Category Archives: Neighborhood Pride

New Facebook group forming for South Seattleites

White Center residents Craig and Sara Williams have set up The South 206, a Facebook group to share event and activity information with those of us who live in “the various southerly neighborhoods of Seattle.” That includes Georgetown, Beacon Hill, Sodo, and more. All south Seattleites on Facebook are welcome. The group is a “closed group,” which means you have to ask to enter, but this may change in the future.

Current activities mentioned in the group include a community pancake breakfast in South Park, the Georgetown Art Attack, a “Battle of Burien” breakdancing competition, and a tap show in Rainier Beach.

Find the group here.

Community “sit in” to recognize volunteers and display art chairs

Art Chair #1, painted by Kathleen McHugh. Photo courtesy of ROCKiT space.
As we mentioned in the last Beacon Bits, ROCKiT is hosting a community “sit-in” on Saturday, February 4 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Beacon Hill Library to celebrate the completion of their art chair “fleet.” The chairs were decorated by more than 40 local artists and neighbors who volunteered their time to paint or collage chairs to be used at community events. The public is invited to this reception to view the finished chairs, enjoy free snacks, and celebrate all of the volunteers to took part in this and other ROCKit projects in 2011.

Among the festivities will be a singalong of an original song, “This Chair is My Chair”; a haiku treasure hunt, a game of musical chairs, and much more.

For more information, call 206-658-0187.

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.

Seattle Mag loves Beacon Hill

Seattle Magazine has given Beacon Hill some extra love recently, with a neighborhood feature and a review of the new Indian restaurant Travelers Thali House in the current issue. Last month they reviewed Bar del Corso and profiled local bicycle activist Dylan Ahearn.

Beacon Hill was featured in an “Urban Safari” by Patrick Hutchison, which mentioned a collection of Beacon businesses, including Kusina Filipina, El Quetzal, Despi Delite Bakery, The Station, Victrola, NEPO House and Jefferson Park:

“Long treasured for its diversity, Beacon Hill is amassing a trove of new tastes, out-of-the-box art and community music spaces—not to mention the new light rail station that provides quick and easy access for residents and day-trippers alike.”

The review of Travelers Thali House, by Allison Austin Scheff, is pretty darned positive: “For years, there have been complaints about the lack of (and lacking) Indian food options in Seattle. I’m here to tell you: Travelers is the answer to your prayers.” Is it going to become as hard to get a table there as at Bar del Corso?

Not yet, says Scheff in “Rooting for the Underdog, Restaurant Version“: “It’s a bittersweet review for me because the restaurant is so good, so welcoming, and the food is lovely in so many ways. But where is everyone? Travelers was virtually empty on each of my three visits.”

Speaking of Bar del Corso, last month Scheff had more superlatives about that restaurant: “First things first: This place makes the best margherita pizza in Seattle.”

Restaurants are not the only Beacon Hill fixtures that the magazine has drawn folks’ attention to lately. Last month, Dylan Ahearn, chairperson of Beacon BIKES (and BHB contributor), was included in a profile of 5 volunteers who are contributing to positive change in their neighborhoods.

Franklin High alum Ron Santo elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

Ron Santo at "Fergie and Friends" baseball game, 2009. Photo by Barbara Moore via Flickr/Creative Commons.
Former Chicago Cubs third baseman and Seattle native Ron Santo has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the veterans’ committee. Southeast Seattleites may be forgiven for feeling some extra pride at this long-overdue achievement; Santo, a three-sport star (football, baseball, and basketball) at Franklin High School, grew up in the nearby Italian “garlic gulch,” within sight of the lights of Sicks’ Stadium (which was located on the current site of Lowe’s, at Rainier and McClellan).

As a boy, Santo worked for the Seattle Rainiers in various roles including bat boy and clubhouse helper. He signed with the Cubs out of high school for a $20,000 signing bonus, and went on to a career as a nine-time All-Star, with five Gold Gloves and 342 home runs.

During much of Santo’s career, he kept secret from the public that he had been diagnosed with juvenile diabetes as a teenager. In later years, he worked to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, helping raise more than $60 million for research through the annual Ron Santo Walk to Cure Diabetes.

Santo died on December 2, 2010 at the age of 70 from complications of bladder cancer.

See more about Santo at SportsPress NW, the Seattle Times, and ESPN.

Ron Santo is memorialized by this Chicago statue. Photo by Zol87 via Flickr/Creative Commons.

Beaconettes three-peat!

The Beaconettes made it a three-peat at the the Great Figgy Pudding Street-Corner Caroling Competition on Friday night, winning the People’s Choice award (by applause-o-meter!) for the third year in a row. They also raised the most money during the competition of any of the groups. Funds raised will go to the Pike Place Market Senior Center and Food Bank.

This photo of the Beaconettes performing on Friday was submitted by Allison Delong. Thanks, Allison! The group was also featured on SeattlePI.com and the Seattle Times.

The Beaconettes in the 2011 Great Figgy Pudding Caroling Contest. Photo by Allison Delong.

Beaconettes compete in caroling competition tonight

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.

Mountains to Sound Trail grand opening celebration Saturday

The end is here! …of the Mountains to Sound Trail project, that is. The portion of the trail on Beacon Hill is completed, and the community is invited to come out and celebrate the grand opening and ribbon cutting this Saturday, October 29 at 2:30 p.m., at the trail’s northeast point, 900 Sturgus Ave. S. (That’s just adjacent to Daejeon Park.)

Mayor Mike McGinn, Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith, Mountains to Sound Greenway Executive Director Cynthia Welti, and others will participate in the celebration. There will be a tour offered for all to learn about the new improvements around the trail.

The trail is part of the Mountains to Sound Greenway, 1.5 million acres of green space and trails extending from Ellensburg in Central Washington to Seattle.

Construction of this portion of the trail began in June 2011. Find out more about the project on the project website.

Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club to be featured on City Stream

Beacon Hill’s Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club will be featured this Thursday, September 29, in a segment on the City Stream television series. City Stream will air Thursday at 7 p.m. on the Seattle Channel, found at channel 21 on Broadstripe and Comcast cable systems. You will also be able to watch the show online after it airs.

The episode will show part of the recent National Lawn Bowling Championships that the JPLBC hosted in August, and will feature the club’s members and their love for the game.