West Seattle, Washington
23 Tuesday
Just back from the Delridge Community Center basketball courts south of the Southwest Youth and Family Services building, where a refurbished court with that colorful center was just dedicated by its namesake Brandon Roy (WSB preview here). The 24-year-old former West Seattleite, now Portland Trail Blazer, returned to his old neighborhood to pose for photos galore with family — including his toddler son “BJ” (Brandon Junior) — friends, and sponsors, signing some autographs along the way. It wasn’t quite the Kodak, er, Facebook moment when somebody asked him to try a shot:
In fairness, he may be a bit rusty – he’s recovering from knee surgery that happened just last month (full details on his official “B Roy” website). And in addition to looking ahead to the new NBA season next month — he and fiancee Tiana Bardwell also are expecting their second child, a baby girl due in January. Here’s what he had to say during the ceremonial portion of today’s event:
Just got a note from “Bradley5” suggesting WSB’ers might be able to help WSHS make it onto the channel 7 sportscast this Friday night as the “Game of the Week” — the WSHS-O’Dea game is one of seven “Game of the Week” options in the webpoll on the right side of this page. It’s a one-click vote; deadline’s 7 pm tomorrow.
Just announced by the Parks Department — an event next Wednesday afternoon, with former West Seattleite and current Portland Trail Blazer Brandon Roy dedicating a “refurbished community basketball court” at Delridge Community Center. Here’s the full announcement:Read More
The only West Seattle connection here is County Councilmember Dow Constantine, but “Voice of the Mariners” Dave Niehaus (at the center of the photo, next to DC) is beloved here as well as elsewhere in M’s-land, so we wanted to show you this county-provided photo. Constantine and fellow councilmembers paid tribute to Niehaus at their meeting today; from the news release:
“Dave Niehaus loves the players and he loves the game, but he has never forgotten that his first duty is to the fan sitting at home,†said Constantine. “To the radio listener, this excitement and wonder for our national pastime is what makes Dave Niehaus special.â€
Also per the news release, Niehaus had this to say: “Those magic moments of 1995 will return to Safeco Field. I promise you, they will return.†Sure hope so. (Semi-pertinent side note: When we got here in ’91, and went to our first M’s game in the Kingdome, its interior signage carried the name “King County Stadium.”)
That’s how Julie titled her e-mail, seeking to share this:
Today in our neighborhood (Genesee)……..we had two very polite West Seattle High School football players (selling Gold Card Savings coupons for new football uniforms) come to the door.
We’ve had so many unsavory obscure organizations canvassing for ages it is hard to remember there really are some worthy causes out there. And they were polite teenagers too!
I hope they get lots of support from our community. Go Westside!
We’ve told you before about the uniform-fundraising drive — which kicked off with a food booth at West Seattle Summer Fest.
This morning’s Great Cross-Sound Race, 7-plus miles round trip from Alki, ended with a three-peat for Evan Jacobs (shown above close to shore post-race): He also finished first last year, solo, and finished first in 2006 with a partner. One thing very different this year compared to a year ago — the weather (as you can see in the photos from our coverage last year) — brilliant sunshine this time around. Full results will eventually be posted on the Sound Rowers website.
(photo by Brian Todd, Aus der Traum Photography)
Ah, beach-volleyball weather, suddenly seems like a distant memory with thunder rumbling in the distance again tonight … WSB was the “media partner” for Saturday’s EVP Beach Volleyball Pro Tour stop at Alki, and tonight we have the final word on not only the winners, but also how/when you can see it on TV – that plus more pix ahead:Read More
(top photo added 1:07 pm)
If you see this before 2 pm, it’s not too late to go join in the High Point celebration of the Neighborhood Center groundbreaking. We took that photo a short time ago, as a buffet of multicultural cuisine opened up following an hourlong ceremony involving a variety of local leaders, from High Point Neighborhood Association president Andrew Mead to Congressman Jim McDermott. We have video that we’ll post in a separate report later, but back at the scene at High Point’s Commons Park, food and entertainment continue for another hour or so. Meantime, some of what else is happening today (the rest was originally posted this morning):
That’s some of what you’ll find on sale/display at the Arts/Crafts Fair under way till 3 pm today at C and P Coffee Company. Meantime, 3 pm is when the finals begin at the daylong EVP Pro Volleyball Tour event happening right now on Alki – we stopped by the beach earlier this morning to survey the scene:
WSB is the “media sponsor” for today’s event (ergo the signs you see in that shot) — only the second year this popular pro tour has stopped at Alki, and as we mentioned last night, the players include local stars. Comcast will televise the finals, and you’re invited to be in the official TV section of the audience — women’s finals start around 3, men’s finals at 4:30.
