More photos from the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.
Recent Beacon Hill sights
Monthly Archives: June 2010
Seattle Night Out coming on August 3
Seattle Night Out is coming on Tuesday, August 3. Night Out is an evening event in which communities hold block parties where neighbors can connect with each other and organize their neighborhoods against crime. This year’s theme is “Celebrating Crime Free Neighborhoods.” You can find more information, and register online to hold a block party, at the Seattle Police Night Out website. If you register your block, you may be able to close your street to traffic in order to hold your block party.
You may wish to apply for a Small Sparks Grant to pay for activities at your block party. The Small Sparks Fund provides awards up to $1,000 to support projects that help build a stronger and healthier community. You’ll need to get your application in soon; there is a six week lead time. For more information about Small Sparks, see the website.
If you would like us to post about your Beacon Hill Night Out block party, email us. We’ll compile all the block parties into one post that we’ll post shortly before August 3.
Lewis Park continues to improve
Hi Everyone,
Here is an update of activities at Lewis Park:
The Lewis Park Steering Committee applied for, and was awarded a Department of Neighborhoods Small and Simple Neighborhood Matching Grant to hire a geotechnical firm to do an analysis of the steep slope areas in Lewis Park. The North Beacon Hill Council served as Fiscal Sponsor for the grant. Geotechnical firms were researched and a Request for Qualifications was prepared and submitted. A committee was formed to review proposals and select the best-qualified firm. A contract was signed with Terra Associates, Inc. who performed the geological study. The study included a visual site reconnaissance, on-site exploration, and review of all available geologic documentation. The study concluded the steep slope areas of Lewis Park are stable enough to perform site activities associated with native plant restoration, however, it cautioned that erosion-control measures be conducted concurrently with the restoration. Parks and Recreation reviewed the report and will incorporate the results in restoration plans for Lewis Park. Please let us know if you would like an electronic copy of the full report.
In addition to the geological study, the DON grant also paid for several crew days from Earthcorps and the King County Corrections Work Program. These crews worked in areas to support and supplement the volunteer activity occurring on the level areas of Lewis Park.. During the grant period, volunteers contributed over 1,400 hours at Lewis Park. These volunteers planted 1,124 native shrubs, groundcover and trees, and maintained the newly restored areas by watering, weeding, and applying erosion control and mulch. Volunteers continue to restore the more level areas of Lewis Park each Sunday from February through November. Gloves, tools, water and light snacks are provided and volunteers can participate any time between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm for as long as they want. Kids are welcome!
Friends of Lewis Park want to thank all the volunteers and community support that has made this spot on North Beacon Hill a much safer and beautiful place. We encourage everyone to come and enjoy the restored areas of Lewis Park and are excited about the future when all 4.5 acres will be restored back to a Natural Area for our community to enjoy a peaceful urban forest of native plants and wildlife.
Dee and Vinh
Lewis Park Forest Stewards
Lewis Park is located at 1120 15th Avenue South, near the Amazon/PacMed building.
Summer classes available at Jefferson CC
The center has posted a survey for new classes and special event ideas. Fill it out here.
Work party Saturday to spruce up Maple School Natural Area
Environmental Outreach and Stewardship (EOS) Alliance members and other volunteers will be working together at a community work party at the Maple School Natural Area this Saturday, June 19, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.
According to the EOS website, the “plan of action will be mulching around native plants that were planted this past winter and doing some quality control by removing invasive plants such as English Ivy and Himalayan Blackberry. EOS Alliance team members will also be offering information on the natural history of the area and about habitat restoration efforts in Seattle. Gloves, tools and refreshments will be provided. Just bring yourselves and a reusable cup for refreshments, and get ready to get in touch with nature!”
To join the work party on Saturday morning, meet at 20th Avenue South and South Lucile Street, at the top of the stairs, at 10:00 am. Please RSVP to Ben Kantner at bkantner@eosalliance.org. Don’t forget to dress for the weather and for nature, and bring a reusable cup for refreshments.
Drop-in preschool this Saturday at Beacon Hill Library
Denise Louie Education Center, Rotary Club of Mercer Island, and Rainier Valley Rotary Club will present a drop-in preschool program for kids aged three to five from 10:00 am -1:00 pm this Saturday at the Beacon Hill Library, 2821 Beacon Avenue South. The program, called Playtime Plus, is free, and will help children to learn early learning activities and build their math and science skills.
This program will be ongoing (at least once a month on a Saturday) for families to come in and have their children learn early learning skills. If you have questions, please contact Tom Ulie at tulie@comcast.net, or call (206)725-9740 and ask for Hannah.
Neighborhood Plan update survey results posted
Frederica Merrell has provided us with some vote results and highlights. Among quite a few other results, the voting reflected a high level of opposition to building commuter parking lots on the Hill, and a high level of support for such strategies as consistent broadband access, the Food Forest, and a Town Center Campus with redirected traffic. The highlights of the vote totals may be read here: Word .doc format, or PDF.
A spreadsheet containing all the vote totals may be found here: Excel format, or PDF.
All of the “vote posters” from the Beacon Hill Festival event may be seen in this folder. There are photos that show each entire poster (for context) as well as closer views to make the results easier to read.
Beacon Rocked Sunday on Lander Festival Street
The first Beacon Rocks! concert took place yesterday at Lander Festival Street. Lots of folks showed up to cheer on the performers, all of whom are your Beacon Hill neighbors. This was the first of four Beacon Rocks! events scheduled this summer. The next one is on July 11, from 1:00 – 5:00 pm, and will include the Beaconettes, Autumn Electric, the Screaming Starts, and tribal belly dance by Skin Deep Studios.
All photos by Melissa Jonas in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr. Thanks, Melissa! (Did you take photos at this event, or any other Beacon Hill event? Your photos are welcome in the pool too!)
Park and P-Patch volunteers needed Saturday
Craig Thompson writes to tell us that The Filipino-American Association of CPAs will have a work party in Rizal Park on Saturday at 9:00 am. They will be working in the upper area of the park. Neighbors are welcome to pitch in.
Neighbors are also welcome to help at 10:00 am or so on the same day, when volunteers will create a new planting bed at the nearby Beacon Bluff P-Patch. The P-Patch is located at South Massachusetts between 14th and 15th Avenues South.
June sights around Beacon Hill
Photos from the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.
