All posts by Wendi Dunlap

Editor of the Beacon Hill Blog.
Local Events, Religion

Findlay Street Christian Church holding “trial service” on Beacon Hill

This is the proposed Findlay Street Christian Church building on South Bayview Street. However, the project has not been able to move forward.
Findlay Street Christian Church sent us this announcement Tuesday:

Findlay Street Christian Church has desperately wanted to move into the Beacon Hill area for years and this weekend (January 29th), we’ll be holding a trial service at The Garden House (2336 15th Ave. S.) 10:30am to check out the space and to introduce ourselves to the neighborhood. All are welcome—we have been an open and affirming congregation since 1987—and we’d love to meet you!

A bit more about the church, Findlay Street Christian Church sold its property six years ago with hopes of moving into the Beacon Hill area. Three years ago, we purchased property on the corner of Bayview and 14th Ave S, we designed an ambitious, forward looking, mixed use building that included worship space and multi-unit affordable housing. Unfortunately, we have run into a number of unforeseen setbacks and have so far been unable to get the project off the ground.

Despite numerous hurdles regarding this building project, we’re still eager to move into the Beacon Hill neighborhood and so we are excited to worship this Sunday.

For more information about Findlay Street Christian Church, head on over to our website at http://www.findlaystchurch.org/

We look forward to meeting you all!

Crime, Meetings

Motion-sensing cameras proposed to prevent crime in Mid-Beacon Hill

2 Comments

Our news partners at KOMONews.com are reporting that a local resident has drafted plans to put motion-sensing cameras up on major arterials in parts of Mid-Beacon Hill to thwart crime.

Glenn Tamura has created a proposal to place cameras to capture images of all pedestrians and motorists who travel on Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Beacon Avenue South, Columbian Way, and South Orcas Street. (See the map below.)
The cameras would be able to capture license plate information and send images to a remote server via a wireless connection.

Why this area? The KOMO article quotes neighbor Alexis Gallegos, a block watch captain in the Mid-Beacon neighborhood of Lockmore, who says that crime in the area “‘just started escalating…Now it’s to the point where you can’t go to a (neighbor’s house) without having somebody that’s had their door kicked in.'”

Tamura will discuss his proposal with neighbors at a community meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club.


View Motion-sensor cameras proposed area in a larger map

Crime

Recent break-ins cause concern

Neighbors on the Beacon Hill mailing list have been warning about recent criminal activity in the neighborhood.

First, neighbor Heather posted:

“Friday night at around 4 a.m. my friend witnessed a car being broken into from his window. He called the police and was on the phone with them as they were pulling up, but the guy got away. Apparently, his method of choice was to break in, leave the car door open slightly and leave the car until the unknown car owner maybe looks out and doesn’t see anything so they turn their car alarm off. Once they turn it off the guy comes back and takes what he wants. Pretty clever idea. Moral of the story, don’t assume it is wind if your car alarm goes off and you don’t see anyone. He will be back. This happened on 16th Avenue South.”

Then neighbor Krizten reported:

“My neighbor’s house got robbed today (Tuesday) between 9-11am this morning. She lives above the greenbelt as you come up Holgate from the west. The police believed the burglar(s) came up thru the greenbelt. They smashed a window on that backside of the house and ransacked her bedroom mainly, stealing a jewelry box, walkman and various other small objects.

“This is the second time she’s been broken into this year… A pretty similar burglary happened to another neighbor about 8 doors north of her about 2 weeks ago.

“I believe it also happened between similar hours and the items stolen were similar and included her work laptop. She believes someone was actually watching to see when she left.”

Crimes are only one of the topics discussed on the neighborhood mailing list. Other topics have included missing chickens, recommendations for child care, snow removal, and the quality of Beacon Hill broadband. To join the mailing list, go here.

Food and Drink, Neighborhood Pride

Neighborhood cookbook in the works

The folks at Alleycat Acres have a new neighborhood project this winter: a Beacon Hill community cookbook! They are compiling recipes from the neighborhood to put together into an e-book.

To make this happen, they are asking for your recipe submissions. All submitters get a free PDF copy of the cookbook when it’s finished. The current plan is to have the book finished by spring.

