This Thursday, April 25, Lifelong AIDS Alliance’s Dining Out For Life returns to raise money to fight illness and hunger in our community. During the event, when you dine at a participating restaurant on Beacon Hill or elsewhere, a portion of your bill will be donated to Lifelong.
Restaurants in the Beacon Hill/Columbia City/Mount Baker neighborhoods that are participating include:
Besides the benefit of contributing to your community, if you dine at one of these establishments you’ll also be entered to win two domestic airline tickets from Alaska Airlines. Tweet photos of yourself participating, and you’ll have a chance to win a Dining Out For Life prize package.
See the restaurant locations in this interactive map:
I was at The Station the other night having a drink with some friends (Thanks Luis!), and we got to discussing Columbia City and how much it has changed over the past 10 years. Â Today, there are a number of great destinations there including Empire Espresso on Edmunds (best latte in Seattle, though they can’t touch The Station’s Mexican mochas); Columbia City Cinema (now playing: Black Swan and a couple movies about hornets); Tutta Bella (a stopgap until we get our own brick oven pizza place); Full Tilt (old school video games and small batch ice cream… ’nuff said); a bakery, bar, toy store, etc.; and—of course—Bike Works!
Bike Works was established in the mid ’90s with the goal of promoting cycling in the underserved communities of Southeast Seattle.  When the bike shop went in, it was the only one between Capitol Hill and Renton!  They currently run the earn a bike program for kids and are generally bicycle angels in our midst. I biked there with my kids a few months ago to get some hand grips for Kai’s bike.  It was Malia’s longest ride and she did great (we took the light rail to get back).  The key to getting to Columbia City safely on a bike is Renton Ave. S. which runs between MLK and Rainier.  You can see our mapped route with videos here.
There are many reasons why Columbia City has changed so much while Beacon Hill has not (topography, demographics, arterial access) and I am sure the next 10 years will bring similar change to our community. This will, of course, have complex ramifications: some good, some bad.  One good one, that my kids will appreciate, is that our bike rides will get a little easier.
This fire truck at Beacon Hill's Fire Station #13 is festively attired for the holiday season. Photo by Joel Lee in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.Neighbor Peter heard sirens last week, and managed to get outside and some photos of a house fire in a boarded-up house on 25th Avenue South, behind QFC. See the photos here.
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News from El Centro de la Raza tells us that Mayor Mike McGinn will be joining them for their Holiday Latino Hot Meal tomorrow, Wednesday, December 22 from 12:00 – 1:00 pm.
On Wednesday and Thursday this week, the shirts will be re-released at Deli Seattle, 1307 First Avenue. They will have men’s and women’s shirts, as well as onesies for babies this time. Sizes are limited, and the shirts are very cool, so if you want one, don’t let it get away this time.
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Do you have an interest in Pacific Northwest ecology? Do you like to share what you know with others? Are you over 18 years of age? Are you looking for a meaningful volunteer experience? You may be interested in the Seward Park Audubon and Environmental Center Master Urban Naturalist program. The program provides free naturalist training workshops and certification in exchange for 10 hours of donated service and completion of a final project or presentation. More information here.
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The newly-revitalized ROCKiT space has a few things going on that you might want to know about.
Need a good place to wrap Christmas gifts, or want someone to wrap them for you? You can wrap your gifts at ROCKiT space, where your loved ones won’t see what you’re up to. DIY gift-wrapping is $5/day site use fee, plus a $2 supply fee. All materials are supplied. Bring your own wrap and they will waive the supply fee.
If you’re a wrapping klutz or just don’t have time, you can also drop off gifts, and they will wrap them for you to pick up later. The fee is $2 each for small packages, and $5 each for large packages.
On Tuesday, December 28 at 7:00 pm, ROCKiT space is hosting a Tuesday Folk Club with two old time/country bands: Red Dog and Dram County. The minimum donation is $7 at the door or $5 in advance. Tickets are available at Rockit Space during business hours.
The Tots Jam with Suzanne Sumi is continuing on Wednesdays, from 9:00 – 11:00 am , but there is no session on December 29.
The Department of Planning and Development has approved an application to subdivide a site at 4010 14th Avenue South into five unit lots for the purpose of allowing sale or lease of the lots. The property will continue to be zoned for duplex multifamily development. Read the decision here.
