Tag Archives: rockit space

Arts, Local Events

ROCKiT space cancels some events, adds others

ROCKiTspace has made some changes to the event schedule for the next couple of months.

The Open Mic events on the first and third Saturdays have been cancelled, and there will be no Folk Night in August. The Folk Night concerts will resume on September 27.

Three events have been added to the schedule:

  • Beacon Blues and BBQ: 7:30 p.m., Friday, August 26 at the Garden House, 2336 15th Ave. S. Smokin’ Js will play acoustic blues. Barbecue, beer, and wine will available for sale starting at 6:30.
  • NEPO 5K Hilltop Celebration, Saturday, September 10, with live entertainment from 6-10 p.m. Stay tuned for further information.
  • Beacon Harvest Carnival, Saturday, October 8th. An all day free community event sponsored by the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, with cider pressing, food, music, and more. Stay tuned for the hours and the list of performers.

Thanks to Betty Jean Williamson!

Local Events

Potluck, music, and more at Garden House tonight

Tonight, July 19, the folks from ROCKiT space are bringing three events to the Garden House on 15th Ave. S.

From 3:30-6 p.m. is the Hi-Chair Happy Hour, a BYOB-B (Bring Your Own Baby and Beverage) social for new parents and their little ones. The Happy Hour is held every third Tuesday. The suggested donation is $5.

Afterward, from 6-7 p.m., there is a free community potluck, followed by a family music night from 7-9. The music event is “pay what you will,” and all neighbors are welcome. Bring instruments, hum or sing along, or just enjoy the music.

The event will also feature supervised kids’ games on the lawn until dark.

The Garden House is located at 2336 15th Ave. S.

Arts

Beacon Hill Music and ROCKiT Space merge

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Beacon Hill Music and ROCKiT Space logosLocal 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.

Local Events

Old-time barn dance at Garden House 4/26

Feel like dancing? Kick up your heels at the Garden House at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26, at an “old-time barn dance!” ROCKiT Space‘s ongoing Tuesday Folk Club series continues next week with a dance featuring the bands Scatter Creek and Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, with dance calling by Tony Mates.

No experience or partner is necessary; all are welcome. Admission is $5 at the door, and kids get in free. The Garden House is located at 2336 15th Ave. S.

If a different genre is more your style, you may want to plan ahead for the monthly swing dance night on the following Tuesday, May 3.

Neighborhood Pride, Recreation

Many options for family fun on the Hill

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Beacon Hill is a great place for people of all ages and features many opportunities for entire families to have a great time. Here are a few ideas to get you started—please share your favorite places/activities in the comments!

ROCKiT Space is thriving after the relaunch in January. Headquarters are now in the Garden House at 2336 15th Ave. S. (directly behind Baja Bistro; parking in the alley, on street or just walk there) and events are happening there and all over Beacon Hill.

High Chair Happy Hour happens every third Tuesday (the next ones are on April 19 and May 16) from 3:30-6:30 p.m. BYOB (baby/bigger kid). It’s good, cheap fun on Beacon Hill: $5, or free for ROCKiT members. No alcohol sold, but you’re welcome to bring your own (as well as other food/drink) to share.  Must be accompanied by a minor to attend.

Tots Jam, a ROCKiT Space favorite, is held at El Centro every Wednesday at 9 a.m. Bring your toddler and $5 (free for members) and rock with Suzanne.

The Beacon Hill library has story times for toddlers, preschoolers, and the whole family. Toddler story time, Spanish story time, and Bilingual Kaleidoscope are only a few of the choices.

Thanks to our neighbors’ successful efforts to improve the parks on Beacon Hill, we have three (3!) awesome new playgrounds on Beacon Hill.

The play area at Jefferson Park has been open for several months. Don’t let the fences surrounding the future Beacon Mountain deter you—head over and check out the many ways your kids (and you) can climb, swing, hang and rock. Several refreshment options are available in the south end of our business district, including the Jefferson Park Field House, Victrola 3 and El Quetzal (now serving beer; just sayin’).