To submit a recipe, go to the submission page and fill in your complete recipe there. Each recipe should include “a story about this recipe or a story about your history with food/agriculture.”

Alleycat Acres will also produce a cookbook for the Central District, so spread the word to your friends in the CD, as well as your neighbors on Beacon Hill.

We look forward to reading—and trying!—the recipes Beacon Hill neighbors will share.

Local Events, Meetings

Musicians and gardeners meet at Garden House this week.

Does music make your garden grow? Find out this week, when events for both musicians and gardeners will take place at the Garden House on 15th Avenue South.

On Tuesday, January 24 at 7 p.m., ROCKiT Community Arts presents this month’s Tuesday Folk Club show, featuring Percy Hilo and
Friends, who are described as “original songs to sing, laugh and think with in Americana folk stylings.” Opening the show will be Betty Jean Williamson and Jack Lenoir. (Make note—next month’s show will feature Golden Tree Story, with Jean Mann opening.) Admission is a $5 donation, and kids get in free.

The following day, Wednesday, January 25 at 7 p.m., the Beacon Hill Garden Club meets. The local chapter is the newest chapter of the Federation of State Garden Clubs. At this week’s meeting, the group will look at seed catalogs to make a group order from multiple companies. All are welcome to visit, and it is $10/year to join the club.

The Garden House is located at 2336 15th Ave. S.

Vines growing in the Beacon Hill P-Patch during warmer weather. Gardening time is coming soon! Photo by Dapper Lad Cycles in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool.
Beacon Bits, Lost and Found

Beacon Bits: Lost ring, hip-hop coffee, and a unicorn head

2 Comments

(Editor’s note—I just fixed the link to the article about The Station in The Stranger. Sorry it wasn’t working earlier!)

Neighbor Julie writes:

My husband lost his wedding band yesterday, most likely taking his snow gloves off while we were out walking – here are the most likely places:

  • 23rd & Forest, or along 23rd between McClellan and Stevens
  • NE corner of 17th & Beacon, or across Beacon in front of the library
  • in front of Red Apple

We gave our name and number to Red Apple and we are searching for it, but please keep an eye out!!
Men’s size 10.5 white gold plain wedding band, 4mm
Thank you!!

Julie 206-713-8606

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Sledding, bah. How about sliding down South Hanford Street on a giant unicorn head? Video here.

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Charles Mudede of The Stranger interviews local rapper Gabriel Teodros at The Station coffee house, and The Station is practically the co-star of the interview:

“‘This is my favorite coffee shop in the city. This is the place where my whole city comes through.’ Indeed, a whole city seems to come in and out of the Station. Beacon Hill is a planet.”

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MSNBC’s John Brecher must live around Beacon Hill. He supplied several before-and-after snow photos to a feature on the MSNBC website. Slide the slider back and forth on the pictures to see our neighborhood with and without snow.

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Seattle Public Schools will use Friday, January 27 as a snow make-up day. It was previously scheduled as an off-day for staff professional development. The other two make-up days for this week’s snow days haven’t yet been scheduled.

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Frozen fennel flowers. Photo by K. Shuyler.
Photos

Our snow (and ice) day

Even weeds were beautiful yesterday with their coats of ice. Photo by Wendi Dunlap.
We saw a lot of folks sledding, snowboarding, and innertubing down steep South McClellan.
Neighbor Cindy Vanous writes: "A few months ago, we had the 'remuddled' front and back porches of our 1923 Beacon Hill home removed and rebuilt according to the 1930’s census photo of the house. We also had new windows built in the same lovely style as the originals, and painted the whole thing to better show off the details… yesterday evening, it all paid off in one perfect photo. This is what I love about our hill: street after street of these beautiful Craftsman bungalows, still standing strong after earthquakes, windstorms, countless shifts in architectural fashion, and nearly a century of everyday use."
In the snow, a street grate becomes abstract art. Photo by Robinette Struckel in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.
Shoppers parked their sleds and toboggans while shopping at the Rainier Avenue QFC. Photo by Wendi Dunlap.