June 2017

By Kathryn Kingen

I’m late to plant my garden, but I don’t feel all that guilty. It seems I’m in good company, because all of nature is delayed this year. It's like there was a huge traffic jam and team sunshine got caught in it. Oh sure, apologize, but we've all had to wait, so pale and patiently. Now we are late to the garden game. The tulips missed their tulip festival, the rhododendrons missed their rhody-fest and the snarl up made it all the way to my yard. But now that it’s June I am finally planted. As I went out to take a look today I noticed my garden was in full game mode. Check out my lively chive cheerleaders with their purple pom-poms. Go team!

Herb planting can give you the joy of a big garden even if you don’t have a big yard. Any old pot will do. I love the ability to gather these delicious additions and take whatever I’m cooking from blandly routine to deliciously memorable.

Hundreds of West Seattle High School Alumni came to the school to see old friends, celebrate the 100th birthday of the WSHS building and to take part in a group hug photo to commemorate the event. The event, like those held for the Admiral Theater, the Alki Homestead, the Fauntleroy School was organized by Clay Eals, Executive Director for the Southwest Seattle Historical Society.

King County Executive Dow Constantine spoke briefly at the event recalling the 1980 group hug photo he was part of, holding up a special copy of the school newspaper The Chinook with the photo and joking that this was everyone's chance to "wind up in a drawer in somebody's basement someday."

The West Seattle Big Band, led by Jim Edwards provided entertainment with great vocals for 50's and 60's pop songs provided by Sarah Ackers and Jeff Carter.

The school itself opened in 1902 and was originally called West Seattle School.

A building was later constructed and appropriate to the celebration opened to students in 1917 and then becoming West Seattle High School.

A dog’s growl was enough warning to get its owner to stop casually chatting with a stranger.

At 8 p.m. on Friday, May 5, a woman was out walking her canine companion at Highline High School, 225 S 152nd St. The campus was busy. A sporting event had just ended and the attendees were piling out of the game and starting to leave the area.

When a man approached her and asked her how to get to the game, she simply gave him directions. He walked away, stood by a tree for a couple of minutes and then returned and tried to pet the dog.

The dog responded with a growl – and the woman picked up her dog and started running away.

The man chased after her, eventually catching up to her and wrapping his arm around her neck, choking her. She struggled to breathe.

Eventually, the victim was able to run away and made it back to her home. She sustained a fractured jaw during the struggle.

Volunteers spread out across Seattle Parks on Saturday June 3 with a specific mission: fix the trails.

Seattle's reputation as a place that celebrates and looks after nature is driven in part by our relationship with it in our own parks. To honor National Trails Day and to get trails ready for the summer season the Seattle Parks Department sent teams out to restore trails and keep them walkable. Natural processes like erosion and decay can make trails in parks not only uncomfortable but dangerous so it's important work.

Schmitz Preserve Park in North Admiral/Alki is probably West Seattle's most naturalized park with 12 trails comprising around 4 miles of trail length. Jacobo Jimenez, Senior Forest Maintenance Lead for Seattle Parks said, "This is truly an old growth forest. People usually think of just 'big trees' but that only means that the forest has reached its maturity and it has everything from the oldest to the youngest in every stage."

June 3 - Aug 19
Saturdays 10 am-noon

Learn about the wildlife & plants of Seahurst Park & ways you can help them from ESC naturalists. Each month we’ll have guided walks on the beach or in the woods, hands-on activities, exhibits & arts & crafts to different themes. See more descriptions online. The City of Burien sponsors these fun programs to share what's in our watershed & how you can make it healthier. This Saturday, come see what small critters are in Puget Sound through microscopes and on the big screen!

Themes:
Small Critters & the Big Picture - June 3, July 1, July 29
Beach Walking & Trash Talking - June 10, July 8, Aug 5
Birding & Plant Nerding - June 17, July 15, Aug 12
Who & What’s In Our Water? - June 24, July 22, Aug 19

Please register to enjoy fun, family-friendly activities & hourly guided walks.

