West Seattle, Washington
18 Wednesday
(Chris Holm, Gwen Schwenzer, Georgie Kunkel, Elaine Russell and Anita Lusk)
By Christopher Boffoli
West Seattle Blog contributing journalist
There was a completely different version of West Seattle on display this afternoon: one in which people were happy to work for 59 cents an hour and bought their houses for $3,500 cash. A group of local “Rosie the Riveters” hosted a presentation, to a large group of residents of Providence Mount St. Vincent and their guests, based on their experiences as aircraft workers in Seattle during World War II.
Georgie Kunkel, Chris Holm, Anita Lusk and Gwen Schwenzer all worked in aircraft production in some capacity during the war years. Elaine Russell, and many other women like her, worked in a supporting role that freed up men to go off to the War to fight. They were trailblazers at a time when it was uncommon for women to even be employed outside of the home, let alone be dressed in coveralls and drilling holes through airplane wings.
“I was always adventurous, “ said Anita Lusk, a native of Wisconsin. “I’ve had a lifetime of mountaineering and sky diving and had that sense of adventure from early on. So the idea of moving to Seattle to take a job with Boeing was exciting to me.” Ms. Lusk and a friend, barely in their 20‘s, had been hired on the spot at a hotel in Milwaukee by a Boeing recruiter and took a train west for the first time in their lives. It apparently didn’t matter that they were young, single woman moving to a strange city on their own. “It was a different time. We were young, adventurous girls and Boeing seemed desperate to find employees. My friend and I lived in a boarding house and I worked at Boeing Plant 2 installing radio components in B-17’s.” She added, “Seattle was smaller then. Mercer Island was a forest of trees. If I knew what I know now I would have bought land out there.”
Chris Holm also answered the call for workers and moved to Seattle from St. Paul, Minnesota where she had previously worked in a factory processing meat. Her older sister had come to Seattle before her so she knew what to expect. “It wasn’t hard to get a job in the mid 1940’s. All of the young men were away fighting in the War so there was plenty of work. I worked for Puget Sound Sheet Metal works, adjacent to Boeing Plant 2, riveting bulkhead assemblies on B-29’s. It was important for the steel rivets to be very hard so they were kept on dry ice. We worked a lot. Usually 10-12 hours a day, seven days a week. I was delighted to be paid 59 cents an hour and I was able to save a lot of money.”
The War punctuated the end of the Great Depression, offering well-paid employment to people who had struggled with poverty for many years. Though they quickly became experts in airplane construction, few had ever flown in one and wouldn’t have an opportunity to travel by plane until decades after the War. Gwen Schwenzer explained, “A lot of people had been poor before that. I was very happy to be paid 69 cents an hour to work at a facility connected to Boeing at Lake Union.” Ms. Schwenzer worked on both B-29 and B-19 aircraft, riveting from the inside as a “bucker” would stand outside of the fuselage with a hardened piece of steel that would receive the end of the rivet and form it smoothly against the skin of the aircraft. “It was very important to rivet straight.” she said, “The worst part of it was getting used to eating our dinner with dirty hands as you get awfully dirty when you’re riveting. But I enjoyed the work and appreciated having money to put towards our house.”
“When we were working the money just piled up,” said Ms. Holm. “We were able to buy our house at 14th and SW Holden for $3,500 cash. It was small but we were able to add onto it as our family grew and we never went into debt. I still live there now.” Despite the long hours and seven day work schedule, there was still time for fun. “There were so many activities and events,” added Ms. Holm. “I loved going to the Trianon Ballroom, which on those days was at 3rd Avenue and Wall Street downtown. Harry James, Tommy Dorsey and lots of big bands came to town. Sometimes they would do radio broadcasts from there. And there were always lots of servicemen around to dance with.”
