June 2012

Because we couldn’t wait even one more year for the more traditional milestone, Marge and I went to Hawaii for our 24th wedding anniversary.

After all, everybody else has already been there. At least that seemed to be the case when we announced our travel plans.

Lance and Laurie Haslund, Burien’s peerless patrons of the arts, sat us down and wrote out a must-see list.

Highline Times proofreader Connie Case added her recommendations.

And Marge’s boss, who grew up in the Hawaiian Islands, generously assembled a suggested itinerary.

Armed with all this expert advice we flew off to Oahu, ending up at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki.

The Hilton is more like a small city than a village—22 acres, 3,386 rooms, six pools, a dozen restaurants and 90 shops. I bet some jaded tourists never leave the village.

The first thing we noticed was that we must have missed the big news while in the air for six hours. Apparently, Japan had suffered another terrible earthquake and the entire population had been evacuated to Oahu.

The 2012 Highline High School Alumni Foundation scholarships recipients are:

Back Row: Kily Nhan, Emily Nishimura Herod Scholarship; Jose Luis Pena, Mavis Lukson Scholarship; Job Hernandez, The Turnaround Scholarship; Robert Rink, Dr. Alan Gunsul Scholarship; Tyler Rivera, Science Department Scholarship; David Nguyen, Harry E. Lemon Memorial Scholarship.

Front Row: Meghan Snider, Mavis Lukson Scholarship & English Dept . Scholarship; Sewheat Asfaha, Social Studies Dept. Scholarship; Dalia Pedro, Music Dept. Scholarship and Uli & Gayle Chi Mathematics Dept Scholarship; Jenny Nguyen, World Language Dept. Scholarship; Valentina Palma, The Turnaround Scholarship; Rebecca Morris, McEachern Family Fine Art Scholarship.

Not pictured: Joshua Sandell, Nancy Tully Memorial Business Dept. Scholarship; Taylor Feist, Dick Dahlgard Memorial Photography Scholarship.

Kaelyn Sayles

The Pac-West Pirates beat the South Highline National Dodgers 12-0 in the fifth inning Sunday.
The two teams were playing for the title of the 2012 District 7 Juniors Tournament of Champions

To make it to the championship, South Highline National (SHN) beat West Seattle 10-3. Pac-West knocked out Renton.

Despite the loss to the Pirates, Dodgers head coach Jeff Gibbs remained positive, acknowledging their talented opponent and the mistakes made by his team.

Before the game, Gibbs gave the team a pep talk that included referencing the 1980 Olympics hockey game between the U.S. and Russia, known to many as the “Miracle on Ice.”

“It was the same kind of position for us, David versus Goliath, and nine out of 10 times they’re going to beat us, but maybe that one time we’re going to beat them,” Gibbs said. “Unfortunately, during the game we just made errors and it cost us the game.”

In this case, Goliath was the undefeated Pirates, who scored five runs in the second inning, giving the team momentum that the Dodgers struggled to shut down.

Principal Carmela Dellino of Roxhill Elementary shared that the school was the recipient of an award in the recent Families and Education Levy grant.

"We’re excited to say that Roxhill Elementary School is one of four elementary schools chosen to be awarded the Families and Education Levy and recognized as an Innovative School! Through much collaboration and hard work Roxhill is fortunate to be a grantee of $300,000 per year for the next seven years! Sixteen elementary schools around the city took on the rigorous challenge to compete this spring for this grant. We are honored to receive these funds and eager to further support students and families both academically and socially. These funds will also provide us the capacity to develop a stronger partnership and alignment with Denny International Middle (Levy Award Recipient) and Chief Health High School, We are confident we will continue to close the achievement gap.

Topping the list of the new and extended teaching and learning opportunities, we will provide funding for:

The Ballard SeafoodFest is coming up on July 14 and 15 and organizers are looking for volunteers to help this long-time Ballard tradition run smoothly.

"We are looking for help with set-up and tear-down, selling raffle tickets, being part of the “green team” for recycling and trash, ice wrangling, and music stage volunteers," said volunteer coordinator Karen Siscel Smith.

Interested volunteers can email Karen Siscel Smith at seafoodfestvolunteer@hotmail.com. 

The 38th annual event will be another fun- and food-filled weekend in downtown Ballard with a lutefisk eating contest, live music, plenty of kids activities and entertainment, a salmon BBQ, a beer garden, and lots of Viking spirit.

