West Seattle, Washington
23 Wednesday
Another fun-filled holiday weekend is days away, featuring two unique events in The Junction:
(Photo courtesy West Seattle Junction Association)
PAJAMARAMA, SATURDAY AM: That mug is one of the potential bonuses to a new West Seattle Junction Hometown Holidays event – shop in your jammies this Saturday from 9 am to noon! Junction merchants invite you, “Gather friends and mugs, as we’re having a pajama party. Shop in your pajamas, enjoy free cocoa, whipped cream, and sprinkles at the cocoa filling station. Why stop at home in your pajamas when you can shop here! When you shop in jammies and spend $20 or more, you’ll receive a limited-edition diner mug too. Supplies are limited, so come early.”
Imagine the photo opportunities. Speaking of which, before the weekend’s out:
(Photo courtesy Cocoa Cris Cringle)
COCOA CRIS CRINGLE, SUNDAY PM: There’s no Santa photo like a photo with Cocoa Cris Cringle at Easy Street Records (California/Alaska), and he’ll be there Sunday (December 15th), 4-7 pm: $20 includes the use of hats, props, and candy canes. Proceeds benefit the West Seattle Food Bank. Bonus: “This year we have live musical accompaniment with keys by Hugh Sutton; I will be singing some holiday classics!” P.S. Pets welcome.
(WSB file photo: Some of what was raffled off at a past Turkey Bowl)
‘Tis the season to give. The West Seattle-based Beer Church has done that every holiday season for more than 20 years via its beer-and-bowling benefit, the Turkey Bowl, and you’re invited to the party Saturday night at West Seattle Bowl. The lanes are sold out, but, Kim Sharpe Jones of the Beer Church says:
We encourage the community to come join the fun.
– enter to win target raffle prizes (tickets are $5, must be present to win; drawing will be around 7:15 pm)
– bring non-perishable food donations or monetary donations for the food bank
– try a Beer Church IPA – a collaboration beer by Two Beers Brewing, Georgetown Brewing and Airways Brewing to benefit Northwest Harvest
Stop by WS Bowl (39th/Oregon) between 5:30 pm and 8 pm tomorrow and be part of it.
Your Halloween doesn’t have to end when this night is over. Two shows/displays continue tomorrow:
SKELETON THEATRE: Tonight was the first of two nights that draws people from miles around to 36th/Hanford, to see the labor of love that a theatrical professional-led crew has staged, with various themes, for 14 Halloweens:
This time, the Skeleton Theatre crew is reprising their skeletons-in-space saga “Ulna 13,” not a bad choice considering we just marked 50 years since the first moon landing.
Skeleton Theatre shows are more comic than creepy, and run about 20 minutes, continuously with brief intermissions, 6 to 9 pm. Seems the skeletons have a new project, too:
From there, we headed to Alki.
‘NIGHTFALL ORPHANAGE’: This too is the creation of someone with a professional background. as noted in the preview; for a third year, the creator and his accomplices have put on a “garage haunt” to spread Halloween spirit at the beach:
Our photos only hint at the experience; see more on the official website. Better yet, go experience it for yourself, until 10:30 tonight and again 7:30-10:30 tomorrow and Saturday. Bring nonperishable food for the West Seattle Food Bank.
(WSB photos)
Among the scariest West Seattle spots this Halloween night … it’s the 15th year for the Meeds Manor Haunted House! Different location this year – 45th and Stevens. We stopped by in the early going pre-dusk:
The Meeds family says the displays just keep growing every year.
Bring non-perishable food for the West Seattle Food Bank so you don’t run the risk of having to walk the plank:
It’s among the spooky sights highlighted in our Halloween Etc. Guide.
4:10 PM: The new “Magic of Morgan” Halloween celebration – previewed here Wednesday – is on until 5 pm at Morga Junction businesses. We’ve stopped at a few – above, pumpkin decorating is happening inside Youngstown Coffee Company (6032 California SW); below, Paper Boat Booksellers (6040 California SW) is offering treats:
4:50 PM: Other participants – Frank at Thunder Road Guitars (6400 California SW):
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Julie and Dayton at O’Neill Plumbing (6056 California SW):
(Both those businesses are WSB sponsors.) More West Seattle Halloween coverage to come!
3:36 PM: As previewed last night, West Seattle High School students have joined the Admiral District trick-or-treating lineup this year, with a “trunk-or-treat” arrangement of decorated cars between the southwest edge of Hiawatha and the northwest edge of the WSHS campus. Worth a look even if you don’t want candy!