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There is at least one place to ring in the New Year nearby. The new St. Dames restaurant at Columbia City Station is hosting a party on New Year’s Eve, starting at 10:00 pm. The event will include appetizers, dessert and a champagne toast at midnight. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door. Make reservations by calling 206-725-8879. St. Dames is located at 4525 Martin Luther King Jr. Way South.
Do you know of any other Beacon Hill places that are open for New Year’s? Let us know!
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Gage Academy of Art is offering free drop in art classes for teens aged 13-18 in the Rainier Valley. Classes are on Saturdays at The 2100 Building, 2100 24th Avenue South.
Classes will be from 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm. For more information, call 206-323-GAGE. Art materials and pizza will be provided.
Judith Edwards of the North Beacon Hill Council sends this information about this month’s NBHC meeting:
Come join the North Beacon Hill Council at 6:30 pm, Thursday, December 2 in the Beacon Hill Library Community Room. No speakers, just food and a chance to meet your neighbors! We’ll do a bit of bragging about what has happened in the past year, thank the Board members for their hard work, and enjoy spending time together. Pizza, salad and water provided by the NBHC Board. Plan to join us!
St. George School is holding their annual Holiday Bazaar on Sunday, December 5, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm in the school hall, 5117 13th Avenue South. The bazaar will feature over 25 talented jewelers, artists, crafters, and Fair Trade and commercial vendors from the local community. There will be a continental breakfast available for $3.00, and entertainment will be provided by students, family, and friends of St. George. There will also be a themed gift basket raffle.
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The Pedestrian Advisory Board needs you! Photo by Wendi.The Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board is accepting applications for new members. This volunteer board plays a role in implementing Seattle’s Pedestrian Master Plan, and also advises the Mayor and City Council, participates in planning and project development, and evaluates policies and makes recommendations to all city departments including the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT). Board members serve two-year terms; they must be Seattle residents who are not city employees, and should be frequent walkers of any age, level of mobility, area, or “walk of life.”
Interested? Email a resume and cover letter explaining your interest by December 17 to Brian Dougherty at brian.dougherty@seattle.gov. For more information, call Dougherty at 206-684-5124, or send e-mail to the address above.
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Registration is now open for Adult Beginner to Intermediate Spanish classes at El Centro de la Raza. The classes will run from January 11 through March 17 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:00 – 7:30 pm. Information and a registration form is here.
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A new restaurant is having their grand opening this weekend in the Valley near the eastern edge of Beacon Hill: St. Dames, a “neighborhood joint for vegetarian fare and spirited care” in the old Maki and Yaki location at 4525 Martin Luther King Jr. Way South, just a block north of Columbia City Station. They promise “Food, drinks and fun for the whole family!
Friday 12/3 Happy Hour all night long! Drink specials through the weekend!”
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The Goodwill Job Training and Education Center just north of the Hill at 1400 South Lane Street is holding registration this month for free classes that will be offered in January and February. Classes will include a nine-week Retail and Customer Service Traing Program, Community College 101, English for Speakers of Other Languages, basic computer skills, writing, math, and cashiering.
Registration will be held from December 13-17 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. For class availability and enrollment information, call 206-860-5791.
Looking for something to do this weekend and next? All-ages events are scheduled nearby in Rainier Valley each of the next two weekends: one to raise money to help those in need, and one to celebrate the printed word.
Local dance crew Massive Monkees and hip-hop group Blue Scholars will share a stage for the first timeagain in a benefit show on Sunday, Massive Relief, to raise money for victims of the recent tropical storm Ketsana. The benefit, featuring a b-boy/b-girl (break dance) workshop, food, conversation, live music and more, is open to all ages, and will be held at 2:00 pm October 18 at the Filipino Community Center, 5740 Martin Luther King Jr. Way South. Later that evening there is a 21+ after-party benefit concert, at 8:00 pm at The Crocodile, 2200 Second Avenue in Belltown. (via the P-I’s Big Blog)
(As the big opening day for light rail is this Saturday, we want to post a bit about the stations that aren’t on Beacon Hill. Much of the coverage of the rail line focuses on using it for commuting to and from work, and many of us will be doing that. But even more than getting to work, Link is going to be useful for visiting places throughout Downtown and Southeast Seattle without a car. With this in mind, we’ve created a few posts about some of the station areas.)
The pictogram representing the Columbia City station is a dove. (Courtesy of Sound Transit.)
