West Seattle, Washington
21 Saturday
Fans were already lined up through the produce section at West Seattle Thriftway this morning waiting for “Captain Phil” from the “Deadliest Catch” reality show — who signed autographs for about two hours on behalf of his new coffee company:
As fans had mentioned in the comments following our original WSB preview of his appearance, he’s had some health trouble, so we asked how he’s doing:
As you can tell from what he said in that video (sorry about the background noise – new mike’s on order, after a week of shooting events in very loud places), Captain Phil is proud of his “Deadliest Blend” (the name stirs memories of the triple-strength grind we made during overnight radio shifts decades ago, but thank heavens coffee’s come a long way since then) – you can read more about Captain Phil’s coffee here. We also dropped by the West Seattle Farmers’ Market to see how things were going at the Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle booth:
Mary Ellen Cunningham of CHoSS (pictured with Anthony Hardt of Left Coast Dog Walkers) hadn’t gotten any produce donations yet when we dropped by but was thrilled anyway because her group’s getting new citywide publicity – a KING5 tv crew stopped by the booth (look for the story on tonight’s newscasts). Community Harvest has other big news – as noted on its website, the fruit-tree harvest (if your tree has more than you can eat, donate its fruit and they’ll send volunteers over to harvest it) has already brought in more than A TON of fruit – more than twice last year’s total – and the season’s not over yet!
Atlas Stringband is playing at the annual Village Green Perennial Nursery (WSB sponsor) halibut barbecue (here’s the backstory) till 3 pm. As co-publisher Patrick put it after shooting that video, “They’re GOOD!” Meantime, here’s nursery owner Vera Johnson and halibut-catching husband Bill Curtin cooking, followed by a photo of the mid-barbecue crowd:
One more event under way till 3 pm — at High Point Library, you can meet one of the architects who helped design it, Brad Miller of Miller Hayashi Architects, and enjoy free coffee/snacks. This is part of a daylong, citywide celebration of Seattle Public Libraries (some other branches around Seattle have architects on hand too) — and at any library, till 6 pm, you can get a free “passport” that you can take to any and all libraries between now and January 2nd to get stamped (read more about it here).
The centerpiece of tonight’s High Point Neighborhood Association meeting was a presentation about Somali/East African culture – including Gurey Faarah (pictured) talking to attendees. Non-Somali speakers on hand got a bit of a language lesson too (sample, from a handout distributed tonight: “Nabad miyaa” means “how are you?” – literally “are you at peace?”). All this, under a peaceful moonrise (which we photographed near the meeting scene at the Commons Park Amphitheater):
High Point doesn’t currently have a venue in the West Seattle Second Thursday Art Walk, but almost everywhere else in West Seattle does, from Delridge to Alki to The Junction and beyond. WSB video cam #1 (celebrating its first anniversary tonight!) was along for the ride at Twilight Art Collective, where Grayface (Christopher Hydinger on keyboards, and Space) played:
Then we strolled up the street for a look at art we thought WSB dog fans might enjoy – canine portraits at Clementine by Janet Wold:
Next West Seattle Art Walk is October 9th.
It was fun while it lasted, but now it’s over: Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) barista Blayne got kicked off “Project Runway” tonight (along with Terri), after a design that judges called “a joke.” However: “No one is sorrier to see you go than I am,” PR regular Tim Gunn told him. “You can’t second-guess yourself,” Blayne said cheerily and circumspectly, referring to himself. We’ve got someone at the Ginomai viewing party, so we’ll add reaction from there when we get it. ADDED EARLY THURSDAY MORNING: Here’s what Blayne’s Hotwire boss Lora Lewis told the WSB video crew afterward:Read More
If you wondered what a lantern would look like in the new Alki Statue of Liberty pedestal – there’s two views of the answer: A soft blue. That’s one of the lights that graced tonight’s sunset concert capping the daylong dedication event, along with luminarias on the seawall:
While the bagged candles gently flickered (with a precautionary fire extinguisher here and there!), Jeanette Anderson played piano, accompanied by violin, on a waterfront stage – hmm, how about an Alki sunset concert series next year?