Jefferson Park also boasts a fantastic indoor playground on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Inflatables, riding toys, push toys, balls, and tons of other ways for toddlers to tire themselves are available for only $2!

Santos Rodriguez Memorial Park at El Centro de La Raza is now open to the public (closed during posted hours to protect the safety of the children enrolled in programs on site) and features new playground equipment for a variety of ages. Amenities such as benches for parents and a permanent chess board are in the works. I highly recommend a visit to The Station (directly across the street) before or after your park visit.

Beacon Hill Playground has new play structures, too! Swings, slides, a secure tunnel, and other fun await at our northernmost playground.

I’m sure I”m missing something—please share your ideas/events in the comments!

A few of the ways to keep busy in the playground at Jefferson Park. Photo by Joel Lee.
Local Events

This weekend (and beyond) on the Hill

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Next Thursday, April 7, a Beacon Hill neighborhood mixer will take place at The Station, 2533 16th Ave. S. Photo by Wendi.
Don’t forget to check the BHB Events page for information on events this weekend and beyond, including this month’s Maple School Natural Area volunteer work party today at 10 a.m., Beacon Rocks! performer auditions tonight at 8 p.m., a Lewis Park work party tomorrow at 9 a.m., and a ROCKiT space swing dance party at the Garden House on Tuesday night at 7:30.

We also want to give some advance notice of two Thursday evening events scheduled for April 7. At 5:30 p.m., neighbor Tess Martin will be hosting a neighborhood mixer at The Station, 2533 16th Ave. S. All are welcome. Come meet your neighbors and enjoy an extended Happy Hour or just some coffee. Then at 7 p.m., head over to the Beacon Hill Library a couple of blocks away for the monthly meeting of the North Beacon Hill Council. Stay tuned to the blog for information on this month’s NBHC meeting agenda.

Arts, Local Events

Beacon Rocks! fundraising swings into gear; ROCKiT settles into new space

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.
Local Events

Happy Lunar New Year and more this weekend

The Year of the Rabbit is almost here! Photo by Bert Kimura via Creative Commons.
There are quite a few activities on and near the Hill today and tomorrow. Here’s the list.

Tonight, January 28, the Southeast Seattle Senior Center is hosting Burgers, Bingo, and Brews, an evening of fun with bingo (for money!) and the aforementioned food and beverages from 6:30-9:30 p.m. There will be soft drinks, too. Admission is a $15 donation. The Center is at 4655 South Holly Street in Rainier Valley. Call SESSC at 206-722-0317 for more information.

Tomorrow, January 29, local grassroots project Got Green will launch “Women in the Green Economy,” a new project to learn from women in Southeast Seattle what they need and want from the “green movement” for themselves and their families. Volunteers will survey women in the New Holly neighborhood about their needs and priorities for the Green Economy. The project is funded in part by a Neighborhood Matching Fund award of the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.

The project will launch with a reception at 10:00 a.m. at The Lee House at New Holly, 7315 39th Avenue South. At noon, volunteers will go out to collect surveys at various southeast Seattle sites. For more information, go here.

Also on Saturday, ROCKit space is holding a moving sale from 12 to 5 p.m. Betty Jean Williamson tells us “We have art supplies, office supplies, furniture, collectibles, music gear and reall cool stuff! We can use all the help we can get this weekend, Saturday-Monday, if anyone out there wants to give us a hand. Volunteers are very much appreciated. They might even get pizza! Call us at 206-323-7115 or email us at rockitspace@gmail.com for details.” ROCKiT space is, for now, at 3315 Beacon Avenue South.

And lastly, Saturday is also the day the Chinatown-International District celebrates the 2011 Lunar New Year (the year of the Rabbit). Our neighbors at the north foot of Beacon Hill will bring an expected 5,000 visitors to the area to enjoy cultural activities including calligraphy, Chinese yo-yo and games, and other activities throughout the district. Expect some streets in the ID to be closed all day, and potential heavy traffic in the area. (We recommend taking Link or the #36.)

