All posts by Wendi Dunlap

Editor of the Beacon Hill Blog.
Arts, Neighborhood Pride

Beaconettes compete in caroling competition tonight

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Our very own Beaconettes are competing tonight in the Great Figgy Pudding Street-Corner Caroling Competition, at Sixth and Pine downtown from 6:15-7:15 p.m. Forty-plus neighborhood choirs will compete and raise funds for the Pike Market Senior Center and Food Bank.

Last year, the Beaconettes won the People’s Choice award for the second year in a row. Here’s a video of them (with very interesting hairstyles) performing “Seattle’s Best Things” for a large crowd at last year’s competition.

Come on downtown and cheer them on! You can take Link directly there and back and avoid any Westlake parking hassles.

Arts, Local Events

Music, “Urban Retreat” among this weekend’s events

Music and a peaceful retreat are coming to North Beacon this weekend through two events.

On Friday (tonight!) at 8 p.m., the Tangletown String Band will bring bluegrass, alt-country, and “old-time” music to Quetzalcoatl Gallery, 3209 Beacon Ave. S. Hear some examples of their music here.

The second event is Urban Retreat: Advent through the Senses, a “day of retreat” at Poustinia House, 3007 16th Ave. S. from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 3. All are welcome. The hosts say:

“Located in a house in North Beacon Hill this retreat will offer spaces to read, walk a labyrinth, do some writing, meditate or have a cup of tea. Advent is a latin word for ‘coming’ and is a season preceding Christmas. In this space we get to be and come into a new way of being during this holiday season.”

Jonathan Myers of Poustinia House adds “We’re not at all interested in preaching to people or having them join anything. All we want to do is provide space for people to escape from the craziness of life, center and ground themselves before the mad rush of the holidays gets too overwhelming.”

Volunteering and Giving

Hazelnut Trail volunteers needed this Saturday

It may be wintery weather, but the work parties continue at Beacon-area parks and green spaces. The Friends of Cheasty Greenspace need 40 volunteers this Saturday, December 3 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon to complete the Hazelnut Trail, then drink hot cider and eat homemade baked goods around a warm fire pit. Yum!

The Friends will provide tools and gloves, but volunteers should wear warm clothing and sturdy shoes, and bring their own water bottles. If you like, bring extra refreshments to share. Meet at 2809 South Alaska Place at 10 a.m.

The trail plan for Cheasty Greenspace at Mountain View. Click to see the web page about this plan, which includes a link to the PDF.
Meetings

Budget cuts, recognitions on NBHC meeting agenda

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The agenda has been announced for the North Beacon Hill Council December meeting, which will be held next Tuesday, December 6, at 7 p.m. in the Beacon Hill Library community room. All are welcome. You are part of the council when you attend your first meeting, and you have voting privileges when you attend your second.

This month’s agenda:

  • 7:00 Welcomes and introductions
  • 7:05 Bernie Matsuno, Director, Department of Neighborhoods
    • What the latest budget cuts mean to the department, Beacon Hill
    • Recognition of North Beacon Hill accomplishments
  • 7:35 Questions and answers from the participants
  • 7:50 Community concerns, reports from committees, announcements
  • 8:15 Executive Board Meeting as needed
Arts, Local Events, Volunteering and Giving

Caspar Babypants to play at Wellspring Open House Saturday

Wellspring Family Services, just a bit east of Beacon Hill on Rainier Avenue, is holding a free Holiday Open House this Saturday, December 3. The event will feature a special performance by Caspar Babypants (otherwise known as Chris Ballew from The Presidents of the United States of America). Caspar will be debuting a brand-new song written about the winner of this summer’s Kids Helping Kids coin drive contest.

The event runs from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at Wellspring, 1900 Rainier Ave. S. Caspar Babypants performs live at 1 p.m., and there will also be holiday treats and tours of the facility.

Admission is free for all ages, however, you are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate to the Wellspring Holiday Toy Room. The Toy Room is a place where homeless families may come and choose gifts for their children. Wellspring expects to share gifts with over 1,000 children in this year’s Toy Room.

Caspar Babypants performs for happy, dancing children. Photo courtesy of Wellspring Family Services.
Arts

Time, Wasted at NEPO House, 12/17

NEPO House on South Lander Street is hosting an opening reception, Time, Wasted, on December 17. The event will include a screening of Waste of Time: Capitalism, Consumption, and the Quest for Renewal, a documentary film by local filmmaker Shaun Scott, as well as photographs by Virginia Wilcox.

According to NEPO, the presentation will “explore the United States’ brief and improbable journey from pastoral expanse to industrial juggernaut to recession-prone wasteland.” Waste of Time, Shaun Scott’s second feature-length film, will tell the story of our consumer culture through a collage of vintage ads, music, and narration.

