All posts by Wendi Dunlap

Editor of the Beacon Hill Blog.
Volunteering and Giving

Volunteers needed for Van Asselt playground work day November 19

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Photo of playground fun by GoonSquadSarah.
Photo of playground fun by GoonSquadSarah.
Keyunda Wilson of Van Asselt Elementary writes,

Dear Neighbors, the time has finally arrived! We will begin building our community playground at Van Asselt Elementary (8311 Beacon Ave. S.) on November 19. We are in need of 75 volunteers to help construct, spread wood chips, paint, and various other tasks. If you are available any amount of time on this day and would like to give your support please email me as soon as possible krwilson@seattleschools.org.

Van Asselt is now located at the former African-American Academy school site, a bit south of the old Van Asselt site.

Site News

Beacon Hill Blog has a new self-serve advertising system

Please forgive this momentary promotional interruption. We wanted to let you know that we’ve recently gone live with a new self-serve ad system here on the BHB. To advertise on the blog, just go to http://beaconhillblog.instiads.com/, click “Create Your Ad”, and follow the steps, including uploading your ad art and paying online. It’s quick and easy. You can also click the various “Advertise Here” links you see on our website. We have several ad positions available, including text-only ads and image ads of varying sizes. This is a great way to target Beacon Hillers and other folks in Southeast Seattle!

Now, back to your regularly-scheduled programming.

Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: Vote Now edition

No more in-person voting at places like El Centro -- now you need to mail your ballot in. Photo by Wendi in 2008.
No more in-person voting at places like El Centro -- now you need to mail your ballot in. Photo by Wendi in 2008.
It’s election day! If you haven’t voted yet, you can vote today by getting your ballot in the mail before today’s pickup, or dropping it off by 8:00 pm at one of the six Neighborhood Service Centers (Ballard, Central, Delridge, Lake City, Southeast, and University) that serve as drop-off locations for election ballots. Additionally, the NSCs will be hosting open houses for any and all residents to drop in, enjoy refreshments, receive giveaways, and learn more about the Department of Neighborhoods, City services, and opportunities for civic engagement. In our neck of the woods, the place to be is the Southeast Neighborhood Service Center, 3815 South Othello Street #105, from 3:00 – 7:00 pm. The Center is just a couple of blocks west of Othello Station, past the Safeway.

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In the Slog, Charles Mudede has some uncomplimentary things to say about the Beacon Hill Library and its public art, but the commenters vehemently disagree.

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Speaking of public art on the Hill, the Times has a feature about artist Dan Corson, who created the “space forms” in the Beacon Hill light rail station. (Thanks for the tip, Joel!)

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Local Events

Día de los Muertos ofrenda exhibit opening Sunday, November 1

This is part of an ofrenda constructed in New Mexico 2006, in remembrance of women killed along the Texas/Mexico border. El Centro de la Raza is hosting a community ofrenda exhibit from November 1-20. Photo by Glen Van Etten.
This is part of an ofrenda constructed in New Mexico 2006, in remembrance of women killed along the Texas/Mexico border. El Centro de la Raza is hosting a community ofrenda exhibit from November 1-20. Photo by Glen Van Etten.
El Centro de la Raza is hosting their annual Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) ofrenda/altar exhibit from November 1-20, starting with an opening ceremony on Sunday, November 1 from 2:30 – 6:30 pm. The theme is “a multi-cultural tribute to Juan Rulfo’s novel Pedro Páramo.”

Opening day will include a brunch at 2:30, the opening ceremony at 3:30, and the opening of the ofrenda exhibit at 4:00. There will be presentations by Ameyaltonal Danza Azteca, FANDANGO, Hope For Youth, Richard Hugo House, and others, and children’s activities will include face painting and sugar skulls.

The ofrenda exhibit is open from November 1-20 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 10:00 am – 6:00pm, and on Wednesday from 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm.

Local Events

Fire Station 13 to host open house November 14

Get a close-up view of the historic Fire Station 13 next month. Photo by Bridget Christian in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool.
Get a close-up view of the historic Fire Station 13 next month. Photo by Bridget Christian in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool.
The historic landmark Fire Station 13 on Beacon Avenue South, near Jefferson Park, is hosting an open house on Saturday, November 14 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. All are welcome (kids too!) to meet the firefighters, tour the engine, and learn about improvements to the station.

