The folks opening Bar del Corso in the old Beacon Pub space have posted a few photos of the work they are doing on the building. Looks like it will be a bit brighter inside, now that they are stripping paint off the old transom windows.
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!
The library is located at 2821 Beacon Avenue South.
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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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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.
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The Seattle Public Utilities advisory committees for Solid Waste and Water Systems are both seeking south-end volunteers. Apply before November 17th for the Solid Waste Advisory Committee, and before November 30 for the Water Systems Advisory Committee.
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UPTUN (Upping Technology for Underserved Neighbors), a broadband equality group working for central and southeast Seattle neighborhoods, hosts its third quarter meeting with Broadstripe, Reclaim the Media, and city representatives at the Central Area Senior Center, 500 30th Avenue South, on Tuesday, November 16 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm.
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The Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club can do a bit of bragging: member Jeff Covell was part of the team that achieved a first place win at the 2010 USLBA National Lawn Bowling Championships in Sun City, Arizona.
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The November episode of UW 360 on UWTV features Beacon Hill’s “Fisher House,” a residence for families of veterans being treated at the VA hospital nearby.
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Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen will be at the Beacon Hill library, 2821 Beacon Avenue South, on Saturday the 13th from 1:00 to 2:30pm to speak “informal[ly] yet meaningful[ly] about our city” with residents. He’d “like to hear people’s thoughts regarding next year’s budget, transportation issues, as well as other topics relevant to Seattleites.â€
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United Way of King County is looking for tax preparation volunteers to help weekly at El Centro de la Raza. No experience is necessary and training will be provided. Spanish speakers are especially sought.
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David Schmader at The Stranger loves on Inay’s drag night. And note the remark near the end of the article: “Ernie is open to eventually hosting shows all weekend, but for now his plate is full with food. He’s joining forces with Luis Rodriguez (owner of new and already beloved Beacon Hill coffeehouse the Station) to open Taqueria Frida, situated on the same block as Inay’s and scheduled for a November opening. And he’s in perpetual talks with his friend Dave Nakamura—aka Super Dave, the sushi-chef superhero—to ‘give Beacon Hill the sushi restaurant it deserves.'”
The possibility of the sushi restauranton Beacon Hill was also mentioned briefly in The Stranger‘s Chow column.
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A couple of land use applications were recently filed: Rubberized track, lighting, parking, and a synthetic playing surface for Jefferson Playfield, and Clearwire antennas and microwave dishes to be installed atop a building at 15th and Bayview.
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Volunteer positions are open for the Seattle Design Review Board. Get your application in by December 10th.
On Sunday, the door will close on Tasha's Bistro Café. Photo by Wendi.
Hampered by current economic conditions, Tasha’s is closing after just over three months in business. From a post in our forums:
It is with great sadness that Tasha’s Bistro Cafe will be closing our doors after breakfast on Sunday, November 7th. We have enjoyed meeting each and every customer over the past several months. Your support has been great, however it is apparent that with the economy, we are unable to sustain our type of restaurant in Beacon Hill without an investor or interested restaurant owner.
More from Tasha in the original post.
The sale hours are 8:00 am to 3:00 pm both days. St. George is located at 5117 13th Avenue South.
As always, you can keep up with Beacon Hill events on our Events page.
Also on Friday night, the Street Treats dessert van will be back. Owner Diane Skwiercz writes, “I want to let you know that Street Treats is going to be up on Beacon Hill every Friday night starting this Friday July 2nd, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. We will either be in the Washington Federal Savings bank parking lot or where we were last Friday (the corner of 16th and Lander — Ed.).” Follow their tweets here.
“While we can’t say the exact address, we can say that it is in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. Take our word for it, the location is great, and very accessible—the pizzeria would be right on a bus line and just a couple blocks from the Light Rail station. Plus there will be lots of on-street, unmetered parking.”
“On a bus line and just a couple blocks from the Light Rail station”—let the site speculation begin!
According to the blog, the restaurant will be “a 48-seat pizzeria and wine bar with traditional Italian fare,” featuring a wood-burning pizza oven and regional Italian wines. There will be counter and table seating, as well as outdoor seating during the summer. Dinner will be served Tuesday through Saturday.
Corso and Tolentino are seeking investors to help raise the last 1/3 of the funds needed to open the restaurant, and holding fundraising events. For more information, see the blog or contact them at info@bardelcorso.com.
(Editor’s note—The previous photo was a generic pizza photo. Gina from Bar del Corso sent us a picture of their own pizza to use, so we replaced the photo on May 24.)
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Tasha’s Bistro Café in the old Culinary Communion space, scheduled to open late this month or early next, is hiring servers. Tasha’s has also applied for a liquor license in the category of restaurant (beer and wine) and direct shipment receiver, with a catering endorsement.
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Need to train your dog? Today is your lucky day. A dog training class, Dog Training: The Pet Adult Dog, starts tonight from 7:45 to 8:45 at the Jefferson Community Center, 3801 Beacon Avenue South. The class is for dogs over five months of age (and their humans, aged 15 and up) and will include basic obedience, loose leash walking, polite greetings, handling, solving in-home behavioral problems, and impulse control. The class fee is $78.
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The Transportation Choices Coalition is sponsoring On The Move, an incentive program to get Southeast Seattle residents out of their cars and onto buses, trains, bicycles, or feet. Participants who commit to riding transit, walking or biking 2 days a week this summer may receive prizes, discounts to local businesses, and free ORCA cards. For more information, sign up here or call 206-329-2336.