A few more sights and sounds from today (besides the unveiling and ribboncutting video featured in our earlier report), just ahead:Read More
(video no longer available due to blip.tv shutdown)
Almost exactly a year after the recast Alki Statue of Liberty was unveiled for the first time – it was unveiled again this afternoon during the dedication ceremony for the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza, which also included a ribboncutting for the plaza itself — as you can see in our video, a beautiful sight with a city fireboat show just offshore (and a little bit of a breeze-fueled snag before the draping came off!). Hundreds of people were on hand, including many who worked on the project, and even some of the men (like Harald Sund, featured in this P-I story) who were among the Boy Scouts that helped dedicate the original statue (which is now on display at the Log House Museum‘s gift shop) more than half a century ago; the city was represented by West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen (who chairs the Parks and Seattle Center Committee) and Parks Department Deputy Superintendent Christopher Williams (they’re standing screen-right from Plaza Project Committee co-chairs Paul and Libby Carr in this short clip of the ribboncutting):
(video no longer available due to blip.tv shutdown)
We’ll add a few more notes and images later, but first an advisory: If you’re going to the luminaria-lit concert at the plaza tonight, it was announced at the ceremony that the time has been moved up to 7 pm – we’ll have some video of the concert, luminaria, and hopefully the new pedestal’s lantern, in addition to some more of today’s sights and sounds. (All WSB Alki Statue of Liberty coverage is archived here, including many updates from the past 14 months of plaza fundraising and construction.)
That’s the group of zombie wannabes who turned out for the first practice of the West Seattle “Thrill the World” group, tonight at Ginomai right before the weekly “Project Runway” viewing party. It’s not too late to get involved — you can show up next Wednesday at 8 pm; that’s the weekly rehearsal time, leading up to the October 25 performance as part of the world-record attempt. Now, as for “Project Runway,” we’re still in no-home-page-spoilers mode, so click ahead to see how tonight’s episode went for Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) barista Blayne, and what Blayne’s boss had to say about it afterward:Read More
That’s video of the Denny Middle School Marching Band — directed by Marcus Pimpleton. The band was the opening act this morning for the biggest media event of Seattle Public Schools‘ first day of classes, with a guest list including district Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson, Mayor Nickels, West Seattle school-board rep Steve Sundquist, not to mention a sizable contingent of cameras, as you can see in the video. (We brought you a brief update on this shortly after it happened; now, here are full details.) The most important guests of all, the audience — Denny’s brand-new sixth-grade class, which had the school all to themselves today, since the 7th and 8th graders don’t arrive till tomorrow. With two exceptions: Two 8th graders spoke as part of a presentation about a college-scholarship program — read on to see what they had to say:Read More
As promised, here are more details on the bus plan that county leaders announced today — yards away from the area where the Alaskan Way Viaduct’s South End work is set to start next spring — the project that will trigger extra service to areas including West Seattle:Read More
That’s Addie Killam of Highland Park, getting ready to ride her new hand-operated bike along Alki this morning. If Addie’s name sounds familiar but you just can’t quite place it – we first told you about her in this April report, when news came that she had become paralyzed after a freak surfing injury. Later, friends, family, neighbors, and WSB’ers worked to help fix up a house so she could come home to West Seattle this past June after weeks of rehab in a Colorado hospital. Now, Addie’s in training for a special Mike Utley Foundation fundraising ride coming up in about a month. Along the Alki bike path, we talked to her for a moment before her training ride this morning:
The Mike Utley Foundation raises money “to find a cure for paralysis”; Utley’s story is detailed here — he is a Seattle native who was a football star at Burien’s John F. Kennedy High School and then at WSU, followed by two years in the NFL, till the injury that paralyzed him in 1991. He underwent rehab at the same place in Craig, Colorado, where Addie spent time earlier this year. Now he lives in Wenatchee, where she’ll be riding her new bike in the 50-mile Dam2Dam on September 27:
Addie’s looking for sponsors for next month’s ride; to find out how to help, check out this post on the blog about her ongoing recovery – it’s got full details on what to do (you can also go directly to this page on the Mike Utley Foundation website – just make sure you fill in Addie Killam’s name).