Otherwise, looks like this year’s participants are mostly along California, both sides of Admiral. More photos in a bit; Admiral trick-or-treating continues until 6 pm.
4:23 PM: Working our way north, above is A Kids’ Place Too Dentistry for Children (WSB sponsor); below, Admiral Bird:
Fun costumes spotted, too:
Tomorrow, two more business-district trick-or-treat events – Magic of Morgan (3-5 pm) and Westwood Village (4-6 pm).
Businesses in booming Morgan Junction have decided to join the list of local business districts hosting trick-or-treat events. Zoe from Youngstown Coffee Company (6032 California SW) came up with the idea for “Magic of Morgan” – 3-5 pm tomorrow (Halloween), “Businesses will be handing out candy and goodies and Youngstown Coffee will be doing pumpkin decorating.” For 21+, she adds, Beveridge Place Pub has a doggie-costume contest starting at 6 pm. The businesses listed are primarily on both sides of California north of Fauntleroy; Zoe says you might see some last-minute additions. We’re adding this, meantime, to the WSB West Seattle Halloween Etc. Guide.
Since 2006, a spirited group of residents and friends has transformed a yard in southeast Admiral into the stage for Skeleton Theatre, a multimedia extravaganza starring animatronic skeletons. They’re at it again for Halloween 2019, bringing back their space epic “Ulna 13.” Skeleton Theatre tends to be more goofy than spooky, so it’s safe even for the easily scared. Just look and listen for the crowd at 36th/Hanford [map] Halloween night and Friday (November 1st), a free 20-minute show running continuously 6-9 pm both nights.
P.S. “Ulna 13” was originally presented six years ago – here’s our coverage from that Halloween.
(2018 trick-or-treating at WSB sponsor A Kids Place Dentistry for Children)
New date this year, so we’re reminding you again tonight that tomorrow (Wednesday, October 30th) is when Admiral District businesses will be welcoming trick-or-treaters, 3-6 pm. Not only will businesses around the Admiral/California junction be participating, don’t miss the businesses on 42nd SW, such as WSB sponsors Metropolitan Market (north of Admiral) and West Seattle Realty (south of Admiral, on the east side of the Admiral Safeway building). Also, the West Seattle High School ASB will host “trunk or treating” along the road between Hiawatha and the school’s front entrance, 3-5 pm, so wander up that way too!
With Halloween two nights away, we’re previewing the spookiest shows in town – starting with “Nightfall Orphanage”:
That’s a new video preview for the “garage haunt experience” and West Seattle Food Bank donation drive happening in an Alki yard – you might have already been to the pre-Halloween presentations, and/or seen it in the WSB West Seattle Halloween Guide, but if not, the official news release:
Now in its 3rd year, Nightfall Orphanage (located at 2130 Alki Ave SW) is quickly becoming West Seattle’s premier Home Haunt attraction, collecting non-perishable food donations for West Seattle Food Bank through its entire run (continuing Oct. 31, Nov.1, November 2, 7:30 pm -10:30 pm). On Halloween, October 31, Nightfall Orphanage will feature special guest and scaracter ChesterJester!
Mr. Black invites you to step back into the Bad Place, a gateway into the phantasmagoric realm of the Dark Reach that exists in the shadows between worlds. The radiant abyss where spectral echoes of what once was, and what should not be, materialize and take shape.
Admission is free to all, and guests are strongly encouraged to bring non-perishable food donations to help struggling neighborhood families. More information is available on the website.
“Scaring is caring!” says Mr. Black, the chief architect of Nightfall Orphanage. “Halloween is always about community, because the best Halloween traditions start right here in the neighborhood. There are more than 10,000 families in West Seattle alone that live below the poverty level, and West Seattle Food Bank is committed to providing food security and community connections to neighbors in need. ‘We’ is the most important part of ‘Halloween,’ and when we act locally, we can inspire change globally.”
For over 20 years ChesterJester has been scaring guests at high-tier haunts such as Six Flags Magic Mountains Fright Fest. He has been featured on news programs where he developed a special “taste” for newscasters, (https://youtu.be/QxlegGohjX4) and loves to teach his own unique approach to painting (https://youtu.be/-brLAeiNW5I). He will be haunting Nightfall Orphanage on Halloween to provide screams, and collect food donations for those in need.
