All posts by Wendi Dunlap

Editor of the Beacon Hill Blog.
Local Events, Neighborhood Pride

A sunny day at the Beacon Hill Festival

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The Beacon Hill Festival was Saturday, and this year the weather was great! Sunny and warm, but not too hot—it felt like we might actually get a summer this year after all. Here are a few photos of the day. Were you there? We’d love to see your photos, too. Please contribute them to the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr. Thanks to Furchin for contributing some wonderful photos!

Members of More of Anything, with their colorful ties. Photo by Furchin.
The audience enjoys More of Anything's performance. Photo by Wendi.
The Beacon Hill Music/ROCKiT space/Beacon Rocks! folks were cheerful, even near the end of the day. Photo by Wendi.
Cool drinks were a hot commodity. Photo by Wendi.
Checking out the silent auction. Photo by Wendi.
Children performing on the main stage. Photo by Furchin.
Health and Safety

Alcohol Impact Area proponents organizing

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Seen one of these in the neighborhood? (This one is actually in Maryland.) Photo by Guy Schmidt via Creative Commons.
A group of North Beacon Hill neighbors have concerns about the impact of public inebriation on the neighborhood, and have started a drive to form an Alcohol Impact Area (AIA). There are currently AIAs in effect throughout much of downtown and the University District.

According to the Department of Neighborhoods website, local jurisdictions are given more time to review liquor license applications and renewals inside an AIA, and the jurisdiction may also request that the Liquor Control Board restrict stores in an AIA from selling certain types of alcoholic beverages that are linked to local chronic public inebriation problems. Sales may be restricted entirely, or the businesses may be limited in the hours they can sell beverages “to-go.” By “certain types,” the city currently means this list of products: wines such as Boone’s Farm, Night Train Express, MD 20/20, and Thunderbird; and beers/malt liquors such as Keystone Ice, Olde English 800, Rainier Ale, and Steel Reserve.

Neighbors in favor of the AIA are currently collecting photos of the impacts of public inebriation on the neighborhood—specifically, photos of littered cans and bottles of those beverages which are banned in Pioneer Square and downtown, but are sold legally here on Beacon.

For more information on the Beacon Hill Alcohol Impact Area Initiative, see their Facebook page.

Arts, Local Events

Rumi Koshino exhibit opens at NEPO 6/11

Next Saturday, June 11, from 6-8 p.m., NEPO House presents the opening of another in the series of Little Treats art exhibitions, I’m Sorry. Thank You. I Love You. by Rumi Koshino. The show will be accompanied by “Rumi Koshino: Between the Figural and the Factual,” an essay by D.W. Burnam. A screening of Jim Jarmusch’s film Stranger Than Paradise film will follow the opening event at 8 p.m.

According to the NEPO website, the Little Treats shows are “a series of monthly shows that focuses on presenting new work by individual artists and small group shows. In order to avoid moving too much furniture the shows take place only and entirely in our entry room.”

NEPO House is located at 1723 S. Lander St.

You may also want to mark your calendar for September 10, 2011, when the first NEPO 5K: Don’t Run event, a 5k artwalk from Pioneer Square to Beacon Hill, will take place. Stay tuned for more information as the event date gets closer.

Arts, Local Events

Beacon Rocks! has a Secret (Cabaret)

The Beaconettes at the recent Light Rail/Dark Rail performance event. Photo by Dan Bennett in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.
Beacon Rocks! is holding a fundraiser with a twist: the Secret Cabaret. The event will be held in a “beautiful private home” (you find out the address after you RSVP) next Saturday, June 11, at 7 p.m. Guests will be entertained by Beacon Hill performers, including the Beaconettes.

There is a $10 suggested donation, and if checks are made out to Shunpike, donors will receive tax-deductible receipts.

To attend (and find out the party’s location), RSVP to beaconrocks@gmail.com.

The Beacon Rocks! performance events themselves this summer will be June 26, July 31, and August 28 on the Roberto Maestas Festival Street (formerly Lander) just north of Beacon Hill Station. Stay tuned for further information.

Local Events

Lots happening on the Hill this weekend

Pottery made in Jefferson Community Center pottery classes was for sale at last years Beacon Hill Festival. Photo by Jason.
There are a lot of activities scheduled in the neighborhood for this weekend and beyond. Check the Beacon Hill Blog events page for a list of what’s happening.

Here’s a quick reminder about some of the upcoming activities.

