West Seattle, Washington
06 Monday
Daunted by that list of road closures elsewhere in the city (including The Viaduct on Saturday)? No worries – no need to leave West Seattle this weekend, with a slate of activities including the Westwood Village Street Fair on Saturday (come see us at the WSB table!) and the West Seattle Farmers’ Market 10th anniversary celebration on Sunday (including WSB sponsor Square 1 Books‘ tent sale at The Market and free berry sundaes!), lots of indoor and outdoor live music (including an all-ages Easy Street After Hours tonight) … more than 40 events ahead in the full West Seattle Weekend Lineup, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club:Read More
Two months after first word of the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s first-ever summer concert series at Hiawatha (which WSB is co-sponsoring), concert coordinator Katy Walum confirms the official slate is out. Here’s how ANA describes it:
Thursday, July 23rd – Alma Villegas – An exquisite and passionate selection of Latin standards and favorites.
Thursday, July 30th – Tom Colwell & The Southbound Odyssey – singing the songs – some you know, some you don’t – for life’s journey. From West Seattle’s “Red Baron” in the 70’s, and more recently from Seeger’s 90th Birthday Celebration at our own Admiral Theater and the NW Folklife Festival, they are folk-rooted and fun.
Thursday, August 6th – A TWO act night with Swamp Soul and Ragged Glory — Swamp Soul is Cajun/Zydeco foot-stomping music. Ragged Glory is a lot of Neil Young and a little more.
Thursday, August 13th – Elizabeth Carpenter Trio — This trio delivers your favorite jazz standards from the 1930s and beyond.
Thursday, August 20th – Brian Waite Band
Thursday, August 27th – West Seattle Big Band — A local favorite who donates 100% of their earnings to raising awareness of and funding instrumental music programs in West Seattle area public schools.
The Admiral Neighborhood Association’s free concerts will be at 6:30 pm Thursdays on the east lawn at Hiawatha – after that same spot plays host to the July 14th West Seattle Hi-Yu Concert in the Park. Elsewhere in West Seattle, Providence Mount St. Vincent will bring back its Friday night concert series in August (the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th), too, so — also counting outdoor venues such as Cafe Rozella – this will be a summer full of outdoor music (not to mention outdoor movies!).
(2008 photo by Brian Todd, Aus der Traum Photography)
Just in from Seattle Volleyball Association – a clinic this Saturday with your chance to “learn from the best”:
By popular demand, the best players in the Northwest will be taking a day off from playing a tournament and running a beach volleyball clinic to allow anyone a chance to learn from the best. All levels are welcome, whether you’re just starting to play or wanting to brush up your skills. The Northwest’s professional and semi-pro players will help players with passing, setting, hitting and serving, then have the nets open for all players to practice their skills against other players of their same skill level. The event goes 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with open net play for all participants who want to practice their skills with instructors from 2 to 4 p.m. The cost for each participant is $25 per person.
For full details of the event plus contact info, read on:Read More
That’s Trio Lucero del Norte earlier this year at Cafe Rozella, where they’re back at 7 tonight – just hours before Summer Solstice – which will then in turn be followed by big events including the Clean and Green event in The Junction on Saturday (be at the new Genesee/42nd P-Patch site for all the excitement starting at 9 am), the California Place Park celebration later that day, Relay for Life starting tonight, the Lincoln Park wading pool opening tomorrow … more than FIFTY events ahead in the full West Seattle Weekend Lineup, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club:Read More
(2007 parade photo courtesy Rhonda Porter from The Mortgage Porter [WSB sponsor])
Just one month till West Seattle’s 76th annual American Legion Grand Parade (July 18). That’s its official name, though you might think of it as the Hi-Yu Parade – it’s presented by American Legion Post 160, and while West Seattle Hi-Yu Summer Festival royalty, volunteers and float are IN it, they don’t present it (they handle enough other events, you can be sure). But that’s not the main reason we’re writing. We just heard from Dave Vague, parade coordinator with Post 160, who says:
We’re in need of finding three convertibles that would like to appear in the parade to drive the American Legion President, our Orville Rummel award winner for community service, and our Grand Marshal – Blayne Walsh from Project Runway.
