Events

Soup Swap event at the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center on January 26

January 2, 2013 by Rebecca Nelson 1 Comment

The high feasting holidays are over, and the leftovers are gone (or should be).

What culinary escapade should you try next? How about a SOUP SWAP?!

Join us at 3 PM on Saturday, January 26, at the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center (6535 Ravenna Ave NE) for this hopefully-to-be-annual event.

Cooked soup by La.Catholique (via Flickr)

All you need to do is bring from one to six quarts of soup (frozen) with you on Soup Swap day, and you’ll go home with an equal number of different soups to enjoy throughout the winter.

We’ll also be giving away a few loaves of locally-made bread to go with those soups.

For some more detailed Soup Swap directions, you can visit the National Soup Swap how-to page.

And if you need any recipe ideas, let us know in the comments below: We’ll help you out!

Here is a rather delightful video about a Soup Swap event in Seattle from 2011, when this particular group was celebrating their 13th annual swap (WOW):

We’ll also be collecting for the Northwest Help Line Food Bank at this event, so if you have any extra cans of food that you couldn’t fit in your soup, be sure to bring them with you.

Filed Under: Events, Food, Northeast Seattle, Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center

Candy Cane Lane 2012 (PHOTOS)

December 20, 2012 by Rebecca Nelson 8 Comments

The Ravenna Blog staff walked Candy Cane Lane (NE Park Rd) on Thursday evening, and took a bunch of pictures (some with rather long exposures).

Enjoy.

Filed Under: Events, Families, Kids, Photos, Ravenna, Traffic, University Park

City Hall Chapel Cam live streaming on Sunday; watch it here

December 8, 2012 by Rebecca Nelson 2 Comments

UPDATE (Sunday): Today’s events are also being live-blogged on the marriage.seattle.gov site.

And if you have an iOS device (and the Seattle Channel live feed below is causing you trouble), KIRO 7 has another live feed that should work for you.

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One hundred and forty weddings are scheduled for City Hall this Sunday, December 9 — the first of their kind in Washington State, thanks to the passage of R-74 which legalized gay marriage.

Four chapels have been made available inside City Hall (for those who RSVP’d in time) for weddings after the three day marriage license wait period. And outside city hall, there’s a party. For everyone. Via married.seattle.gov:

Come join the celebration at City Hall Plaza from 10 AM to 5 PM, on Fourth Avenue downtown between James and Cherry streets.

Congratulate and admire the newlyweds coming down the steps from City Hall and enjoy food trucks, coffee and festivities. Don’t miss this historic day in Seattle!

For those of us in the rest of the city unable to make it down to City Hall to take part in the celebrating, the Seattle Channel has a solution: “You can follow the day’s progress by watching livestreams of City Hall lobby and of the procession of new married couples exiting City Hall towards the plaza,” says the city’s marriage website.

Says the Seattle Channel: “We’ll have two views: a wide shot of the lobby with ceremonies in progress and close-up coverage with commentary from newlyweds via our ‘couple cam.'”

On Sunday, grab a box of tissues, and enjoy:

And if you ARE downtown — either for the parties or for your own wedding — learn how to share wedding day/celebration photos with the city here.

And if you’re from Ravenna, we’d love to hear about your special day, too.

Filed Under: City Services, Events, Families, Government, History, Live Coverage, Updates, Video

December Story Times for NE Branch; City Librarian reading on Tuesday (PHOTOS)

December 4, 2012 by Rebecca Nelson Leave a Comment

Straight from the Northeast Branch’s Children’s Services Librarian, Erica Delavan, here are the Story Times for the rest of the year (via email; emphasis mine):

Toddler Story Time (Geared for ages 1-3)
Thursdays, December 6, 13, 20 at 10:15 & 11:15 a.m.
(No Story Time Dec. 27 or Jan. 3)

Preschool Story Time (Geared for ages 3-5)
Tuesdays, December 4, 11, 18 at 10:30 a.m.
(No Story Time Dec. 25 or Jan. 1)

Pajamas & Puppets (All Ages)
Wednesday, December 19 at 7:00 p.m.

Special Guest on December 4!
At Preschool Story Time on December 4, we will be joined by City Librarian Marcellus Turner. (We just call him MT.) He is looking forward to reading one of his favorite picture books to everyone!

The Seattle Public Library’s Northeast Branch (6801 35th Ave NE) is located one block south of Wedgwood Top Pot Doughnuts (6845 35th Ave NE), an important fact that is not lost on any member of the Ravenna Blog staff.

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UPDATE (12:19 PM): City Librarian Marcellus Turner read “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs” by Jon Scieszka (illustrated by Lane Smith).

Filed Under: Families, Kids, Northeast Branch, Northeast Seattle, Photos, Story Times, Updates

Mayor McGinn in Ravenna for tour and a town hall (LIVE COVERAGE)

November 30, 2012 by Rebecca Nelson Leave a Comment
As a part of the Engage Seattle initiative, Mayor Mike McGinn is coming to the Ravenna neighborhood for both a tour and a town hall with residents on Saturday, December 1.

The town hall/Q&A portion will be held in the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center gym (6535 Ravenna Ave NE) from 11 AM – noon. Everyone is welcome to attend. The mayor, members of his staff, and representatives from various city departments will be on hand to answer questions.