Georgie Kunkel played songs on the piano today before the start of the Rosie the Riveter program. And in between the stories, she led the audience in sing-a-longs of music that was popular in the 1940’s. “There was so much romance then,” said Ms. Kunkel. “All of the songs were about women who were waiting for their men to come home. We just don’t have that kind of romance now. In those days the women waited. I’m not so sure they’d wait now.” Ms. Kunkel met her husband only a month before he went overseas with the American Field Services. Shortly after he left he proposed to her by letter saying simply “consider yourself engaged.” When she and her husband were selected to appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 1989 for a show about letters from the War, Ms. Kunkel confessed that she had forgotten how exactly she had answered her husband’s surprising proposal. “Fortunately, he kept all of my letters in a coffee can during the two years that he drove an ambulance during the War. When I went back through and found my response to him I had written: “I haven’t known you long enough but I will wait.”
Ms. Kunkel worked at a Boeing factory in Chehalis, in Lewis County, drilling holes in wing panels on B-17’s. Like the others, she enjoyed her work immensely. Despite common stories of women being teased and mistreated by men at the factories who didn’t approve of having women on the line, all of the “Rosies” who worked at Boeing said that their work experiences were trouble-free with small exceptions. “I do recall that whenever something would go wrong, like if a rivet hole was not drilled squarely, the leadman would always come to me first and try to lay the blame on me. It was hard to drill straight holes. You had to eyeball it. But I knew my holes were straight.” The woman often faced greater gender challenges outside of their wartime work experiences. One of the women on the panel told a story of being asked to vacate an apartment as soon as the building manager learned she was pregnant as “they didn’t want any babies there.” And Ms. Kunkel related her experiences years later working as a teacher when she was repeatedly fired and re-hired after becoming pregnant and having her children. She would have to subsequently re-enter the school system at the lowest pay grade and work her way back up each time.
As essential as their work had been during the war effort, their departure from the factories was swift at the War’s conclusion. “We were all really surprised when the War ended,” said Ms. Kunkel. “They came over the loudspeaker and announced that the War was over. We were marched out of the factory that day and most of us never went back.” Ms. Holm returned to work for Boeing after the War as a file clerk, but at a fraction of her pay on the line. “I was happy to leave when the men came back,” said Ms. Schwenzer. “The men needed their jobs back.”
As the women transitioned to the roles of being wives and mothers, some of their paths wandered from Seattle. Ms. Lusk had been married in California during the War while her husband was on leave. “He was a wonderful artist. While he was overseas he would draw elaborate sketches on the correspondence he would send home.” Ms. Lusk had many of his impressively illustrated letters on display during the presentation. “After the War we moved to Colorado where my husband taught art. But he was eventually recruited by Boeing. We first went to live in Wichita, Kansas which wasn’t my favorite place. But I was delighted when they moved us back to Seattle because I loved it so much here.”
Most of the women would all ultimately return to Boeing in style when years later they were honored at a luncheon and when a permanent plaque was placed in their honor at the Boeing plant. Each was proud of the small but important part they played in the hugely successful effort of the “Greatest Generation” to save the world from Fascism. With their presentation today, illustrated with love letters from people separated by war, and photographs of working women that would become iconic images for the Feminist movement, the women are perhaps among the most humble heroes of West Seattle.
That’s how WSB’er “Westseattledood” headlined her e-mail, which included the following amazing tale, and the photo shown above:
My dog and I came back into West Seattle this afternoon after enjoying a hike through Seward Park. We stopped at the 35th & Avalon 7-11 for a can of pop just as rush hour traffic was beginning at this infamously busy intersection. The entire parking lot was completely full, except for one slot on the east side of the parking lot. I pulled in and decided after a brief cost/benefit analysis, to the leave the back window down so the Big Dog, the dood, could continue to hang his head out the window and watch all the comings and goings while I dashed in. I was quite mindful of the sketchy characters congregating around the car, but decided to take the chance and pop in and out.
I was in the store for about one minute, as there were no other customers. As I walked past all the cars to the end of the building, I cleared the last big truck adjacent to mine, I saw my car was not where I left it. My stomach dropped out of me. And, I was worried that someone would steal the dog! Someone had stolen the car! I did not leave the keys in! My god, they were unbelievably quick! I looked around the parking lot and just as quickly, I heard a woman directly across Avalon to the south (where the new building is going in), screaming and waving her arms. She was standing by my car, which was now angled parked into the cyclone fence of the construction site.
