West Seattle, Washington
12 Thursday
West Seattle is home to a wide variety of spiritual communities from a diverse array of faith traditions – and many are growing fast. Today, we welcome one of them as our newest WSB sponsor: Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation, an active, spiritually liberal West Seattle Church for more than four decades, led by the Rev. Peg Morgan. The tagline summing up WSUU: “Feeding your spirit, expanding your mind, working for justice.” Here are some of the ways its current, growing congregation of 150 adults and 80 children/youth say they’re doing that: “Examples of our current work in social justice include direct participation in Habitat for Humanity; caring for homeless families through the Family Promise Program; joining with the West Seattle Neighbors for Peace in opposing the tragic war in Iraq; and continuing to press for full equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people.” Toward the latter end, WSUU is a certified Welcoming Congregation. If you haven’t attended a Unitarian Universalist service before and are wondering what UUs believe, here’s a little bit about that: “We believe there are many sources of wisdom from which to draw in order for one to develop a strong spiritual core and live a meaningful, ethical life. Those sources include the world’s religions, our natural environment, as well as science and reason.” And it’s for all ages; WSUU has a well-regarded, comprehensive religious-education program for youth, under the leadership of Director of Religious Education for Children and Youth, Kari Kopnick. Also offered is a stimulating and diverse program of adult education classes. The church meets at 10:30 Sunday mornings at the Alki Masonic Temple, with an after-service coffee hour “where newcomers are warmly welcomed” – and there’s an enthusiastic, growing Choir and Music program too:
Plus, there are other socializing/spiritual support opportunities such as Women’s Retreats and Circle Suppers. To find out more, explore the WSUU website at wsuu.org. Thanks to Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation for joining the WSB sponsor team; our full list of sponsors — thanks to everyone for supporting them! — and info on how to join them, is on this page.
ARBOR HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY TECH PIONEER NOTED NATIONALLY: The Wall Street Journal‘s “Blog Watch” gives a shoutout this week to Arbor Heights’ Mark Ahlness, who in 1994 created the website that made AH Elementary one of the first grade schools in the U.S. with an online presence. You can follow his blog here (and he’s on Twitter too!).
SAY HI TO SEATTLE’S MOST FAMOUS NEWSPAPER BLOGGER: Monica Guzman from the P-I’s Big Blog is bringing her weekly BB meetup to West Seattle today, 5:30 pm at Uptown in The Junction. All welcome. We’ve met Monica several times and there are many things we could say about her – all positive! – but we’ll summarize with “she’s just plain good people,” so if you’re in the vicinity, drop by; we plan to.
THE NEXT TIME WE’RE LIKELY TO SEE MONICA, AND YOU’RE INVITED TO THIS TOO: Monica and your editor here are among the speakers set for the whimsically named BigFoot Blogging Conference (along with, among others, Goldy from HorsesAss.org, one of the political blogs covered on the new WSB Election page). 10 am-4 pm October 11th at Kane Hall on the UW campus; admission free, but space is limited.
LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST – THANKS FOR ANOTHER RECORD MONTH!!!! We try to follow a philosophy from our TV days – though you get ratings daily, don’t stress about the ups and downs, look at the monthly trends. When you run a website, you get “ratings” minute by minute, but the trends are what matter. And thanks to you, the trends continue to be amazing – September was the fourth consecutive month with more than half a million WSB pageviews, setting a new record at 564,283 (40K more than last month, even though September has one less day). That’s not just because of all the people who read WSB – most importantly, it’s because of everyone who shares information with the rest of West Seattle via this site, whether it’s a Forum post or e-mailing/calling us with a tip (like the half-dozen people who e-mailed this morning to ask about the film crew in Lincoln Park – thanks to those tips, our in-person and online followups brought full details within about half an hour). This site is viewed as one of the most successful experiments so far in community-centered independent online-only news (our media coverage links are halfway down the “About” page), and we are thankful to have you as a collaborator. We also want to know how this site could better serve your needs — call, e-mail, text, or tweet any time.
One month ago today, we told you about West Seattleite Addie Killam‘s plan to ride her new hand-operated bicycle (photo above) in a Wenatchee-area ride presented by the Mike Utley Foundation, to raise awareness of and money for spinal-cord injuries — Addie is fighting back from paralysis caused by a freak surfing-related injury. Now she’s back from the ride, and telling the story, including: “I can’t believe I never did a ride like this as an able-body.” Read her story at her Caring Bridge site.
