Stories
View by Time: |
We have more details about the big Eastlake community celebration event set for the afternoon of Saturday, Aug. 14. The event will celebrate the new shoreline and green street at Wards Cove and the completion of the new plots at the Eastlake P-Patch. The event will be from noon to 5 p.m. on Fairview Avenue E. from E. Hamlin to the P-Patch and Fairview Park. That stretch of Fairview will be closed during that time.
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn will stop by about 2:30 p.m. to participate in ribbon cuttings for the beach, shoreline and street at Wards Cove and the 24 new plots at the P-Patch. Wards Cove will be celebrating the redevelopment of its Seattle base. Gone are buildings that housed fishing equipment during the winter. In their place is an office building, a marina, new houseboat slips and a green street in the 2800 block of Fairview E. that includes the beach, new pathways and sidewalks, and natural landscaping that helps slow and clean storm runoff. The event includes the return of the historic Eastlake "walking fish" art, this time as an art competition. Neighborhood businesses and residents are encouraged to decorate a plywood walking fish before the event and enter it. The creators of the winning fish will receive a $100 gift certificate to the Eastlake business of their choice. If you'd like to decorate a fish, contact Kathleen at 206-789-5668. (I don't know much about the walking fish. You can see an example of the fish in a photo from the Eastlake Community Council archives that is attached to this post. If you know the history of the fish, please feel free to post it in the comments below.) Other activities at the community celebration include:
A new essay on the history of the houseboats by HistoryLink.org will be shared. Bring your own picnic lunch to enjoy in the park. There will also be food available for purchase. 
Neighbors of the Hamlin Street End Park are raising money to have a damaged eucalyptus tree located in the park pruned in hopes of reviving it. Ruth Kunath lives near the park and, along with Barbara McPherson, has adopted it and looks out for it. She says they have been working with Joshua Erickson, an arboriculturist with the City of Seattle, to have the eucalyptus tree assessed. The tree was damaged by winter cold. Kunath says the city offered to remove the tree and replace it with a new, indigenous tree. But, Kunath says, the city agreed to let the neighbors attempt to prune, reshape and restore the tree "in hopes it recovers." She adds:
Right now, Kunath and another neighbor, April Boyd, are soliciting bids from tree pruning companies and raising donations from the community to pay for the work. They estimate it will cost approximately $400-$500 for the pruning. They don't have a formal non-profit organization to do this, Kunath says. Donation checks will be written directly to the tree pruning company. If you'd like to donate, contact Kunath at rbkunath@gmail.com. She'll have the details on the pruning company and where to send your donation. A group of Eastlake folks gathered Tuesday evening for the first planning session on this summer's Eastlake Movie Night (Aug. 21, Rogers Playfield, put on by the Eastlake Community Council). Kate Dulemba, who is organizing the event again this year, says they could use help in the following ways:
If you'd like to donate or help out, e-mail info@eastlakeseattle.org and put "Movie Night" in the subject line. 
