Help Create California Avenue Rain Garden Saturday

Join Sustainable Seattle and Alleycat Acres in digging the first rain garden in the Russell Foundation-funded Sustainable Rain project.  Come help create a rain garden in West Seattle this Saturday, July 30, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at 5902 SW California Avenue SW, near corner of SW Juneau St.

Come help create this garden at a business/residence, protect the Puget Sound, and support sustainable businesses. Come for as long as you can, meet great folks, and learn about rain gardens.

Bring shovel (if you have), gloves, and water to drink. Bring kids if you can supervise them.

For more information, contact Amy Waterman,Project Lead,  amy@sustainableseattle.org, by phone at 206-719-0534.  Check out the Sustainable Seattle Stewardship Develpment at  http://www.sustainableseattle.org/programs/stewardshipdevelopment.[mappress mapid=”407″]

 

Help Restore Native Forest in West Duwamish Greenbelt

The Nature Consortium is seeking volunteers on a regular basis for Urban Forest Restoration in the Duwamish Greenbelt.

The work parties meet every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm in the West Duwamish Greenbelt in West Seattle, locations within the greenbelt vary, but you can get directions to the work party location for a particular day by RSVP-ing to the sign-up page on their website – http://www.naturec.org/volunteer/

The West Duwamish Greenbelt is the largest contiguous forest in the city of Seattle, stretching from West Seattle to Burien. It includes 182 acres of park land and another 300 acres in privately owned land.

Foxes, red-legged frogs, hawks, and bald eagles are found within the greenbelt. Each work party begins with a short informal forest ecology workshop, and we spend the remainder of the time performing various restoration activities, including planting native trees and shrubs, removing invasive species, mulching previously-planted areas, and more.

To connect art into this project we hire local musicians to perform in the woods during many work parties.

For more information and to sign up, contact Lizzie Jackson (Petrin), 206-923-0853, lizzie@naturec.org, Restoration Project Coordinator, Nature Consortium, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW) suite #107, first floor right near top of ramp.

Also checkout out the Nature Consortium’s web at www.naturec.org

Walking Tour of Rain Water Solutions in High Point Area

People for Puget Sound, a non-profit group working to protect and restore the health of Puget Sound and the Northwest Straits through education and action, Has organized a rain water tour in West Delridge and Highpoint neighborhoods.

The tour will meet at Home Depot located at 7345 Delridge Way SW (between Orchard St & S Sylvan Way) Seattle, at 10:00 am Saturday, August 13.

The tour will follow the legacy trail along Longfellow Creek, through the local greenspace, and up the 150 stairs to the High Point neighborhood to view sustainable development solutions to storm water runoff. An optional discussion will conclude the event.

If you are interested in participating please contact People for Puget Sound intern, Emily Fales at emfales@uw.edu.

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Seward Park Celebrates 100 Years with Events, Shows, History

Seward Park Celebrates 100 Years with Festival on July 16-17

To commemorate the establishment of Seward Park in 1911, neighbors and community organizations are holding a historical festival on July 16 -17 to acknowledge 100 years of history and celebrate all that the park now offers.

Highlights for Saturday include a costumed Promenade around the perimeter of the park, Classic Car Parade and Show, historic hydroplanes on display, a vintage fashion show, food vendors and live music – all of which have a place in the park’s history. Spectators may especially appreciate the appearance of a 1911 Baker electric car.

In remembrance of the wildly popular annual Rainier District Pow Wow that ran from 1934-1991, the family of the late legislator John L. O’Brien (“Mr. Pow Wow”), will sponsor a pie-eating contest and other old-fashioned games in his honor. Locally renowned comedian John Keister will emcee the contests and games, and one of the judges will be Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess.

A ceramic art show will run throughout Saturday and Sunday at the Seward Park Clay Studio. A neighborhood garden and history tour takes place Sunday only from 1-4:00 pm ($10 in advance, or $15 day of tour). All events other than the garden and history tour are free.

Background and Additional Details

In 1911, the City of Seattle bought the 277-acre Bailey Peninsula on the western shore of Lake Washington. When first suggested – almost 20 years previous – some felt that the site was too far from town. Optimists, however, correctly anticipated Seattle’s growth.