Thanks to David Hutchinson for that photo of the Alki Beach Run 5K this morning to raise money for West Seattle-based Northwest Hope and Healing. More than 900 people participated – not even counting those who lined the route to cheer. We have a full report coming up with video and more photos, plus an interview with the breast-cancer patient for whom the Seattle Lutheran cheerleaders were marching (note the flag in David’s photo). Also this morning:
That’s the end of a ceremony this morning outside First Lutheran Church of West Seattle, celebrating its 90th anniversary. We also will bring you a full report on that, including video of the bagpipe-led procession and rededication ceremony. On the way back to WSB HQ after both those events, we stopped for this solemn scene:
Fresh hydrangeas rest at the bottom of the utility pole at 35th/Graham, two years and one day after the crash that killed bicyclist Susanne Scaringi. We also photographed the pole on the anniversary last year. Next year, those who want to pay tribute to Susanne on the anniversary probably won’t be able to do this, as this will likely be a construction site – proposed for three mixed-use buildings (next Design Review session coming up October 9). On the back of the pole, by the way, an artwork – we don’t know if it’s related to the memorial, or just there for whomever passes by:
That’s the photo we published in this report the night of June 15, when a motorcycle and minivan collided at 30th/Trenton (map) and closed streets for a few hours. The photo we didn’t publish, with the motorcycle on the ground, is later in the story. That night, there was no word if the motorcyclist was likely to survive. But she did. Days and weeks later, friends dropped into the comment thread on that same lone post from time to time with updates – finally, a few weeks ago, out of curiosity, we e-mailed one of the commenters to ask if the crash survivor would care to tell her story. And that’s how we met West Seattle photographer and motorcycle rider Karen Derby, who is battling back from leg and face injuries, and hoping to ride again. Here’s her story – including photos, some she took herself, before and after – but before you click ahead, a warning that two included in the story (and one you won’t see unless you click a link) are somewhat graphic – Karen wanted to tell her whole story, and the visuals are part of it:Read More
That’s Tessa Code distributing toothbrushes and hygiene information in Mexico as part of a Fauntleroy Church trip this summer. While talking with Judy Pickens about the church’s ongoing centennial celebration — which includes tonight’s 7 pm showing of the documentary “The Fauntleroy Story: 100 Years of Community” (previewed here; you’re invited; showing’s in the Fellowship Hall; DVDs will be available) — she mentioned this trip, and we said we’d love to share the story with you:Read More
CREATIVE TEENS: Just announced, PugetSoundOff.org, offering teens and young adults (13-21) a place to sound off and speak out – kicking off with a contest; read about it here. (We’ll be helping judge part of the contest, if they haven’t thrown us off the panel for missing a meeting when all that news was breaking this afternoon.)
POET POPULIST: Mike Hickey, husband of West Seattle’s funniest blog author (Mona from kirida.com), is in the running for Poet Populist of Seattle. Mona writes about it here; you can vote for Mike here. (We should note, there’s another West Seattle candidate too.)
VOLUNTEERS: We showed you the big Camp Long work party with NAIOP on Saturday; several other groups had work parties/cleanups that day, including this one from which we just got pix:
Onlineshoes.com and Keen Footwear were part of the Delridge Natural Area work party on Saturday; we couldn’t get over to take pix but invited them to send us some (any volunteer effort you’re part of, we’d love to see your pix too, preferably within a couple days of when it happened, the sooner the better, editor@wsb.blackfin.biz). There are more work parties in West Seattle’s greenspaces every Saturday (among other times); greenseattle.org is the best place to get a sneak peek, but we put them in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup every Friday morning too.
Quick note about two fundraising walks next weekend in West Seattle, and one next month just called to our attention by a West Seattleite: First, just one week left till the Alki Beach Run for Northwest Hope and Healing, a West Seattle-based group that helps cancer patients, 9 am next Sunday (most recent update here; NWHH is sponsoring WSB this month to help further spread the word). Also next weekend, Alki will be the site of Walk ‘n’ Roll to raise money to fight ataxia (a nervous-system disorder) – 10 am Saturday (registration at 9) – here’s the flyer. And we just found out through a West Seattleite on our Facebook list that the underdiscussed fight to prevent suicide is coming to Seattle with a Green Lake walk on Oct. 11 (the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention‘s “Overnight” happened in Seattle earlier this year; we covered it here, and previewed it in this interview with a West Seattleite who lost her dad to suicide). Kristen Preusser gets credit for spreading the word about the upcoming Green Lake walk; we sent in a pledge and she wondered if we’d mind sharing the link to her fundraising page. Nope, not at all; here it is. (Anybody else in WS signed up for this walk? Let us know.)