The Eastlake Community Council will again sponsor a Movie Night outdoors on the Rogers Playfield lawn. This year's event is set for Saturday, Aug. 21. Kate Dulemba, movie night organizer extraordinaire, once again will be putting on the show with the help of a dedicated band of volunteers. And Mary Hansen is, we hear, going to do the poster again (last year's was a collectable). Kate says she'll be announcing the movie in a week or so. Many people bring dinner to the playfield to enjoy before the film. The movie is projected on a big screen hung on the tennis court fence. Last year's event was great fun and a chance to hang out with your neighbors and see a terrific film (last year it was "Groundhog Day"). We'll have more details, including the announcement of the movie, as they become available. Until then, here's a short video of last year's Eastlake Movie Night: 
GreenAve.com? That might have been the name of this blog if Eastlake's original street names had been left intact. Check the attached map to see what I mean. It's a detail section of an 1893 city ward and precinct map posted recently on Flickr by the Seattle Municipal Archives. You can view the whole map here on Flickr. Be sure to check out the larger size because the interesting stuff is in the details. You'll see that most of the street names in Eastlake in 1893 bear no resemblance to the names we know now. Eastlake Avenue? The street is there but not the name. It's labeled as Green Street. In fact several familiar streets have unfamiliar names, many of them colors. Franklin is Indigo. Yale is Yellow Street. Minor is Orange. And a little piece of what would be Fairview is labeled Red. A few contemprary names are on the 1893 map: Allison, Shelby, Hamlin, Roanoke, Louisa. Lynn is known as Angie. Boston is called Grace. Edgar shows up but it's a little longer: Edgard. Over the hill, Fuhrman is called Randall. I'm intrigued by the cluster of small streets west of Louisa. Several of the names aren't legible in this photo, but the east/west street between Roanoke and Louisa is: Clatsop Avenue. And speaking of small streets, check out Short Street on the point where Gas Works Park now stands. If you look at the southern end of this enlargement, you'll see that Franklin makes an appearance, but it doesn't apparently connect with the northern part of the street. Local writer Benjamin Lukoff notes in a comment on the Municipal Archives Flickr page that there was a great renaming of streets in 1895. It would be interesting to know how our current names came about. More photos from the Seattle Municipal Archives can be found here on Flickr. They have a Flickr set of just historic city maps. Rebecca Partington sends along the attached list of local businesses and invdividuals who have donated to the Eastlake P-Patch expansion project. This list notes:
Click the attached list to see who all has helped out. Work continues on the P-Patch expansion. Work parties are generally scheduled on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Contact Rebecca at rebeccaapartington@gmail.com or 206-601-3453 for more information. For a selection of our previous coverage of this major expansion project, click here. 
A bookstore on Eastlake Ave. has always seemed like a good idea to me. Patrick's Fly Shop takes a small step in that direction with a book signing on Saturday, May 29. According to the Seattle Times, retired pastor James White of Colorado Springs will be signing his book, "Round Boys Great Adventures: Fish-a-logues from Rocky Mountain Trout Waters," from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Patrick's, 2237 Eastlake Ave. E.
The book contains a half century of fly-fishing adventures shared with a group of friends dubbed the "Round Boys." Q13 Fox's local news program ran a story on the City's P-Patch program last night, featuring the Eastlake P-Patch and an interview with Eastlake P-Patch Poobah Barb Donnette. The story focuses on the long wait lists for city P-Patches and how gardens like Eastlake's are expanding to help meet the demand. It is a proud moment to see an Eastlake community project held up as a representative example of one of the city's more popular public programs. Officials from the Seattle Parks Department will be touring the Eastlake P-Patch on Friday about 1:30 p.m. Lois Loontjens says by e-mail that one of the reasons the Eastlake P-Patch was selected for the tour was because it's undergoing "a major expansion on a challenging site being accomplished with little money and a great deal of donated expertise and labor." She invites people to come join the tour in the garden during the Parks Department visit. The usual Saturday work party at the P-Patch will get a boost this weekend. Seattle Works, a volunteer organization, will be helping out with the P-Patch expansion on Saturday from noon to 3:30 p.m. There will be lots of things to work on and special snacks, too. Learn more at Seattle Works website. More details in our events calendar. Three students from The Option Program at Seward (TOPS) will join more than 40 young writers on stage at the Seattle Public Library 6 p.m. May 26. Marianna White, Olivia Liu and Seth Lambert-Vail will read poetry and prose crafted under the guidance of writers-in-residence Merna Hecht and Matt Nienow. Thanks to Seattle Art and Lectures' Writers in Schools (WITS) program, Hecht and Nienow conducted creative writing workshops with students at TOPS during intensive residencies. Chosen for their outstanding creative writing, Marianna, Olivia, and Seth will read their works before a crowd of over 300 people during the WITS end-of-year reading and celebration. This free event is open to the public and celebrates the best student writing over two evenings. Elementary and middle school students will read at 6 p.m. May 26, and high school students on May 27 at 6 p.m. at Seattle Public Library. The Writers in the Schools (WITS) program matches a local, creative writer with a school district... 