Scott’s other work includes Seat of Empire, which The Stranger described as a “strange, fascinating, messy, playful, serious, poetic, philosophical, meandering, grounded, compounded, confounding, political, and insouciant history of Seattle,” and 100% Off: A Recession-Era Romance.

(See a recent interview with Scott in CityArts.)

Virginia Wilcox will show her own new works including photographs of people absorbed by and involved with their mobile devices, and images of bleak post-industrial landscapes in rural America.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with both artists.

The event is at NEPO House, 1723 S. Lander St., on December 17 from 6-10 p.m. Suggested donation is $5.

NEPO celebrated their two-year anniversary last Saturday.

This is the trailer for Waste of Time:

The event is at NEPO House, 1723 S. Lander St., on December 17 from 6-10 p.m. Suggested donation is $5.

NEPO celebrated their two-year anniversary last Saturday.

Crime, Life on the Hill

Stolen computer returned, apparently not by God

Neighbor Jonathan sent us this tale of theft and recovery:

“On Wednesday, November 23rd, I left my messenger bag in the Beacon Hill Light Rail Station as I absent mindedly boarded the northbound train. As soon as I realized what I had done, I switched trains at the International District station and headed back. By the time I got there it was gone. It was either turned in or stolen.

“I called Link Light Rail and talked to the security guard on site, neither were of any help and so I waited, just hoping it was turned in to the next train operator. Turns out it was stolen. However, the taker or takers ultimately were not interested in the bag, only the computer in it. The bag was dropped on my front lawn/sidewalk on 16th Ave at around 10:00pm or so. At that point, I knew it was stolen of course and so gave up hope of finding it. I started checking Craigslist for computers of my specs to see if it was being turned around for a quick buck.

“However, the next morning, Thanksgiving Day, my computer was sitting safely on my front porch chair. There was still a lot of juice left in the battery and a note written on the back saying, ‘God did not return your computer, I did. Ha!’ During the day on Wednesday, I was able to use the Find My iPhone app and remotely wipe and lock the computer, which rendered it useless and unmarketable. So they brought it back. No harm, no foul as they say. And I got a good laugh out of the note too.”

Glad to see it came back!

Help Wanted

Singers and planners needed for local groups

A La Carte performing at last summer's Beacon Hill Festival at Jefferson Park. Photo by Wendi.
Three local organizations are seeking new members. Perhaps you are someone they are looking for.

ROCKiT Space, the music and art organization that puts together events such as Beacon Rocks!, Tuesday Folk Club, Songwriters’ Circle, and more, is seeking board members. If you are interested in being part of ROCKiT Space’s future, contact them for further information.

Two Beacon Hill a cappella vocal groups are also seeking new members. A La Carte is looking for any and all vocal ranges, from both men and women. To audition, please prepare a two-minute vocal piece to be performed a cappella, and contact ALaCrteACappella@gmail.com.

The Beaconettes performed at the opening of Lander (now Roberto Maestas) Festival Street in December 2009. Photo by Jason Simpson.
The Beaconettes won the “People’s Choice” and “Most Creative” awards at last year’s Figgy Pudding Caroling contest with their satirical and left-leaning tunes. Now, they are seeking an alto to join the group, as well as prepping for this year’s contest on December 2. Please contact the same address as above: ALaCrteACappella@gmail.com.

If you don’t want to sing, you can also help by contributing to the Beaconettes’ Figgy Pudding fundraising drive here.

Food and Drink

Happy Thanksgiving from the Beacon Hill Blog!

Vintage postcard courtesy of David Slack.
Happy Thanksgiving (a day early) and thank you for reading the Beacon Hill Blog! As has become traditional here at the BHB, here is a recipe for a Thanksgiving treat: my grandma’s pumpkin pie recipe. I’ve used this recipe many times and it is very good. If you forgot to get evaporated milk, this recipe will save the day for you—–it doesn’t use it, and you won’t miss it.

Pumpkin Pie

Start with 1 recipe pie crust. Set the uncooked shell aside. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Put 2 cups pumpkin (or one small can) into mixing bowl.

add: 2 eggs beaten slightly (Egg Beaters work just fine if you want it to be lower-fat)

add:
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla

then add:
1 c. scalded milk (skim milk works fine if you wish to use it, and so does soy milk)

Mix all together. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes, turn the heat down to 350, bake 45 minutes. It’s done when you can stick a knife in the middle and it comes out clean.

Makes 1 pie. For two pies, use a large can of pumpkin and double everything else exactly.

Enjoy!

I hope some of you will try this with a Seattle tradition: Emmett Watson’s famous Thompson Turkey, the recipe for which he used to publish every Thanksgiving in his Seattle Post-Intelligencer column (and later, in the Seattle Times). “You do not have to be a carver to eat this turkey. Speak harshly to it and it will fall apart.”