That’s Tai, and he’s one of more than 350 volunteers who are toiling — rain? what rain? — at Camp Long right now, for a huge work party organized by NAIOP (National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, a trade association for real-estate and development companies) as one of its “community enhancement projects.” We wandered the park at midmorning to see what was going on – first, the logistics center in the lodge:
Next, out into the park. NAIOP had a map to various work sites, labeled by area and by priority. One big priority, fixing up the fire ring toward the south end of the “Parade Grounds” meadow:
All along the trails, groups were restoring and rebuilding, including another huge priority – the big bridge down the trail leading north toward the golf course – lots of work alongside cabins and picnic shelters too:
And of course, the front entrance was getting some love too:
As we left after a while (we’re going back later to see how it all turned out), we ran into someone who spent LAST Saturday on a big cleanup/restoration project – Nancy Driver, co-organizer of the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup, walking by with pruning saw in hand. She explained that some NAIOP members such as Harbor Properties and Excel were major contributors (manpower as well as $power) to the work that went into the Gateway Cleanup, and she wanted to do something to reciprocate. You can lend a hand in West Seattle greenspaces just about any Saturday, by the way – the regular volunteer work parties are always in our West Seattle Weekend Lineups published every Friday, and they’re also listed at greenseattle.org.
One week from tomorrow, it’s your chance to multitask in the best of ways: Enjoy an invigorating 5K run/walk along Alki, while raising money for a West Seattle-based organization that helps women fighting breast cancer. The Northwest Hope and Healing Foundation sponsored its fundraiser run through Lincoln Park last year (see photo above), but this year it’s along Alki, from the Bathhouse to Anchor/Luna Park and back. When NWHH joined the WSB sponsor team earlier this month to provide a continuous reminder of the upcoming Alki Beach Run, we wrote here about all the work they do – it’s different from the organizations that are researching treatments and cures; Northwest Hope and Healing provides services to help patients cope with the immediate needs in their lives once they have been diagnosed … and sadly, there still are plenty of people who need that help (read more on this NWHH webpage). It all starts a week from tomorrow, 9 am Sunday 9/28; you can register online here, right now — or if you can’t do the run/walk but would like to contribute to Northwest Hope and Healing anyway, you can do that here.
(click to see larger version of the photo)
From WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham: “Medic 32‘s Mark Colley strolls back and forth along the rear bay of Station 32 on SW Alaska St. as he exercises his pipes. Seattle Firefighters Pipes and Drums’ newest member was kilted at the annual 9/11 police and fire get-together at the Red Door this year. The group plays at memorial and ceremonial events associated with fire and police.” Prints of Matt’s WSB photos and his other work are available at his site, mattdurhamphotography.com.
HIKE: Last reminder, the Nature Consortium‘s free monthly guided hike through West Duwamish Greenbelt is 1-2:30 tomorrow afternoon (last summery chance to enjoy the walk? here’s our report from the May version) – meet at 14th SW/SW Holly (map); RSVP by e-mail, lisa@naturec.org
BIKE: Stu Hennessey from Alki Bike and Board is gathering a group to ride from West Seattle to the U-District tomorrow night to see “Battle in Seattle” (the movie about the 1999 WTO protests – here’s the trailer). He’s inviting anyone who wants to join the group to meet at his shop (east side of California, just west of Admiral Safeway) at 6 pm tomorrow to make the 7:10 show – there’s a 9:30 pm showing too so he’s asking for e-mail from anyone interested in joining, and/or interested in the later show. (He also suggests buying tickets online before joining the ride.) E-mail: alkistu@hotmail.com
The city’s Department of Information Technology is coming to High Point Library tonight to offer you a free “Home Computer and Internet Security Workshop” – here’s the official description:
Tired of viruses, email & money scams, spies and thieves? Join your neighbors as you learn tips and tricks for keeping your home computer safe while on the Internet by the City of Seattle Office of Information Security Chief Michael Hamilton. One of his most important responsibilities is keeping the City’s computers and networks safe and secure, and he can show you how to do the same at home.
The workshop’s 5:30-7:30 pm – first-come, first-served, so check for space: call Vicky at 206.233.7877 or e-mail vicky.yuki@seattle.gov.
That’s a bit of video from last week’s practice for the Thrill the World West Seattle team – second time they got together to work on the “Thriller” moves they’re going to do as part of the Thrill the World world-record attempt on October 25th. Starting tomorrow night, the weekly 8 pm Wednesday practices are in a new location: a bigger room at West Seattle Christian Church (SE corner of 42nd/Genesee, across the street from the previous location). And mastermind Lora Lewis of Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) has a question for you: If you were going to pick someplace “West Seattle iconic” for the big zombie dance that day, where would you pick? Someplace obviously with room for a few dozen dancers, but otherwise … she’s interested in what you would suggest. Meantime, keep up with the Thrill the World West Seattle exploits on the official blog.
Starting preschool is enough of a milestone — but Cora, a West Seattle 4-year-old, happens to be doing it while undergoing chemotherapy. Shortly after her birthday this past June, she was diagnosed with a Wilms’ tumor (explained here) in one of her kidneys. Friends and family say this is very rare – eight in a million US kids. One day after Cora was diagnosed, the tumor and kidney were taken out in a seven-hour operation. Her immune system is compromised because of the chemo but her family and friends are “praying for a healthy fall and winter so she can continue to attend (preschool).” To help in Cora’s fight, they are inviting you to join them anytime between 2:30-5:30 pm this Sunday at the Seattle Lutheran High School gym (4141 41st SW; here’s a map) for cupcakes, a silent auction, and a chance to buy Team Cora T-shirts. (If you can’t go, you can still help: Cora’s aunt Lori says, “Checks are payable to Ron and Chrissy Cardenas at any Wells Fargo branch to acct# 9713630631; if they would like to donate electronically they can use the Routing and transmittal #125008547.”
OK, who said retirement means shuffleboard? We found that pool table upstairs from the great room that was headquartered for today’s grand-opening party at the newest retirement community in West Seattle, Bridge Park (WSB sponsor). Guests of honor at the party — Bridge Park’s first residents:
Highlights from today’s event, ahead:Read More
Highland Park activist Dina Johnson says she’ll be out on Alki again this afternoon in her suffragette garb — “circa 1912,” as she describes it — registering people to vote. Unless you’re new to this state, your deadline to register is October 4th — if you sign up by mail, that’s the date your form must be postmarked by; you can download the form from this page on the King County website. If you ARE new to Washington, your deadline is October 20, but you’d have to register in person to push it that far (more details here). The presidential race is only the top of a tall stack of important state/local races and ballot measures; go here to get a look at some of what you’ll be voting for – provided you’re signed up. (If you’d like to sign up with Dina’s help, look for her and husband Blair Johnson on the Alki promenade this afternoon. Lots of other local activists are busy trying to sign up voters too, with so much at stake.)
Lady Liberty isn’t the only one at Alki with a torch today – that’s Home on the Range barbecue (whose MySpace site declares the team “… is gonna win at Alki”) cleaning off the grill in dramatic style (go here for a few seconds of video including the roaring torch), just one of the sights late this morning as the competitors in the Evergreen State Barbecue Championships revved up for the first of two days. Two vendors are selling food – they’re both along the walkway that’s across the street from Pegasus (62nd/Alki):
Also happening right now (till 2 pm), the Neighborhood Matching Fund 20th-anniversary open house at Youngstown Arts Center. Scrapbook-making is under way; we caught Ron Angeles, Delridge Neighborhood Services coordinator (left), and Pete Spalding (Delridge District Council president, among other roles) making entries for Delridge:
You’re also invited to make sure any local NMF project you are or have been involved with is represented on this map:
Free treats too and reusable shopping bags while they last. That’s what the mayor also was supposed to be handing out at the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup, continuing till about 3:30 – we caught him as he posed for pix near the Fauntleroy walkover around 10:30:
After that, we walked onto the pedestrian bridge (an interesting experience for an acrophobe) to get an aerial perspective of what the history-making volunteers are up to:
As we mentioned earlier, more than 200 had signed up, including representatives of a variety of local groups – among those we spotted this morning, Mars Hill Church-West Seattle, local LDS church members, the Morgan Community Association (later we’ll show you a photo of their cute T-shirts) and more.
After months of organizing, the big cleanup along the Fauntleroy end of The Bridge, from Walking on Logs to 35th/Fauntleroy (where Department of Corrections crews have just done some pre-clearing, as per photo above) is finally here. From organizer Nancy Driver:
It’s looking like we are going to have a really beautiful day for a cleanup. Thanks to the terrific response from the community, we will have well over 200 volunteers at the cleanup tomorrow. I’m really excited to see what it will look like after we’ve finished. Here’s what you need to know for tomorrow:
Where to check in: 4545 Fauntleroy Ave SW – in the parking lot of the former Huling showroom at the corner of Fauntleroy and 38th SW. There will be some parking available here but please consider arriving by foot, bicycle, bus or carpool.