Due to this forethought and lucky happenstance that left the peninsula unlogged, Seward Park is now one of the city’s favorite parks, boasting some of the oldest and largest trees in the city. It stands as a vital part of south Seattle’s past and present, as well as being an ecological hotspot.

On clear summer days, hundreds of visitors can be found enjoying the park’s paved lakeshore walking loop, swimming area, eco-friendly playground and Audubon education center, and several scenic picnic areas. Birdwatchers appreciate opportunities to gaze at two resident eagle pairs or great blue herons fishing. The park also boasts an amazing view of Mt. Rainier rising over Lake Washington.

The festival on July 16 -17 will feature additional draws honoring the park’s 20th century cultural history. A two-mile “Promenade around the Peninsula” will commence at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Participants are encouraged to dress in period wear from 1911 to present. Organizers hope to see a range of costumes represented – everything from 1920s flapper dresses, to dapper 1940s suits, to Japanese-American summer yukatas, to 1990s teen grunge-wear is welcome. Commemorative tee-shirts and posters will be available for purchase. Promenade pre-registration at sewardparkcentennial.org is encouraged but not required.

Walkers will be followed by a parade of classic cars returning to the lakeshore loop after a 40-year hiatus. (The loop was closed to car traffic in the 1970s.) After this one-time only circuit, the cars will be on display through Saturday afternoon at the parking area at the top of the park. Although driving on the loop, drag races, and power boats races in Seward Park’s Andrews Bay are now only a memory, historic hydroplanes from the nation’s only hydroplane museum will also be on display on Saturday to recall these old pastimes, including 951 Slo Mo Shun, 1968 Miss Budweiser, and 1975 Oh Boy! Oberto.

The mainstage will feature live performances between 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., including music by Karin Blaine (folk/indie), Four on Six (jazz), The Garage Band (classic rock), and Latigo Lace (Top 40 Country/Rock), and a vintage fashion show at noon. At 12:30 p.m., 40 lucky participants picked by raffle will have the opportunity to participate in a classic mid-century style pie-eating contest, with comedian John Keister as emcee.

On Sunday July 17, Friends of Seward Park presents a Garden and History Tour from 1 – 4 p.m. This self-guided tour begins at Seward Park, and includes private and public gardens and sites of historic interest in Hillman and Columbia City. Tickets are $10 in advance (at www.sewardparkcentennial.org) or $15 on the day of the Tour, with proceeds helping to support Seward Park Centennial events.

The Seward Park Centennial Committee is an ad hoc group of neighborhood residents and non-profit organizations, including Friends of Seward Park, Seward Park Environmental & Audubon Center, Lakewood-Seward Park Community Club, Seward Park Clay Studio, and Rainier Valley Historical Society. For tickets and information about Centennial events, please visit www.sewardparkcentennial.org.

Centennial Festival Contacts:

Karen O’Brien (206-999-1781) or Gail Gatton (206-652-2444 x101 or 206-949-5902)

Email: sewardpark100@gmail.com or ggatton@audubon.org

Website: www.sewardparkcentennial.org

Address: Seward Park, 5902 Lake Washington Boulevard, Seattle, WA 98118

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Community Orchard Grand Opening Saturday, July 9

The 4th Annual Edible Garden Tour of West Seattle is July 9th.

Community Orchard of West Seattle will be having a Grand Opening ceremony at our Community Orchard at South Seattle Community College at 12:00 pm.

Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin and food activist Viki Sonntag will be speaking, with catering provided by Herban Feast.

Tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets –  http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/181422.

The  next COWS Class and Work Party will be the next Saturday at the Community Orchard of West Seattle,  July 16th, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.  The topic  is Managing Property Next to a Greenbelt – Tracking Critters in the Urban Garden.  Animal trails are all around us and all it takes are careful eyes and a little practice to spot the. Come see at how common species interact with their local environment, including our gardens and orchards.  The instructor is Pete McGlenn, a West Seattle Tracker.

SWS, WS Nursery Host GreenLife Expo, Demos, Presentations

Join Sustainable West Seattle and the West Seattle Nursery this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for the GreenLife Sustainability Expo, a major part of this year’s West Seattle Summer Fest.

We’ll have booths for sustainable local firms and local community groups committed to sustainability and for all three days of the festival, we will be hosting demonstrations and presentations on a wide-ranging set of topics including backyard chickens, solar electricity here in Seattle and helping to clean up stormwater runoff.

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