The Main Stage schedule looks as follows:

Saturday, July 14:

▪ 12:00 p.m.: Pickled Herring
The perfect 2012 Accordion Mania/SeafoodFest kickoff, Pickled Herring plays a rocking mix of Scandinavian and fishing tunes.  FYI, Lori Hanson, the accordion and lead singer had her first music lessons right in Ballard by none other than Stan Boreson.
▪ 1:30 p.m. - The Legendary Oaks

If you'd like to support the West Seattle High School football team you will have your chance this Thursday, June 21 by taking part in the “Tour of West Seattle” fundraiser. All participants will get a T-shirt and happy hour prices at the following establishments:

1. Rocksport
2. Matador
3. Shadowland
4. Wingdome
5. West 5
6. Corner Pocket
7. Talarico’s

You will need to contact George Foster at 206-355-6703 or Dave Groves w/ Seattle logo Pro 206-935-5646 to get the special $25 price before the event or show up the day of for $30.

Starting point for the tour is The Rocksport Restaurant and Bar located at 4209 SW Alaska in the West Seattle Junction at 6:30 pm.

Ballard High School's head football coach, Joey Thomas, is inviting all future Beavers to come out and participate in the Ballard High School youth football camp. 

The camp is open to all current K through 9th grade students. 

"This is a great opportunity to learn football fundamentals, meet the BHS coaching staff, and enjoy a great sport," stated Thomas.  

Athletes will learn blocking, tackling, passing, catching, kicking, and other specialties in a safe, non-contact football environment.

The camp has two sessions with the first one kicking off as soon as June 25. The second session will take place July 2 though 6 from 9:00 a.m. to noon each day at the Ballard High School track field.

Cost is $100 for one session, $180 for both sessions.

Email coachthomas.bhs2@yahoo.com for more information.

Hundreds of fair-goers spilled into the streets for the Fremont Fair this weekend. The pre-party on Friday night with Redhook brews and a bit of soul set the stage for a weekend packed with fun and good-old-Fremont-wackiness.

Multiple beer and wine gardens were conveniently planted near three stages that hosted local bands. For those looking for thrill, a giant purple slide was set up on N. 34th St. just above Phinney Ave.

On Saturday, the Fremont Solstice Parade celebrated the longest day of the year with unique costumes and ‘earth-friendly’ vehicles such as bicycles. Marion Moat and Stewart Hubka participated in the parade. Moat wore a bright blue wig and colorful garb reflecting her peacock theme as she posed with Hubka, who took a more medieval approach to the parade.

“I love being in the parade, it’s so much more fun to be in it. [I enjoy] seeing everyone’s creativity. [The parade] is such an explosion of color, light, and movement,” said Moat, whose theme for her group was the ‘prancing peacocks’.

The Puget Sound Energy Benaroya Master Plan was approved unanimously by the Des Moines City Council after a public hearing on June 14. There were no opponents to the plan present.

Puget Sound Energy [PSE] will purchase a portion of the land planned for the Des Moines Creek Business Park on 24th Avenue S., between S. 208th St. and S. 212th St.

“The plan meets all city criteria,” said Jason Sullivan, senior planner for the city.

“I am confident they [PSE] will deliver the project they say they will deliver and it will be a quality project that sets the standard for the business park,” said Public Works Director Grant Fredricks.

Puget Sound Energy will consolidate three offices at this new facility, bringing 250 permanent jobs and 200 construction jobs to Des Moines. The city will also receive an estimated $676,000 in annual tax revenue and approximately $648,000 in construction taxes from the project.

“I look forward to a partnership with the city,” said Local Government and Community Relations Manager David Namura of PSE.

Darcy Smith, a sixth grade literacy teacher at McMicken Heights Elementary, has been named Teacher of the Year for the region encompassing King and Pierce counties and Bainbridge Island.

Students commonly advance two to three grade levels in their reading in Smith’s class. For classroom instruction, she selects literature dealing with issues that touch students’ day lives, such as discrimination, immigration, and poverty.

“Picture a classroom in which 11 and 12 year olds are fully engaged in a discussion that involves social justice, human rights, race, and equity,” says McMicken Heights Principal Karin Jones. “That’s the conversation Darcy facilitates with sixth graders. I compare her to a great conductor of an orchestra; the music is incredible.”

“I believe students come to me with a rich background,” says Smith. “Race, social status, or life situation will not stand in the way of an excellent education for them. If anything, these factors will help in their academic success and understanding of the world.”