(And, of course, from Hotwire Coffee [WSB sponsor].) This is the second consecutive year that the Legion’s put out the call for convertibles, since after the Huling/Gee dealership shutdowns in 2007, that put an end to the reliable supply of cars for parade participants to ride in. (Seafair royalty, as shown in the photo above, bring their own cars – but West Seattle’s honorees have to fend for themselves.) If you can help, here’s how to contact Dave: vagued@comcast.net or 206-932-2066.
From the WSB Forums: 
The acclaimed White Center ice cream-n-pinball (and more) shop Full Tilt is marking its first birthday this Saturday with a plan to give gifts instead of receiving. For every cone or pint sold in their shop this Saturday, they will donate the equivalent to the White Center Food Bank – coupons for cones, to be given to WCFB clients, and pints to be packed up and delivered to WCFB. The FT team’s been involved in a lot of community work since its opening, so you can support that through the Full Tilt First Birthday celebration. (And if you haven’t heard, they’re expanding to a location in Columbia City soon, too.)
Light poles along Alki Avenue are now festooned with promotional, er, we mean warning signs that a pirate invasion is near. The annual Seafair Pirates Landing is July 11th – and according to the Pirates’ website (yes, they sail the digital seven seas too), they’ll hit the beach around noon, with a variety of other events before and after turning it into an all-day party. Usually quite the turnout – here’s a pan of the crowd awaiting their landing last year:
This is happening on Day 2 of West Seattle Summer Fest (WSB sponsor), which will continue into the evening, so once you’ve snagged your treasure at the beach (the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle sponsors a kids’ pirate lookalike contest, for example), you can sail up the hill to the fun in The Junction.
The Morgan Junction Community Festival on Saturday is this weekend’s marquee event – we’ll be reporting live there all day and hope to see you too – more music, more food (the “Bite of Morgan” freebies!), etc. Also in the spotlight this weekend, … more than FIFTY events ahead in the full West Seattle Weekend Lineup, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club:Read More
COOPER ELEMENTARY CLOSURE COURT HEARING: 10:30 this morning in King County Superior Court; closure opponents are offering bus rides to supporters who want to be there (as reported here).
TV SWITCH: This is the date TV’s all supposed to go digital. If you still need help making sure you’re ready, there’s a drop-in help center at Youngstown Arts Center (as reported here).
WINE RELEASE: 3-6 pm, the Northwest Wine Academy at South Seattle Community College hosts a free event for you to taste and purchase its summer wine releases (tomorrow too; more info here).
END-OF-YEAR SKATING PARTY: The popular Friday night roller-skating events at Alki Community Center wrap up the season with a party tonight, 6:45-8:45 pm, free admission – including hot dogs and a bouncy toy for younger kids.
More to come – for today, tomorrow and Sunday – in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup later this morning.
That’s WSB video from last year’s 4th of July Kids’ Parade in the Admiral District – and Sherri Chun has just sent word of the plans for this year, with a request for help to make sure it happens next year (and beyond) too:
Yes, we are having a parade this year! As usual, we’ll meet at 44th and Sunset to kick things off. Start time is 10:00 am. We’re still waiting for confirmation (but are hopeful) that Mayor Nickels will again be able to join us. The parade will end at Hamilton Viewpoint park, with games and bake sale treats courtesy of the Holy Rosary Moms’ group. A huge shoutout to Dave Weitzel at Weitzel Construction [WSB sponsor] for providing our portable toilets. Dave, we couldn’t do it without you! Thank you also to Holy Rosary Parish for underwriting our parade insurance and for providing our PA system, and to all the volunteers who make it happen.
This year we are really, really counting on the community’s support. Several years ago we had a volunteer development director, whose job it was to solicit donations from local businesses. Sadly, this person retired due to a combination of job and personal life changes. This year we are financing the parade using the last of her development efforts. If we are to continue having this parade in the future, we need additional support from the community. Parade and park permits alone are $350. Additional costs include the generator, beach balls (an annual tradition at the park!), printing, and miscellaneous decorations. This does not include the cost of portable toilets, which are very important (and expensive over the holiday weekend!).
