June 2011

A unique stop has been added to this year's Highline Garden Tour on Saturday, June 11.

It's the Chef's Garden at Cedarbrook, a quintessential Northwest cedar lodge nestled somewhat incongruently behind a SeaTac residential neighborhood. The 18-acre site, including 10 acres of wetlands, is just off the airport strip, about five minutes from Sea-Tac International Airport.

The garden supplies vegetables, fruits and herbs for the Copperleaf Restaurant, located inside the lodge. These include fennel, mustard, strawberries, leeks, peas, shallots, squash and much more.

The growing season has been on the slow side but Culinary Director Roy Breiman promises tomatoes will be in the ground in time for the tour.

Tucked beyond the lodge's pathways, Breiman and Executive Chef Mark Bodinet also maintain a mushroom inoculation patch and practice composting for soil management in the garden.

Breiman admits the garden cannot produce enough ingredients for the 28-seat restaurant.

So he relies on small farms located within 125 miles of the restaurant.

The track meet held yesterday at West Seattle Stadium is the first Norwest Senior Games event of the season.
The events are held annually, and are open to anyone 50 or better.
With the sun shining bright contestants participated in any number of track events yesterday, including pole vaulting, long jump, shot put, discus and high jump, as well as running events.

Three students from this years graduating class of West Seattle High School were singled out by the school administration last week because they represent people who have overcome serious obstacles and have become academic stars. The West Seattle Herald was asked to bring you their stories.

Nicholas Barnecut, 18, is from the well known West Seattle Barnecut family familiar to many for their service station on Admiral Way. He's a three sport athlete and a 3.85 scholar. His obstacle to success was physical.

The West Seattle VFW Post 2713 at 3601 SW Alaska St. hosted "An Evening of Music to Honor U.S. Army Sgt. Brandon S. Hocking" Saturday night, June 4. Hocking 24, was killed in Iraq March 21, just 10 days before retuning home after his second tour. He He was the lead convoy gunner and his vehicle took a direct hit. He was the only one killed in that vehicle. He was a munitions specialist, working with a mobile repair unit.

Brandon Hocking's mother Christine Pitts Dansereau, her sister Jodi (Pitts), Brandon's father's brother Jim Hocking, and Brandon's stepdad Calvin Dansereau all grew up in West Seattle. Brandon's father, Kevin, lives in Burien. Brandon was raised in South Seattle and Federal Way.

Over 100 filled the VFW hall. About half were West Seattle High School alumni, friends of Christine and her siblings from that time.

"He loved the army," said Janine Hocking Beaubien, Kevin's sister (and Brandon's aunt) who came in from Big Fork, Montana. "Brandon joined the Army at 19. It was a way he thought to get his life back on track. He was kind of on a shaky path and decided on his own that the Army would be great for him, and this is what he wanted to do."

By David Rosen

A charity event called "Dance 4 a Cure" kicked off it's 5th year on Saturday, June 4 from 7:00 pm-12:00 am at Taproot Church, located at 20400 1st Ave S in Des Moines.

The band Vital Signs provided musical entertainment for the evening and there was multiple raffle items up for grabs and a silent auction that was also held throughout the evening. Donations were taken at the door.

Jana Wilbur, who participates in the Susan G Komen 3 day for a cure walk in September, in honor of her three sister's who are breast cancer survivors stated " I did my first three day walk seven years ago after learning about my sister's diagnosis of breast cancer. After hearing about my second sister diagnosis of breast cancer, I knew I had to do my part and help find a cure for this disease."

About five years ago, while discussing fundraiser ideas, my friend and teammate Diana and I came up with the idea "Dance 4 a Cure". This event is our biggest fundraiser and is put on annually thanks to the band Vital Signs who donated their time and to all of the donors and volunteers who make it all possible.

If you think Thai food is about small places serving $7 plates of noodles then the Bang Bar is likely to come as a complete paradigm shift.

Set for a soft open in the West Seattle Junction Friday June 10 with the grand opening a week later on June 17, the new restaurant at 4750 California Ave. s.w. is presenting an Asian Fusion style they call "Modern Thai" in which every dish is literally a work of art.

The name “Bang Bar” (pronounced “bahng”) means a town, city, district, or province in Thai.

