vietnamese Cultural Center at 2236 SW Orchard (north of Home Depot; here’s a map) reminds us that it’s open to the public noon-3 pm every Saturday. The center shared photos from last weekend’s sunny Saturday, including the next one featuring visitor Don Atwood, a local architect who helped draft an addition to the center:
Director Ducly Bui summarizes the center’s mission:
Vietnamese Cultural Center is operated by the free South Vietnamese since April 1975 to promote Vietnamese culture and heritage to their children born in US and introduce the country’s history and arts to the local community.
Admission is free. Our previous coverage of the center includes an overview in July 2008 – after many had wondered about its large statue (General Tran Hung Dao) – and last year’s Lunar New Year event, which also celebrated recognition of the Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag.
South Seattle Community College just announced a prestigious honor for a faculty member: Dr. Yilin Sun, full-time tenured faculty in Basic & Transitional Studies, has been chosen as a Fulbright Senior Scholar for next academic year. The SSCC announcement says Dr. Sun will spend that year in Taiwan, handling training for Fulbright English Teaching Assistants as well as seminars for graduate students, and she will join in curriculum and assessment initiatives at the National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei. Dr. Sun is described in SSCC’s announcement as “a recognized leader in curriculum development for adult English to Speakers of Other Languages programs and teacher training.” She has a long list of honors and accomplishments (listed on this SSCC webpage). The Fulbright program is sponsored by the U.S. State Department.
After leaving from Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza just after 8 this morning, Don Wennerlind (front of photo) and more than a dozen friends are off on a 40-mile journey to a spot just south of Sumner in Pierce County.
Actually, 40 1/2 miles … 81 total round trip … which is important because today is Don’s 81st birthday, and for six years now, he tells us, he and a group of friends have celebrated by biking the number of miles equal to his age. The first birthday ride, “there were three of us,” he told us at Alki this morning; today, as you see in the top photo, the entourage is closer to five times that. They know each other from spinning classes at the West Seattle Family YMCA (WSB sponsor), one participant explained. We heard about this from Clemens Pera, who knows Don as “Coach” – no wonder, since, as he explained, Don taught athletics for many years and “is one of the founding fathers of the Special Olympics.” Oh, one more thing: “Last year, (Don’s) biking prowess included riding the STP, his birthday ride, and a senior race, which he won, all in a week and a half.”
Village Green Perennial Nursery owner Vera Johnson says more than 35 people showed up Sunday for the first meeting of a group she convened to help others going through what she’s experiencing – battling with banks over loan trouble. (We first reported on her story last Tuesday; the Seattle Times [WSB partner] followed up on Friday.) Vera tells WSB that those who showed up were at “all levels of default/foreclosure, some only months/some over 2 years in the quagmire. … We discussed our options, walk away, willing to do a loan mod[ification] or sue the banks for fraud? We plan to meet regularly, and plan to participate in regular protests with Working Washington, Washington CAN, US Uncut. So many people are facing foreclosure and these folks need to get involved with organizations who are already protesting banks.” (Which Vera did on Saturday – she joined a protest by Washington CAN, as reported on our partner site White Center Now.) She says the group will meet regularly, though the next date is not yet set. They plan to start a blog-format website too. And they’ll invite more people to participate: “We will be inviting anyone who wants to stand up and say NO MORE!”
New information tonight about fundraising efforts to help West Seattle born-and-raised Tracy Dart, who’s helped raise tens of thousands of dollars for breast-cancer research even while fighting the disease herself. Lisa Dawson, one of the organizers of the August 7th “We Heart Tracy Dart” benefit event (here’s our report from last week), sent word this weekend that a new website is now set up at wehearttracydart.com. It not only has details of the August 7th event, but also a PayPal link for online donations any time. As noted on this page of the new website, these efforts are intended to help Tracy – who’s on her third round of the breast-cancer fight at just 36 – handle living and medical expenses. (There’s also a bank account and postal-mail address for donations, listed here.)
She has led efforts that have raised tens of thousands of dollars for breast-cancer research – our photo at left, in fact, is from her appearance as a model during the Northwest Hope and Healing benefit fashion show two months ago, and her 3-Day Walk “Team Tracy” efforts are legendary. Now a group of friends insists that it’s time West Seattleite Tracy Dart accept a little help for herself, in her three-time fight against the disease. They’ve just announced the event “We Heart Tracy Dart,” set for 7-10 pm August 7th at The Bridge (4439 35th SW). The bands Explone and In Cahoots are already lined up. Find out more on this Facebook page. On her own website, Tracy mentions it in her newest post – right after talking about her latest chemo treatment, making it clear this isn’t something she has asked for, but her friends “REALLY want to do it.” Donations will be taken at the door during the benefit, and you’ll be able to buy raffle tickets; organizers note, “100% of donations go into a trust account that will be used to pay living and medical expenses while Tracy recovers from treatment. Stuff like prescriptions, insurance premiums, utilities, rent and transportation costs.”
