Beacon Hill International School has a request for help from local parents and neighbors:
Dear Neighbors who have Chinook Books,
The last page of this year’s Chinook Book has 4 Metro bus coupons. If you don’t plan to use yours, please consider mailing them to:
Nancy Fujimoto
Beacon Hill Int’l School
2025 14th Ave S
Seattle, WA 98144
Our Volunteer Coordinator, Nancy, will give them to low income families who bring their kids to school early to do tutoring. For some families, even the cost of bus fare is a hardship and we want to support their educational efforts as much as possible. Thank you in advance for your consideration!
El Centro de la Raza is one of the sites hosting the tenth annual Comcast Cares Day on Saturday, April 30. 300+ volunteers will come together for a variety of team projects to help improve El Centro’s facility and grounds. Projects will include active work such as landscaping, prepping and painting, installation of safety lights and cameras, and window washing, along with desk projects such as design, data entry, and more. Any amount of time you can volunteer is welcome.
Work can start as early as 7 a.m. on the 30th, and Comcast will provide lunch. For more information or to sign up to volunteer, please contact Kendehl Corley by email at volunteer@elcentrodelaraza.org, or at 206-957-4602. Please RSVP by April 15.
Tonight is your first of three chances to show you rock, at this year’s Beacon Rocks! auditions for musicians and performers. The live audition for individuals or groups will be at Kusina Filipina, 3201 Beacon Avenue South, tonight from 8-11 p.m. See our earlier post for more info.
Perhaps you prefer to get your hands dirty. On Sunday, you can do that at one of two community work parties. The Lewis Park work party is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Lewis Park, 12th Avenue South and Golf Drive South. Help plant native plants or do other things the park needs. Tools, gloves, water, and refreshments are provided. This is a weekly event.
On Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., ROCKiT space is hosting the ROCKiT Relaunch Community Potluck at the Garden House, 2336 15th Avenue South. It’s free—just bring food and come socialize with your neighbors!
As always, check the events calendar for more upcoming events on Beacon Hill.
Volunteers are needed for a work party this weekend to improve these planting strips across from the Beacon Hill Library. Photo by Wendi.A group of Beacon Hill neighbors invite you to help beautify the neighborhood by re-landscaping Beacon Avenue planting strips at a community planting party this Sunday, March 20, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
The project was awarded a grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods to remove the existing clover and plant a perennial garden on the planting strips at the corner of Beacon Avenue South and South Forest Street, across Beacon Avenue from the Beacon Hill branch library.
Please wear work clothes and bring gardening tools if you have them. If you’d rather not garden, you can participate in a litter cleanup on Beacon Avenue as well. Food and drinks will be available. Questions? Contact Sara Stubbs at sara.mcdonald@gmail.com or 206.595.1829.
Pottery for sale at last summer's Beacon Hill Festival. Photo by Jason.The Beacon Hill Festival is now accepting applications for vendors, donations, and volunteers. If you are interested, please contact Chris or Doreen at the Jefferson Community Center (206-684-7481) or email chris.ertman@seattle.gov for more information. The festival is being held on Saturday, June 4 from 11-4 p.m.
If you plan to volunteer, you should wear sturdy shoes and dress for the weather. Gloves and tools will be provided. Meet at the entrance located at the top of the stairs at 20th Avenue South and South Lucile Street. Bring a dish to share for the potluck, too.
Lewis Park volunteers are also starting up for the year this Sunday, February 6, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Gloves, tools, and snacks are provided. Neighbor Lenny promises hot coffee and hot chocolate this week, too. If you plan to volunteer, please notify Vinh at vngyen.green@yahoo.com. Lewis Park is located at Golf Drive South and South Charles Street, near the Amazon/Pac Med building.
On MLK Day weekend last month, many volunteers worked in Beacon Hill parks, including a large group at the Cheasty Greenbelt. The crew was organized by EarthCorps and included volunteers from Starbucks and elsewhere who worked on planting trees and clearing out invasive ivy and blackberry vines. See a post and photos at the City Year Seattle Blog.
