February 2016

The Southwest Historical Society will launch a new speaker series on March 20 called Southwest Stories. It will feature unique presentations by notable speakers on topics relating to the history of West Seattle, the Duwamish Peninsula and the Birthplace of Seattle.

FREE to the public, each presentation will take place on the third Sunday afternoon of the month. The venue will rotate among the five Seattle Public Library branches on our peninsula.

Here are the speakers names, topics and dates and venues:

Rob Ketcherside
2 p.m. Sunday, March 20, 2016: ROB KETCHERSIDE, urban historian, “L.A. on California Avenue: The Morgan Street Drive-In Market,” High Point Branch, 3411 SW Raymond St

Tom Collier
2 p.m. Sunday, April 17, 2016: TOM COLLIER, vibraphonist and West Seattle High Hall-of-Famer, “Across the Bridge: West Seattle Heritage in Jazz,” Delridge Branch, 5423 Delridge Way SW

Carol-Ann Thornton
SPECIAL TIME: 3 p.m. Sunday, May 15, 2016: CAROL-ANN THORNTON, counselor and advocate, “Culture Shock: The Awakening of Alki and West Seattle in 1962 and Beyond,” Southwest Branch, 9010 35th Ave SW

Seattle hip hop stars Macklemore and Ryan Lewis will visit Easy Street Records in the West Seattle Junction Friday Feb 26 at 6pm for a signing and listening party to celebrate their new release:
"This Unruly Mess I’ve Made"

This will be a crowded event so Easy Street is letting the first 100 people to pre-order the new album who will receive a wristband to guarantee entry to the event.

Customers who pre-order must pick up their CD at the store - no shipping. Lineup for the event starts at 5pm, with a list at door. Free poster to the first 400 who pre-order.

Pre-order here - http://goo.gl/XjGDZ3

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Saturday, Feb. 20
Boys basketball
Seattle Lutheran 72, Shorewood Christian 50
Seattle Lutheran won the Tri-District tournament title with a victory over nearby West Seattle rival Shorewood Christian at the Lummi Nation school Saturday.
Both teams now advance to the regional level of the state Class 1B tournament, playing games at Renton High School this coming Saturday.
Seattle Lutheran meets Columbia Adventist at 8 p.m. and Shorewood Christian plays at 2 p.m. against Naselle.
Lincoln 49, Kennedy 46
The Lancers of Burien finished sixth in West Central District Class 3A play with Saturday's loss to Lincoln at Rogers High School in Puyallup.
Kennedy will still play in regional action but will have to go all the way to Spokane to do it.
The Lancers meet Shadle Park in a 4 p.m. Saturday game at University High School.

Girls basketball
Mercer Island 48, West Seattle 44
The Wildcats took another close loss Saturday at Bellevue College to finish fourth in Sea-King District 2 action.

by Tim Robinson

Born on the northern plains in Calgary, Alberta Canada, Elsie Tibbitts likely surprised her American mother and father who were visiting relatives there. It was February 1917. It does not seem like the place one would go to birth a child, even considering it happened often enough for the locals. As luck or fate would have it, Elsie arrived. Foot thick ice on Lake Athabasca would not thaw until June. The Canadian expeditionary forces were assembling to enter WWI. In Seattle, the residents were digging out from more than 21 inches of snow. Tiny Elsie Tibbitts began life in the harsh Canadian winter before traveling backcountry trails with her parents and siblings to Washington via Spokane.

In West Seattle that same year, the Tibbitts raised their children, three girls and one boy, near Morgan Street.
Elsie is a 1935 grad of West Seattle High. She worked jobs around the district, including the Admiral and Granada Theaters as well as the Embassy Theater in Seattle. She married her high school sweetheart (Jim Freeland) in 1936 raised a son, Robert, who is also a West Seattle High grad. Jim passed away in 1999.

If you would like to obtain some well considered financial advice, contact Sarah Cecil 206-938-6017.