In case you aren’t following the comments on last night’s report about the medical emergency toward the end of the day at West Seattle Summer Fest – though official information is not available because of medical-privacy laws, a commenter has provided this update on the man who collapsed and received “citizen CPR” before medics rushed in:
I am friends with the man and his family. He suffered a massive heart attack. He made it through the night and is in stable condition today. The doctors are optimistic about his condition. His wife is keeping us up to date. My thanks to everyone who helped out.
Comments on the previous story also have included more information about learning CPR – thanks to everyone who’s contributed information – as this shows, you never know when it could save a life.
Four members of the Seattle City Council spent an hour-plus this afternoon at the encampment that’s called itself “Nickelsville” since its inception three years ago at the West Seattle site to which it returned in May. Our video above is the entire visit – an official meeting of the Housing (etc.) Committee – unedited, beginning after chair Councilmember Nick Licata convened the meeting and had members sign in at the camp’s front desk. (Also in attendance – Councilmembers Sally Bagshaw, Sally Clark, and Tom Rasmussen.)
First, everyone got a guided tour of the camp, from the kitchen area near the entrance, to the two goats’ grazing area on the eastern end. It currently has 91 residents, camp leaders say. Then, there was a sitdown roundtable discussion. A few headlines emerged: Operation Sack Lunch plans to start bringing lunches to Nickelsville five days a week starting next Monday; the camp is asking the city to help them get hooked up with utilities – not with paying for them, just with getting them hooked up. They also are waiting to hear the city’s longterm intent on whether they will be able to stay at that location; as we first reported shortly after their return to the site, Mayor McGinn said he would not seek eviction, but the Council has not taken a formal position.
The tour stopped short of this noteworthy sight:
That’s the play equipment procured and installed thanks to the efforts of WSB Forums members, who have taken a special interest in – and have been providing lots of help to – Nickelsville and its residents, who include longtime Forums member/WSB commenter “miws” Mike. He has just taken on a brand-new Nickelsville position, pet coordinator; you’ll see him in our video too (he and others in leadership positions got a chance to explain their work to the visitors). As for who will use the swing set – four children are among the camp’s current residents, councilmembers were told.
From the family of Joe Butzerin, a longtime West Seattleite known for many endeavors:
A Requiem Mass will be held for Joe Butzerin at Holy Rosary Catholic Church at 10:30 am on Monday, July 11th. Starting Friday, July 8, at noon, Joe will be in repose at the Butzerin home at 4903 SW Hill Street, where visitors will be welcome at any time. A wake will be held on Saturday at 7:00 pm.
Joe passed away peacefully on July 5th at his home, surrounded by family after complications from heart failure. Joe was born July 25, 1931 in Minneapolis, but he had resided in West Seattle since shortly after his marriage to Kathryn Freitas-Fox in 1958. Joe served as a first lieutenant in Korea after ROTC at Gonzaga University. He started his civilian career in Seattle as a math teacher, first on Vashon Island and later at Chief Sealth High School. To help support his growing family, Joe worked summers as a meter reader at Seattle City Light, where he eventually became a full-time lighting consultant. Joe retired from City Light in 1997 after more than 35 years of service.
Joe served as Chairman of the 34th District Democrat Club for two terms. He was an exuberant activist in both local and national political campaigns, serving as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1980 [photo at right]. He greatly enjoyed his service on the King County Fair Board. Joe also served as Chair of the Holy Rosary Conference of the Society of St. Vincent DePaul.
Joe always said he was most proud of being a father to his six children: JoAnne, Teresa, Carla, Peter, Robert, and Mary; and his 14 grandchildren. He was dearly loved and will be sorely missed.
Assuming the last-ever space-shuttle launch goes off as scheduled tomorrow morning, here are two unique, local ways to experience it: West Seattle’s NASA Solar System Ambassador Alice Enevoldsen will comment and discuss via Twitter – she explains on her Alice’s Astro Info site how that will work. Not far from West Seattle, you can also join a free viewing party at the Museum of Flight, which will open early for the occasion. The launch is scheduled at 8:26 am our time; the museum will open at 8 am, and you can watch in their big-screen theater. (If you want to see the rest of the museum afterward, that’ll still cost you.)
Story and photos by Deanie Schwarz
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
It’s fair to say that among the things West Seattleites have in common, a love of food is probably at the top of any list. You probably have a favorite breakfast or pizza place, special dessert destination, preferred grocery store, produce stand, mobile food truck. The West Seattle/White Center area has grown into a neighborhood with an abundance of some of the best and most inviting food destinations in the city. New places continue to open up and we just can’t seem to get enough.
But for some folks, even the plethora of commercial culinary awesomeness surrounding us isn’t quite enough. These people not only like to eat, they like to cook – a lot. And they would like to find others with great recipes who might want to share with the club – and eventually help publish a charity-fundraiser cookbook – while getting inspired and meeting new people.
So the stage is set for a growing group of people who share a passion for cooking: The West Seattle Cooking Club.