Tonight:

Tomorrow:

Sunday:

  • 9 a.m.: Lewis Park volunteer work party

Tuesday:

Local Events

Buy or sell treasures at the Beacon Bazaar

Musicians perform at the Beacon Bazaar. Photo courtesy of the Beacon Hill International School PTA.
The annual Beacon Bazaar comes to the sidewalk outside of Beacon Hill International School at 2025 14th Ave. S. next Saturday, June 11, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. The Bazaar is a family-friendly event where you will find arts, crafts, clothing, plants, and various and sundry other treasures for sale. (We hear that last year someone even sold songs on commission!) Everyone is welcome to come by and shop, and table rentals are also available if you’d like to sell your own goods. Table rentals are $30, with fees going to the BHIS Parent Teacher Association, but vendors keep the proceeds from the items they sell.

For more information or to get a vendor registration form, visit the BHIS website or contact Bazaar Coordinator John Shaw at johnshawtoo@hotmail.com.

(Editor’s note: This article was changed on June 8 to include the photograph supplied by the PTA.)

Local Events, Recreation

Lawn Bowling Club summer events start tonight

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JPLBC logoThe Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club has a bunch of summer activities planned, starting tonight with the first of the summer “Friday Night BBQ and Bowls” events, and tomorrow with the annual Open House during the Beacon Hill Festival. On August 25-28, the Club will host the US National Lawn Bowling Championships.

Here is a list of the summer’s planned events. Events are free and open to to all, but flat-soled shoes are required on the greens. If you’ve never tried lawn bowling, this is your chance!

  • Friday Night BBQ & Bowls: June 3-August 19, 6 p.m. to dusk. Instruction and bowls available for beginners. See the website for more info.
  • Annual Open House: Saturday, June 4, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Fourth of July Ice Cream Social and Bowls: Monday, July 4, 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
  • Member-Guest League: Pair up with a club member for this fun and casual league on Tuesdays, August 2 to September 27, at 7 p.m.
  • Be a spectator at the US National Lawn Bowling Championships, August 25-28, 2011. More info at the website.

The Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club is located at 4103 Beacon Ave. S., just west of the Jefferson Park golf driving range.

Clean and Green, Meetings

Neighbors invited to Food Forest design party 6/7

The first Beacon Food Forest community design party is this coming Tuesday, June 7, at 6:30 p.m. at the Garden House, 2336 15th Ave. S.

Neighbors are invited to participate in the design process for the Beacon Food Forest (previously known as the Jefferson Park Food Forest). This is the first of three design parties hosted by the Harrison Design Team. Dinner will be provided.

The Beacon Food Forest is a planned “edible urban forest garden” on a 7-acre grassy field on the western slope of Jefferson Park. The Food Forest project received a $22,000 grant in December 2010 to create a schematic design. Tuesday’s design party is part of this design process. Future design parties are planned for July 13 and sometime in September.

Getting Around

Traffic congestion expected in Sodo tomorrow

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We love the Mariners, but those afternoon games make traffic no fun at all. Photo by Wendi.
Beacon Hill neighbors planning to travel through nearby Sodo tomorrow, June 1, should be prepared for traffic congestion. In the morning, approximately 4,000 students will arrive to attend Weather Education Day at Safeco Field. This event will be followed by a Seattle Mariners day game against the Baltimore Orioles. The game begins at 12:40 p.m., and post-game traffic and rerouting will affect the afternoon rush hour commute.

In the BHB‘s experience, this means that you should not even consider driving from Beacon Hill to Highway 99 via Sodo tomorrow after about the 5th inning. Take alternate transportation if you can, or alternate routes that keep you away from the stadium area.

Meetings

“Jungle,” Alcohol Impact Area on NBHC agenda

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Here is the agenda for this month’s North Beacon Hill Council meeting, scheduled for Thursday, June 2 at 7 p.m. in the Beacon Hill Library community meeting room.

  • 7:00 Introductions, agenda
  • 7:10 Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith will update us on City plans for the greenbelt commonly called “the Jungle” and the Mountain to Sound Trail. Volunteers are needed to make this idea come to fruition.
  • 7:25 Question and Answer time: Discussion of City plans, and the displacement of homeless camps. Where will the long-term camp residents go? The increase in homeless street inebriates is causing a problem on N. Beacon—what is being done? Establishment of an alcohol impact area (AIA) on N. Beacon.
  • 8:00 Community announcements and concerns
    • Executive Board vote on officers
    • Nominations for Board Members
    • Other community concerns, including the formation of an Alcohol Impact Advisory committee
  • 8:30 Closure followed by Executive Board Meeting

The Beacon Hill Library is located at 2821 Beacon Ave. S. All are welcome at the meeting.