Volunteers in a mulch bucket brigade at the Cheasty Greenspace MLK Day work party last year. Photo courtesy of EarthCorps.It may be winter, but volunteer activities in Beacon Hill’s parks are ongoing.
Even in this off season inclement winter weather, work is going on in little Lewis Park. Crews have been busy removing the invasive laurel and ivy plants and putting in ground cover to prevent erosion in the ravines. Further, a crew has been working with the foundation for the eventual kiosk along 15th Avenue South at the 14th Street “Y.” To be completed by mid-January. More ground cover/compost material will be spread on the upper south area of the park on MLK day, January 17th.
There is still much work to be done in the lower east side of the park, with further removal of invasive plants, but planting of native plant species will begin in early spring, when we will look forward to more people in our neighborhood, and groups will volunteer to help with this worthwhile renewal project that will make Lewis Park the jewel entrance to Beacon Hill from the city.
This year’s event starts at at Dr. Jose Rizal Park on Saturday, January 15, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Volunteers will continue work to reclaim the forest area of the park, including mulching, planting trees and other native species, and doing trail maintenance. You can sign up to participate here.
On Sunday, January 16, volunteers will move to Dearborn Park from 10:00 to 2:00. Sign up here. Then on Monday, January 17, the work party moves to Cheasty Greenspace from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm. Sign up for the Cheasty volunteer party here.
Craig Thompson reports news about orchard projects in area parks:
On January 22, Saturday, 10:30 – 12:30 am, City Fruit will conduct a training class for volunteers working on the orchard projects it has selected as part of a city-wide program. It will be held at the Jefferson Community Center, and is open to all who wish to volunteer on these projects. The orchard at Dr. Jose Rizal Park was selected as a model, sustainable, organic orchard for Seattle.
The fruit tree steward workshop will address basic tree biology (why are roots so important?), orchard management month by month, and basic orchard safety (how not to fall off a ladder). Our instructor is Ingela Wanerstrand, owner of Green Darner Garden Design. She specializes in edibles, has been working with fruit trees for more than 15 years, is an active Friend of Piper’s Orchard in Carkeek Park, and is a wonderful teacher.
Come February 19, City Fruit will hold a pruning workshop for stewards in the orchard at Dr. Jose Rizal Park. Significant work has been done in the orchard area over the last six months, including brush removal, initial pruning, typing, and even a small harvest of winesaps. A gate has been put in at the southeast corner of the off-leash area fence, just off the access trail. With the Mountains to Sound Greenway project going through the park this year, the OLA will be reconfigured, so more forest will be added to the woods, and the orchard will become a separate feature for the park.
Seattle Free School is hosting a class for prospective facilitators on Thursday, January 20 at the Beacon Hill Library. The class runs from 6:30 – 7:30 pm, and is—of course—free.
Seattle Free School runs completely free workshops and classes on a wide variety of topics. Like to make cheese? Need to learn how to tune your motorcycle? Want to learn about world travel? Seattle Free School can help! They rely on volunteer facilitators to keep their programs free, interesting, and exciting.
Here’s how they describe the upcoming facilitator class on their website:
“Is there a skill, hobby, or chunk of knowledge you are passionate about? Want to share that passion with other interested people? Curious about how many people with an aversion to public speaking have come to love being facilitators?
“Come to this class to learn how to be a facilitator with Seattle Free School, and to meet and network with other facilitators. This informal meeting covers what Seattle Free School is, tips on teaching, and how to schedule and promote your course.
“Whether you wish to facilitate a class, or just want to learn more about Seattle Free School, you are welcome to attend this meetup. We recognize that teaching others can be an intimidating task, and we are here to support you and provide assistance in making Seattle Free School a fun adventure for you.”