I flew across the parking lot, waited for traffic on Avalon to slow and crossed to my car. Somehow the truck rolled all the way from the top of the lot down through the narrow driveway of the parking lot, across four lanes of rush hour traffic to roll to a gentle stop across the street. The dog, oblivious to any harm, remained stationed at the rear window, as can be seen in the photograph attached.
My dog and I are clearly surrounded by angels. The angels, of course, are assigned to my good dog. I am merely the beneficiary by association.
PS. And, of course, I’ll be getting a new parking brake immediately.
Highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
911: When to call it, and when not to? Not as easy an answer as you might think. The West Seattle Crime Prevention Council has been pursuing concerns about citizen confusion and dispatcher response, and has the Seattle Police 911 boss as a special guest at tonight’s meeting. 7 pm, Southwest Precinct meeting room (map), and as always, you’ll also get the chance to learn about the latest West Seattle crime concerns and trends, as well as asking police any questions you have about what’s going on where you live.
WWII: The Rosie the Riveters of West Seattle are presenting a program about their lives during World War II at 2 pm today, cafe dining room at Providence Mount St. Vincent.
ANTIQUE SHOPPING: The folks at the Discovery Shop in The Junction (4535 California SW), which raises money for the American Cancer Society, are having their “yearly antique event,” open 10 am-4:30 pm daily except Sundays.
TAX HELP: Trained volunteers will be at the High Point Library branch, 5-7 pm tonight, to help you prepare a personal tax return. More info here.
Earlier Monday, we mentioned the deadline to sign up for West Seattle Girls Softball; we’ve since heard from West Seattle Pee Wee Baseball president Eric Olson, saying their deadline’s fast approaching too:
Wednesday is the last chance to save money on registration with West Seattle Pee Wee Baseball. After Wednesday, registration for the Pinto and Mustang divisions closes when all the teams are full. We accept t-ball registrations for a few more weeks. West Seattle Pee Wee has been offering fun and competitive baseball for West Seattlites ages 5-10 years old for more than 50 years. We offer scholarships for those in need. All of our games are played at our own baseball complex located at the Lower Riverview
fields. You can register at www.westseattlepeewee.com.
(12/08 Alki photo by Cathy Woo)
Remember those long weeks of being barely able to get out of the house? Some speculated a baby boom might result … and in fact, two three FOUR *FIVE* people have announced their impending parenthood today this week in the WSB Forums. (Anyone else?)
(2008 TV feature on Mateo Messina and his work for “Juno”)
A news release from the The Symphony Guild calls our attention to the fact that the recently announced Grammy Awards included one for a West Seattle native son: Mateo Messina, who shared Best Compilation Soundtrack for the hit movie “Juno.” As the news release notes, Messina is now based in California but writes and produces a concert every year to raise money for “uncompensated care” at Children’s Hospital; the next one is November 6th of this year, with the theme “Symphony of the Superhero.”
We told you about this growing effort – last night was the first open meeting to discuss how to make it happen, and Galena White has posted a report on the co-op website – including:
We all agreed that a working mission statement could be, “Bring inexpensive organic produce to Delridge.” We’d like to see a storefront as soon as possible, but we know that we need lots more people to get involved to make that happen. Most of us liked the idea of a Mobile Market, with the exception of Jen, who has experience in that area and says that: while a Mobile Market could be useful, in the long term she thinks that a storefront would work better. We were all interested in the prospect of a cafe attached to a storefront that would use the fresh ingredients at their peak of ripeness, because Delridge lacks a healthy restaurant.
As Galena mentions in the full report, there’s still plenty of time to get involved – next meeting’s next week.
Just spotted this while searching Google News: Coming up at 2:50 pm – on the air at 94.9 FM or online at kuow.org – Darwin’s 200th “birthday” is commemorated in a chat with West Seattle author and birder Lyanda Lynn Haupt (mentioned here last year because of an honor for her book “Crow Planet“).