(2015 photo by Jason Enevoldsen)
Our West Seattle Halloween Etc. Guide has been missing something – a Teal Pumpkin Project mention! We got this gentle reminder this morning from Bethany in Seaview:
I was adding my house to the Teal Pumpkin Project map this morning and noticed that our lovely peninsula is a lot more sparse on food allergy free trick or treating spots than in previous years.
Does it fit anywhere in your Halloweek/Halloween reminders to let our neighbors know the map resets each year, so an address must be added again if non-food treats are continuing to be offered?
Thanks, Bethany! For a detailed TPP explanation, check out this 2018 story contributed to WSB by Alice Enevoldsen.
(WSB photos/video)
Something new at the West Seattle Monster Dash this year – the addition of a Family Fun Zone meant this morning’s event in Lincoln Park was about more than dashing. The 5K, however, was still the main event:
This year’s turnout to support West Seattle Cooperative Preschools was more than 430, bigger than last year. Here are some of the costumes we noticed:
This was the eighth West Seattle Monster Dash – first one was back in 2012.
(WSB photo)
Young shoppers at West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor) are invited to the annual Kids’ Halloween Party, now until 1 pm. Look for the table on the north side of the store, where mini-pumpkin decorating is happening, and treat bags await. Thriftway is at California/Fauntleroy/Morgan.
Again this year, Halloween is more like Hallo-week, with some of the 36 events in our West Seattle Halloween Etc. Guide happening tomorrow, continuing through a big busy weekend, and then more leading up to, and of course on, Halloween. If you haven’t sent us your event yet – from school carnivals to bar parties – it’s not too late; westseattleblog@gmail.com is the address. To check out the updated guide – now up to 36 listings – just go here. (Photo: Jack-o-turkey, sent by Wyatt)
(WSB photo, August 2019)
Two months ago, kid-rock superstar Caspar Babypants closed out the Summer Concerts at Hiawatha series with another lawn-filling performance; next Sunday, he opens Kindiependent‘s new Sunday family concert series at the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse (9131 California SW). This show is at 1 pm, right before the Fauntleroy Fall Festival, but the other nine shows in the twice-monthly series will be on Sunday mornings, 10:30 am. Tickets are required for everybody over 6 months old – series passes are on sale here; tickets for the Caspar Babypants show are on sale here. (Second show: The Not-Its, 10:30 am November 10th.)
(WSB photo, 2018 West Seattle Monster Dash)
Three weeks till the busiest weekend of October – and it’ll start on the run, with the 8th annual West Seattle Monster Dash, 9 am Saturday, October 26th at Lincoln Park. Something new this year – the Family Fun Zone. You can still register at a discount rate until October 20th – just go here. The Monster Dash is a fundraiser for South Seattle College (West Seattle) Cooperative Preschools.
This weekend began with a fun way to give to the West Seattle Food Bank. The report and photos were sent by WSFB development director Judi Yazzolino:
The West Seattle Food Bank wants to thank all those that joined us last night at our 4th annual ‘A Grand Affair’ benefit at The Sanctuary at Admiral. We had so much fun raising funds for the 12,700 individuals we serve here in our West Seattle community. Results will be in on Monday but we want to thank the generosity of our incredible West Seattle community.
Picture above is of our staff – Judi Yazzolino, Development Director; Tray Olds, Community Connector; Dick Haggart, Food Rescue; our illustrious Executive Director (with the fake cigar) Fran Yeatts; Lester Yuh, Operations Director; & Karla Marifjeren, Operations Manager.
Second picture – Dan Austin, Peel & Press; Rita Dixson, The Bridge; Heather Scott, Shadowland; Lora Radford, WS Junction Association, with WSFB’s Judi.
The annual Grand Affair is a Roaring Twenties-themed cocktail party, with casino-style gaming. Other community co-sponsors included WSB.
(WSB photos)
Even if cosplay (cos = costume) isn’t part of your life, you’ve probably seen cosplayers downtown during big events like SakuraCon. Today, West Seattle has its own cosplayer gathering – the first-ever Dinky Con, happening until 10 pm at Alki Masonic Hall. It’s drawn devoted cosplayers like Mark, cosplaying as Mermaid Man from the longrunning animated series “SpongeBob SquarePants“:
He’s one of the judges for the cosplay contest that should have just begun, continuing until about 4. Dinky Con’s director is Carolyn Monk:
She explained in the Dinky Con program, “I made this convention to be an excuse for people to cosplay and i some people come and get to dress up and hang out, I will consider it a success.” Some of that hanging out includes gaming:
Artist Alley is open until 6 pm, with local artists selling “prints, jewelry, keychains, stickers, accessories, and more”:
Also in the hours ahead: A podcast from 4:30 to 5:30, a Smash tournament 5-7 pm, Dungeons and Dragons 5:30-7 pm, closing ceremonies 7-8 pm followed by the Con-closing Dinky Dance 8-10 pm. Tickets are available online or at the door of the hall, which is at 4736 40th SW on the east side of The Junction.
