May 2015

Karen Sisson after 25 years as Executive Director of the Senior Center of West Seattle will celebrate her retirement with a party to be held at the Senior Center on June 10 from 5 to 8 PM. The community is welcome to attend.

The theme of the party is Gone Boating since she and her husband will be spending more time on their boat now that she is retired.

King County Executive Dow Constantine will be in attendance helping to dedicate the building housing, and owned by, the Senior Center as the Sisson Building at 7 PM

Further, on June 8 the Seattle City Council will be meeting to vote on a Proclamation declaring June 10th as Karen Sisson Day..

Information from Seattle Fire Dept.

Fire Investigators determined a basement fire in a 2-story home was caused by improperly discarded smoking materials under the porch of the house. The damage estimate is $50,000 the building and $20,000 to the contents.

The 911 call came in at 5:46 a.m. reporting smoke coming from the back of a home located in the 4000 block of 23rd Avenue SW. When firefighter arrived they found the lone occupant of the house outside. The crews searched the house and did not find anyone else inside. It took fire crews 20 minutes to control the flames and 40 minutes to completely extinguish the fire.

There were no injuries. The occupant evacuated with one of his 2 dogs. His other dog and a cat did not survive the fire.

The Taste of West Seattle annual celebration of local food has finalized their list of sponsors for this year and has exceeded their sponsorship goal by nearly $3000. That means all expenses have been covered, so all proceeds from admission and raffle ticket sales will go directly to West Seattle Helpline's programs to help neighbors in need. They extended their gratitude to area sponsors for their support.

The May 21 event is "close to sold out" say the organizers and more than 500 people are expected to attend.

DETAILS:
Date: May 21st, 2015
Time: General admission: 6:30 pm, VIP admission: 6:00 pm
Location: The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California Ave SW; Seattle, WA 98136)
VIP Tickets: $95- early entry at 6:00 pm, VIP seating, VIP raffle, and more.
General Admission: $50- unlimited samples of food and beverages.
More Information: www.tasteofwestseattle.org
Buy Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1228817

Restaurants and establishments set to appear:

• 11 Olives
• BAKED. Custom Cakes
• Bakery Nouveau

The trend that has gotten attention on national television, professional cuddling, has finally come to West Seattle. In a press release Cuddle Club said that LaShanna Williams will be operating a cuddling establishment at Fauntleroy Square at 6417 Fauntleroy Way SW. They state that it is Washington’s first professional cuddling establishment and the offer free membership.

The press release stated:

"Cuddle Club is about creating a welcoming space for members to be themselves. Non­sexual, nurturing touch is a basic human need. Everyone needs to be held, and all of us benefit from more relaxing, meaningful human contact. Cuddle Club’s mission is to improve lives in small ways that matter, and in lieu of a membership fee, members are asked to support that mission with donations of time, food, or other goods to local organizations.

Benefits of cuddling can include reduced stress and anxiety; improved social skills, self-esteem, and sleep; lower blood pressure and heart rate; reduced drug cravings and risk of heart disease; and improved immune system and recovery time.

Ballard imbibers can be elated to hear a new brewery has opened in the so-called “Seattle Beer District” in Ballard.

Lucky Envelope Brewing at 907 NW 50th St. opened its doors and its taps last Thursday, May 7. Owners/brewers, Barry Chan and Raymond Kwan poured brews and chatted with friends and patrons lucky enough to happen upon the opening.

Chan is from Lancaster, Pa., outside of Philadelphia and has lived in Seattle since 2008.

“Of the new transplants to Seattle, I’m more of a veteran,” said Chan.

Barry was in graduate school at UCLA when he caught the beer bug. He graduated with a masters degree in structural engineering and got a job in Seattle. That’s when he bought his first beer kit.

“I caught myself criticizing a beer, and then I had a realization moment: I didn’t even know how to brew a beer, so why would I criticize something I didn’t even know how to make. So I ended up getting a kit.”

Chan said he slowly immersed himself in brewing. He read and listened to podcasts focused on brewing and learned the chemistry and biology of beer production.