The Columbia City Station is located on Martin Luther King Jr. Way South, just on the western edge of Columbia City. The station site itself is just south of a new development, Rainier Vista, a former public housing site originally built in the 1940s to house defense workers, and recently redeveloped as a multi-income community inspired by New Urbanist principles.
Walk from the south end of the station east on South Edmunds Street, and after about one-third of a mile you’ll emerge on the neighborhood’s main drag, Rainier Avenue South, just south of Southeast Seattle’s only full-time movie theater, the triple-screen Columbia City Cinema. Further north on Rainier is the recently-expanded Columbia Branch Library, a Georgian Revival-style Carnegie Library building from 1915. The library is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A train leaves the Columbia City station while Mount Rainier dazzles in the background. Photo by Wendi.The wider Columbia City business district is itself a Seattle Landmark District (one of seven historic districts in the city) as well as a National Register Historic District, and includes a variety of interesting commercial buildings, houses, churches, and apartment buildings. The Seattle.gov website has a Historic Tour of Columbia City that you can print out and follow as you explore the neighborhood.
Restaurants in Columbia City are plentiful and you can choose from cuisines including Caribbean, barbecue, Neapolitan Italian, Ethiopian, Vietnamese, and more. There is also a brewpub, the Columbia City Ale House. (CC Ale House doesn’t actually brew, but they do have a fairly large selection of local and regional microbrews — Ed.)
The Global Garden Shovel sculpture is impossible to miss, on the northwest side of the station. Photo by Wendi.If you feel the need to eat before walking to the heart of Columbia City, much nearer the station is the Japanese fast-food restaurant Maki & Yaki, serving teriyaki, sushi, bento boxes, and more just north of the MLK and South Alaska intersection.
Like the other light rail stations, Columbia City Station is surrounded by public art, including Victoria Fuller’s Global Garden Shovel, a giant bronze shovel molded with the shapes of fruit and vegetables. In Norie Sato’s Pride, the south plaza of the station is guarded by lions customized to reflect the diversity of the neighborhood. When you are riding the train north from Othello Station to Columbia City, look to your left between Dawson Street and Hudson Street to see Sound of Light, by artist Richard C. Elliott, made of hundreds — perhaps thousands — of reflectors arranged in overlapping, symmetrical patterns. (See this one in both day and night, if you can.)
Sound of Light, by the late Richard Elliott, as seen at night, lit up by the lights of passing cars. You can only see this artwork while traveling north on MLK. Photo by Wendi.
Your tin can lantern might look like this. Photo by Elin B.SEEDarts is hosting the South Seattle Solstice: Festival of Lights at 4:30 pm on December 21. Participants, carrying lit luminaria, will walk from the Rainier Valley Cultural Center in Columbia City to Hillman City, with an event at the end of the walk to “celebrate community on the darkest day of the year, with light, music and refreshments.”
Don’t have a lantern to carry? Fear not. This Saturday is a free lantern-making workshop to prepare for the solstice event. Bring a large tin can that has been filled with water and frozen solid. (Rumor has it, it’s going to be cold this weekend. The freezing part might be easy.) The workshop is open to all ages, and it’s from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm at the Rainier Valley Cultural Center, 3515 South Alaska Street.
For more information about this event, contact Abbey Norris, Public Art Manager, norris@seedseattle.org, (206) 760-4289.
You have another chance for an early look inside of one of these trains. Photo by The Lebers -- thanks!Still psyched about the new light rail trains and can’t wait until next summer when you can ride them? This Saturday you can at board a Link Light Rail train, although it won’t be going anywhere. A train will be parked at the Columbia City Station during the Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club Grand Opening celebration.
The celebration of the club’s new 40,000 square foot teen center is from 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm. VIPs including Ron Sims and Greg Nickels will be there to speak between 10:30 am and 11:30 am. Other activities at the celebration include free-throws with Sheryl Swoopes of the Seattle Storm, a performance by the Dangerettes drill team, football with Bobby Engram and Blitz from the Seattle Seahawks, and giveaways for kids and teens. The Club is at 4520 MLK Jr. Way South; the Columbia City rail station is one block south.
Looking for something to do this weekend and next? All-ages events are scheduled nearby in Rainier Valley each of the next two weekends: one to raise money to help those in need, and one to celebrate the printed word.
