As mentioned earlier this morning, it’s a great day to help make sure nobody’s going hungry this Thanksgiving. For the Eastridge Christian Assembly turkey-and-groceries giveaway this morning, the line before it started at 9 stretched about two blocks down 38th north of Fauntleroy. At the head of the line, more than 30 volunteers were getting ready to hand out about 500 turkeys:
Eastridge pastor Josh Crandall told us he’d talked to some of the people in line and found out that some had come from miles around.
The church buys the food with money donated by its members – in addition to this giveaway, they were doing the same thing this morning at their Eastside campus. Meantime, we mentioned earlier that the White Center Food Bank has someone on hand all day for last-minute donations including turkeys – we dropped in and found Mike and Audrey there to help:
They’re expecting to have people at WC Food Bank till about 5 but it’s a good idea to call ahead. We’ll update local food banks’ status and hours on Monday, too; here’s our most recent update from the West Seattle Food Bank (for which you can donate nonperishables by stopping by West Seattle Bowl during tonight’s Turkey Bowl, after 6 pm).
(Added 1:53 pm – photo by Gary Jones, orca with Alki Point Lighthouse tip in the foreground) ORIGINAL 10:44 AM REPORT: Just got a text that orcas were spotted off Discovery Park (Magnolia) and heading this way. Off to have a look! 1:23 PM UPDATE: We didn’t see them but we’ve gotten two reports in the last 15 or so minutes that they’re NOW in West Seattle waters – off Alki Point just after 1, then @frewq via Twitter just reported them off Me Kwa Mooks “but not surfacing much.”
At Square 1 Books (WSB sponsor), the doors have just opened for the second and final day of the store’s anniversary sale, 15% off, till 5:30 pm. (We photographed Square 1’s Mary Kate Austin and proprietor Gretchen Montgomery toward the end of Day 1 last night.) Another WSB sponsor, Click! Design That Fits, has an artist reception tonight – 6 till 9 pm, Rachel Austin will be at the Admiral District shop to talk about her popular work, which has been on display recent West Seattle Art Walk nights. (2:53 pm update – Click! co-proprietor John Smersh e-mailed this image of one of the new works Rachel’s bringing up from Portland, incorporating local maps – he says this one’s called “Renton”:)
… is help make sure nobody goes hungry as Thanksgiving Day approaches. There are ways to donate to both our local food banks today/tonight. White Center Food Bank says somebody will be there today (10829 8th SW) to take donations, including turkeys, which they REALLY need – just call ahead to be sure – 206.762.2848. West Seattle Food Bank nonperishable food donations will be taken at tonight’s Turkey Bowl (presented by the Beer Church with co-sponsors including WSB; photo at left shows part of last year’s haul) at West Seattle Bowl, 6 pm on, come drop off donations and cheer on bowlers including, yes, even a team from the food bank. (Both food banks take online $ donations too – WS Food Bank here, WC Food Bank here.)
*And if you need help or know someone who does – today’s the day Eastridge Christian Assembly is giving away turkeys and groceries starting at 9 am.
Guy Smith of Alki Point has been watching brant geese come and go since he moved there in 1993. His personal observations together with source data from Ducks Unlimited (DU), Washington Brant Foundation, and Audubon field guides have led to the following story. Guy knows that his perspective is weighted toward Alki Point and he apologizes to those readers whose favorite brant watching beaches are not recognized by name in the story.
By Guy Smith
Special to West Seattle Blog
Sometime during the week of Thanksgiving this year, as happens every year, you should see the first of “our” brant geese return from their nesting grounds in the Arctic. Our brant will winter along Beach Drive, Alki Point, and other West Seattle tidelands before leaving again in May.
During the first week of every May, the bulk of the local brant geese population leaves the western shores of Alki bound for their breeding grounds in the Arctic. They travel with other Pacific brant, or black brant, and are nicknamed for their under-bellies which are noticeably darker than those of their Atlantic brant cousins.
These small tidewater geese of about 3 pounds hang around far past the time when you would expect them to leave, with the weather having been warmish for a long spell. But they have always waited this way.
2 friends of ours called this morning to say they were travelling south on Hwy 99 and think they saw Patrick’s stolen van. We went down there; sure enough, there it was on the side of the road. They left a handwritten note on the washers “Out of Gas”. We still had to have it towed because the ignition was messed up when they hotwired it. So glad we put the word out. I hope they had to walk in the rain.