Lolita Gray has been decorating for the next holiday on the calendar: Memorial Day. The tree in the front yard of the home at Franklin and Hamlin where Lolita and her husband, Glenn, have lived for almost 50 years is sporting patriotic colors in anticipation of Memorial Day (see photos). There are flags, garland, pinwheels, mylar balloons and even a tractor, all sporting red, white and blue. Even the safe crossing figure has a balloon. And, at night, there are lights. I count on Lolita's tree to remind me what holiday is ahead. Her creativity is one of the best things about living on Franklin. As I posted in February, the tree has its own Facebook fan page: The tree on the corner of Franklin & Hamlin. You'll find more photos there and lots of good wishes for Lolita. Marjorie Nelson wrote about Lolita and Glenn in the Eastlake News three years ago (check page 5 of the PDF). There's a work party tomorrow (Saturday) from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. along the Lake Union shoreline to help clean up and fix up the area. The work party is sponsored by the Eastlake Community Council in partnership with Puget Soundkeeper Alliance. People are needed to help weed, remove debris, empty trash cans, water the native plants and put wire mesh around trees to protect them from beavers. Chris Leman, ECC vice president, advises that you should bring gloves and sturdy shoes. Some gloves and tools are available to lend. Chris says:
The event is part of the annual Lake Union Sweep and there's a cookout and party to follow in the South Lake Union Park. If you'd like more information, contact Chris at 206-322-5463 or cleman@oo.net. The newly forming Eastlake Merchants Association will have its first event with an after-work wine and conversation gathering in June. The event will be from 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 16, at Louisa's Cafe Bakery at Eastlake and Louisa. [Full disclosure: I've been attending and working with the merchants association.] Planning for the event is in the early stages. The Eastlake Merchants Association has been meeting for a few months and talking about what the group should do and could do to help promote the Eastlake business community and the neighborhood in general. So far, the group doesn't have a formal organization but it is working on a mission statement and considering a broad range of ideas. The Louisa's gathering will be a chance for merchants to talk with each other and to hear some of the ideas coming out of the Merchants Association's monthly coffee meeting. The next meeting of the Eastlake Merchants Association will be at 9 a.m., June 1, at Cicchetti, 121 E. Boston (behind Serafina). Anyone... Rebecca Partington reports by e-mail that the Eastlake P-Patch expansion is "in the home stretch!" There will be the usual three work parties for the project this week (Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday) at the P-Patch, 2900 Fairview Ave. E. "The major things left are to finish building the plots and to build the fence around the upper plot," Partington says in an e-mail. The expansion is adding 23 plots to the garden's original 27. The new plots will be half the size of the original plots (100 square feet instead of 200) and will be located on the hill above the original garden space. The project also includes new pathways to get to the new plots and extended water lines. And there will be a bench part way up the hill where you'll be able to sit and contemplate the garden. The work parties this week are Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to approximately 2 p.m. Bring good gloves and your own water. If the weather turns bad, the work parties may be canceled. Cecilia Grevson of the Eastlake Community Council's Emergency Preparedness committee is looking for 20 good Eastlake residents to receive free emergency training from the city. The training comes under the City's Office of Emergency Management's SNAP (Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Prepare) program. SNAP offers a variety of emergency preparedness classes. Grevson has eight people who want to take the SNAP course and is hoping to find 12 more. The training would be either June 12 or 19 (both are Saturdays) starting at 10 a.m. The course takes eight hours. Training would be in the Eastlake neighborhood. Included in the training will be first aid, CPR, disaster triage operations, patient exam and injury treatment, lifting and moving patients. "It is free and very well worth it," Grevson says. "I just finished this course on April 24th at Magnuson Park." She's also looking for people who may have already had the training so she can add them to the ECC's emergency preparedness team. If you're interested in taking... 