Kay Fuengarom and Aom Tiacharoenwat are the owners and the Bang Bar will be the third restaurant they have opened in the Northwest. One is in Everett, called Zab Thai Cuisine, open since 2007 and another in Northgate called Chaiyo Thai Cuisine, has been open since 1993. The Manager at the Bang Bar is Michael Anthony Pascua.

Their approach to the meals they will serve is meant to bring an upscale ideal to Thai food with elegant, artistic presentation, using very high quality ingredients to differentiate it from conventional Thai food restaurants.

From the Seattle Police Department Police Blotter:

Aggressive Driving Squad’s Friday patrols

On June 3rd officers from the Aggressive Driver Response Team (ADRT) issued the following citations:

3100 block of SW Admiral Way – 30 mph zone

4 at 45 mph

1 at 46 mph

1 at 47 mph

2 at 48 mph

1 Stop Sign violation

1 Seat Belt violation

2 No Proof of Insurance

West Seattle Bridge – 45 mph zone

1 at 64 mph

Arbor Heights School Zone – 20 mph zone

5 speeding citations

Here’s the Farmers Market Fresh Sheet for 6-5-11.
Note, not all products are available at the West Seattle Farmers Market.

June 5 – June 12, 2011

Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance Markets:
University District (UD) – Saturdays, 9 am – 2 pm, YEAR ROUND –
West Seattle (WS) – Sundays, 10 am – 2 pm, YEAR ROUND
Columbia City (CC) – Wednesdays, 3 pm – 7 pm, April 27 – October 19
Broadway Farmers Market – (BW) – Sundays, 11 am – 3:00 pm, May 8 – December 18
Lake City Farmers Market – (LC) – Thursdays, 3 pm – 7 pm – June 2 – October 8
Phinney Farmers Market – (PH) – Fridays, 3 pm – 7 pm – June 3 – October 7

Locations, Hours, Vendor and Event Info: www.seattlefarmersmarkets.org

New this Week:

*****NEW ITEMS IN ITALICS*****

Strawberries – first of season – Organic - from Homestead Organic Produce in Quincy, WA. “Winona” variety.
Cherries – Rumor has it that Chelans (Lyall Farms – Mattawa) will show up this weekend.
Sugar Snap Peas – first of season – limited quantities.
Morel and Porcini Mushrooms – Fresh, wild foraged – Foraged and Found at WS, UD, BW

The Second Ascent team organizers couldn't have asked for better weather for their annual criterium in dowtown Ballard on Saturday. With a sunny 77 degrees, spectators lines the streets and racers flocked to the registration table to participate in the Seattle classic bike race. With well over 300 racers, great weather and only one major crash, this year was the most successful yet.

The Cat 4 women started the Twilight race at 3:30 p.m. and races continued until 8:40 p.m. with 21-year-old Hagens Berman racer, Steve Fisher winning the Men's Pro, 1, 2 race by a fraction of a second. University of Washington student Grant Boursaw came in second.

The Cat 4 women's race was won by Canadian Melanie vonStetten.

Ballard High School sophomore Max O'Neal came out intending to win the men's Cat 3 race and despite a great effort, he finished down in the pack at 17th.
The race was won by Matt Mikul from Recycled Cycles.

The Men's Cat 4-5 was won by Calvin Spranger from Motofish racing. This was the only race where several men were involved in crashes in the bumpy corners.

Andrew Martin from team BikeSale won the sold-out Masters 35+ race.

Pain relief, rehabilitation from injury, even improved performance are all reasons to visit a physical therapist. But Lora Clothier brings her empathy to the job and as an athlete herself her deep experience adds a unique dimension to her efforts.

Clothier is set to open BioJunction Sports Therapy, a "startup physical therapy clinic" in early to mid July at 3727 California Ave. s.w. depending on the construction schedule and permits at the corner of Charlestown and California Avenue in Charlestown Center. She will be the only therapist when it opens but she hopes to add four to five more therapists as she grows.

Getting to the root cause of someone's pain or other physical issue is something she truly enjoys. "I've always loved mysteries, I grew up reading Nancy Drew mysteries and I considered going into forensics. I like having you walk in and you tell me your back hurts and I get to figure out why."