This year we are asking each family to donate $1 per child toward future parades. There will be donation boxes by the games table, the concessions stand, and next to the portable toilets. Please help ensure the future of our annual 4th of July Kids Parade! Thank you, and we look forward to seeing all of you and your families on the 4th of July!
Sherri Chun and Jodi Bennett
Parade Coordinators
(photo courtesy “RogerTango”)
It’s not in West Seattle, but “RogerTango” from the WS-based Westenders Scooter Club wants to extend the invite to all local riders – and potential riders – to scoot across the bridge for this:
Just a quick reminder that All City Scooter Day #2 will be happening at Scoot About! (535 Westlake Avenue N.) this Saturday from 12 – 2pm. This community event promotes scooters as a viable and fun means of alternative transportation around the city! Check out many different makes and models of scooters, learn how a scooter can be an excellent alternative to a car, and you may even go home with a brand new scooter which will be given away during the event! This event is supported by West Seattle’s own Westenders Scooter Club , which had a scooter display at the (Sustainable West Seattle Festival) last month in the Junction!
(video lost due to blip.tv shutdown)
From tonight’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting: The ANA’s first-ever summer concert series (first reported here in April) is taking shape – with two bands lined up, four to go (and 20 possibilities from which to choose!), according to Katy Walum, who’s coordinating the series. The series of concerts on the lawn east of Hiawatha Community Center is set to start July 23rd, continuing every Thursday night through August 27th; the bands lined up so far are Tom Colwell and the Southbound Odyssey – who headlined the recent Pete Seeger 90th-birthday celebration at the Admiral Theater – and the West Seattle Big Band (shown above in a WSB clip from their performance at last year’s summer concert series at The Mount). ANA also is busy lining up sponsors to cover the costs of the free series, and is about three-fourths of the way to its goal (if you’re interested in being a sponsor, you can e-mail katy.walum@gmail.com). The working name for the concert series: Admiral Neighborhood Association’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha, and you’ll hear a lot more about it as the summer progresses. (More later on other topics the Admiral group discussed tonight.)
This Thursday night, 6-8 pm – whether or not you’re already in The Junction for the monthly Art Walk — the owner of Curious Kidstuff (WSB sponsor), Ann Walker, invites you to drop in for the grand opening of Curious Art Kids (photo above) and Curious Party Kids (photo below). She explains:
The Little Artist Studio has closed after years of giving children a place to enjoy, learn and create. We say goodbye to Penny Bellemans Smith and wish her well; we will miss you. (We) have worked hard to remodel and get prepared to teach toddler, preschool, summer camps and art for older kids as well as birthday parties.
We have created a festive room to celebrate birthday parties that include an art class and quality birthday favors. We even have Nail Time, who will provide a group of tweens with fingernail painting and a class on fashion design. I feel very fortune to have Rachel Jensen, Christina McDonell and Maria Esztergalyos as teachers for these classes. They have worked diligently to pull all this together; I thank them from the bottom of my heart.
Please come Thursday, June 11th, from 6 pm to 8 pm to celebrate the opening of the studio and party room. You can sign up for classes if you would like or just have a cupcake and chat. Art Walk will be going on that evening as well. We have programs available now for art classes and birthday parties at the bottom of the stairs in Curious Kidstuff. Call and register – pay by phone if you’d like. Classes will fill up fast, so don’t wait too long.
Curious Kidstuff is at 4740 California SW (map), 206-937-8788.
That’s Clinton, one of the six finalists in the latest round of “Alki Idol,” which has been rocking Bamboo Bar and Grill on Thursdays. You can go to the Alki Idol YouTube channel to see the other five finalists – Jennifer, Angela, Anders, Robert and Janie – and/or be at Bamboo this Thursday night (9:30 pm).