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Northwest Kidney Centers will hold its 8th annual Kidney Health Fest for African American Families on Saturday, June 5, featuring free health screenings, entertainment and healthy food samples made by local celebrity chefs. The free event, open to all, runs from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm at Van Asselt Elementary (formerly the African American Academy), 8311 Beacon Avenue South. The event is co-hosted by Mount Zion Baptist Church and the First AME Church.
More information is at the event’s website.
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Cesar Chavez Demonstration Garden is having an heirloom vegetable plant sale at 2524 16th Avenue South (El Centro de la Raza) this Saturday, May 22, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm; Wednesday, May 26, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm; and Saturday, May 29, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.
(Editors’ note — The correct date of the third sale is Saturday, May 29, not May 30 as reported earlier.)
The garden is located just north of Beacon Hill Station and is run by the Master Gardeners of King County. They will be selling heirloom vegetable starts, including tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, squash, cucumbers, melons, onions, and leeks.
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North Beacon’s “larcenous landscaper” appears to be back for another season of plant thievery. Neighbors on the BAN mailing list are reporting new plant thefts, and one witness on 13th Avenue South reports that the thief appears to be the same one as was caught on this video last May. The witness describes him as “an older Asian gentleman, dressed in sport coat and slacks, smoking a cigarette,” and saw him return to a silver Toyota SUV — with the irises he’d just taken from someone’s yard.
If you too have had plants stolen, or if you see the plant thief, contact the police. The SPD case number is 2010-161547.
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The Seattle Office of Emergency Management is hosting a disaster preparedness workshop at the Beacon Hill Library, 2821 Beacon Avenue South, on this Tuesday, May 4 from 6:30-7:45 pm. At the “Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Prepare” workshop, you’ll learn simple steps to safeguard your home before disaster, take a quake-safe action wherever you are, and create a neighborhood team. The workshop is free, and no pre-registration is necessary.
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The PTA at Dearborn Park Elementary will host its first Dearborn Park Bazaar and Festival on May 22 from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm. They will sell garage sale items, arts, crafts, plants, and food, and have games and performances. For information on renting space to sell your own items or performing at the event, please contact Nelrica Mosqueda or Angela Sheffey at 206-252-6930 or email dearbornparkpta@yahoo.com. The group also needs monetary and/or gift certificate donations to make the event happen.
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The Beaconettes, an all-women a cappella singing group who “cleverly satirize Seattle’s icons, issues and celebrities with a specific focus on Beacon Hill and neighborhoods south of the ship canal,” will be performing at the Mount Baker Community Center on Thursday, May 13 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm to help raise money for Kimball Elementary’s Annual Fund.
The suggested donation is $15 per person. Contributions will help support Kimball’s Annual Fund which pays for arts and afterschool programs, bilingual translations, field trips, books, school supplies and more.
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State Senator Adam Kline (D-37th District) will stop by Quarters 1 at the PacMed Campus on May 11 to meet with community members and hear what his constituents have to say. The meeting is scheduled for 7:00 pm on Tuesday, May 11, in Quarters 1 at the northwest corner of 14th Avenue South and South Judkins Street. If you are driving, please park on the street.
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If you didn’t get your Census form mailed in, you should expect a knock on the door soon. Census takers are out and about this month visiting households that didn’t return their census forms. In most cases, census workers will make initial visits during afternoons, early evenings and weekends.
If a 2010 Census worker knocks on your door, here are some ways to verify that person is a legitimate census taker:
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Health Department inspectors recently visited a few more establishments on Beacon Hill: The Pacific Asian Empowerment Program, M C Foodstore, St. George School, Graham Street Grocery, and Beacon Hill Foods. (Click on the links to see the full report for each inspection.)
Congratulations to the Pacific Asian Empowerment Program, M C Foodstore, Graham Street Grocery, and Beacon Hill Foods for getting perfect scores of zero!
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Thanks to everyone who sent in notices this time!
KPLU has a lovely story about “the Four Amigos”: Roberto Maestas, Larry Gossett, Bob Santos, and the late Bernie Whitebear, activists who played a large role in Seattle’s history over the last 40 years. Maestas, of course, played a particular role in Beacon Hill’s history by helping found El Centro de la Raza, and leading the organization until he retired recently.
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BeHi Bonsai, the blog about the funky topiary foliage found throughout Beacon Hill, has found a yard that goes above and beyond the call of topiary duty: “Rings of foliage waft above the ground magically as if there is some unseen creature underground blowing leafy smoke rings for our amusement.”
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Health Department restaurant inspectors have recently visited a few more local establishments. Results of the inspections are posted online. The Aloha Grocery at 7762 Beacon Avenue South had 8 “blue” violation points (“surfaces not maintained, clean, sanitized”), El Delicioso at 2500 Beacon Avenue South had 5 blue violation points (plumbing issues), and Wing Luke Elementary School at 3701 South Kenyon Street scored a perfect 0. (Congratulations!) Dahlak Eritrean Cuisine at 2007 South State Street (at the foot of Beacon Hill, near Oberto’s) received 10 “red critical” violation points, for inadequate hand washing facilities.
Context: 45 or more red violation points force a re-inspection within two weeks, 90 or more red points force closure of the establishment, and 120 or more total (red and blue) points force closure of the establishment as well. So all of these businesses were in no danger of closure. Even one red violation is enough to result in an unsatisfactory inspection, however, and specialists work with the operators of the establishment to make sure that the situation is corrected immediately.
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