The final tally’s in for the WestSide Baby fundraising tea last weekend – a sellout crowd for the first time ever – and executive director Nancy Woodland sends along the official announcement:
WestSide Baby’s Annual Tea fundraiser generated a sell-out crowd of more than 460 attendees and raised nearly $70,000 to help South King County families in need.
The Annual Tea was held on Sunday, February 8, at the Brockey Center on South Seattle’s Community College campus. Each year, table captains provide their own tea service so their guests can enjoy afternoon refreshments and socializing. The event focused on the impact WestSide Baby has in supporting more than 12,000 local children in 2008 and guests made financial contributions to support programs. “The guests who gathered for the Tea recognized the obviously increasing importance of supporting children in need our community. This response is critical to our mission because 96% of our financial support comes from individuals and small businesses,” said Nancy Woodland, Executive Director.
This year, twenty-one local business Sponsors covered the costs of the event while an additional nine offered gifts for give-aways. “The generous spirit of local small businesses is astounding during economic times like these. Business support like this is critical to pulling off an event of this magnitude without directing other funds away from immediate community needs for items such as diapers and clothing.” Woodland said. Since opening in 2001, WestSide Baby has distributed over $6 million worth of clothing, toys, baby gear, and other items.
The sponsors are listed on this page of the WestSide Baby website; meantime, you can help WestSide Baby too – its website will show you how.
Today we’re welcoming the latest WSB sponsor, Roger Steiner. As always, we ask sponsors to share information you might like to know, and here’s more from Roger: 
He is a residential real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Danforth, and is dedicated to helping buyers in West Seattle have a great real estate experience. “We moved to West Seattle from the Central District in 2004, and I immediately fell in love. I grew up in Ketchum, Idaho, and I feel like West Seattle has this wonderful energy much like a little resort town. We’re surrounded by so much natural beauty, there’s a strong sense of community, and neighbors who truly care about one another- there’s so much to see and experience right here – and yet, if you want to do the big city thing, it’s literally right over there.” Prior to joining Coldwell Banker in 2008, Roger was an agent in the Belltown office of Windermere Wall Street. Although he has helped buyers and sellers all over Seattle, and does most of his business through friends and referrals, he hopes to expand his business by reaching out to folks who are considering buying in West Seattle. “I love working with buyers, especially first-time buyers, because it’s like solving a puzzle together- talking people through the process, helping them figure out what their priorities are, what is realistic for them, and then going on the big Treasure Hunt. And right now it’s great, because buyers get to be choosy, take their time, and negotiate. Combined with historically low interest rates, the market being tilted way in the buyer’s favor for a change, and the fact that the government is continuing to offer tax credit incentives to many buyers, for many folks it’s a perfect storm for buying, if you’re in a place to be considering it.” Contact Roger Steiner today if you’re considering a move, and let him know you saw his ad on WSB! (All our sponsors are listed here, where you can also find information on how to join them.)
Just posted at seattlepi.com, a report on today’s 80th birthday celebration for mountaineer twins Lou and Jim Whittaker, reminiscing about getting their start on West Seattle hills. (They’ve since moved away.)
That’s what Stacey Bushaw told us about an hour ago, looking around at what she called “the second wave” of people filling Talarico’s for this afternoon’s benefit, raising money for the family of her cousin Steve Bushaw, shot outside the Junction restaurant one week ago tonight. “Half the people here, I don’t even know!” Stacey marveled. In addition to the capacity crowd inside, some gathered outside — among them, two police officers, a reminder that Steve’s killers have not yet been caught. Near the back of the restaurants, photos and tributes – some originally created for the streetside memorial last Monday – were set up steps away from the stage:
Under that table, people had placed bouquets of flowers – and a soccer ball, in tribute to the sport in which Steve excelled:
Stacey told us that Talarico’s covered the cost of both the pizza and the music, so all proceeds for the afternoon – and what she described as many generous extra donations – would go toward the benefit. All in all, she said, it’s been a weekend full of people showing support and love – she said the private funeral at Forest Lawn yesterday also drew an overflow crowd, more than 400 people. A video tribute to her cousin was shown twice during this afternoon’s benefit, and a printed copy of the eulogy was posted in the memorial area by the stage:
Stacey explained that the video closed with a line also seen on the poster for the benefit – “Our circle of love will never be broken” – because of family significance: It was a line of solace on the printed memorial program when the cousins lost their grandmother several years back, and Stacey says Steve had it tattooed across his chest, with his surname on one arm, his mother’s maiden surname on the other. She remarked again about how grateful their large extended family was for this weekend’s outpouring from friends, relatives, and other community members: “All this, for my little cousin.” Meantime, we are checking daily with police for any word of a break in the case.