In the green top, that’s Alki resident Bri Murray, one of the winners at last summer’s first-ever EVP Pro Beach Volleyball tour stop on her home beach – and she (with teammate Wendy Stammer from Oregon) will try to do it again when the tour returns tomorrow. (Great timing, with beach volleyball in the spotlight at the Beijing Games!) WSB is a co-sponsor of the daylong event — and the finals are being recorded by Comcast again this year, so if you’re there by 3, you’re welcome to be in the official TV audience – the women’s finals are expected around 3, the men’s finals around 4:30 (last year’s winning men’s team also featured a local star, Alki resident Chris Hannemann, and he’ll be playing tomorrow too). Here’s the official news release with full details about tomorrow’s event, which starts bright and early:Read More
As part of the same school district ballot measure (BEX III) that raised money for projects including the Denny/Sealth combined campus, the Southwest Athletic Complex across from Chief Sealth is getting new turf. Didn’t get to share this pic with you till now, but we spotted striping work being done on Thursday afternoon. On a related note regarding the athletic complex – as we reported earlier this week, there was a suggestion at Tuesday night’s Westwood Neighborhood Council meeting that the perpetual inaccessibility of the complex because of locked fencing – a hindrance in particular for people trying to walk between Thistle and Trenton, from the school zone to Westwood Village — might be changeable. West Seattle school-board rep Steve Sundquist said he’d check into it. We e-mailed him to ask if he’d gotten anywhere with that, and he replied: “I have not yet had a chance to chase this one down. My guess is that the most productive conversations about the fencing will occur this fall as part of the larger site development planning effort.” (Read more about that in our report about the WNC meeting.)
Inspired by beach volleyball competition at the Olympics? Envious of what you see on the sand at Alki (and by the way, the EVP Pro Tour will be there Saturday)? The wildly popular Seattle Free School has just announced a free “beach volleyball for beginners” class, 6 pm August 22nd on Alki. But you have to sign up – here – ASAP.
Introducing – the Puget Sound Stars Baseball Club (13U)! We heard from Brian Chase, who says, “My son just finished with West Seattle Little League and some of us decided to start a Sandy Koufax Select 13U Baseball Team here in West Seattle. We have many WSLL & Bronco kids on the team but have a few spots open for the 2009 season.” If you know a player who might want to go for one of those spots, tryouts are a week from tomorrow, 6-8 pm 8/20 — for more details including location, e-mail Brian by clicking here.
We started seeing links about this yesterday but somehow neglected to mention it here till we got a nudge – one of West Seattle High School‘s better-known alums just told us it’s a big deal, so we’ll believe him: One of the first three University of Washington Huskies football-player commitments for the 2009 group of recruits is Aaron Grymes from WSHS. Here’s dawgman.com coverage via Scout; here’s his profile. In this blog post, he told the Times that playing for UW “has been my dream since I was little.”
Thanks to Cami for another update (and the photo) – that cheering you heard from Bar-S Playfield over Alki Point tonight was the sound of the West Seattle Little League 11-12 All-Stars winning the championship:
West Seattle Little League’s Majors (11-12) All-Star team defeated the South Highline Nationals 6-4 tonight at Bar-S and clinched the District 7 championship! The game included a grand slam homerun by West Seattle’s Matt Weller in the bottom of the second inning.
The team will now advance to the Little League 11-12 state tournament in Mill Creek on July 19th. For the first time ever, West Seattle Little League swept the District 7 all-stars tournaments winning the 9-10, 10-11 and the 11-12 divisions. All three teams were undefeated! For more information, please visit www.westseattlelittleleague.com.
Even more fun in the Alki area tonight, besides the art reception/show (5-8 pm) at the Bathhouse and general pre-holiday excitement – Cami from West Seattle Little League reports:
The 11-12 All-Stars team plays tonight at Bar-S field [map] at 6 pm against the South Highline Nationals. This is the Championship game for this tournament. If WSLL loses, a game will be needed tomorrow at 10 am to determine the champion. Go WestSide!
Thanks to Cami for those photos and the news that the West Seattle Little League All-Stars teams shown in them are now the district champs:
West Seattle Little League’s 9-10 and 10-11 All-Star teams both beat South Highline Nationals teams in championship games on Saturday! The 9-10 All-Stars will advance to the state tournament in Vancouver, WA on July 19th and the 10-11 All-Stars will be playing in Auburn, WA, also on July 19th. Both teams were undefeated in play in the District 7 Tournament.
Currently, WSLL is hosting the District 7 Majors (11-12) tournament at Bar-S Field. West Seattle beat PacWest 3-1 Saturday and plays again (today).
For full bracket information for the 11-12 tournament and more information on upcoming state tournaments, visit westseattlelittleleague.com.
Another West Seattle sports note – thanks to Brian from Aus der Traum Photography for pix from the bench press/deadlift championships at Alki on Saturday:
That’s recordholder Winifred Pristell, 69 years old, deadlifting 270 pounds, reports Brian, who says that since he was only able to shoot her lift from that angle, he asked her to pose afterward, and that led to the photo you see at left. Results from the meet aren’t posted yet but should eventually turn up here; you can see Pristell’s previous record listed in her age class on this page. According to this article from last year, she’s a great-grandmother who’s only been lifting for a few years!