We’ve been talking a lot about West Seattle Summer Fest – but two more major festivals are between now and then: This Saturday, it’s the Morgan Junction Community Festival, starting with the 10 am ceremony to dedicate the new Morgan Junction Park (just north of Beveridge Place Pub), continuing 11 am-6 pm with food, music and performances; the “Bite of Morgan” food offerings include Abbondanza, Caffe Ladro, Domino’s, Feedback Lounge, Kokoras Greek Grill, Tully’s and Zeeks Pizza. Entertainment will be in the park, while booths will be in the Zeeks parking lot just south. Here’s the schedule of events:
10:00 am Park Opening Ceremonies
11:00 am The Bubbleman – fun for kids, bubbles galore
11:30 am Seattle’s Own High Country 4-piece band playing Up-tempo Classic Country and Country-inspired originals
11:30 am start of sidewalk chalk art contest
12:30 pm announcement of results of sidewalk art contest
12:45 pm Primo and Friends 4-piece band playing Rock and Blues originals
1:30 pm entertainment in the park: belly dancing by “najma”
2:00 pm Soul Machinery 4-piece band playing Chicago-style Blues
3:15 pm The Slags 4-piece band playing Punk, Rock and Reggae originals
4:30 pm 4 outta 5 4-piece band playing Rock covers
Two weeks later, on June 27th, Westwood Village is having a street fair – 11 am-7 pm, with live performances, carnival games, a fashion show and food. (The shopping center also is promoting a new website address — WhereWestSeattleShops.com — which takes you to a page on its parent company’s site, including a list of its stores.) It’s free, but they’re asking that you bring donations for organizations including the West Seattle Food Bank and WestSide Baby.
That’s the semi-cheesy (in retrospect) original trailer for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” which is now on the final/final West Seattle Summer Outdoor Movies on the Wall slate (replacing the previously announced “National Treasure“), as just announced by Lora Lewis of Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor). So the amended final slate for the Saturday night movie series (free but bring $ for concessions and raffles benefiting nonprofits) is:
July 18 – “The Princess Bride”
July 25 – “King Kong” (1933 version)
Aug. 1 – “Footloose”
Aug. 8 – “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”
Aug. 15 – “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”
Aug. 22 – “Cars”
Remember no rainouts this year – if the weather turns bad, there’s a backup indoor location just steps away in the West Seattle Christian Church activity center!
Just found out via one of the spotlighted households that the gardens in next month’s West Seattle Garden Tour are all now described online, with photos. July 19 is the date for the self-guided WSGT; this year’s guest speaker is gardening star Ciscoe Morris, whose presentation at The Kenney at noon on tour day is included in the ticket price.
(photo by Christopher Boffoli)
The party’s over but more than 20 screenings are yet to come, as West Seattle makes its Seattle International Film Festival debut — this is day 2, and many are no doubt still recovering from day 1:
Shortly after cutting a ceremonial ribbon last night during the open house/party celebrating the Admiral Theater‘s debut as a SIFF venue, SIFF director Carl Spence (with Admiral entertainment director Dinah Brein-McClellan at the start of the clip) was ceremonially “kidnapped” by the Seafair Pirates. But that was just the conclusion of their visit – as always, they made an entrance that could be heard for miles around:
(They’ll be landing on Alki on July 11th, by the way.) And while at the theater, they helped cut the cake in pirate style:
That photo’s also by WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli, as are all the others you’ll see just ahead – more scenes from the party, and information on the rest of SIFF’s run at The Admiral:Read More
More work today at the new P-Patch in The Junction: Aaron Hernandez from the Friends of Genesee P-Patch sent that photo from Thursday – a city crew has been by to help clear the garden site, which as we recently reported, is one of four new P-Patch sites in line for city funding from the Parks and Green Spaces Levy (the P-Patch also has received a Small and Simple Grant, according to Aaron). Site volunteers are doing some more work there today; if you’re interested in future involvement with the P-Patch, you can reach Aaron here. No matter what kind of gardening you’re doing, you need something to grow. You’ve got myriad plant-buying options this weekend – for one, Village Green Perennial Nursery has just rejoined us as a WSB sponsor – they’re only open for the season till June 28 – and then there’s the Furry Faces Foundation fundraising plant sale:
Lora Lewis from F3 and Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) sent that petunia photo. The sale — with most plants from $1 to $5, Lora notes — continues till 4 pm, and again 10 am-4 pm tomorrow, at 3809 46th SW (tomorrow adoptable pets will be there too, noon-4 pm). Back in The Junction, till 2 pm today, you can enjoy free treats and get a tour at Mural Apartments (WSB sponsor), which has thrown open the doors to show off in its first month of renting brand-new units in “Downtown West Seattle.” 42nd SW, right across from Jefferson Square. Say hi to manager Rose (posing with some of the aforementioned free snacks):
Again, the full slate of what’s up this weekend is in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup.