Didn’t know this till we read the Times obituary: Salty’s spokesperson Eileen Mintz died a week ago. We never got to meet her in person, but appreciated her swift responses to our Salty’s-related queries, including the one that resulted in this 1/08 update on a potential Salty’s hotel. In our correspondence 
at the time, she mentioned her fight against cancer, while cheerily declaring herself “too busy to die.” Ms. Mintz was 66; the eulogy given for her by TV reporter Herb Weisbaum can be read on the Salty’s site, where she had written monthly “Mintz Her Words” updates; a memorial website is set up here (screen grab at left).
Those are the two local students who recently posted a note in the WSB Forums that caught our eye. It read, in part:
Our names are Grace Puffert and Mary Griffin and we’re seniors at Seattle Lutheran High School. Every year, each senior is required to create and execute a senior project that should in some way give back and benefit the community. We decided to have a community Fashion Show in order to raise money for Providence Mount Saint Vincent Nursing Home (where we both are volunteers) here in West Seattle.
The theme of our fashion show is “Fashion through the Ages” (WORKING ON A BETTER TITLE!). Our hope is to exhibit clothing from each era beginning with 1900. So this is where you come in, if anyone would like to donate or lend clothing (era-oriented) or their services to helping us put this show on, it would be GREATLY appreciated. We really would like to bring together the entire West Seattle community on this project
Grace and Mary (left/right in the photo above) got some quick e-mail replies, and one was from us – to arrange a chat with them to find out more about what they’re doing and how you can help. So we sat down at a local coffeehouse one recent night to chat …Read More
That’s the poster that Stacey Bushaw tells WSB has been distributed throughout West Seattle to invite everyone to this Sunday afternoon’s event benefiting the family of her cousin, Steve Bushaw, the 26-year-old man shot and killed in The Junction last Sunday night. The two men who shot him are still on the loose; police have not provided any new information, so all we know is what we originally reported (here’s our coverage from the night it happened, plus followups the next morning and afternoon).
High-school students have a lot more responsibilities these days than we recall from way back when. Community-service requirements, and senior projects, among them. We’ve heard lately from a couple students with amazing-sounding projects – including this: The photo above shows Emily Meyer with her mom Betsy Meyer, who died last fall after years of battling early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, chronicled in a remarkable Seattle Times series (linked from this story about her death). Emily, a senior at Seattle Lutheran High School, e-mailed us this week to say that she’s planning a benefit to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association in her mom’s memory, and even though the event isn’t happening in West Seattle, she wondered if we could announce it here:
Remember This Benefit
Friday, February 27th, 2009
Doors open at 7:30pm; Show starts at 8:00pm
At The Vera Project
Located on the corner of Warren & Republican Ave N, next to the Key Arena in Seattle Center
Tickets: $8 in advance, $10 day of show
All ages are invited
www.myspace.com/rememberthisbenefit
Join us for a benefit concert with incredible musical performances by Kids and Animals, On the Last Day and more! Proceeds go to the Alzheimer’s Association in memory of the late Betsy Meyer, Seattle Times memorable person of the year. For more information contact the benefit coordinator, Emily Meyer, Betsy’s 18-year-old daughter, at 206.719.7188.
It’s in the WSB Events calendar, too. Meantime, we’re working on a story about two of Emily’s classmates, who announced their senior project recently in the WSB Forums, and are looking for help – look for that story tomorrow.
As mentioned in our previous post, the representative for the group with the $6.8 million winning Lotto ticket sold at Admiral 7-11 (original WSB report here) has claimed the check. He declined an interview but the Washington State Lottery sent the photo above and this news release with info:
This past Monday was not just another typical Monday for the members of Josal Partners. While reading the morning paper over a cup of tea, they realized they had won the $6.8 million Lotto jackpot.
