(Post corrected on 8/20 to include correct admission info for the BBQ. — ed.)
The last weekend in August will be a musical one on Beacon Hill!
First, on Friday, August 26, the Beacon Blues & BBQ will bring blues music by the Smokin’ J’s to the Garden House, along with BBQ, beer, and wine available for sale. The show is at 7:30 p.m., and general admission is $10. ROCKiT space members and kids under 12 get in free. Dinner starts at 6:30 p.m., and is $12 (including a beverage). Dinner and the show together are $22. Guests can come for either or both. The Garden House is located at 2336 15th Ave. S.
The band Jumbo performed at the last Beacon Rocks! Photo by Wendi.Then on Sunday, August 28, the final Beacon Rocks! music event of 2011 comes to Roberto Maestas Festival Street (S. Lander St., just north of Beacon Hill Station) from 1-5 p.m. Along with the usual great musical performances, this event will include the ceremony to rename Lander Festival Street as Roberto Maestas Festival Street. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, representatives from El Centro de la Raza, and other dignitaries will attend, and new memorial street signs will be unveiled during the ceremony. The event will also feature bubbles for the kids and a beach ball volley contest with prizes.
ROCKiT space will be hosting a clothing drive, so bring new or gently used clothing to donate to Wellspring Family Services.
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.
Neighbors enjoyed a Beacon Rocks! performer in August last year. Photo by Erika Warner-Court in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr. The first Beacon Rocks! fundraiser of 2011 swings into the Garden Club Headquarters House on Saturday, March 5 from 8 to 11 p.m. The event, billed as An Evening of Swing Dancing and Swing Era Fun, will include a live swing dancing performance and swing-dance lesson by Savoy Swing Club, a live cake raffle, and more. Hors d’ oeuvres will be free, beverages will not be—but the proceeds will go to the cause.
Swing Era costumes are encouraged. Suggested donations start at $10. The Garden Club House is at 2336 15th Avenue South.
The first Beacon Rocks! series was held last summer on Lander Festival Street next to Beacon Hill Station. For four afternoons, Beacon Hill performers entertained folks from the neighborhood and beyond with music and dance. Scheduled dates for the second Beacon Rocks! this summer are June 26, July 31, and August 28—plan ahead!
Beacon Hill Music and ROCKiT Space are hosting the fundraiser, and the Savoy Swing Club Performance Troupe are donating their time as well.
Speaking of ROCKit Space, the organization has relocated to the Garden Club House, and the new regular office hours are Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m.
Other news from ROCKiT Space:
Shunpike Arts Collective has accepted ROCKiT Space as an associate program, providing them with their 501c3 umbrella. Donations will now be fully tax deductible.
There will be no open mic on March 5. Open mic at Kusina Filipina will resume the third Saturday in March on its regular schedule.
Beacon Idol auditions for Beacon Rocks! will be held during Open mic nights on March 19, April 2, and April 16. Contact beaconrocks@gmail.com to schedule your audition or submit a recording for consideration. Open mics are held at Kusina Filipina, 3201 Beacon Avenue South.
Don’t forget to keep your eye on the BHB Events page to see what’s coming up on the Hill. We’d like to draw your attention to a few of this week’s events listed there.
Tonight is El Centro de la Raza’s DÃa de los Muertos Opening Ceremony. This year’s theme is “A Tribute to Las Adelitas: Revolutionary Women of Strength and Courage.” Dinner is served at 5:30 pm, and the reception ceremony begins at 6:30. Admission and food are free. The Ofrenda exhibit will continue from November 2 through November 19, open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, and on Wednesday from noon to 8:00 pm. El Centro is located at 2524 16th Avenue South.
At 6:00 pm tonight, Asa Mercer Middle School is hosting a School Superintendent Coffee Chat, one of a series of chats with Superintendent Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson, open to all parents, grandparents and caregivers of Seattle Public Schools students. Mercer is located at 1600 South Columbian Way.