(Short video clip of the brightly lit Royal Argosy under dark clouds post-dusk tonight, just south of Alki Point)
We were checking the ferry system’s website to see how Holiday Getaway Night was going, when we noticed the Port Townsend run was having trouble because of “high seas and wind”; checked our forecast and “gusts up to 30 mph” have been added to the city outlook for later tonight. Here’s the forecast.
That’s what West Seattle-residing mega-best-selling author Terry Brooks told a standing-room-only audience last night at Westwood Village Barnes and Noble: While he’s on tour to promote the newly released third book in his “Genesis of Shannara” series, the book he just finished writing – yesterday! – is the first addition in a decade-plus to his “Magic Kingdom” books (catalogued on his website as “Landover”). Last night’s event marked the third consecutive year he brought his book tour to “his neighborhood store,” as B&N-WV community-relations manager Robin Ennis-Cantwell called it. Ahead, listen to Brooks talk about what else he sees ahead, and about a book his playwright sister has just published:Read More
How’d he do in a crazy fashion challenge about car parts? Read on:Read More
That’s video of the West Seattle High School cheerleaders who welcomed guests to the first-ever Back-to-School Breakfast Bash this morning, presented by the WSHS Foundation. We also rolled a WSB vidcam on the West Seattle High School small ensemble, under the direction of WSHS music director Coach Rutherford (on bass), playing the Peter Gunn theme:
We had to duck out early, but dignitaries slated to appear at the event included WSHS alum and King County Councilmember Dow Constantine as well as Seattle Public Schools superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson. While various orientation and preparation activities have been under way for quite some time, the official first day of school for the district is one week from today (Wednesday 9/3).
Last night, for the second year in a row, Mars Hill Church members gathered at Alki for a celebration including water baptisms in ever-chilly Puget Sound. But this year’s event had none of the showiness and spectacle of last year’s “Hallelujahpalooza” (WSB coverage here) — not terribly surprising, considering the church made a point, in advance, of saying this was mainly for its West Seattle branch, not a citywide bash. Indeed, instead of MH network-wide leader Mark Driscoll, the Alki event was run this time around by WS pastor Adam Sinnett – more video ahead:Read More
That’s an eight-second peek inside The Bohemian (3405 California; map) from our visit a few days ago. At the time, proprietor Jason Todd Rice wasn’t ready to speculate on when they would finally be able to open — but we just called to check before posting this story, and he told us the health inspector’s given thumbs up, so they’re expecting to open their daytime cafe operations as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, with the nighttime/bar operations a week or so later, pending state signoff on that. Read on to see what else he told us about how things are shaping up:Read More
Leave it to Lora Lewis of Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) to keep throwing a curveball into each West Seattle Movies on the Wall showing this summer — tonight, it was a juggling competition (with balls provided to showgoers by co-sponsor Viking Bank), which ended in a dusk juggle-off (shown in the video clip above) between Mike (white shirt) and Mark; Mike won the $25 Pagliacci Pizza gift card. “Galaxy Quest” was the perfect laugh-out-loud conclusion to the movie series, which WSB’ers (via online “voting”) and Junction visitors (via “ballot boxes”) helped shape — the five previous movies were “Finding Nemo,” “Ghostbusters,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “The Goonies,” and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” Only one rainout – “Nemo” on 8/9, successfully rescheduled to this past Thursday – and no serious glitches, just a ton of fun. Thanks to Lora and the other West Seattle businesspeople who made the series possible (WSB was a co-sponsor this year too); we’re looking forward to next summer already. P.S. There is one more outdoor movie in West Seattle before summer ends — High Point Community Center is showing “The Wizard of Oz” next Thursday night; center coordinator Brian Judd suggests you get there by 6.
That’s Steve Rice and Big Squeezy, in the last of four outdoor summer concerts at Providence Mount St. Vincent (WSB sponsor) last night. As was the case with the preceding three concerts, this one drew an all-ages crowd, from young-at-heart Mount residents, to young-in-chronology visitors like these:
Thanks to Karen Berge for sharing that photo (and others from the earlier concerts). We’re already looking forward to next year; meantime, if you’re looking for more music – we also shot video last night for White Center Now at the Cafe Rozella (here) and Full Tilt (here) shows – and there’s more music at Full Tilt tonight (more here).