“Incredulity would sum up the reaction,” joked John Gose, the group’s managing partner. Gose, who spoke on behalf of Josal Partners, is an attorney and an ex-marine. The partners’ reactions were clearly incredulous.
“Lottery is a daydreaming game and daydreams change from day to day,” said Gose about why the group plays. Whatever their daydreams were that day, they are a reality now.
The winners, who were skeptical about their “incredulous” situation, were sure to check additional sources to confirm the win after initially seeing their numbers in the Seattle Times. “I’m not good with numbers!” joked Gose. So one of the partners took the ticket to a “very accurate” accountant, who instantly proclaimed, “No #@%$, you won!,” after giving the ticket a good look.
“The win has provided funds that would not have otherwise been available,” explained Gose. “The money will be going toward paying off debts and providing education for children and grandchildren.” Another member of the partners added there has also been some talk of shopping for a new truck.
The winners said that this was their first time experiencing a big Lottery win. The same can’t be said of the store that sold the ticket. The West Seattle 7-Eleven where the winning ticket was purchased has sold a big Lotto jackpot before. A Federal Way man won $11 million in 1994. As part of the Lottery’s retail program, this 7-11 will be receiving a retail bonus of $68,000.
Gose had some interesting logic to share for all potential Lottery winners out there about picking numbers, “A five is cuter than a three, and fours are different.” Keep that in mind next time you play.
Flowers and other tributes have been placed at the scene of last night’s deadly shooting in The Junction (original report here, morning update here). No word of arrests yet, nor formal ID from the Medical Examiner’s office (the 26-year-old victim’s sister sent WSB e-mail early this morning but we have withheld his name pending official confirmation of the ID), but we are about to make another round of calls to check. We will have photos of the tributes shortly. Many people who knew the victim have already written tributes in the comments on our morning update, starting here. 3:37 PM UPDATE: Adding photos. The memorial was set up by three childhood friends of Steve; the table was provided by Talarico’s. To quote one of them, honest and raw: “This is so f—d up.” They are working on memorial plans, and they invite anyone who knew Steve to come down and write, or leave, a tribute. 3:49 PM UPDATE: The victim’s full name is now public: Steven Ray Bushaw, per the King County Medical Examiner’s office, cause of death reiterated as “multiple gunshot wounds.”
4:28 PM UPDATE: Just called police to ask if there’s ANYTHING new we can report. Officer Mark Jamieson in the media unit says, in a word, no. The last, and only, official description of the suspects is, “two black males in a white sedan” – they can’t even confirm the potential dreadlock-hairstyle detail that we picked up off the scanner last night (and of course, what’s heard on the scanner often changes in cases big and small as police receive conflicting information and have to sort through it). If you have ANY information that might help the investigation, call 911.
ADDED 4:42 PM: In comments, there’s a tribute mentioning that Steve Bushaw was a talented soccer player. While looking for online info, we found this link to a Times story from 11 years ago, about his role in a huge upset win for the West Seattle High School soccer team.
ADDED EARLY TUESDAY: We have e-mailed the family a request for a photo of Steve. Meantime, WSB’er Alice discovered he’s in her 1999 WSHS yearbook, and sent us the photo you see at left.
Thanks to three tipsters who heard this mentioned on TV last night and this morning – there was nothing online about it so we couldn’t mention it till we got it confirmed, but now we have. 
Washington State Lottery communications director Jacque Coe confirms that the one $6.8 million winning ticket from last night’s Lotto game was sold at the Admiral 7-11. She says the store was notified last night (and was checked with again this morning), and folks there are “very excited,” but the winner hasn’t officially come forward yet. If you happen to be the winner – or if you know the winner – here’s advice from Coe: SIGN THE TICKET. KEEP IT AWAY FROM HEAT SOURCES. AND — Call the nearest Lottery office tomorrow to make an appointment to claim your prize; she says you can’t just show up unannounced – they need to give you some information first to make sure everything will go smoothly when you get there. The office nearest West Seattle is in Federal Way; the number to Olympia headquarters is here. (Of course, we’d love to hear from The Big Winner too, although you’d have to show us the ticket – a former employer got hoaxed big-time by someone telling a [believable but not verified] tall tale.) Winning numbers, by the way: 5, 15, 24, 25, 35, 46.