Two garden parties that might interest you this weekend in West Seattle:
SATURDAY AT BARTON STREET P-PATCH: 4-7 pm in the community garden at 34th/Barton:
Need last-minute plans for dinner? Want to get outside and enjoy the last sunny evening of the summer? Then please come and join us for an early evening of handcrafted and wood-fired pizza at the esteemed Barton Street P-Patch in West Seattle. This fundraiser benefiting GROW is organized as an inclusive, family-oriented social gathering to bring gardeners, their families, and the community together while also supporting a nonprofit organization that advocates to keep green spaces and p-patches in our neighborhoods. Check out the creative art and garden beds hand-crafted by the dedicated Barton Street gardeners while feasting on wood-fired pizza and music by Citizens of the Earth.
Tickets are available online or at the garden when you arrive.
SUNDAY AT PUGET RIDGE EDIBLE PARK: Sunday, you’re invited to tour the park at 18th/Brandon for this free event, 2-5 pm:
We would like to share with you the work being done for the 3rd season at PREP (Puget Ridge Edible Park). .. Growing local and eating seasonal is one of many things we can do to combat the threat of the climate crisis. This is not a work party but if you pull a weed or two, we won”t mind.
Another weekend preview – the first-ever Dinky Con is happening Saturday at Alki Masonic Hall in The Junction. Organizers say it’s “a first-time mini pop culture convention … a cosplay convention, which means people will be dressed in costumes, depicting characters from movies, anime, comics, video games, etc. There will be an Artist Alley full of local artists making amazing art to sell — mainly focused on different fandoms — including prints, charms, stickers, bows, and more!” Dinky Con will include a judged Cosplay Contest, too, panels, games, coloring, and concessions. It’s happening all day and into the evening, 11 am-10 pm Saturday (September 21st); the venue is at 4736 40th SW. All ages. Tickets are $10 in advance – available online here – or $15 at the door; kids 5 and under are free.
(WSB photos)
Cameron and Pete Moores host community events just about every day/night at C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor) – but what’s happening right now, the We (Heart) West Seattle party, is a first. They’re raising money for three local nonprofits, WestSide Baby, the West Seattle Food Bank, and West Seattle Helpline. Even if you didn’t buy an advance ticket, there’s room – and food – you can pay at the door!
Silent auction items, too:
The party’s on until 7 pm.
Tomorrow night brings the final West Seattle Art Walk of summer – and the second “Art of Music” performance. Here’s the map/venue list:
While the Art Walk’s greatest concentration of venues is in The Junction, participants stretch from Gatewood in the south (The Building) to Alki in the north (Locust Cider). Some of the artists are previewed on the official Art Walk website. Among them, landscape artist Jeni Lee, who will be featured at Click! Design That Fits (4540 California SW; WSB sponsor), 5-8 pm. Steps away, Washington Management Co. Real Estate (4544 California SW) invites you to collaborate on a community canvas 6-8 pm. Not far from there, in the heart of The Junction, by KeyBank at California/Alaska, you’ll see The Art of Music 6 pm-7:40 pm, featuring the duo My Real Job:
Easy Street Records has music tomorrow night, too – a 7 pm in-stone concert by Erin Bowman. So get out on the Art Walk (which is co-sponsored by WSB) for a few minutes or a few hours and enjoy your community’s creativity, 5 pm “until late” tomorrow night.
Weather looks promising for this Wednesday night event – Cub Scout Pack 284 invites you to a barbecue that’s both to “welcome back returning scouts (kindergarten through 5th grade), and to provide info for folks who are interested in Scouting.” Stomp-rocket launching, too! It’s happening 6:30-7:45 pm Wednesday at Lincoln Park picnic shelter #5, by the wading pool. “The Pack will provide burgers, dogs, and fun. All you need to bring is a side or dessert to share and a friend who wants to learn more about Scouting!” Email (updated) seattlecubscoutpack284 (at) gmail (dot) com if you have questions.
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