TIDE POOLS FOR TOTS - FREE
June - Aug
1st & 3rd Wednesdays
10-11:30 am

West Seattle Outdoor movies come back for 2017 with some films sure to be modern classics. First up is the latest in the Star Wars saga, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on July 22. The West Seattle Outdoor Movies viewing area is located next to the West Seattle YMCA on the new Festival street. The West Seattle Y is located at 3622 SW Snoqualmie St, Seattle.

• July 22 – “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
• July 29 – “The LEGO Batman Movie”
• August 5 – “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
• August 12 – “Finding Dory”
• August 19 – “Queen of Katwe”
• August 26 – “Beauty and the Beast” (2017)

All concessions by the Southwest Historical Society.

Bring you blankets, chairs family & friends for the 13th year of the WS Outdoor Movies.

All movies start at dusk and are FREE.

Gates open at 6:30pm.

Concessions and raffles too, all proceeds go to charity.

The Seattle Police Department is asking that people pay more attention to car prowl and auto theft prevention noting a recent uptick in these crimes in the area. Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Burbridge said that "For auto theft, just in the SW Precinct:

2016 Jan-April 179
2017 Jan-April 215

Here is the link for the public crime dashboard where community members can go on and see just their neighborhood and compare it to previous years for various crime types:

https://www.seattle.gov/police/information-and-data/crime-dashboard

Auto Theft Prevention Techniques:
• Never leave your car running or the keys in the ignition when you’re away, even for ‘just a minute’, please remember this is illegal in Seattle and in Washington (SMC 11.70.160, RCW 46.61.600)
• Remove remote garage door openers from vehicle
• Always lock doors and roll up windows, even if the car is parked in front of your home
• Never leave valuables in plain view, even if your car is locked
• If possible, park vehicle in a busy, locked, monitored and/or well-lit area
• Utilize anti-theft devices
• If possible, activate alarm

Our District 6 City Council Representative Mike O'Brien will be the special guest at Phinney Ridge Community Council’s next meeting to discuss policies that he and the Council are proposing that could affect our neighborhood. This is an important chance to participate directly with our representative in city government.

June 6 , 2017, 7 p.m. at Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Ave N

Questions for Councilmember O’Brien will be taken in advance. The Community Council’s Board is also developing topics of interest we’d like him to address. Suggestions include how HALA, with its proposed building height increases and no parking required, will impact neighborhoods and housing affordability for all; property ownership requirements for backyard cottages and increasing neighborhood crime.

In addition, you are encouraged to email questions directly to Councilmember Mike.OBrien@seattle.gov. Please reference our upcoming meeting and cc phinneyridge.ccouncil@gmail.com so we can incorporate your questions into our meeting.

For a spirited evening of fiddle music topped off with some audience square dancing, look no further than the Ballard Homestead on Friday, June 16th at 7:00 p.m. The Ballard High Fiddlers will take the stage with their bluegrass and folk tunes to keep your toes tapping. These players come from the orchestra program at Ballard, and they can be found playing classical music at the Ballard High concerts. Clearly, this ensemble enjoys ranging out into the other genres, as well.

In addition to the fiddle group, some members of the Symphonic Orchestra will be playing arrangements of music by Deakin Hicks, an accordion and clarinet duo who play original instrumental tunes inspired by music of the Basque region in Spain. Special guests The Eclectic Strings from Holy Names Academy will round out the program.

Ballard Strings Program director Brittany Newell has been directing the fiddle program until this year, when Shelley Weiss came on board.

Quote of the Week
"I have long believed that sacrifice is the pinnacle of patriotism” ~Bob Riley

Ballard High School Activities Calendar
May 29-June 2, 2017
Online Calendar Link -
https://goo.gl/TJPTNY

Monday
Memorial Day - No School
Tuesday
Prom Ticket Sales - Lunches and After School - $45/$50
Wednesday
Student of the Quarter - Library - 8am
Prom Ticket Sales - Lunches and After School - $45/$50
Thursday
Prom Ticket Sales - Lunches and After School - $45/$50
Spring Orchestra Concert - PAC - 7:30pm
Friday
Prom Ticket Sales - Lunches and After School - $45/$50

On the Horizon (next week)

June 8 - Fire Drill - 6th per
June 9 - Beaver Day, Moving up Assembly