Sustainable West Seattle puts challenge to community  

$1,000 donation to Pathfinder K-8 School’s Earth Project at stake

WEST SEATTLE — Help Pathfinder K-8 School win $1,000 toward a rainwater harvesting system for its Earth Project!

Sustainable West Seattle will be giving its “Don’t Feed the Tox-Ick Monster” presentation at Pathfinder K-8 School Monday, Oct. 10 from 7-8 p.m. and is challenging Pathfinder to bring a crowd.

The challenge: If 40 or more adults show up to learn about protecting Puget Sound, then Sustainable West Seattle will donate $1,000 toward the school’s Earth Project. To help encourage turnout even further, free pizza will be provided. Pathfinder K-8 School is located at 1901 SW Genesee St.

Pathfinder K-8 School’s Earth Project aims to “empower students to discover their connections to the Earth, themselves, and one another” and is a collaboration between Pathfinder and the Nature Consortium — a nonprofit organization also based in West Seattle.

The School Garden is the most significant part of the Earth Project and has become an integral component of many of Pathfinder’s classrooms.  The garden affords opportunities to teach students about natural resources and healthy food. The rainwater harvesting system will help teachers educate students about the importance of conservation and the water cycle.

“This is a great opportunity to advance the school’s efforts to teach students about healthy foods and ecology,” said Bill Reiswig, parent of a Pathfinder student and a founder of Sustainable West Seattle. “All people have to do is show up for an hour and the school will get a gift toward a rainwater harvesting system. We’re trying hard to get the word out so that 40-plus adult community members show up.”

All West Seattle community members are invited to attend the hour-long event and enjoy free pizza. Sustainable West Seattle’s presentation will focus on actions each of us can commit to that help protect and restore Puget Sound. Audience members will learn about things like natural yard care, water retention systems, community volunteer opportunities, and more.  To learn more about the project, visit tox-ick.org.

About Sustainable West Seattle
Sustainable West Seattle is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that educates and advocates for urban sustainability in our local community.

SOURCES: http://www.tox-ick.org         http://www.sustainablewestseattle.org

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Contact: Cate White
cate@sustainablewestseattle.org  |  (646) 957-6225

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″]

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 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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