That’s one of the pics we took last year at the Bench Press and Dead Lift Championships at Alki — last summer (our coverage here) they were in August; this summer, it’s happening today. Other highlights from our West Seattle Weekend Lineup list include amateur-radio operators’ Field Day (you’ll find them on the southeast side of the South Seattle Community College campus; pic from last year is here), plus West Seattle Little League 9-10 and 10-11 All-Star teams in championship games this morning at PacWest Fields in SeaTac; and a housewarming celebration this afternoon for surfing-injury survivor Addie Killam (more at the blog that chronicled the volunteer effort to fix up the house she’s come home to). Lots more in the WSWL.
Earlier this week, we brought you the first look at the program for West Seattle Summer Fest, the street festival in The Junction coming up July 11-13 (two weeks from Friday!). Of course, the program doesn’t reveal every little detail of the fun, or the food – part of which will be good chow for a good cause. Eric Radovich from BlueStar, a Summer Fest sponsor, 
tells us about a food booth that hopes to score enough cash to kick off their fundraising program to get new jerseys for the West Seattle High School football team. The ones they’ve been using are more than five years old, and “tired” to say the least. 70 jerseys will cost about $5,000. So football players and parent volunteers, possibly cheerleaders too, will staff a food booth at Summer Fest. The players, in fact, will be taking a course this Saturday at the West Seattle Eagles‘ HQ to qualify for food-handler cards (the course has been on our Events page for a while and is open to the public if you know anyone else who needs to take it). They’re hoping the food booth will bring in at least $1,000 in “seed money” to get the jersey drive — which Marc Patnode is heading up — rolling; they plan to serve chicken sandwiches on French bread, chicken Caesar salads, ice-cream novelties, and soft drinks at the booth, so look for them when you’re hungry/thirsty at Summer Fest.
Josh Sutton from the West Seattle Family YMCA (WSB sponsor) sends that photo with a big thanks to Nucor — it’s from the company’s annual golf tournament for about 150 staff, vendors and customers, over the weekend at Washington National in Auburn. “This year, they decided to make it a fundraiser, and chose the YMCA as their charity,” Josh explains — with more than $30,000 raised. “We’ll be using funding to support our various youth programs like child care, day camp, academic support, and teen programs.” The photo shows the winning foursome: Weylin Thompson from Mulvanny G2 Architects, Nucor summer Metallurgical Engineering intern Anthony Perugini, and Nucor’s Craig Anderson (who organized the tournament) and CJ Shin. The foursome had a 9-under-par 63, and there’s a P.S. from Josh: “2 Y execs won the longest drives – Sue Camou Arrant and Marcia Isenberger. Must be the power of a good workout.”
That photo is courtesy of the West Seattle Soccer Club, which wants you to know that fall registration is under way – full details and deadlines at the WSSC site; the age groupings are detailed here. Board member Tim McMonigle tells WSB the league is growing so fast, they may have to expand to use South Park field, and they are looking forward to the Hiawatha renovation work later this year. Meantime, we have a girls-softball update too:
That’s the West Seattle Thunder 16U team, now in celebration and fundraising mode – coach Dan Baker explains why:
The West Seattle Thunder 16U fastpitch softball team won the Sea-Tac Metro Championships this past weekend, qualifying them for a trip to the National Championships in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The team will be holding a fund-raising carwash to help pay expenses for the trip. The carwash will be held at Swedish Automotive (35th Ave SW & Webster), this Saturday, June 14th, 10 am-4 pm.
On behalf of West Seattle Little League, Alki’s Cami MacNamara e-mailed WSB to let you know:
West Seattle Little League has completed regular season play. Congratulations to the Minors division (ages 8-10) Diamondbacks and the Majors division (ages 10-12) Orioles for finishing in first place! Tonight, End of Season (EOS) Tournament play begins for the Minors at Bar-S Field (6464 SW Admiral Way) at 6 pm and runs through June 10th. Majors take the field on Friday, May 30th also play through June 10th. The winner of each division will move on the the District 7 Tournament of Champions on June 13th-16th, hosted by the South Highline Nationals at City Hall Park in Normandy Park. Come down to Bar-S and enjoy the fun! To view the complete tournament schedules, go to westseattlelittleleague.com.
Here’s a map to Bar-S; here are photos from the season-starting Jamboree two short months ago.
Polar bear loose in The Junction! Well, not so loose, really – Sustainable West Seattle unleashed the bear as a reminder of its first-ever Sustainable West Seattle Festival next Sunday, 10 am-3 pm in the Wells Fargo parking lot @ 44th/Alaska (here’s the WSB in-depth preview from earlier this week). Other less-furry members of SWS were working the crowd at the nearby West Seattle Farmers’ Market, including Gary Lichtenstein, who’s the person you can e-mail (energy@sustainablewestseattle.org) to find out how to help at next weekend’s festival (they’re still looking for more volunteer assistance). Two more West Seattle weekend scenes ahead — sports and scenery:Read More
(May 2007 photo of the plywood that covers the Colman Pool windscreen during the offseason)
Exactly one month from today, it’s the first 2008 day of operation for Colman Pool at Lincoln Park, one of the city’s two outdoor pools. Colman Pool will be open weekends only from May 24 till 7-day-a-week operations start June 14. Starting soon after that, it will be busier than usual, because West Seattle’s other pool — Southwest Pool, east of Denny Middle School — is scheduled to close mid-June through late September for three months of work.
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