The celebration will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Hing Hay Park, Maynard Avenue South and South King Street.

(While you’re in the area, consider visiting the City Hall Open House a few blocks north at Fifth Avenue and Cherry Street, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.)

Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: Catch-up edition

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Apologies to everyone. We are way behind on posts this week. Here’s a catch-up edition of Beacon Bits to fill you in on the latest.

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Notice the newspaper up in the windows of the old Beacon Pub? According to the Bar del Corso blog, they have started work on the building, where their pizzeria will be opening later this year.

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Just south of the former pub, another change is about to take place: ROCKiT space is moving. Betty Jean Williamson reports that ROCKiT will continue regular hours of operation at the current location, 3315 Beacon Avenue South, through January 31. After that, Open Mic moves to Kusina Filipina (3201 Beacon Avenue South) on Saturday, February 5. The event starts at 8:00 pm and costs $5. Tots Jam is moving to El Centro de la Raza room 310 (2524 16th Avenue South) on February 2 at 9:00 am. Classes are $7.

In the meantime, the ROCKiTeers have a lot of work ahead before vacating the building at 3315 Beacon and moving their activities into other locations. It sounds like they will need some volunteer help, including cleaning, repair, and moving. Contact Betty Jean at 206-658-0187 or bjwlmp@msn.com if you can help.

There will be a ROCKiT space moving sale on January 29 from 9:00 am – 6:00 pm. If you have loaned ROCKiT anything, please pick it up soon or let them know if you want to donate to the sale.

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Travis Mayfield at KOMO points out that Edwin Lee, the new mayor of San Francisco and the first Asian-American mayor of that city, was born on Beacon Hill!

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On the less-happy side of things, you may have heard that some very bad people were out and about last week, posing as Water Department workers to convince neighbors on Beacon Hill and in Columbia City to let them in their homes for a “water quality check,” but stealing their stuff instead. Here’s a Seattle Times (BHB news partners) report. The Seattle Police South Precinct Email Community Newsletter went out yesterday with their own take on the subject:

“For those of you who are ‘seasoned’ enough to remember the song ‘Let ’Em In’ by Paul McCartney & Wings from 1976 (I know, so last century), it should not be a surprise that we disagree with Sir Paul. Just because someone knocks or rings at the door does not mean that you let them in.”

The SPD reminds you that City employees will have laminated picture ID that includes a name, department, and serial number. If you see a suspicious person come to your house, and that person can’t produce a City of Seattle picture ID, call 911 to report the situation immediately.

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The Nova High School Book Night is coming on January 26. We are told it’s a “book fair/book exchange with books of all kinds, free for all!” Beacon Hill neighbor Levecke Mas is collecting books for the the book exchange; contact Levecke at leveckeinseattle@gmail.com. You can also drop off your book donations at the Nova office, in the Meany school building on East Capitol Hill (300 20th Avenue East).

The event is from 6:30-8:30 pm on Wednesday, January 26, and it is open to all.

Learn more about Nova and the Book Night at http://novaproject.my-pta.org.

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Rainier Valley Cooperative Preschool invites the community to learn about the school at an open house on Saturday, February 5, from 10:00 am to 11:00 am, and Thursday, February 10, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

The parent-run preschool is located in Beacon Hill Lutheran Church at 1720 South Forest Street. More info at their website.

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Cass Turnbull of Plant Amnesty doesn’t approve of Beacon Hill-style yard topiaries. Joel Lee begs to differ:

“I can certainly appreciate wanting to protect plants from senseless mutilation but Plant Amnesty seems to have nominated themselves the arbiters of taste with comments like ‘When the inherent beauty of a plant is compromised, it’s painful for those of us who know what it should look like.’ Who gave Plant Amnesty the authority to decide what plants should look like?”

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While it’s not Beacon Hill-specific, I can’t resist posting this link to a photo of former City Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck with a man in a heron costume. Thank you, Seattle Municipal Archives.