May 2010

A few weeks ago I was out to dinner in Ballard with a single friend, when I observed what I thought was some mild flirting between him and our waitress. 

When I asked him if he was going to get her number since she was both cute and nice, he replied, “I don’t think so. I mean, I can’t tell if she likes me or is just doing her job. And, I would not know how to express an interest anyway. Do I ask for her number? Leave my number on the receipt? Or, is that cheesy?” 

I had no answers. A few hours after dinner, I received a phone call from him with a request:  Would I do a column on the topic and  interview the employees of Ballard bars and restaurants to see if there were at least some general rules or even good/bad behavior to avoid?

I immediately replied, “Absolutely!” and a few nights later I got down to business.  

Over the next few weeks I traipsed into several local hot spots and pestered the employees to enlighten me with any tips on the best way for someone to express an interest in them. 

While I did get a few tips on what to do, I was mostly told what NOT to do.

This is the third in a series of articles on West Seattle legend Morey Skaret, who was born on his parents’ homestead in Canada in 1913. At 96, he still has keen memories of his boyhood adventures on the prairie, and lives by many of the lessons he learned there.

When Morey Skaret turned eight, the age at which a lad made the leap from haphazard chores to full-time farmhand, his father made him the hog boss. Morey took his new position seriously, executing his duties with the same care, precision and panache that would one day make him a leader of men, and propel him to the top of many professions.

Not only did life on the prairie make men out of boys before their time; it meted out many other tough lessons as well. “My mother had six children, all told,” Morey says, combing through an old photo album. His older brother, Johannes, died in 1909.

“He was just a child,” Morey recalls. “They buried him behind the house. All the homesteaders had private plots. They didn’t have a cemetery. There was just a house here; then two miles, another house. And they just buried their dead at the home place.

Haley Peterson of West Seattle High School, and Sui Loane, of Chief Sealth, were among the 23 high school juniors and seniors recognized for conduct and humanitarianism May 6 during the Seattle chapter of the American Jewish Committee’s 2010 Student Human Relations Program. Peterson, Loane, and 18 others were 2010 Block Award recipients. Three additional students won the Deborah Rosen Scholarship Award at the event, held at the dramatic Sodo Park by Herban Feast facility, 3200 1st Avenue South.

Counselors from 50 Seattle area public and private high schools each selected one student for the Block Awards, and the American Jewish Committee, or “AJC” then narrowed the selection to 20.

Keynote speaker at the event was Victor Villasenor, a motivational speaker and author of bestseller, “Rain of Gold,” soon to be adapted for an HBO mini-series, about his family’s escape during the Mexican Revolution to the United States.

Friday, May 7 marked the 4th annual friendly soccer competition between Chief Sealth and the SBOC Internationals at the Denny/Sealth Sports Field. The Mariachi Chief Sealth Band performed just before the game began, and there was a feast of carne asada at the game's completion. Sam Reed is the Chief Sealth Activity Coordinator / Athletic Director and coordinated the event.

The SBOC Internationals are the team from the Secondary Bilingual Orientation Center (SBOC), a Seattle public school in the former Meany Middle School, 301 21st. Avenue East, serving immigrants aged 10-21. The students come from over 20 different countries. The SBOC helps students learn English and become enculturated before moving to mainstream schools.

"I am the former principal of SBOC, a high school with immigrants and refugees who recently arrived to America," said Chief Sealth Principal John Boyd, who helped organize the game. "Their team is called the Internationals with players from Iraq, Somalia, Ethiopia and other countries.

There is talk within the city and Seattle Parks and Recreation about the closure of pools and community centers, including the Ballard Community Center and Loyal Heights Community Center, due to budget "shortfalls."

Parks is in the process of spending $15 million over the next two to three years though their Opportunity Fund on development of new parks, improvements of existing parks and acquisition of new land for parks.

In addition, Parks is in the design stage of a $500,000 play area at Golden Gardens, as well as numerous other costly nonessential projects.

In an era where there is no money to responsibly manage existing parks and invaluable indoor community gathering spaces, funds for other projects must be re-allocated to maintain what is currently serving our communities, not add more operational costs that will lead to even more closures in the future.

This needs to be a directive from the Seattle City Council and Mayor's Office.

