The Celtic Swell is a swell Alki Resident, a restaurant serving tasty, reasonably priced, generously portioned food plus excellent cold, foamy beer and hot, strong coffee.

I'm 80 years old and know what I'm talking about because I eat there fairly often for lunch and dinner and have always been pleased with the service and surroundings. I feel comfortable with the ambience: the people sitting at the bar; the young mothers with their children during the lunch hour; and the happy people with their families during the dinner hour.

I've never been in the Celtic Swell beyond 9:30 p.m., but I like to think that when we oldsters and the families with the young kiddies go home, the place opens up to the night-time drinking and revelry my husband and I so enjoyed during those late hours before we had kids and then indulged in again after our kids grew up and left home. How sad we would have been had there not been places like the Celtic Swell to unwind and enjoy ourselves after 10 at night.

I moved to West Seattle 12 years ago and have paid dues to the Alki Community Council every year since then. It's a fine organization with many of the same people keeping it going year after year. In my younger days, I had lots of experience with similar organizations in Chicago, where a few of us did most of the work for the majority of the people in our community. It can be hard when you're one of the few doing the spade-work for the whole community's problems; i.e., parking, police protection, noise abatement, etc. etc etc.

But by addressing these community problems, a good community council gets to know the city government, gets to know where and how to press the buttons to get response for their complaints. And that knowledge leads to some degree of power by which the few hard-working people in charge gain some degree of authority and control over the community's affairs. For good and bad, there's always an element of danger when a few people have knowledge and control the majority of the community has ignored.

I think the attack the Alki Community Council has laid on the Celtic Swell is an example of a few good people overstepping the use of the authority and knowledge they possess. Their reasons for bringing the Celtic Swell to heel smack a bit of self-righteousness and intolerance.

I like a good night of uninterrupted sleep as well as the next guy which is why, when I moved to West Seattle, I did not rent or buy an apartment in the beach area where restaurants and bars existed; and I'm sure, where they had been in business long before I was looking for a place to live 12 years ago.

The Celtic Swell is a swell Alki establishment, adding a touch of color that makes a community thrive. If, after 10 p.m., they quit selling food but still serve drinks and offer music; and if the patrons enjoy themselves and get a bit noisy, I say Hooray For Them!

Long may the Celtic Swell fly its flag in West Seattle's beach area.

Beverly Barsy

Alki