(WSB video of Derek Birnie presenting a DNDA primer to Delridge Neighborhoods District Council last November)
After four years leading Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association, executive director Derek Birnie is leaving, taking the same role at Washington CASH (Community Alliance for Self Help). An interim executive director already has been announced for DNDA – which helms a wide variety of projects, from community-building to housing development and beyond – consultant Jan Glick. More in the DNDA news release ahead:Read More
West Seattleite Anne Levinson is at the White House today, and shared that photo with WSB – she’s second from left, and you probably recognize many of the others. She is there for President Obama honors the Seattle Storm for its WNBA championship; Levinson is a former co-owner of the Storm, as well as a former judge and deputy Seattle mayor (among other roles and ventures) – as you can see in the photo, those also at the White House today include the current mayor. (We’re watching the White House website for photos/video of the Storm celebration and will add when available.)
ADDED 2:56 PM: Here’s the White House video:
(WSB photo of Jim Ercolini with then-Mayor Greg Nickels at Ercolini Park dedication, 7/12/08)
A Funeral Mass is planned at 11 am Wednesday at Holy Rosary for Jim Ercolini, who died last week at age 76, three years after his family-homestead site west of The Junction became home to Ercolini Park. As shown in our photo above, Mr. Ercolini participated in the park dedication in July 2008. When the Parks Department agreed in late 2007 to the community request to name the park after the Ercolini family, he had said that he was the last descendant with that surname – so the park now carries it on. The city bought the park site with money from the 2000 Pro Parks Levy, and community volunteers took it from there to muster the money, material, and labors to turn it into a park. The full obituary for Mr. Ercolini, a longtime Boeing engineer and native West Seattleite, was published in today’s Seattle Times. (Thanks to Wendy for the tip.)
(Photos and video by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
The upcoming opening of the new Admiral Safeway loomed large at today’s work party for Lafayette Elementary‘s “Play It Forward” playground project, and not just because the store is across the street from the school. Safeway employees (including those above) joined the work party. Among them, the new store’s manager, going public for the first time in that role, though he is someone you might already know – more ahead:Read More
A memorial service is planned this Monday in White Center for longtime area resident Robert (Bob) Edward Erdmann Sr. From his family:
Bob was born to parents August Jr. and Rosa Lena Erdmann on August 29, 1926, in
Brainerd, MN. He followed his stepbrother out to Seattle when he was a teenager. And that is where he fell in love and married his wife of 61 years, Catherine (Kay) Ann Erdmann. Together they had 5 kids: Bobby Jr. (Susan), Larry (Nancy), Tom (Sissy), RoseAnn, and Jeannie (Mike). They were grandparents to 14 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. He loved spending time with his family at the family’s recreational property in Shelton.Bob owned his own company, Bob’s Saw Shop, for 40 years while also working for Highline School District, from which he retired in 1988. After suffering a massive stroke in January of this year, he ended his journey here on Earth and went to be with his late parents and his wife on June 17. He will be forever loved and missed!
Services will be on Monday, June 27, 2011 at Yarington’s Funeral Home. Viewing is from 9 am-1 pm, and the funeral service starts at 1:00. Reception to follow.
(WSB publishes obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available/desired, to editor@westseattleblog.com)
We’re at Hiawatha Community Center, as the seats start to fill for Mayor McGinn‘s Town Hall meeting. Among the dozens of community-group reps who are tabling tonight: The new executive director of the West Seattle Helpline, Tara Byrne. Her appointment was just announced today; she follows Anna Fern, who retired this spring. Tara’s background is in education – she’s been teaching at the UW most recently.
Organizations from all over West Seattle are here – neighborhood councils, community-project reps, and more. Come welcome Tara, and meet many other West Seattle neighbors who are working day to day to make our community a better place. The Town Hall kicks off at 6:30 with youth performances, and then Q/A with the mayor and other city reps is scheduled to start around 6:40.
Before last weekend is too much further in the rear-view mirror, an acknowledgment of an event that WSB Forums members made happen: The potluck that wrapped up an open-house afternoon at the encampment that calls itself “Nickelsville,” now back on a previously vacant city-owned site on the southeastern edge of West Seattle. Forums member Kevin McClintic, who collaborated with member Joanne Brayden on three previous reports about the camp (here, here, and here), shares the photos, and this report:
Despite gray skies and intermittent rain, the Nickelsville Potluck was a great success thanks to everyone who helped make it happen. The camp had set up several open rain shelters, but they were not needed. The rain managed to stay away for the duration of the event.
This was no hot-dog-and-hamburger event. The food was first class. There were more than two dozen individual contributors who brought some outstanding homemade entrees. One generous contributor brought several dozen steaks, intended specifically for the residents.
According to Nickelsville resident/WSB Forums member Mike (miws), they were still eating leftovers on Sunday, and still snacking on homemade cookies and treats into the first of the week.
Pictured in the group photo from left to right (Scott and Peggy are Nickelsville staff. Everyone else, Nickelsville friends): Scott Morrow, JoB, Peggy Hotes, Linda, miws, the jamjets, EmmyJane, Rod Clark, angelescrest and her daughter, and Dennis Reilly (kneeling in front row)
Thanks to Kevin for the report/photos. Meantime, Nickelsville discussion, and lists of donated items the camp is seeking, can be found, ongoing, along with other topics, in the WSB Forums.
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