Brought to you by Sarah Cecil Financial Advisor with Edwards Jones Investments.

Sponsored post.

Destination Delridge: A Landmark Celebration Fundraiser
For the first time in five years, the Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association is hosting a fundraiser! There'll be great food, live entertainment, art, games, and music by some of Seattle's finest! It all happens Fri., Feb. 26 at Metropolist in SoDo.Ticket info and purchase: destinationdelridge.brownpapertickets.org. Questions, or to volunteer: DestinationDelridge@dnda.org. To donate: bit.ly/1YISS8z.

Youth indoor Soccer at the Y!
West Seattle YMCA
4515 36th Ave. S.W.
westseattleymca.org
Registration is now open. Leagues for ages 3 to 8. The season starts with practices during the week of February 29. Call for full information: 206.935.6000.

Discovery Shop
4535 California Ave. S.W.
206.937.7169

By Lindsay Peyton

For artists and creative types who want to explore a new medium, Northwest Encaustics provides plenty of room to play with pigmented wax in a safe and inspiring environment.

The studio, located at 7150 44th Ave SW in West Seattle, comes complete with large work surfaces, plenty of ventilation and top notch instructors, as well as all the needed supplies and tools of the trade.

It’s an ideal launch pad for those who have been curious about encaustic painting, or the technique of adding color to hot beeswax and layering the medium to create detailed compositions and intricate collages.

There’s a full calendar of classes and workshops – from Kirsten Wihlelm’s introductory course to weekend workshops on specific techniques, like Larry Calkins’ encaustic collage seminar.

The studio is also available to rent by the day, week or month. The space doubles as a gallery, with rotating work on display by instructors and local artists.

Wet bandit makes off with contractor’s tools

A contractor is missing his power tools after a burglary occurred at a job site located on the 1200 block of Seventh Avenue N.W. on Feb. 3. The complainant called police after he arrived to the site and found the garage door opened and his tools missing from the second floor. He was doing contract work for the owner. The work included tile. He noticed that the floor was still wet from his wet saw. He thought this indicated the suspect had been there just hours before the incident. Police found pry marks at the front door of the residence, and they assumed that was the entry point for the burglary. They dusted for latent fingerprints but none were recovered. The contractor’s estimated loss is $1,800.

Burglaries at two Ballard businesses

By Pat Cashman

While watching a new episode of “Better Call Saul” the other night, I recognized a guest actor immediately. Why wouldn’t I? I once gave him a ride to the airport.

More on that later in this column. (In TV news they call this a “tease.”)
Meanwhile, it seems that everybody can lay claim to some brush with celebrity.

My brother insists he’s met several U.S. presidents—among them, Reagan and Clinton. Of course, he doesn’t have any photographic proof of those encounters—but he does have a snapshot where he appears to be eating a hot dog with Calvin Coolidge.
My mother used to regale me with stories of how she used to play tennis with the singer
Andy Williams growing up in Chicago. “He even sang to me one time,” she’d say swooningly. For some reason my dad didn’t much care for the guy.

Now in its fourth decade, Seattle Tilth offers the Master Composter / Soil Builder program in partnership with Seattle Public Utilities to train community members to become compost educators -- and climate change heroes! Compost reduces global warming, storm water pollution and food waste while building healthy soil and growing healthy plants.



A diverse team of community volunteers participates in 28 hours of classroom learning, hands-on practice and field trips. Learn how to compost while learning about soil science, natural yard care and recycling.

Training includes eight sessions during four weeks starting on Tuesday, March 22 in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood (4649 Sunnyside Ave N).

After the training, each Master Composter contributes 35 hours of volunteer outreach, teaching practical techniques to other community members throughout the city. Volunteers work on projects of their own choosing – at schools, churches, community centers, businesses and community gardens.

Food waste is such a problem that the City of Seattle prohibits food waste from going in the garbage.