Photo by Peter Blanchard via Creative Commons.If drivers speed recklessly on your residential street and you’d like to do something about it, you or someone from your street should attend the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program meeting on Wednesday, May 25, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Beacon Hill Library.
Neighborhood Traffic Operations (NTO), a workgroup within the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), is hosting the event to meet with neighbors who are concerned about speeding on their residential street. NTO representatives will present a brief overview of traffic calming options (such as chicanes, traffic circles, radar speed signs, etc.), what steps a neighborhood must take to be considered for traffic calming, the criteria staff use to prioritize projects, and possible funding sources. They will also teach the proper use of radar speed guns.
If you wish to enroll your street in the traffic calming program, a representative from your street must attend this meeting or one of the other meetings (the next one is in Queen Anne in July).
You can find more information about the traffic calming program on the SDOT website.
Craig Thompson forwarded an announcement about a volunteer opportunity helping EarthCorps to improve Dr. Jose Rizal Park this Saturday, May 14. Volunteers are welcome to come at 10 a.m., and the work party will probably run until 2 p.m.
Craig also described last weekend’s efforts in the park:
“Last weekend, 35 Rainier Scholars and staff, Mountains to Sound Greenway volunteers and organizers, and a few neighbors came out in the sun to work on the orchard area at the park and an overlapping forested area. Blackberries were cut back, and the few remaining trees with ivy in the lower off-leash area were cleared with survival rings. Some basic pruning of the crab apples removed some problem branches. We opened up visibility into the area from the access road beneath, having cleared an area down to the stand of Leyland cypresses.
“We removed about three bags of trash, plus a small collection of empty bottles/cans of alcoholic beverages (about half of which are barred from the Alcohol Impact Area down the hill).
“The true apples in the orchard are beginning to blossom, so there is a good possibility that they may produce fruit this year. Please consider joining in this weekend.”
Spring has sprung in these photos from the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr. Have any great photos of the Hill? Your photos are welcome in the pool, too! Inside a tulip at Jose Rizal Park. Photo by sea turtle.Beacon bluebells. Photo by Wendi.More Jose Rizal Park tulips. Photo by sea turtle.Newly landscaped planting strip across from the Beacon Hill Library. A group of neighbors got together recently to work on this project. Photo by Wendi.
We heard that some folks showed up to buy heirloom tomato starts on Sunday and were disappointed, because the tomato sellers from Feed were already gone. However, we hear they will be back at 19th and Lander from 2-4 pm this Sunday with more tomatoes, but you should check their website for the latest info.
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Steel drummers will play at the Franklin High School Arts Festival on May 14. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Lowry. Heirloom tomato plants are also one of the attractions to be found at this weekend’s Franklin High School Arts Festival, on Saturday, May 14 from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Elizabeth Lowry writes:
This year, Francis Roque, a Franklin alum and ceramicist, has worked with FHS art students to create approximately 100 mugs called Quaker Cups, which we will sell at the festival for just $15 each. And, Principal Dr. Jennifer Wiley’s steel drum band will perform, along with the lion dancers, jazz band and other groups. Habesha, a group of East African students, will present a fashion show.
The National Honor Society will sell heirloom tomato plants (the best deal in town!), and other student clubs will have games, rummage sales, sno cones and so on.
May 14 also is the Orca Plant Sale and the open house for Fire Station 30 just down the street from Franklin – oh, and the Mt. Baker yard sales! Big weekend!
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A quick reminder—save the date of June 4 on your calendar for the Beacon Hill Festival at Jefferson Park, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. As usual, there will be music and other entertainment, food, booths showcasing local groups, and more. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.
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You should also save a date for the annual Beacon Hill Piñata Party, which is scheduled for Saturday, July 16 from 12-3 p.m. at Stevens Place Park (sometimes known as Triangle Park). The event will include live entertainment, music, food, dancing, and piñatas. All ages are welcome. The event is free. Please stay tuned for more information as the date approaches.
The event organizers are seeking neighbors to make or donate six piñatas for the event. If you would like to be a part of the planning process or have a donation, please contact Jon Gould at: jon@childrensalliance.org.