Still adhering to the “no spoilers on the home page” rule. Still going to the weekly “Project Runway” viewing parties at Ginomai, just around the corner from Blayne’s place-o-employment, Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor). So read on for a few lines on how Blayne did tonight and what his Hotwire boss Lora Lewis had to say about it:Read More
In the same spot where we first saw a signature-gatherer with anti-bag-fee petitions eight days ago, by the southwest door at Thriftway, CoolMom.org co-founder Kristy Royce of West Seattle (with some help!) showed support for it this afternoon by giving out free reusable shopping bags. A group of north-end CoolMoms had something similar planned at a store in their area.
We showed you a couple photos while Picnic at the Precinct was in full swing Saturday afternoon – but that was just in-progress coverage, for anyone checking here who hadn’t been yet. Today, the full report.
First – you see his name here all the time – but we don’t recall having shown you a photo before – that’s Southwest Precinct Lt. Steve Paulsen at right, with Segway-riding traffic-enforcement officer L. James, who explained the two-wheelers are not just used because they’re cool:
Her face-painting, by the way (which was offered free to picnicgoers), said ‘Beep-Beep.’ Of course.
The event really was all about people – and your chance to meet the ones who work hard to keep you safe – better to meet them, oh, say, handing out free ice cream, than showing up in your neighborhood chasing baddies:
That’s Officer Brian Ballew from the Community Police Team. It was a perfect day for ice cream, but the nearby hot dogs tasted pretty good too (or so the Junior Member of the Team tells us). More pictures, including the Arson Bomb Squad robot unit, ahead:Read More
That’s the $13 million High Point Neighborhood Center that should be up and running by fall of next year; an unconventional “groundbreaking” ceremony and community celebration on Saturday moved the project to its next stage, even as fundraising continues (leaders from the parent agency, Neighborhood House, revealed that $10.6 million of that money already is in hand). One speaker had a slip of the tongue and almost called the event a “groundbaking,” appropriate enough given the sizzling midday heat at the Commons Park Amphitheater, where ceremony attendees were summoned with the rhythms of African group Naby Camara:
(video no longer available because of blip.tv shutdown)
The actual groundbreaking itself didn’t involve the traditional dignitaries with shovels; instead, it involved stones, handed out to attendees beforehand, with pens, for them to inscribe the stones with their hope/dream for Neighborhood Center. See how that worked – and hear short highlights from many of the speakers — just ahead:Read More
That’s the crowd from one of at least two Breast Cancer 3Day fundraisers in West Seattle this weekend — left to right, the grownups in the photo are Kyle Minaglia, Jennifer Carlson, Amanda Armstrong, and Kristi Keithly. Kristi had e-mailed WSB to let us know about her fundraising barbecue at 62nd/Admiral tonight; she’s working to get to her fundraising goal. She’ll be in the 3Day (which reportedly will travel through West Seattle again this year; here’s our coverage from last year) in honor of a dear old friend, diagnosed with breast cancer and not even 40 yet. The story’s a lot like that of 33-year-old West Seattleite Tracy Dart, who is blogging here about her breast-cancer battle — and getting ready for the 3Day with a fundraiser outside West 5 this coming Sunday, 11 am-6 pm. Meantime, back in the Alki area, the Community Center‘s advisory council was barbecuing tonight too:
The council helps keep things humming at this community hub, and put on the event as a community thank-you (and an opportunity to get the word out about the ongoing need for volunteer help). Now we head south to The Mount, where tonight’s outdoor concert drew a sizable crowd to enjoy the always-fabulous West Seattle Big Band:
Providence Mount St. Vincent (WSB sponsor) has one more Friday night concert to go – next week it’s Steve Rice and Big Squeezy. To go with our video clip from tonight, here’s a photo just sent to us by Karen:
And one more photo from WSB-land — it wouldn’t be a REAL West Seattle summer night without a spectacular sunset:
Thanks to Relaena Sindelar for sharing that incredible view.
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