Prior to the town hall, from 10-11 AM, the mayor, members of his staff, and select community leaders and members will be touring parts of Ravenna both on foot and by bicycle (the latter for the first time for this type of event). Ravenna Blog is along for the ride, providing live coverage, and speaking at a couple of the tour stops.

Live coverage of the tour and the town hall can be found below, once the event starts. The Seattle Channel has recorded previous town halls in other neighborhoods, and should they do so for ours you will find the video embedded in this post once it becomes available.

Filed Under: Civic Envolvement, Cowen Park, Live Coverage, Mayor's Office, Meeting, Ravenna, Ravenna Park, Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center, Seattle Department of Transportation

New NE Seattle Tool Library open house on Saturday

November 29, 2012 by Rebecca Nelson 5 Comments
Back in July, CleanScapes announced the 2011 winners of their now annual Neighborhood Waste Reduction Rewards competition. The big winner was a project started by members of Sustainable NE Seattle to gather and house a library of tools for members of the city to use. A location was found, renovations are underway, and the first public glimpse of a lot of hard work and long hours is upon us.

The brand new NE Seattle Tool Library (2415 NE 80th St) is holding an open house this Saturday, December 1. Community members interested in learning more about this new neighborhood resource and meeting the people who put it together would do well to attend.

From the Sustainable NE Seattle event page:

We want to have an open house and celebrate before we start moving in tools and shelves, so come by December 1 between 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm, bring a snack or drink to share, tools you’d like to donate, and see the space! There will be music and room to dance, so bring your dancing shoes!

View NE Seattle Tool Library location in a larger map

Just like the already established West Seattle Tool Library (a project of Sustainable West Seattle), the NE Seattle Tool Library is free to use. From the NE Seattle Tool Library website:

Anyone over 18 is welcome to use The NE Seattle Tool Library, whether you live in NE Seattle or anywhere else in the region. Members are just required to fill out a membership application and a liability waiver as well as present two forms of ID to Tool Library staff.

But while the North Seattle Friends Church who owns the building is allowing its use rent-free, utility costs still need to be covered by the tool library. As users are guided through the online membership form, there is an opportunity to give a donation to the organization (recommended amounts are “General Public: $40, Student/Senior: $30, Low-Income: $20”). There is also a way to donate (via PayPal) on the homepage.

Filed Under: Civic Envolvement, Events, Food, Fundraiser

BlogsGiving V is here!

November 18, 2012 by Rebecca Nelson 1 Comment
Once again, the Ravenna Blog is a co-sponsor a little partay and fundraiser for Northwest Harvest called BLOGSGIVING V.

Via BlogsGiving come-up-wither, Michael van Baker of The SunBreak:

This year, we’re gathering at Vermillion, Capitol Hill’s art gallery and wine bar, on Sunday, November 18, from 6 to 9 p.m.For a suggested donation of $10, drop in to mingle, browse art, toast with a festive Champagne-and-cranberry drink, and nosh on a variety of cured meats and delicious cheeses. There will also be hand-turkeys, as that’s become a bit of a tradition.

Yours truly will be there from 6 to 7ish, as we have an early bedtime. We’ll be sporting our RAVENNA t-shirt as we are wont to do whenever we’re outside of the neighborhood.

Filed Under: Events, Fundraiser, metablog

Parks and Recreation NE Winter Brochure now available

November 16, 2012 by Rebecca Nelson Leave a Comment
The Seattle Parks and Recreation Winter 2013 Brochure is out! You can find hard copies in your local community center, or click the image below to download a copy of the NE Seattle edition (2.1 MB PDF).

Click the image to download the Seattle Parks and Recreation Winter Brochure for NE Seattle (2.1 MB PDF).

Some highlights/items of note:

The course brochures hereafter will be published only twice a year: One issue for Spring/Summer, and another for Fall/Winter. This is a cost saving decision.

Summer is a looooong ways away, but the information about Summer Camps for 2013 is included in this Winter Brochure (open registration begins on February 5, 2013).

Two new classes of note at our Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center are Introduction to Improv (to be taught by a “seasoned member of the Jet City Improv cast,” and Adult Salsa Classes.

One special event to note is a SOUP SWAP* happening on January 26 (National Soup Swap Day, of course). You bring six quarts of frozen soup, and you go home with six different quarts of soup! Ravenna Blog itself (myself? herself?) is hosting this one, and we’ll have more information on this event as the date approaches. The event is free, minus the cost of whatever homemade soup you’re swapping.

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*The first official Ravenna Kale Festival** event!

**More on this later as well.

Filed Under: Events, Families, Food, Northeast Seattle, Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center

RECC hosting Seattle Animal Shelter cat adoption event this Saturday

November 10, 2012 by Rebecca Nelson 1 Comment
You know what’s nice on cold days like this? A kitty.

And U CAN HAZ one today, at the Seattle Animal Shelter cat adoption event on Saturday, November 10, from 12-3 PM, at the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center (6535 Ravenna Ave NE).

Click the image to view at 100%.

Cats available for adoption at this event have been living with foster families, who will be on hand to answer questions about the personalities of their charges.

Both cats AND KITTENS will be available at this event.

KITTENS.

You can learn more about a few of the available cats on Petfinder, like…

Patrick here, and…

Pepper (on the left), and…

Abby. RAWR, girl.

The event is put on by the Seattle Animal Shelter’s foster care program and their event partners, Alley Cat Project.

Filed Under: City Services, Events, Government, Ravenna, Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center