(see August 2007 issue)JOHN GALLEN They've been out there, and they're making efforts to bring the past back to the present - I support that. It's a good idea.
(see August 2007 issue)JOHN GALLEN They've been out there, and they're making efforts to bring the past back to the present - I support that. It's a good idea.
Madison Park was a fun place to live - close to stores, beaches, parks and singles! In 1960, when Flying Tiger Airlines was based in Seattle, most of the flight personnel lived in the Park, Leschi and points just a bit south. Soon, other airlines' employees joined the happy mix. This influx really impacted us who had lived in the Park a spell. What was sorely needed were direction, rules, dos and don'ts, as it was a time of learning how far boundaries could be pushed and still maintain a decent semblance of single life.
In the wake of the Minneapolis tragedy, transportation safety was widely discussed. The bridge collapse was so destructive and tragic that one has to wonder if bridges from New York to Washington state are in as much risk as the one that collapsed.Unfortunately, politics and partisanship became the knee-jerk reaction of many elected officials. Before the bodies had even been completely counted, Senate leaders were already connecting decades of local infrastructure mistakes and oversights throwing blame around on each other.
Longtime Washington Park resident and prominent art dealer and collector Gordon William Woodside died July 16, 2007, at Virginia Mason Medical Center after a stroke. Prominent local residentBorn on Jan. 22, 1927, Mr. Woodside was the son of Canadian émigrés James Nelson Woodside and Carol Gavinjack Woodside. His home was in Washington Park at 3302 E. Mercer St. for many years.
The crowds and acts filled the Seattle Center for the 37th annual Bumbershoot arts festival.
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will host community open houses in September as part of the Bridging the Gap Neighborhood Street Fund (NSF) Large Project Fund. SDOT received over 500 applications for NSF projects, more than four times the number received in previous years. Seattleites are encouraged to attend the open houses to help determine what projects ultimately receive funding. Community members can review transportation projects proposed by their neighbors and others around the city.
The idea of the Celebrating All Families Festival grew out of a Diversity Committee discussion at the Rainier Unitarian Universalist Center (RUUC) on Yesler Way. While charged with the difficult mission of creating a multicultural faith community, the committee decided to celebrate the diversity they cherish most; the variety of their family constellations. Committee member Liz Bucklew said people wanted to acknowledge and honor family diversity and an atmosphere embracing all types of families not only found at RUUC but in the Southeast Seattle Community at large. RUUC prides itself for its wide variety of such diversity. Liz Bucklew and her partner, Kristin Grace have two daughters, one born to each of them. Another lesbian couple in the church has a daughter adopted from an Indian family with whom they are very close. One family consists of a single Filapina mother with a son adopted from Vietnam.
On Saturday, September 8, Arts Gumbo opens with a focus on Zen, featuring UMO Ensemble's Zen Talesat 5 pm. UMO brings its irreverent approach to Zen in a theatrical production in which clowns tackle ancient Buddhist, Zen and Sufi stories through mask, movement, music and text. The UMO Ensemble is a local physical theater company founded in 1987 and consists of a company of performers who create and compose their own productions. UMO's improvisations include movement, character, vocalizing, and writing as the basis for the creation and development of new works.
Area emcees seize hold of Bumbershoot while Blue Scholars surprise "Somebody say Beacon Hill!" begged emcee Gabriel Teodros, midway through his hour-long Sunday set at Bumbershoot. With a crew 15 strong, Beacon Hill's Teodros dazzled the midday crowd with his savvy lyrics and boundary-bashing breed of hip-hop - protesting to each Bumbershoot passerby that there's no need to look elsewhere for relevant music. Teodros was just one of the highlights from a handful of artists during the prolonged weekend of music at Seattle's historic music festival. In this, the 37th year of Bumbershoot, local emcees stacked the bill at the Esurance Stage on the Fisher Green lawn for a lecture in ethnocentricity.
Bumbershoot is Seattle's premiere events in terms of sheer volume. Over 100 musical acts, from last week's top of the charts to the relatively obscure, descend on Seattle Center over Labor Day weekend. The cumulative effect of so much noise and so many people creates a hum of sound that surrounds the area. There's sketch comedy, stage plays, literary readings, sculpture, paintings, posters and film. Fair food is in abundance. It's boisterous, overcrowded, and expensive. When you consider dishing out $35 dollars for a single day of attendance and contemplate hiking down from the top of Queen Anne, which is where you will more likely than not end up parking, the idea of staying at home and firing up the barbeque is an appealing option. Yet, for all of hassle and cost, I've tried to take in at least one day of the craziness every year since I moved to the city a decade ago. It is an essential part of living here, a final hurrah for the end of the summer.
It was about seven or eight months ago when I first heard about the I-5 closure. I was in a meeting - surprise - when someone mentioned it in passing. The perplexed look on my face was a sure indicator that I had no idea what was being talked about. An email was quickly sent to SDOT and WSDOT asking about the project and when public outreach was going to begin. A reply came within hours and, coincidentally, outreach was beginning at that very moment.In my neighborhood, we did see an increase in traffic. Airport Way was busier than normal. We took advantage and provided some visuals for the commuters. Burma Shave-style ads and portraits of some of our merchants lined the streets. But my favorite addition is at 13th Avenue and Airport Way. There, at that intersection, is the newest addition welcoming people to Georgetown. It's a brand new traffic signal.
Under the protection of the Space Needle, a nighttime crowd went ape for Gogol (See Photo Gallery), while their daylight counterparts saluted another Bumber-act like a human fountain.
As some of you know, our firstborn tax deduction will be leaving the nest this week and going to college in another state. Which state, you might ask? Well, I'll tell you. I think she's going to be in the state of Confusion, which is not to be confused with the state of Yes-I'm-Blond-Why-Do-You-Ask?Case in point: My little fledgling will be living in a dorm with four other girls. There will be a kitchen there. For cooking. Meals. Do you see where I'm going with this?
Several of my new readers have asked about this column's title, Notes from the Garden. When they first saw the column they expected some helpful hints about gardening. Many years ago when I first started writing for this newspaper, I did write standard gardening columns. Then I found that I was adding remarks about community issues and moving away from just pure gardening tips, hints and advice.More than four years ago I had the good fortune to spend five months traveling in Europe. My editor and publisher gave me their blessing for a sabbatical from writing. I took the time to rethink what I wanted from my writing efforts, and I came to the conclusion that I was more interested in writing short essays rather than a column.