Historian and former Eastlake resident Paul Dorpat will be speaking and showing photos on Eastlake's history at a free public meeting 6:30-9 p.m. this coming Wednesday, April 28, at the Tyee Yacht Club, 3229 Fairview Ave. E. Refreshments will be served by Ravishing Radish Catering ($5 donation suggested). Dorpat has published numerous books on Seattle's history. He also writes the popular "Now and Then" column in the Sunday Seattle Times where he compares historic photos with contemporary views of the same scene, unearthing historical nuggets in the process. Dorpat will offer his unique views on Eastlake's history and will share photos from his own collection. The Eastlake Community Council, the event sponsor, will be showing some of their historic images. Those attending are encouraged to bring their own photos or clippings to share. (The ECC welcomes donations or loans to its archive of historic photos or documents.) Paul Dorpat has a blog (doesn't everyone?). You'll find blog posts there and links to his... 
Went to the Zoo last night to meet friends and quaff a cold ones. What should we all be greeted with at the door? A bubble machine happily sending soapy spheres out into the early spring night. The barkeep on duty said Mojo, a Zoo employee, puts the battery-operated machine out when he's in the mood. A load of soap gives you about 10 minutes or so of bubbles, she said. The bubbles refract the light from the Zoo's many neon signs and many managed to float into the Eastlake and Lynn intersection before bursting. The bubble machine isn't a big deal, just one of those little eccentric surprises that remind you why Eastlake is such a great place to live. Thanks, Mojo! 
The hardest part of meeting your neighbor is the introduction. Equinox Apartments hopes to alleviate this by holding its fourth happy hour for Equinox community members and Eastlake residents. The event takes place this upcoming Thursday, April 15 from 6 – 8 p.m. in their Jewel Box Concierge Building, at 1520 Eastlake Ave. E. During the event, guests will have the opportunity to mix and mingle with their neighbors while enjoying light beverages and snacks. Riverstone Residential, the property manager for Equinox Apartments, has decided to host these bi-monthly Equinox happy hours in order to open the doors of their property to the surrounding Eastlake neighborhood and further the sense of community in the area. “We see a lot of people who are very curious about our building and just want to check out their neighbors,” said Equinox Leasing Specialist Cara Cox. “They’ve been watching this building getting built over the last two years in their neighborhood and want to know what kind neighbors they are going to have.... 
Eastlake and Eastlake residents are making a splash in local media: Seattle Magazine's Urban Safari comes to Eastlake this month. Says the magazine:
Agreed! The Seattle Mag writers visit Cicchetti, Voxx, Louisa's, Nettletown, Jaxx Boutique, Mort's Cabin, the Zoo and Patrick's Fly Shop. And they even make mention of the petanque court on Fairview. It's a brief tour but a good one and you have to give them points for finding the petanque court. Meanwhile, my former newspaper comrade-in-arms Becky Teagarden wrote about Eastlake's own interior designer extraordinaire Mary Hansen in Saturday's Seattle Times:
Many of us know Mary as the designer of a series of posters for Eastlake Community Council events. Her day job is as an interior designer and she's a good one. Ben Benschneider's photos showcase Mary's Eastlake cottage and its colorful, comfy interior. It's great to see local businesses and people getting the recognition they deserve. Good work!
Four trees at the foot of E. Roanoke officially became the newest honorees in the City of Seattle's Heritage Tree program during a dedication ceremony yesterday. The trees -- three willows and a poplar -- stand in the street end park where Roanoke meets Fairview. Trees are selected for the program because they have historic or landmark importance; are exceptional in size, form or rarity; or are part of a notable collection. As Cass Turnbull, founder of Plant Amnesty, noted during the dedication, although the four Eastlake trees may be "fast-growing, weak-wooded and short-lived ... I think you will agree with me ... (willows and poplars) are among the most spectacular trees in the world." Kathy Austin, an Eastlake resident and neighbor of the trees, nominated them for the Heritage program. Neighbors Patricia and Peter Ostrander paid for the plaque that now sits with the trees. The dedication on the plaque was written by Arthur Lee Jacobson, author of "Trees of Seattle." After the dedication, those attending toasted the trees' health with sparkling cider. These appear to be the only Heritage Trees in the Eastlake neighborhood. The closest tree to Eastlake listed in the Heritage program is a European white elm in Roanoke Park. The video shows the trees and highlights of the dedication:
Eastlake Heritage Trees Dedication from Curt Milton on Vimeo. 