Photo by Jason.by Betty Jean Williamson, Beacon Hill Music
As many of you may know, ROCKiT space, our community space for music and art, has been operating at a deficit for some time. A recent family emergency has pushed director Jessie McKenna to the breaking point; she simply can not continue to volunteer six days a week to keep ROCKiT space open, and continue to lose money on top of it.
A number of folks have stepped forward to volunteer during the month of December to keep the doors open while Jessie is not available. The lease ends January 23, 2011. The property is listed for lease on craigslist. The landlord is willing to consider working with the community to keep ROCKiT space (or something like it) in place, even if that means a co-op of a number of tenants. Contact me at bjwlmp@msn.com if you are willing to commit financial support or want to volunteer during December.
ROCKiT space supporters will meet on Sunday, December 5, at 10:00 am at ROCKiT space, 3315 Beacon Avenue South. Please join us for more info and planning. Bring your ideas and your calendars!
Two ROCKiT events have sufficient support to continue either on site or re-located to other Beacon Hill locations:
Open Mic: Beacon Hill Music will take over facilitating the event. We will continue on the first and third Fridays in December at ROCKiT space. I am currently negotiating with the Garden Club for use of their Headquarters house; other options for re-location are Jefferson Community Center or local restaurants.
Tots Jam: Suzanne Sumi is committed to keeping the music happening for the little ones every Wednesday morning from 9:00 to 10:00 am at ROCKiT for the next four weeks. She will discuss the situation with the parents and let me know what level of support they can muster. We feel the most likely relocation site is El Centro, if they have space available in that time frame.
We also agree that, what ever happens, we want to help with expenses at ROCKiT so that Jessie and Marty are not left holding the tab for the whole neighborhood. To that end we will seek funding sources and partners to develop a larger co-operative network to manage and support ROCKiT ongoing; if that support is lacking, we will donate these proceeds to ROCKiT to cover closing costs and hopefully keep these generous folks out of debt.
To that end we propose a few benefit events:
Open Mics will have a $5 suggested donation on December 4 and 18.
Robert Hinrix is working on a benefit concert at ROCKiT space, TBA in late December.
Rebecca Smithers will ask the Franklin High School Jazz Band to consider a joint fundraiser— they play at ROCKiT space, TBA. We charge admission and proceeds are split between ROCKiT and the Jazz Band.
Other suggestions for the space have included:
Shared office space for local non-profits.
A co-operative natural food store/coffee house/music venue or any part(s) of that.
I will be coordinating any volunteers who want to come in and open ROCKiT space for community use or do any cleaning, maintenance or organizing to stay or move ROCKiT out as the case may be.
Please send me any details of how and when you want to help.
Please share this letter with folks you know care about ROCKiT space and might want to help.
Caspar Babypants (Chris Ballew) will perform at the Wellspring Family Services open house on Saturday.‘Tis the season for sharing good cheer! Here are some ideas to get into the spirit of giving.
Don’t miss the Wellspring Family Services open house on Saturday, December 4, at 1900 Rainier Avenue South. The event features a free performance by Caspar Babypants (aka Chris Ballew of the Presidents of The United States of America) and other musicians. The open house is free and for all ages, but please bring a new unwrapped toy to support the holiday drive. Â You can donate your child’s outgrown clothes and gear (car seats, high chairs, etc.) now and all year-round. Why not start a new tradition and ask your child to make room in the toy box for new things?
Clean your pantry and/or pick up extra items for a Beacon Hill food bank. South Beacon Hill neighbors can donate to Beacon Avenue Food Bank, located at 6230 Beacon Avenue South.  North Beacon folks can donate to El Centro’s food bank. Mid-Beacon neighbors can flip a coin—or donate to both!
The Alleycat Acres urban farming collective relies on donations and volunteers to keep their community-run farming efforts going.
The silent auction is sold out, but you should still make a donation to Open Arms Perinatal Services, a nonprofit agency helping pregnant women.