To get any closer to the winemaking process than this, you’d have to go tour Chelan, Napa or Sonoma: Right at the award-winning Northwest Wine Academy in the center of the South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) campus, there’s a Pre-Thanksgiving Wine Tasting and Sale event under way right now (till 8 pm). Lots of visitors (and buyers) when we visited just before 6 – and along with bottles of student-made, award-winning wine, they’re selling gift baskets too:
By the way, if you’d rather relax in a quieter atmosphere, the brightly lit winemaking room in the top photo is only one of the rooms where the event’s happening – there are others, some with low lights and candles. (To find the Wine Academy, use this campus map – look for the building marked WWB; to find the campus itself, here’s a Google Map.)
The arrival of the latest School Beat e-newsletter from Seattle Public Schools provides another reminder: This year for the first time, all elementary and K-8 schools in the district are closed for the entire Thanksgiving week — parent/teacher conferences Monday-Wednesday, holiday break Thursday-Friday. In School Beat, the district says, “The new schedule will be less disruptive to student learning while also providing greater consistency and predictability for families.”
New on the market for $2,895,000 – the parcels south of The Junction that former Fauntleroy Place (Whole Foods) developers BlueStar were at one time going to develop as a residential/commercial project called Spring Hill (no relation to the renowned Junction restaurant). When we reported on foreclosure proceedings involving the site (5020-5030 California SW) back in June (second half of this story), that’s the same amount a bank was pursuing as an opening bid. Property records show Shoreline Bank owns the three parcels that comprise the site, and the listing mentions a land-use permit is pending; here are details on the originally proposed project, from its last Design Review meeting 14 months ago. More recently, part of this site was mentioned at the Fairmount Springs community crimefighting meeting we covered last month – there were complaints of transient/squatter/drug-house activity involving one of the vacant buildings long scheduled for demolition till the project stalled.
Today the West Seattle & Fauntleroy YMCA recognized its volunteers with an appreciation luncheon. By year-end, more than 1,300 people will have given more than 23,000 hours of service in programs, fundraising, and board work with the Y right here in our community. The YMCA could not serve more than 10,000 people in West Seattle & South Park if it weren’t for these incredible volunteers who give generously of their time and talent.
Pictured: Fundraising volunteer Jack Oneal, wellness program volunteer Joan De Vrieze, and fundraising volunteer Tish Hesse at today’s volunteer appreciation luncheon. (Joan will also be performing tonight with West Seattle Civic Ballet in a performance of The Dollmaker at the Fauntleroy YMCA, part of YMCA Family Programs.)
And just steps from the Fauntleroy YMCA, at Fauntleroy Church, setup for the Fauntleroy Art Show/Sale is under way right now:
That’s watercolorist Kathy Johnson from Studio by the Sound, busy setting up her booth when we stopped by a little while ago. The show/sale opens at 6:30 tonight.
The weekend before Thanksgiving is a great time to give – or to receive, if you are in need – tomorrow morning there’s a turkey/grocery giveaway at Eastridge, and local food banks are gearing up for the holiday – if you are able to give, both the West Seattle Food Bank and White Center Food Bank continue facing high demand, and if you can’t make it during the hours they’re open, look for special benefits, like the Beer Church Turkey Bowl (co-sponsored by WSB) tomorrow night – bring WS Food Bank donations, 6 pm at West Seattle Bowl. One more chance to give – the bloodmobile’s at Mars Hillin West Seattle on Sunday, all welcome – the holidays are a time when the blood supply gets dangerously low. Meantime, other weekend events include the Square 1 Books (WSB sponsor) sale and other business open houses, two puppet shows, Family Science Night, the first big holiday pancake breakfast (presented by the West Seattle Lions); final two performances of “The Diviners” by Twelfth Night Productions (WSB sponsor), native storytelling and hiphop at the Duwamish Longhouse, a free business seminar … More than 50 events/activities in all, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club:Read More
If you’ve been worried about H1N1 flu – a bit of good news from King County Public Health – the number of cases is on the decline. KCPH just sent a news release with the newest info – read on:Read More
The West Seattle Weekend Lineup is in the works, but first, from the WSB Events calendar (where you’ll find a long list of things happening today and beyond), three sales starting/happening today/tonight: First, day 1 of the 2-day anniversary sale at West Seattle’s independent book store Square 1 Booksin Jefferson Square – 15% off everything. The doors just opened and Square 1’s open till 6 pm; sale continues tomorrow, 10 am-5:30 pm. Second, South Seattle Community College‘s increasingly renowned wine program invites you to the Pre-Thanksgiving Wine Tasting and Sale this afternoon/evening – 4-8 pm – here are full details on the wines they’re featuring (note: both Square 1 Books and SSCC are WSB sponsors). Finally, the Fauntleroy Art Show and Sale opens at 6:30 tonight at Fauntleroy Church (9140 California SW; more details on Facebook).
One more note from the Alki Community Council, following last night’s meeting (here’s our wrapup of other items): In time for holiday shopping … there’s another chance to buy bricks or a plaque at Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza, to support its maintenance fund. The announcement is shared by David Hutchinson:
As you may know, the Seattle Statue of Liberty Plaza Project disbanded as of the September 19th Time Capsule Celebration. Seattle Parks and Recreation has recently concluded an agreement with the Alki Community Council allowing the Council to sponsor the sale of additional engraved bricks and Tribute Plaques. The ACC will also be the organization working with the community to coordinate the future maintenance of the Plaza with Parks.
We are happy to announce the sale of a limited quantity of engraved bricks and Tribute Plaques. The Alki Community Council is currently working on getting a 501(c)(3) Internal Revenue Code designation. At the present time however, any donations will not be tax deductible. All bricks sold will be 4 x 8 inches. A “family or individual” brick will be priced at $100, while a “business or organization” brick will cost $250. These are the same prices as in the first two sales. You can download a brick order form, a brick sale FAQ, and a catalog of standardized symbols that can be engraved on your brick by going to www.sealady.org . Funds raised by this sale will be turned over to Seattle Parks & Recreation to supplement the existing maintenance fund and used to support approved ACC-sponsored events that benefit the Plaza.
For information on ordering bricks or any related questions, please contact Eilene Hutchinson at:
206-933-8352 libertyplaza@msn.com
For information on the available Tribute Plaques, please contact Libby Carr at:
206-938-8721 libby@carrbiz.com
If you are interested in more information on the Alki Community Council and its activities, please contact secretary Paul Carr at: paul@carrbiz.com
That’s one alternative for 4435 35th SW (map) – the proposed 100+-unit residential/12,000-sf commercial project on the Redline-and-south site – shown for the first time at Thursday night’s Southwest Design Review Board meeting, but not in the online packet. It’s the one that won the most attention – as an option that would feature a little more than 100 condos, over two stories of commercial frontage. More on the meeting ahead:Read More
The Admiral Theater invites you to help choose a free movie for the holidays. Dinah from The Admiral sends the pitch:
We would love to host a free holiday movie for our neighbors and want your suggestions! Last year we showed, the perennial favorite, A Christmas Story. Please suggest something you can’t see on TV i.e. (It’s a Wonderful Life). Maybe it’s a charming foreign Christmas film or maybe it’s Naughty Santa. The only thing we can’t do is play something that’s currently out in
the theaters. You can either e-mail me at dinah@admiralentertainment.com, or fill out a slip and put it in our Christmas box at the theater and let me know what you’d like to see on our big screen! Admission is free but we ask that you bring some needed donations for our food banks! We will announce the film the first week of December and we will show the film on Saturday, December 19th at noon!
Next time you go to the movies at The Admiral, also look for their candy contest – a suggestion box of sorts where you can suggest a type of candy you’d like to see make a comeback.
From tonight’s Alki Community Council meeting: Officer elections, with 3 returnees and one new: Jule Sugarman, Randie Stone and Paul Carr are returning as president, vice president and secretary, respectively; since Larry Carpenter chose to step down from the treasurer position, Terry Zerngast was elected to take over. ACC is also looking for a new board member to replace Laura Sue Hoover. Another new name: Glynnis Vaughan has been hired to take over the Alki News Beacon, succeeding Cami MacNamara; next edition, said Sugarman, should be out in January (he’s accepting story suggestions). The ACC also heard from Chas Redmond regarding the upcoming Alki wayfinding kiosks and stanchions (signposts) that are in the works along with Admiral, which has a meeting at 4 pm tomorrow, as noted here earlier:
(If you’re wondering about the decor, the group had to meet in an Alki Community Center room more often used for kids’ programs, since the center’s community spaghetti dinner was in its bigger space.) As is the case in Admiral, and Fauntleroy before that, there’ll be meetings to zero in on location and content for the wayfinding structures, part of West Seattle Trails (seen the updated map yet?). One more Alki note – another work party for the West Seattle Wildlife Habitat Project demonstration garden at Seacrest is coming up this Saturday, 9 am-1 pm, all volunteers welcome, meet behind the Alki Kayak Tours shack at 9. (No ACC meeting in December, by the way – next one’ll be January 21st.)