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Hello Bicycle at 3067 Beacon Ave. S. has recently remodeled, so they are having a Grand Re-opening sale throughout this week. To celebrate, they are giving out free ice cream on Saturday, May 14 (while it lasts). The folks there also want you to know that the shop’s hours are changing; they will be closed on Mondays instead of Tuesdays, but open every other day from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Local organizations Beacon Hill Music and ROCKiT Space, who have worked closely together in the past, have merged. Here’s a message they sent us about the change:
Beacon Hill Music and ROCKiT Space are merging. Last year ROCKiT Space teamed up with Beacon Hill Music to bring you “Beacon Rocks!” Now we are merging to continue building programs for families on Beacon Hill. ROCKiT Space is an all-volunteer-powered arts non-profit striving to create space for community in our lives through the creative arts. We will continue to work closely with The North Beacon Hill Council; they will be a co-sponsor of all our Beacon Rocks events, generously providing permitting and insurance for those events. So “Beacon Hill Music” and “ROCKiT Space” now are interchangeable when it comes to putting on musical activities on Beacon Hill (we’ll sort out the naming as we go along).
Who Is Beacon Hill Music?
Beacon Hill Music is a group of Beacon Hill residents who love music and would love to see a whole lot more music (and dance) happening on Beacon Hill. We are excited about Beacon Hill having the first festival street in Seattle, the “Lander Festival Street” (the block just north of the Beacon Hill Light Rail Station). Now, as part of ROCKiT Space, we want to continue to use the Festival Street as a performance space and we are branching out to other activities such as the Beacon Hill Music Songwriters Circle, coordinating music for the Beacon Hill Festival, etc.
If you have questions, suggestions, or would like to join in the fun of putting these events on, email us at beaconrocks@gmail.com.
There were two recent liquor license applications in the neighborhood that may be of interest.
The first application is for Travelers, the Indian restaurant opening soon at 2524 Beacon Ave. S., and the applicant is Allen S. Kornmesser. The license type being applied for is “direct shipment receiver” (which will allow the business to buy beer and/or wine from federally certified wineries or breweries) and “restaurant – beer and wine” (which will allow them to sell beer and wine for on-premises consumption in conjunction with food sales). The license number is 403433.
The second application is for La Esperanza de Seattle, just across the street and a bit north at 2505 Beacon Ave. S. The applicants are La Esperanza de Seattle, a Partnership; Geovanni Santacruz, and Omar Santacruz. The license type applied for is “grocery store – beer/wine.” The license number is 407963.
As with all liquor license applications, if you wish to comment on the application to the Liquor Control Board, you can e-mail customerservice@liq.wa.gov.
Tomato-planting season is almost here! The folks at Feed will be selling heirloom tomato starts for your garden on the next two Sundays, May 8 and 15, from 2-4 p.m. (rain or shine) at the corner of 19th Ave. S. and S. Lander. Starts are $3 per quart pot. Please bring your own box to carry them home.
On May 8, varieties for sale include Red Brandywine, Stupice, and Black Sea Man. On May 15, the available varieties will include Japanese Trifele, Limmony, Taxi, Tigerella, Aunt Ruby’s German Green, Plum Lemon, Reisentraube, Juliet Grape, Paul Robeson, Gold Medal, and Red Oxheart. You can see more about these varieties on the Feed website. Heirloom tomatoes. Photo by John Morgan, via Creative Commons.
Recently quite a few North Beacon Hill neighbors on the Beacon Hill mailing list have reported finding the tires of their cars punctured. In some cases, the tires were nearly new, and more than one tire on the car was vandalized.
The vandalism seems to happen to multiple cars in the same area at the same time. If possible, consider keeping your car in a driveway or garage, or in a well-lit area. If you see any suspicious activity around cars in the neighborhood, please call 911.
Here is a map of the locations we know of where tires were recently punctured. If this has happened to you, too, please let us know in the comments.
Here’s the agenda for this month’s North Beacon Hill Council meeting, tonight at 7:00 pm at the Beacon Hill Library community room. El Centro de la Raza’s Cinco de Mayo celebration starts earlier, at 5:30 p.m. at El Centro, and neighbors are encouraged to attend both events if possible.
7:00 Hellos and introductions
7:05 Transit Development Area Update – Lyle Bicknell, City of Seattle
7:35 Elections
7:50 Community Concerns/Announcements
8:30 Regular meeting adjourns; Board meets in Community Service Center. Election of Executive Officers.
Local organizations Beacon Hill Music and ROCKiT Space, who have worked closely together in the past, have merged. Here’s a message they sent us about the change: