May 2010

The Ballard Rotary Club awarded 10 $1,000 scholarships to Ballard High School students on May 18 in its annual tradition.

The Rotary Club's Billy Rodgers said one of the club's focuses is on education, so it partners with Ballard High School counselors to provide educational opportunities for youth in the community.

"There is no better way for our club to partner with our local high school and encourage all students to continue their eduction," Rodgers said.

In order to earn the scholarship, students fill out applications and participate in interviews. Winners are selected based on a number of criteria, including community service and classroom performance.

The 10 Ballard High School students to receive Ballard Rotary Club scholarships are Jessica Gallardo, Stephanie Valerdi, Allison Thomasseau, Leah, Kane Leinbach, Sarah Boon, Nicole Bowns, Jacob Kutrakun, Anne-Lise Nilsen, Brendan Philip and C.J. Eldred.

Pontiac Bay Symphony Orchestra Presents "Peter Gunn & Friends" -- A Tribute to Film Noir and Music That Casts A Long Shadow

The orchestra performs music from classic and contemporary film noir, including Laura, LA Confidential, Catch Me If You Can, and Peter Gunn, plus music from Slaughter On Tenth Avenue, The Man I Love, Mack the Knife, Harlem Nocturne, and more, Sunday, June 6, 2010,
6:00 PM to 7:30 PM at the Museum of History and Industry, 2700 24th Avenue East.

West Seattle resident Jeff Taylor plays tuba for the Pontiac Bay Symphony and was profiled in the West Seattle Herald online here:

Highline resident Clint Kelly, who plays string bass for the symphony, is also mentioned.

The Duwamish Community Environmental Health Fair will present information on the cleanup of the Duwamish River and Puget Sound on June 5 at Concord International Elementary School, South Park neighborhood, 723 Concord St., South Seattle 98108. The event is free, and will feature information booths, hands-on activities for all ages, small workshops, and food. It runs from 11 AM to 3 PM.

Since 2005, DRCC and its agency and NGO partners have produced the Duwamish River Festival at Duwamish Waterway Park. In 2010, as a consortium of groups, they decided to transform the event to reach more families living in the South Park and Georgetown area in advance of the upcoming Superfund public meetings. Their goal is to provide more about how the cleanup and restoration planning will impact human health and the environment.

HEALTH FAIR HIGHLIGHTS:

Air
Air toxics sources and health impacts, and agencies' efforts to improve the air in the Duwamish valley.

Water
How to protect rivers and streams from pollution, and learn about safe fishing and Duwamish recreation.

Land

Special Event - June 5
Delridge WALKS - Exploring our Community on Foot (and the chance to win great prizes) Start at Camp Long at 9:00 a.m. on June 5.

Get in Step With reFRESH Southwest!
Join "Delridge WALKS" on Saturday, June 5th from 9am-1pm to explore, walk, & win! Take steps towards building a safe and healthy Delridge by arriving to the reFRESH Southwest event by foot. Community members are leading walks from various locations around Delridge Community Center (South Seattle Community College, Delridge Neighborhood Service Center, Highland Park Improvement Club AND CAMP LONG (led by Naturalist Gretchen Graber). Arrive by foot at the reFRESH Southwest event and hit up Delridge Neighborhood Points of Interest along the way to be entered to win one or more of dozens of great prizes. Additional CA$H prizes will be awarded for Delridge WALKS participants who enter to win the photo contest. To join a walk, or for more info, email info@feetfirst.info or call 206.652.2310.

Early last September the West Seattle Herald interviewed West Seattle fixture, B.J. Cummings, and her soon-to-turn 11 son, Colin as they prepared to take the year off and travel the world.

See story here: http://www.westseattleherald.com/2009/09/02/features/duwamish-river-env…

Cummings is known to many in West Seattle for her activism with the polluted Duwamish River and its negative effects on South Park residents, area wildlife, and Puget Sound. She was the director of the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition, or DRCC, for eight years prior to the year-long sabbatical she took for her dream trip that she said she had been planning since Colin was born.

Eight months and 16 countries later the "nomadic duo," as they call themselves, who may have out-paced Seattle-based travel guru, Rick Steves, flew home to Seattle from Budapest for three weeks to "charge their batteries,"and reunite with B.J.'s husband and Colin's father, Tom, they said. They will return to Europe in a about a week to camp in the French countryside, maybe have a look at Belgium, and conclude in the Emerald Isle before returning to the Emerald City.

Well known northwest garden expert now in his 42nd year as a gardening personality, Ed Hume spoke at Bridgepark Retirement residences at 3204 Southwest Morgan Street on Friday to a group of about 120 people. He spoke for an hour on container gardening and put an emphasis on hanging basket plants.
He had copies of his book, "Gardening with Ed Hume - Northwest Gardening Made Easy", on hand at a special price of $15 for those attending the talk.

The West Seattle Herald spoke to Hume about these talks and about being a northwest garden expert.
"I do about 75 to 100 talks a year and sometimes it will be about four or five in a week. I enjoy it, I love it." Hume said.
"I've been talking on vegetable gardening and everywhere I talk it's been standing room only."

Students from the Ballard High School Video Production Program won multiple awards and honors at the 12th annual Northwest High School Film Festival May 18 at the Cinerama Theater in downtown Seattle.

The Northwest High School Film Festival is the largest and longest running festival for high school filmmakers in the Puget Sound region.

This year, 267 productions were entered in the competition from 22 high schools. Ballard High School led the pack of winners with a total of 14 awards and honors.

The festival was judged by a panel of 18 industry professionals and college media professors.

Ballard productions were honored in five different categories, reflecting the diverse skills and talents of Ballard's video students, Matt Lawrench, Video Production Program teacher, said in a press release.

Some of the winning productions will be shown at 7 p.m. on June 11 at Ballard High School as part of The Showing, a screening of work by students in the Ballard High School Video Production Program. There is a suggested donation of $5. Visit www.bhsvideo.blogspot.com for more information.

The fish ladder at the Ballard Locks will be closed for annual maintenance May 24 until June 4. Most of the fish ladder plaza area and the ramp to the viewing room will be closed to the public.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, which operates the Ballard Locks, conducts maintenance work on the fish ladder every spring prior to the time when adult salmon begin migrating upstream to spawn.

The fish ladder annually allows tens of thousands of salmon to migrate safely into the fresh water of Lakes Union and Washington. Last year, approximately 33,702 sockeye, 5,082 chinook and 20,732 coho adult salmon were counted in the fish ladder on their way upstream.

For current information about activities at the locks, visit the Corps of Engineers Web site at www.nws.usace.army.mil and select “Dams and Locks” then “Lake Washington Ship Canal” from the left column.

The Woodland Park Zoo is inviting the public to discover how to live in harmony with bears and how to camp safely in bear country at the Bear Affair and Big Howl for Wolves event.

The event features talks by the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project and zookeepers, enrichment treats for bears and wolves, campsite demonstrations by Boy Scouts and activities focused on what bears and wolves need to survive in the wild and how we can all coexist.

Approximately 20,000 black bears exist in Washington and fewer than 30 grizzly bears remain in the North Cascades and Selkirk Mountains. Biologists believe there could be as few as 10 individual grizzly bears in the Cascades.

The zoo’s grizzlies will rip through a campsite and back yard set up in their naturalistic exhibit to show the messy results of improperly stored food and garbage in bear country.

There will also be an opportunity to hear about wolf conservation efforts by Wolf Haven International and learn about the plight of Asian bears.

Photographer Kurt Howard captured these images of Mt. Rainier's 3-2 shootout victory over Highline May 19. CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO PLAY SLIDESHOW.