West Seattle Chamber of Commerce members and guests were at Westwood Village tonight as WSCC president/CEO Patti Mullen and WWV manager Stuart Crandall cut the ribbon for Santa’s new digs in the original Wyatt’s Jewelers [WSB sponsor] storefront across the breezeway from 24 Hour Fitness during the chamber’s After-Hours event tonight. Santa listened to holiday wishes, too – including the ones shared by Rick Jump from White Center Food Bank and Nancy Woodland from WestSide Baby:
Rick asked for enough food to feed the 1,000 people his agency (which serves part of WS too) will see in the next week; Nancy asked for enough diapers to make life pleasant for the hundreds of little ones whose families get help through her agency. (WC Food Bank REALLY needs turkeys, by the way – their website has info on how to donate – they’ll be there on Saturday this week too; while WestSide Baby has specifics on its site too.) As for the rest of the event – Wyatt’s proprietors Joni and Kirk Keppler opened their new storefront in the heart of the center (by Chico’s, north of Barnes & Noble) to visitors:
Other Westwood Village merchants participated too (with treats from eateries Giannoni’s Pizza, Eats Market Cafe and Sub Shop), as the shopping center gets ready for the holidays. Back to Santa, we’ve got his schedule on the new WSB West Seattle Holidays page; he’s all about doing good in the community – photos are free with a food donation, there’s a Giving Tree for the Salvation Army, a place to drop off diapers (preferably sizes 3-6) for WestSide Baby, and gift wrapping is free but anything you donate will go to local nonprofits. More Chamber info, by the way (disclosure – WSB is among the many local businesses that are members), at wschamber.com.
Betsy reports a burglary on 26th SW in North Delridge – and says she came face-to-face with one of the burglars when she arrived at her neighboring home around 1 pm — “a slender, dark-skinned African American man between the ages of 17-24 walking out of my neighbor’s house carrying a large bag.” She continues:
I confronted the perp who said he was “visiting a friend.” Another young man came out of the neighbor’s yard carrying a bag, saw me, and turned around and ran out the back. The young man I saw looked like he was of east or north African descent – high cheekbones, very slender build, dark complexion. I was on the phone with police instantly. The neighbor got home while I was still calling in the crime and he saw his house had been ransacked, trashed, and all his valuables stolen. Including his rent money as he has been working overtime to pay the rent. They were broken into a week ago but someone was home; they noticed someone casing the house a few days ago, and we saw someone prowling the house YESTERDAY but the police said they could do nothing because no crime was committed. The cars of interest are a RED SUV and a RED/MAROON midsized sedan.
ADDED 8:41 PM: Betsy has included more description information in comments. Meantime, we have had another break-in report – sent by two of the victim’s neighbors, and mentioned in comments – on 47th near Andover (map).
Thanks to Wendy Hughes-Jelen for sending photos from the High Point Community Thanksgiving Dinner that’s happening right now at HP Community Center, till 8 pm. Everybody welcome! (And there are other community feasts coming up – including two on Thanksgiving Day – check the new WSB West Seattle Holidays page.)
The Seattle City Council just announced who’ll be in charge of which committee once its two new members, Sally Bagshaw and Mike O’Brien, are sworn in after the holidays. One change of particular note to West Seattleites – WS-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen is moving from the Parks Committee chair role to lead the Transportation Committee (whose former chair, Jan Drago, ran for mayor instead of council re-election); Bagshaw will be the new Parks chair. A few committees are changing names/focuses too – read on for the full council announcement about those changes, and who’s running what:Read More
We’ve been covering this story since night before last on partner site White Center Now, when several people sent tips about the crash and resulting traffic trouble – but now investigators are casting a wider net in trying to solve the hit and run (16th/106th) that sent a developmentally disabled man to the hospital, where deputies say he remains in critical condition. If you have any leads on a vehicle that might fit the description above, a $1,000 reward is offered, and 911 will take your tip.
Just out of the WSB inbox, this update from West Seattle Food Bank executive director Fran Yeatts:
The West Seattle Food Bank will be changing hours during the week of Thanksgiving.
We will be distributing our holiday food on Monday, 11/23 for seniors from 9:30 a.m.- 11:00 a.m. and for the general public from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and on Tuesday, 11/24 for the general public from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Any donations specific to the Thanksgiving holiday can be delivered on Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. or Monday, 11/23 from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. We will also be here to accept donations from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 11/24 and Wednesday 11/25.
We will be closed at 3:00 on Wednesday 11/25, and all day Thursday, 11/26 and Friday, 11/26. We will resume our normal hours on Monday, 11/30.
Thank you West Seattle for your generous support!
We’ve got a followup question out asking if there’s anything in particular they need; the WS Food Bank is at 35th/Morgan (map). Meantime, remember the White Center Food Bank serves part of West Seattle too – it’s got donation information here.
(no relation to the renowned Junction restaurant). When we reported on foreclosure proceedings involving the site (
The weekend before Thanksgiving is a great time to give – or to receive, if you are in need – tomorrow morning there’s a turkey/grocery giveaway at 
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