In 2012, a modest corner store in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood was threatened with demolition. Though the shop, built in the 1930s, had seen better days, a group of neighbors believed that it could be restored in a way that would enhance the character of the community.

“They didn’t want to see it get knocked down and replaced with townhomes that didn’t fit in with the block,” says Colin Scanlon, a Ballard resident and founding partner of general contracting firm HUUS Construct.

After the neighbors successfully purchased the property, they approached architect Thomas Kayser and then HUUS to craft a plan to turn it into a residential duplex. Having just started their own firm, the guys at HUUS were up to the challenge, and made the Dibble Duplex (so named after its street address) their first big project.

Ballard is one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods. Its streets, lined with single-story houses and punctuated with corner shops, retain a distinct turn-of-the-century feel. Situated next to Shilshole Bay, it is the historic home of Seattle’s Scandinavian community which worked in the salmon-fishing industry.

By Katy Wilkens, MS, RD
Nutrition and fitness manager, Northwest Kidney Centers

Green shoots are poking up where my chives grow. I am giving them a “haircut” almost every night and adding their sweet, green, clean, onion flavor to soups, salads, dips and egg dishes. And I am waiting for the beautiful purple flowers that appear at the top of many of the stalks.
Chives will grow almost anywhere. You can grow them in a pot indoors or stick a few clumps in a flowerbed. They are a great onion substitute, and their flavor and color really shine when you add them to dishes that don’t cook long, especially egg dishes. No need for salt, which is bad for your heart and kidneys, when you have the potent flavor of chives to brighten your meals. My favorite ways to use the flowers are sprinkled over a salad, or to tear them into individual blossoms and mix them with the finely chopped leaves into goat cheese.

information from WSJunction.org

The 33rd Annual West Seattle Summer Fest releases the full line up for the festival happening July 10-12 in West Seattle’s Junction. With a bigger emphasis on the musical portion of the event, the line-up includes some of the hottest bands in the Northwest including The Thermals, The Cave Singers, La Luz, Sisters, VOX MOD, “S,” Kithkin, The Fame Riot, and West Seattle’s own DJ Lance Romance among others. This FREE 3-day party in the streets celebrates West Seattle as a thriving music and arts community.

You can catch more than 20 artists performing on the California main stage all weekend from up-and-coming artists like Pig Snout (a father & his two kids-that ROCKS), NAVVI, Solvents, Evening Bell to Seattle music heavy hitters like Gibraltar, Sisters, and Black Whales.

Check out music from the full line-up in this YouTube playlist.

About the West Seattle Summer Fest

A new contract between the City of Seattle and its recycling processor, Republic Services, is expected to save about $4.5 million over a three-year period.

The new agreement resulted from a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process that rated Republic’s proposal highest based on financial and non-financial established criteria. The new contract contains provisions that would allow the city to recycle cooking oil and additional rigid household plastics.

“This new contract not only makes recycling cheaper in Seattle, we’re expanding the kinds of materials that we recycle,” said Mayor Ed Murray. “We’ve nearly reached our goal of recycling or composting 60 percent of all of our city’s waste, which is both better for the bottom line and also supports environmental quality.”

“Well done, SPU and Republic,” said Councilmember Sally Bagshaw. “I am pleased that city ratepayers will save money on recycling services, while we continue to partner with a local competitive company committed to paying its employees a living wage.”

Contributed article by Gerardo Bolong

Lisa Kumasaka's nearly perfect pitching and a trio of two-out, lightning strikes for scoring electrified the Seattle Christian Warriors in a five-inning 11-0 Nisqually 1A League victory against Cascade Christian (Puyallup) on the Seattle Christian campus in SeaTac on Wed., May 6.

The Warriors qualified for the West Central District 1A tournament to be held at Spanaway's Sprinker Recreation Center. Seattle Christian hosts Orting on Fri., May 8, before traveling to Adna on Saturday in non league games scheduled for the specific purpose of postseason preparation.

Seattle Christian (12-2) can clinch the league's No. 1 seed to district by winning at Cascade Christian in a scheduled 5 p.m. matchup on Wed., May 12. The Warriors currently stand at 6-1 in league action while Bellevue Christian is 4-2.