Kristin Cottam is the nose behind knowsPerfume a new perfume store whose grand opening is coming May 13th.
Cottam is actually a former biology teacher with a long term love of scents and perfumes. "This has always been a hobby of mine, so I studied it and read a lot about it and now it's like talking to a 'trekky' about Star Trek, there's so much to know," Cottam said.
The store located 4536 California Ave. will carry "around 25 fragrance lines to begin with but by the end of June this will expand to more than 35. Some lines have only one scent while others have 10 or more.
You can reach knowsPerfume at 206.397.3141
The Hours will be Tues - Fri:11:00 am - 7:00 pmSat:10:00 am - 6:00 pmSun:11:00 am - 6:00 pm

The Ballard High School girls tennis team lost 6-1 to Lake Washington May 6 in its second-to-last match of the season.

Hannah Murphy and Sarah Gilmore earned the Beavers' lone point by beating Lake Washington's Taylor LipKing and Gray Morgan 6-3 and 6-4 in a doubles match.

Despite Ballard's 0-8 team record this season, coach Charles Brenner said the season has not been without its small victories.

Ballard's six individual wins this season are five or six more than the team earned last year, Brenner said.

Ballard plays its final match at 3:45 p.m. on May 12 at Ballard High School against Inglemoor.

Complete results from Ballard vs. Lake Washington:

In # 1 Singles Kelly Watarake from Lake Washington High School beat Stephanie Loo from Ballard High School 6-0, 6-0

In #2 Singles Jess Lund from Lake Washington High School beat Susanna Bowers from Ballard High School 6-0, 6-0

In #3 Singles Laura Renfroe from Lake Washington High School beat Maya Voelk from Ballard High School 6-1, 6-0

In #4 Singles Tess Roche from Lake Washington High School beat Heather Fryle from Ballard High School 6-0, 6-0

The addition of three red light cameras in Burien has many residents grumbling that it is just a way for the city to bring in a lot more revenue.
As it turns out, Burien has lost money on the cameras, according to KCPQ TV.

The city pays Redflex, which owns and operates the cameras, a monthly fee and then receives revenue from each $101 ticket.
City Manager Mike Martin told the TV station that the cameras were added mainly to increase safety but the city hoped to break even. He added that assigning a police officer to patrol the three intersections would cost much more than the $500 a month for each intersection that Burien is losing with the cameras.

According to KCPQ, in the past year, 4,359 tickets brought revenue of $231,028. But Burien paid Redflex $204,000 and had administrative fees of $43,590.

By contrast, Seattle paid out $1 million and received $2.1 million in return for the first two years of operation.
Martin said only about a third of those ticketed pay the $101 fine by mail. Most people go to court where the tickets may be thrown out or reduced.

All through regulation May 6, the Ballard High School softball team had an answer for Bothell.

When Bothell threatened to put the game away with three runs in the top of the eighth inning, the Beavers answered with three runs in the bottom of the eighth. Two Bothell runs in the top of the ninth were answered with two Ballard runs in the bottom of the ninth.

Despite having their best offensive output since April 13, the Beavers finally ran out of answers in the 10th inning and fell to Bothell 10-8.

Junior Morgan Bailess hit two-for-four with two RBIs for Ballard. Junior Jamie Thelan added an RBI on two-for-five hitting.

The loss was the Beavers' fourth in a row, dropping their record to 3-8 in KingCo and 7-8 overall – the first time the team has been below .500 this season.

Ballard has three scheduled games left and two rained-out games to make up.

The Beavers take on Lake Washington at 4 p.m. on May 7 at Lower Woodland.

With a 12-8 win over Holy Names May 6, the Ballard High School lacrosse team made the playoffs in its second season of existence.

The win pushed the Beavers' season record to 6-4-2 – after winning only two matches last season – and gave them the sixth seed out of eight teams in the postseason.

Junior Haley Jackson led the team with four goals, and junior Maddie Soukup chipped in three, as seven Beavers scored and the team outshot Holy Names 22-13.

Sophomore goalie Hannah Breton had five saves. She finished the regular season in second place in the league for total saves and sixth place in save percentage.

The Beavers, who finished the season hot with three wins and a tie, will face either Eastside Catholic, Kennedy or Lakeside in the first round of the playoffs.

Kennedy beat Ballard 10-3 on March 17, and Lakeside beat the team 15-10 on April 20. Ballard did not play Eastside Catholic this season.