UPDATE: This post has been updated since it was first published. Information on leftover compost has been added. Amy Paige just called. There's some leftover compost in a pile near Roanoke. She says: Come and get it! Anyone who wants it can have it. ________________________ TOPS@Seward School parents and students were busy today in their annual project to spruce up and clean up plantings around the Eastlake building. Amy Paige, who was coordinating the project, said they do this once or twice a year to help beautify the school grounds. Sidewalks are cleaned, old leaves and dead branches are cleaned out of planting areas, and new bark and compost are put down. The main area they focus on is the closed portion of Franklin that runs between the school and Rogers Playfield. Several local businesses donated to the project:
Thanks to all of the volunteers for helping to make Eastlake look nice!
UPDATE: This post has been updated since it was first published. Information on the Zoo after party has been added. Looks like the weather will be cooperating for Saturday's dedication of four Eastlake trees as part of the city's Heritage Tree Program. The dedication ceremony will be at the trees, in the waterfront park at Roanoke and Fairview, starting at noon. There will be a short ceremony with speeches, dedication of the Heritage Tree plaque and presentation of an official certificate. The trees will be toasted with Martinelli's sparkling cider and cookies. Everyone is invited. And, in a comment on our previous post about the dedication, Walter from the Eastlake Zoo says they'll be having a post-dedication party with free pool, shuffleboard and snooker. Everyone is invited to that event also. Four trees in the park -- three willows and a poplar -- are being inducted into the program. For more on Heritage Trees, see our previous... The Eastlake Community Council's public meeting on emergency preparedness, public safety and fighting graffiti is tomorrow, Wednesday, April 7, 7 to 9 p.m. at Seward School, 2500 Franklin Ave. E. The meeting will offer you a chance to talk to your neighbors about the latest news on neighborhood crimes, how to organize a block watch and alert each other to suspicious activity, what to do in case of earthquakes or other natural disasters, how to prevent graffiti and more. There will be two speakers from the Seattle Police Department (the offices of Crime Prevention and Emergency Management) and one from the Seattle Public Utilities graffiti unit. And, now that the July 4 fireworks are a go again, there may be a presentation on traffic control for the holiday. The event is free and open to everyone. For more information or to get involved, e-mail the ECC's Emergency Preparedness committee at preparedness@eastlakeseattle.org. The Eastlake Community Council's public safety committee will be sponsoring a public meeting on April 7 at Seward School. The meeting, which is free, open to the public and runs from 7 to 9 p.m., will focus on emergency preparedness, public safety, fighting graffiti and more. Eastlake residents are invited to meet their neighbors and city officials and find out the latest about public safety and preparedness. There will be two speakers, one from the Seattle Police Department (offices of Crime Prevention and Emergency Management) and one from the Seattle Public Utilities. There will be information on how to organize a block or dock watch to help prevent crime. Also, there will be info on what to do in case of an earthquake or other disaster. If you have questions or need more information, e-mail preparedness@eastlakeseattle.org. Eastlake P-Patch Expansion project volunteer Peter Streit has posted three videos showing a crack detail of elite P-Patch volunteers hard at work. They take a brief repite from their arduous tasks to answer some of Pete's questions regarding the intricacies of such an involved project. Mike Naylor and Claudia Dreiling discuss the delicate art of concrete cap-building with their assistant Nancy... Tom Naylor shows us the new handicap accessible raised beds he is building... ... and expansion project designer Lisa Hummel demonstrates some precision installation of the new granite garden plots. Earlier this month, the Eastlake Ave. Blog posted a link to a tour of the entire site, which outlines the ongoing project as a whole. Work on the P-Patch continues through the spring, every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 2pm at 2900 Fairview Ave E , so grab your work gloves and come work toward obtaining your very own garden plot. You can also sign up for the P-Patch Expansion mailing list by contacting... |
