October 2010

The Ballard High School boys and girls cross country teams outran the rain and the competition at the Oct. 21 4A KingCo League Championships to advance to the Oct. 30 district meet.

The boys team had its highest finish in six years as it placed fourth out of 11 teams. The girls team eighth place. Qualifying for districts as a team required an eighth-place finish or better.

Alex Bowns set a personal record for the boys team with his time of 15:46 – a 13-second drop from his race on the same course the previous week. He finished fourth overall. Blair Scott and Victor Bailly rounded out the Beaver top three in 21st and 25th place.

Natalie White led the girls team with her time of 20:20 and a 30th-place finish. Anna Mirenzi and Rachel Livengood were right behind her for Ballard in 36th and 40th place.

Click here for complete results from the meet.

The 4A District Championships get underway at 10 a.m. Oct. 30 at South Whidbey High School.

The dedication of the new church home for the Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation at 7141 California Ave. s.w. takes place at 7:00 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 24.

Speaking will be Rev Peter Morales, UUA President.

The Rev. Peter Morales, 63, was elected to a four-year term as president of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) in June 2009. As president of the Association, he is responsible to the UUA Board of Trustees for administering staff and programs that serve its more than 1,000 member congregations. He also acts as principal spokesperson and minister-at-large for the UUA.

The event will also see a gathering of visitors from around the region, Reverends and members of other congregations.

The Herald's coverage of the ribbon cutting is here.

Accessibility parking in Church parking lot.

Sunday, Oct. 24 is the Dedication program to honor the new digs of the Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation, at 7141 California Av. SW. Also, this new stained glass window was installed, and has a touching story behind it.

Rev. Peg Boyle Morgan explains the story, and the plaque beside the window, " William Freeburg, or Bill, as we knew him, was a beloved member here for many years and he was on the board of trustees. He went in to have surgery and unexpectedly didn’t make it out. When he died it was a big, big loss. His wife is still a member.

The extended family is large. They pooled funds to afford us a chaliced glass window. The window that was here before was constructed by the Gatewood Baptist Church and they really wanted it back and removed it. It was good timing as it coming up on their 100th birthday."

The window is 6 feet wide by 5 foot 2 inches high. It was done by Seattle Stained Glass in Wallingford. The church provided them with a number of chalice designs. When examined close up, one can see a smoky haze pattern within the flame that emits from the chalice.

Many in West Seattle know about the Mounted Patrol Unit facility south of Westcrest Park, but few have heard of another stable to its north called Falcon Ridge Farm. That 5-acre facility, equipped with a 160-foot by 70-foot indoor arena, barn, herb garden, and grass paddock is owned by Dr. Jean Nokes and husband Milton Ghivizzani. However, the farm operates as a co-op among eight women who board nine horses there. All share expenses.

“We have a stable group here,” said Nokes, a retired nephrologist and hearty long-distance hiker. “There is very little turnover. Sometimes people move. Sometimes horses get very old and have to go out to pasture. This is a more adult oriented barn. Most of my boarders are adult professional women.”

Julia Thompson, a noted fine art conservator from Gatewood, boards Rachel, her Hanoverian. Sheila Rue, a software salesperson who lives near the Fauntleroy Ferry may arrange to share Rachel. Another co-op member is a classical violinist. Attorney Alison Moss of North Admiral boards her two Lipizzaner mares, Electra and India. The West Seattle Herald reported on Moss and her Wheego electric car in our Sept. 28 story.

Dear Editor,

Creep Show

Have you noticed just how creepy
And beyond bad-hair-day bad
That a candidate appears
In their opponent’s TV ad?

They’re so blurry they look eerie
Like some ill-intentioned ghost
With a face that could be taken
For a piece of old milk toast

They appear not to be human
But the star of a bad dream
One where zombies crawl out of the grave
You know the ones I mean

And their lips move without speaking
As if they could be perhaps
Just a bunch of ghoulish dummies
Sitting on ventriloquist’s laps

Yet although they get my trigger finger
Tickling the remote
At least when I change the channel
I somehow feel I’ve had a vote!

Carol Smith
West Seattle

Many area voters will have mailed in their ballots well before Halloween. So what might be considered a last-minute political event was held Oct. 21, called the White Center Candidate Forum, at the Greenbridge YWCA Learning Center. The 13-member North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, or NHUAC, sponsored the forum, and Jerry Robeson hosted. He is a NHUAC member, an attorney, and has been president of White Center Jubilee Days.

On the hot seat were two sets of two candidates. Seated from the audience’s left to right were Joe Fitzgibbon facing off with Michael Heavey for State Representative from the 34th Legislative District, Position 2, the seat held by State Representative Sharon Nelson, who will run for Joe McDermott’s State Senate seat in the 34th.

Next to them Robison, and then State Senator Joe McDermott and Diana Toledo vying for the King County Council District 8.

Fitzgibbon has been Nelson’s assistant and serves as Chair on the Burien Planning Commission. Heavey volunteered for Constantine during his election, and now works with Drago. In the private sector, he worked for a firm fighting consumer fraud.

Press Release:

After four years as director and four years as collections and volunteer manager of the Log House Museum of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, Andrea Mercado will leave the museum, effective Monday, Nov. 1.

Stepping in as museum manager will be Sarah Frederick, the museum’s collections manager. “For the past three years, Sarah has been a steady presence at the museum,” says Judy Bentley, president of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, “and she will have increased responsibilities during this transitional period.”

Frederick holds a bachelor’s degree in U.S. history and a certificate in museum studies from Indiana University, Indianapolis. She is enrolled in the fundraising management certificate program at the University of Washington.

Prior to her move to Seattle, Frederick worked at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis for four years. She worked on the construction and installation of the Dino-Sphere Gallery and the Chihuly Fireworks of Glass exhibit, which included the permanent installation of a 43-foot tower of Chihuly glass.

WSHS beats Chief Sealth 43 to 7. The bleachers are divided in two by high school, with more cheering taking place on the WSHS side almost since just prior to half time.

A high tea with the theme of friendship took place Friday afternoon, Oct. 22, at Merrill Gardens at Admiral Heights, 2326 California Ave. SW. The lobby was crowded with tables and chairs filled with residents, family and guests, all nibbling on triangular sweets and sipping tea with the attentive staff on the ready, armed with thermoses of hot water. West Seattle harpist Susan McLain with Greensleaves supplied the elegant background music.

Lee Ann Tucker Therriault, Community Relations Director, read a poem about friendship to the attendees, with the following quote by Anais Nin, “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”

The West Seattle Herald's own Georgie Kunkel was greeting her friends at various tables.

Sharing a table with three gentlemen was new resident Joyce Entus, transplanted from her Alki condo. She is the former owner of the Beach Broiler, the restaurant on Alki she owned for 28 years before selling it to Gerry and Kathy Kingen in 1985 who turned it into Salty's.

7:45 – 9 a.m. Oct. 8, 3000 Block of Northwest 66th Street.
A woman reported that a Droid phone and charger belonging to her husband were stolen from their house. She stated the phone is visible from outside and did not lock the deadbolt closed to the phone because her husband was upstairs. No other items were stolen.

9 p.m. Oct. 18 – 7:30 a.m. Oct. 19, 8500 Block of 24th Avenue Northwest
Unknown suspects entered a garage and rummaged through two vehicles. The suspects stole $10 in coins from the console of one car.