Fire Station 13 is a wonderful old building (read the Landmark Nomination Report for this site, from 2004) built in the Mission Revival style in 1928. Currently, work is being done on the station to upgrade it to current seismic safety standards, replace the roof, and improve the usability of the building.

The station is located at 3601 Beacon Avenue South, on the corner of Beacon and South Spokane Street.

Clean and Green

Free trees for Beaconians

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treeflyerforwebYou might have noticed that Beacon Hill is one of the neighborhoods with the lowest amount of tree canopy cover in Seattle. Only 19% of the residential property on the Hill has tree cover. In the 1970s, Seattle had 40% tree cover, but today, the city with “the hills the greenest green” only has a shockingly low 23% tree cover. The tree canopy went away quickly, and it will take more time to bring it back, but the city has a goal of reaching 30% tree cover by 2037.

EarthCorps and the City of Seattle are combining forces to provide free trees to residents of Beacon Hill, along with Georgetown, West Seattle Junction/Genesee Hill, and Westwood/Roxhill, all of which have a low amount of tree canopy.

Residents of these neighborhoods can apply for free trees for their planting strips and property. Trees will be available for pick up in early December. Tree recipients will be able to attend a workshop on tree planting and care, and will receive tree watering bags in the spring.

The deadline for this program is November 16. Applications may be downloaded here. If you need more information about the program, contact  Lina Rose, EarthCorps Project Manager, lina@earthcorps.org, 206-793-2454.

Photos

Maria Isabel Velez: Images of SE Seattle in fiery color

This beautiful photo of autumn leaves on the grounds of the VA Hospital is by Maria Isabel Velez. Her photostream on Flickr has some beautiful atmospheric images of things in Beacon Hill, Columbia City, Georgetown, and elsewhere. According to her profile, all of the photos were taken with her iPhone!

Many of the images are of things that might go unnoticed — a crack in concrete, a rusting bench, an outlet on a wall. Maria’s use of composition and saturated color makes them fascinating.

Some other photos I particularly enjoyed in Maria’s photostream:

Getting Around

New pedestrian signage installed on Beacon Avenue

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Will a bright yellow pedestrian warning sign get drivers attention? Photo by Wendi.
Will a bright yellow pedestrian warning sign get drivers' attention? Photo by Wendi.
We’ve heard neighbors complaining lately that it is sometimes difficult to cross Beacon Avenue South in front of Beacon Hill Station–cars just don’t see pedestrians, or just don’t stop for them. Sometime in the last week or so, the city added new signs to Beacon Avenue in an attempt to make this crosswalk safer, along with warning lights. With the opening of the light rail station, this crosswalk is even more heavily used than it was before, so this new signage has been needed.

A cyclist walks a bicycle across the crosswalk under the new signs. Photo by Wendi.
A cyclist walks a bicycle across the crosswalk under the new signs. Photo by Wendi.
Photos

Melancholy photos of October on Beacon Hill

From the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr:

Outside McPhersons fruit stand, at sunset. Photo by Tim Ripley.
Outside McPherson's fruit stand, at sunset. Photo by Tim Ripley.
Fog in Jefferson Park. Photo by Joel Lee.
Fog in Jefferson Park. Photo by Joel Lee.
These autumn sunsets are getting earlier and earlier. Photo by Bridget Christian.
These autumn sunsets are getting earlier and earlier. Photo by Bridget Christian.
Fish delivery. Photo by Tim Ripley.
Fish delivery. Photo by Tim Ripley.
Thanks to Tim, Joel, Bridget, and all who have shared their photographic talents with the community! Do you have interesting photos of Beacon Hill? You are invited to add them to the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool. We’d love to see them!

Life on the Hill

McGinn favorite among BHB readers in poll

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Mike McGinn at a town hall meeting on Beacon Hill last month. Photo by melissajonas.
Mike McGinn at a town hall meeting on Beacon Hill last month. Photo by melissajonas.
The Beacon Hill Blog Mayoral Survey is now closed. Here are the results:

  • McGinn: 61.5%
  • Mallahan: 33%
  • That dude sleeping on the bench in Triangle Park: 4%
  • Other: 1.5%

Will these match the final numbers? Time will tell.

At least two people attempted to stuff the ballot box by voting repeatedly (and obviously). Any votes that were the result of such ballot-box stuffing were removed from the final total. This left us with fewer than 100 responses, so it is a very small sample.