October 2012

It wasn't a big game, or a major tournament. Just kids from the West Seattle Soccer Club out playing on a rainy day. But the parents, coaches, friends and others came out in the drizzle, on a muddy field to support those kids and that's worth caring about. How many thousands of times are scenes like this repeated not only in our community but across the nation? This is what you do to support healthy and fun activities for kids.

On Saturday, Oct. 27, Tom Carney was out filling in for the regular coach for the West Seattle U-11 Chivas who faced the ST Champion Outlaws. On the other side of the field were the Wildcats vs. the Sharks. Jim Burgess was coaching and the Wildcats lost to the Sharks 5-4 "in a spirited wet and rainy match."

When we hear the score of the other game we will update.

Through her practice Courageous Heart Healing, LLC, child, adult, family and group psychotherapist Jennifer Harkness combines traditional talk-therapy techniques with meditation and art. In a previous West Seattle Herald article, she told us, "My studio is full of yummy supplies, chalk, pastels, oil pastels, clay, glitter glue, boxes, canvas."

The West Seattle resident continues to practice in the Activspace building, 3400 Harbor Ave SW, but after a year is expanding to a larger space there to better serve families and larger groups. She said she is busiest during the holiday season, which is quickly approaching. More clients come to her to address internal tumult resulting from heightened expectations of holiday happiness, and the sometimes pesky business of stirring up old emotions when gathering with family.

CROWN HILL ARTS FESTIVAL WELCOMES FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS NOV. 3

Free Performances by the Arts Groups in Crown Hill Center

Tenants of the Crown Hill Center showcase their many talents and resources at a free neighborhood event, Saturday, Nov. 3 from 7pm to 9pm. Doors open at 6:30 pm. The center is located at 9250 14 Ave. N.W. in the Crown Hill neighborhood.

This is the eighth year of opening its doors to the public to highlight the many activities that are now housed in the center that once was an elementary school. (The Seattle School District sold the building to its long time tenant, Small Faces Child Development in 2009.)

“It was a dark and stormy night at the spooky house…”

You’ve heard those stories, especially around Halloween. It’s cold, the rain is falling, and a large scary beast comes out of the chilling rain determined to rip out your heart and eat it right in front of you.

It was dark, the rain was falling, and for the Seahawks that beast was the Seattle Prep Panthers. The Panthers claws were sharp, its teeth were large, and it came for blood. Memorial Stadium was a house of horrors.

Alright, enough of the macabre. The Seahawks just plain got man handled. They turned the ball over on their first possession of the game and the Panthers took immediate advantage of that tasty gift and promptly put seven points on the board. The Seahawks quickly gave the ball back to Seattle Prep which just as quickly gobbled up seven more points.

The only miscue by Seattle Prep in the half was a fumbled fourth down punt attempt in the first quarter that got loose in the end zone for a safety. The quarter ended with the Panthers in control 16-2.

Vera Johnson of the Village Green Perennial Nursery, 10223 26th Av. SW, invites people to sign up for the following workshops:

She will host indoor activities including:

Saturday, Nov. 3, 5:30pm to 8:30pm

Healthy chocolate? Really?

With the holidays just ahead and parties, gatherings and gift exchanges-give CHOCOLATE- and healthy chocolate at that! HOW can you go wrong? We'll have healthy warm sipping and fondue! She has room for 15 or so people.

Phone Vera for prices: (206) 819-8544

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Sunday, Nov. 11, 2:00pm to 4:00pm

Hands-on Fermentation: Savory Sides

Fall is the perfect time of year to bring tasty, healthy, traditionally fermented foods into your life! Store-bought vinegar pickles and sauerkraut can't compare to traditionally fermented relishes, which add probiotics and superior nutrition along with zippy flavor.

Musica Sacra Chamber Chorale presents A Candlelight Christmas

From Musica Sacra:

"A Candlelight Christmas" is the theme of a concert of choral music to be presented by the Musica Sacra Chamber Chorale at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, 4210 SW Genesee St., West Seattle, Friday, Dec. 7, 7:30 pm.

A candlelight procession opens to feature holiday choral music from the Renaissance through the modern day. An Advent-like atmosphere of mystery pervades the first half as segments on waiting, mystery and the mother are explored. The second half moves to more of a celebratory tone as we explore the meaning of light and end with a prayer for peace.

Composers such as as Whitacre, Caccini, Gjeilo, Forbes, and John Ferguson are featured as well as a setting of Silent Night by Stephen Paulus and the premiere of an arrangement of John Rutter’s Candlelight Carol written by Maestro Ingalls. This is a not-to- be-missed concert by one of Seattle’s premiere vocal groups.

Some of the Sealth team members before the game on Thursday Oct. 25 expressed their wish to play the Eastside Catholic Crusaders because they beat them earlier in the season.

The phrase “be careful what you wish for” comes to mind.

In the first set it looked like the Seahawks were going to repeat their earlier encounter with Eastside Catholic, winning 25-19 and it looked like Daja Vu all over again.

In the second set the Crusaders size up front began to work for them, winning 25-20.

The same advantage led Eastside Catholic to a 25-18 win in set three and the Crusaders kept rolling with a 25-16 set four win and the victory.

The Ladyhawks aren’t out of the tournament yet. They play and early game on Saturday in the losers bracket. Sealth coach Lorna Considine thinks this loss will ground her team and make them more focused for their next match.

Every year it seems the spirit of the season (or is it spirits?) seem to grip people in West Seattle who love Halloween and go big with their spooky, scary, or just fun decorations.

Photographer David Rosen did a quick tour around the area and shot some of photos of a few of the notable roadside Halloween displays.

The Fazio family wrote (see the slide show) "And on Halloween we put lighted pumpkins by all the tomb stones and serve hot cinnimon cider to the trick or treaters."

If you've got a good photo of YOUR decorations, send it to WestSeattle@robinsonnews.com and we will add it to our slideshow.

King County Metro Transit estimates ridership has grown 22 percent in West Seattle since 2009, compared to an average six percent growth across the city. To meet that increased demand, Metro will add eight “commute time buses” to the 55 and 120 routes on Monday, Oct. 29.

“We’re seeing double-digit demand over last year on this corridor, and demand increases even in the face of tight budgets,” Kevin Desmond, Metro Transit general manager, said in a press release. “Scheduling these additional trips when commuters need them most continues to improve our transit network.”

Metro said the 120 and 55 lines have been mostly full during peak commute times since their major system overhaul on Sept. 29.

“Earlier this month, planners tallied a snapshot 26 percent increase in the number of passengers on routes between West Seattle and downtown Seattle compared to 2011,” according to Metro, which further illustrates the need for additional services in the area.

Sometimes parents’ hobbies become their kids’. Other times, the situation flips.

For 42-year-old West Seattle resident and father of two Jeremy Higgins, the latter took place, and the interest was chess. Today, Higgins is sharing his passion for the game with children and teenagers at the High Point Library on Tuesdays, as part of the Checkmate: Drop by for a Game of Chess program recently started.

Every Tuesday around 4 p.m., an ever-fluctuating group of kids stop by the High Point Library in West Seattle to play a game created (as historians suggest) somewhere in the Middle East in the 6th Century, foregoing video games and smartphone apps for the ancient battle of minds. Higgins is there to teach them the basic moves, stategies, chess notation (so they can save a game and come back to it), and the history of incredible games from the game’s storied past. He encourages parents to join their kids, so they can learn a little and carry on the tradition at home.

“There is a stigma sometimes with chess,” he said. “Adults are afraid of it in many cases, they have a little bit of a ‘Wait, I don’t think I can do that’ (mentality).”