What time: Welcoming ceremony starts at 9:00 a.m. and hopefully shouldn’t run more than 20 minutes. There will be a special declaration read tomorrow morning but we’ll let it be a surprise. Shifts run 9:30 – 11:30; 11:30 – 1:30; 1:30 – 3:30. All volunteers should check in at least 20 minutes before their shift so they can sign and be issued a safety vest. Everyone will be required to wear a safety vest at the clean up site. Right now we have an overabundance of volunteers for the 9:30 shift so if you haven’t already signed up as a volunteer and want to help out, please arrive for either the 11:30 or 1:30 shifts.
What to wear: I recommend long pants and shoes that will protect your feet. I know it’s going to be warm tomorrow but you’ll want to protect your feet and legs from getting scratched up from blackberries and other scratchy debris on site. We’ll have gloves available except for children – unfortunately, we will not be able to provide gloves for small hands. Just adult sizes small, medium and large. If you have your own favorite gloves – feel free to bring them but just be sure to hang onto them.
We’ll have water and other beverages as well as light refreshments available in the staging area. Water will also be available at the clean up site. We’ll also have a port-a-potty at both the clean up site and the staging area.
The City is providing all tools necessary so no need to bring tools.
The Mayor will be showing up around 10:30 at the clean up site and will be handing out reusable grocery bags to volunteers after they finish their shift.
Thanks again to everyone who has volunteered to help with this project.
Nancy / Fairmount Community Association
That’s a photo from last year’s Northwest Hope and Healing Foundation 5K run/walk – in ’07 it was at Lincoln Park, but this year it’s at West Seattle’s other big shoreline park – Alki – and it’s coming up later this month! Tonight we welcome Northwest Hope and Healing as a WSB sponsor, as they work to continue spreading the word about what they do and how your participation in this year’s Alki Beach Run 5K walk/run can help. NWHH has a unique role in the fight against breast cancer and the work to help those who are battling it: It’s a low-overhead nonprofit (one employee, who works part time), based in West Seattle, that reaches out to newly diagnosed patients all around the metro area. Last year alone, Northwest Hope and Healing helped 1,000 local women who each found themselves among the 1 in every 8 women diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lives. Director Shari Sewell explains that NWHH “provides financial assistance for non-medical needs like child care, counseling, transportation, meals & emergency rent to women receiving breast cancer treatment at Swedish Medical Center. In addition, our signature Healing Baskets are given free of charge to newly diagnosed breast cancer patients … over 3,000 of our Healing Baskets carried a message of love, life, and HOPE.” The money raised in the Alki Beach Run will help NWHH continue to spread that message; the 5K is set for Sunday, September 28, on a course between the Alki Statue of Liberty and Anchor (Luna) Park (here’s a route map on the NWHH website), with check-in on race day at 8 am at Alki Bathhouse, the run starting at 9. You can pre-register online right now by going here, or in person at Capers in The Junction. There are prizes for the 1st and 2nd-place finishers, too, provided by Salty’s on Alki (other prize categories include largest team and top fundraisers). Read more about Northwest Hope and Healing at its website, then go here to sign up for the Alki Beach Run (which is open to walkers, too), September 28 (two weeks from this Sunday).
Here again is the link where you can pre-register now; if you need to find it again later, just look for the Alki Beach Run logo ad in the right sidebar on all WSB pages.
Bored with your ringtone? West Seattle legend and fish-n-chips mogul Ivar Haglund can be on your phone instead. As part of its 70th-anniversary festivities, Ivars has just put up the ringtone links here; choose from such classics as “If You Drink Clam Nectar” and “RunClam.”
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
THRILLS: Not too late to get in on Thrill the World-West Seattle, the group that’s going to dance as part of the world-record attempt (different locations, don’t worry, you won’t have to fly or drive somewhere distant) – tonight’s the second practice, 8 pm, Ginomai (42nd/Genesee), more on the official WS website.
DESIGNS: Right after that, Ginomai’s also the spot to join the weekly crowd cheering Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) barista Blayne in “Project Runway” — show’s at 9 pm on the big screen (bring dessert to share!).
DEMS: Less than two months till The Election – and that means West Seattle’s biggest political group has only two more monthly meetings till then – more potential endorsements are on the agenda tonight for the 34th District Democrats, among other things, 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy.
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