For the second consecutive weekend, West Seattle teens helped clean up their community’s streets – last weekend, during the North Delridge Adopt-A-Street (WSB photo included here), and today, during the Admiral Neighborhood Association Adopt-A-Street. ANA president Mark Wainwright shared the above photo of Madison Middle School students who joined the operation (shown clowning around afterward with some of the big yellow bags of trash collected in the cleanup), and this update:
The kids are Dallas Baker, Lindsay Vanderpool, Sita Ross, Anton Summers, Megan Antalan, and Alexa Antalan (not in that order in the photo). It was awesome to have them there – they were all satisfying part of their volunteer hours for school. The bags of trash are behind them in the photo – of note were a set of tire chains and “millions” of the lane marker/bumps (what are these things called?).
A very successful day all in all. A big thanks should go out to Metropolitan Market and Dave Weitzel of Admiral-based Weitzel Construction, our two wonderful Admiral Adopt-a-Street sponsors. Met Market provides the meeting point, tables, chairs and great food and coffee, and Dave coordinates the event for our group (he’s a long-time member) and takes care of moving the trash to Hiawatha CC afterwards in his truck!
A quick shout out to two FANNA founders, Matthew Slye and Ann Limbaugh, who helped out today and want everyone to remember to attend their first design meeting for California Place Park coming up soon [Tuesday at 7 pm].
Great stuff… and no rain! We’ll be doing it again in approx. three months.
Matthew and Ann are in this photo we took at California/Lander (map) during the cleanup, along with Catherine Barker:
Other local organizations do cleanups too, including the Junction Neighborhood Organization; if you have one coming up and you’ve got room for more help, be sure we know about it so we can include it on the calendar (editor@wsb.blackfin.biz)!
You too can enjoy temporary use of spiffy orange vests, yellow bags, handy picker-upper gizmos, and more if you spend a few hours today doing what the folks in that clip did on the day we video’d them one year ago – join in the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s quarterly Adopt-a-Street cleanup. Meeting place is the same, Metropolitan Market, 9 am, free coffee and “light breakfast” treats. That’s just one of a TON of West Seattle happenings today and tonight – here’s the direct link to the Saturday section of our latest West Seattle Weekend Lineup. 10:06 AM UPDATE: Admiral Neighborhood Association president Mark Wainwright sent a note that 14 volunteers have turned out so far and “tasty lunch bags” remain up for the taking along with more supplies – so there’s still time to get over to Met Market and fan out to help with the rest of the cleanup (till about noon).
As you probably know, for more than two years WSB has had a page (see it here) which points you to the latest updates from nearly 100 blogs by West Seattle-based writers. Among the latest links: This post by Ian Lurie, from his always-snappy site Conversation Marketing — geared toward marketing writers, but it made us laugh; maybe just because we get so much spam, it hit home.
Friends and family are working to help raise money for a woman known to many who shop and do business in The Junction — Waunda from the Sports Junction (in the breezeway on the west side of California, south of Oregon). Lee Blanchette explains:
Waunda has been at the Sports Junction since the 80’s and is the epitome of West Seattle. She has done more things for more people than anyone you will ever know. On October 31st Waunda was diagnosed with TTP (thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura): A rare life-threatening disease involving embolism and thrombosis (plugging) of the small blood vessels in the brain and has spent the last 2 ½ months at Swedish Hospital. She is finally home but has many months of rehabilitation ahead of her. We will be having a silent auction February 7th at the Rocksport from 7 to 9 pm, followed by live music throughout the evening. We are asking local businesses to donate to the auction to help with Waunda’s recovery. Please call the following numbers or contact her daughter Deanise at the Rocksport.
Tara 253 353-6622
Lee 206 898-6986
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