We’ve been publishing summer-camp invitations on the new Announced page – including West Seattle High School Volleyball Camp for middle- and high-schoolers (read about it here) and martial-arts camps at Lee’s Martial Arts (read about them here). This morning, Jane Harty from Music Northwest e-mailed to say, “We still have room in our Chamber Music Camp for one more group of students, ages 8-18. The dates are Aug. 18-22, and our coaches are Marcus Tsutakawa from the Garfield Orchestra, Leonid Keylin from the Seattle Symphony and several other outstanding coaches.” The camp’s at First Lutheran Church of West Seattle; the registration form and other info can be found online.
Full slate of today’s events can be found in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup. Gardeners in particular have much to choose from – GardenFest at SSCC, the Furry Faces Foundation plant sale, and the Garden Party at Transitional Resources – but there are indoor events too, such as the Mural Apartments (WSB sponsor) open house, more Seattle International Film Festival screenings at the Admiral, and the Community School of West Seattle auction. We’ve also got an update on the “Great Duwamish Clothing/Book Swap” at Duwamish Cohousing (6000 17th SW; map) – it’s happening 10 am-2 pm.
Skylark Cafe and Club (WSB sponsor) in North Delridge, just south of The Bridge, where tonight is a birthday party, marking the club/restaurant’s third anniversary. The bands start at 9; good dinner crowd here now, including Team WSB, and some DJ’ing … that’s Charlie at the board (below left), husband of proprietor Jessie SK, who we asked to pose out front (right)with the sign that marks the momentous birthday in three different ways. Momentous because it’s not easy to be a small businessperson these days, let alone one that not only runs a restaurant, but also hires live bands four nights a week. 
Actually, some live music just started — DJ Baba Jamess on tabla, accompanied by a violinist; at 9 pm, it’s Deepsleep Narcotics Company; at 10 pm, local faves Stevedore; then at 11 pm, it’s Apple War. Jessie tells the story of the first three years’ highlights in this post on the Skylark “blog”; if you haven’t checked out the main Skylark website lately, the calendar’s just been redone – see it here. We have a soft spot for Skylark not just because they sponsor the West Seattle Weekend Lineup, but because to our knowledge, it remains the only restaurant to mention WSB on its menu (we get a nod on the tater tots because of this semi-legendary WSB post from almost two years ago, in which we asked folks for their idea of “West Seattle dishes to die for”). Anyway, the party goes till closing time — happy birthday, Skylark! ADDED LATER: DJ Baba James using Washington place names as lyrics – didn’t you just know Walla Walla has always belonged in a song?
Last reminder – 5:30-6:45 pm tonight, be at the Admiral Theater for the (free!) party celebrating West Seattle’s debut as a Seattle International Film Festival venue – free treats and fun – full details here, along with details on the Skylark Club and Cafe (WSB sponsor) third birthday party tonight. Other weekend highlights include the Southwest Seattle Historical Society‘s bike tour, fundraising fun for ArtsWest, Transitional Resources and the Community School of West Seattle … GardenFest at SSCC … Holy Rosary‘s centennial begins with the Homecoming Mass and Lunch … the big Open House at Mural Apartments (WSB sponsor) … a weekendlong Plant Sale to raise money for Furry Faces Foundation with pet adoption added on Sunday … more than FIFTY events ahead in the full West Seattle Weekend Lineup, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club:Read More
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