Splinter Dance Company performed at Beacon Rocks! this summer, an event organized by Beacon Hill Music. Photo by Erika Warner-Court in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr. Then at 7:00 pm, Beacon Hill Music is holding an organizing meeting. They say “There are a lot of possibilities for music on Beacon Hill, including the brand new Jefferson Park with a beautiful amphitheater just waiting for musicians, possibly a beat walk, possibly almost anything. During the next few months Beacon Hill Music will need to pick what opportunities to pursue and determine the steps to turn those ideas into actual events. We are asking you to join in and make stuff happen on Beacon Hill.” The meeting is at 2900 22nd Avenue South (the green house on the corner of 22nd and Forest). For more information email beaconrocks@gmail.com or call Paul at 206-658-3622.
On Thursday evening at 5:00 pm, there is an Art in International Education fundraising event at Fisher Pavilion, 305 Harrison Street (Seattle Center), for Beacon Hill International School and the four other International Schools in the city. The event will feature silent and live auctions, as well as a dinner prepared by chef Kaspar Donier. Tickets start at $35; for more information, contact Dick Lee at rjlee@seattleschools.org or 206-252-0476.
Also Thursday night is North Beacon Hill Council‘s monthly meeting at the Beacon Hill Library. Watch this blog for the agenda when we have it.
The Beacon Hill Merchants group will meet on Friday morning, November 5, at 10:00 am at Inay’s, 2503 Beacon Avenue South. The group reports:
“At our last meeting we approved our bylaws, and as we approach the end of the year we must complete the work that is being paid for by our city grant. One large part of this is being primarily done by our graphic designer Nityia Przewlocki, as she finishes the logo design we’ll continue with the development of a brochure with a walking map, and then a website as well. Another portion of our grant is going for board development and training, and our board trainer Angela Powell should be attending this meeting. While we do have the minimum of five committed potential board members, having seven (or more!) would put us in a stronger position, so please step forward if you think could bring skills or resources to the table and help the Beacon Hill business community. The bylaws and some of the bios are up on the Google group site here. Anyone can join the Google group right now and we encourage members to do just that.”
Finally, Saturday is the Fifth Annual Green Seattle Day. Three forest restoration sites on the Hill will be hosting work parties that day from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm: Lewis Park, Cheasty Greenspace, and the Maple School Ravine. Register at the greenseattle.org website.
Bands and individual performers who are interested in performing at this summer’s Beacon Rocks! music series are invited to perform in Beacon Idol. Beacon Idol will take place at the ROCKiT Space open mic (3315 Beacon Avenue South) on these Saturdays: March 27, April 24, and May 29.
You can sign up to perform at a Beacon Idol event by emailing beaconrocks@gmail.com or contacting Jessie McKenna through ROCKiT space.
Beacon Idol is geared for smaller acts, but bands are encouraged to perform as well as long as they make arrangements with Jessie beforehand.
If you would like to submit your band/music or other talent that you think might be a good addition for the Beacon Rocks! event series, but are unable to perform at a Beacon Idol event, you have the following options:
Send a link to your webpage where your music can be found (three songs minimum), a brief bio, and some pictures of you to beaconrocks@gmail.com
Send a CD (three songs minimum) with a one-sheet/brief bio to ROCKiT space, 3315 Beacon Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98144
Or drop your CD and bio off in person at ROCKiT space (you may leave it in the mailbox if no one is around)
The Beacon Rocks! series is all-volunteer—artists will not be paid. The series is intended to be a fun opportunity to build community and give local musicians a place to play in their neighborhood. Music and performances must be family friendly. All bands/artists will be chosen by May 29.
We have decided to apply for permits for afternoon concerts on four Sundays, June 13, July 11, August 8, and August 29, for afternoon concerts. The Special Events Permit Committee meets early in February so we should find out soon if those dates are approved.
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Partly due to comments made (and the points in those comments) on the Beacon Hill Blog about our meeting announcement, we decided to name the group “Beacon Hill Music” because for some people the term “BeHi” just rubs them the wrong way and others may not automatically realize it stands for Beacon Hill. But we reserve the right to still use “BeHi Music” for some purposes, such as cool t-shirts.
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The music series itself will be called “Beacon Rocks” but with a tagline something like “and swings, raps, jams, sings, strums, etc.” to be clear about the diversity of musical styles we intend to include.
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Thanks for everyone’s interest and as we reach any milestones (such as getting permits approved, starting to seek out musicians, etc.) we will definitely keep the community informed.
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:
