New Year forecast: A flurry of high school information meetings and tours

“The days are long, but the years are short.”

Some of Roosevelt High School’s Class of 2011 | Photo by Roosevelt Neighborhood Blog. Used with permission.

First, there’s the wait list for preschool. Then, before you know it, you’re taking the kid off to kindergarten.

Parents of current eighth graders: It’s time to choose a high school.

The following list of high school information nights was taken from today’s Eckstein Middle School Bulletin for Responsible Scholars:

Roosevelt High School 2012 High School Information Night: Thursday, February 2, 2012
1410 Northeast 66th Street

This event will give potential 9th grade families and other families new to the RHS community a chance to listen to a student panel talk about life at Roosevelt, to meet with department heads about curriculum, tour the school, and visit with club and sports representatives. The event will start at 7 PM in the Roosevelt Theatre. Contact the Counseling Office (206-252-4827) or the Main Office (206-252-4810) with questions.

Nathan Hale High School Information Evening: Tuesday, February 7, 2012
10750 30TH Avenue NE

For students and parents/guardians

6:00-7:00 PM – Table Fair in Performing Arts Entry will include information about activities & parent groups
6:30-7:00 PM – Building Tours (meet in the Performing Arts Entry)
7:00-8:30 PM – NHHS Presentation and Q&A in the Performing Arts Center.

Garfield High School Prospective Tours and Evening Tour: Monday, January 9 and Tuesday, January 10, 8 AM-noon
400 23rd Avenue

Contact Kelley Butler (klbutler@seattleschools.org). Space is limited; mail to reserve a spot if interested. Open House (evening tour) is on Thursday, January 12, 6-7:30 PM for any parent/guardian and students that are considering Garfield High School.

Cleveland High School School Tours
5511 15th Avenue S

Wednesday mornings on 12/14, 1/18, 2/15, and 3/21. All tours will start at 8 AM and end at 10 AM, and begin in the main office. Contact Tina Camero at ticamero@seattleschools.org to reserve your space.

Ingraham High School Open House Information
1819 North 135th Street

No need to RSVP. Questions? 206-252-3888

Wednesday, February 1, 7 PM – Open House for parents and students
Wednesday, February 8, 7 PM – IB Information Night for parents and students
Wednesday, February 15, 8:15-9:45 AM – Daytime tour for parents and students
Wednesday, March 7, 8:15-9:45 AM – Daytime tour for parents and students

Ravenna’s Candy Cane Lane set to open December 10

We’ve heard from one of the homeowners on Candy Cane Lane (NE Park Rd) that their annual holiday light extravaganza is set to start on December 10 this year.

Looking festive now — Imagine what it will look like at night!

Here’s a story on the history of this annual neighborhood tradition from the Seattle Times last year.

Art abounds in Ravenna — Check out Thrive

In the past we’ve mentioned events and workshops at Roaring Mouse Creative Arts Studio (7526 20th Ave NE), such as this weekend’s Annual Holiday Open House. *hint, hint*

And now, in the spirit of supporting all things Ravenna, we plug the other art school in the area, Thrive Art School (6329 NE 65th St).

Thrive has a couple workshops coming up that you and your offspring might be interested in taking together:

Drawing Together – A special parent and child workshop; ages 5-9 with parents

Sunday, December 11, from 1-2 PM and 2:30-3:30 PM

Local Artist Workshop – Create your own artwork inspired by Clare Johnson’s whimsical ink drawings; ages 8 and up with parents

Sunday, December 11, from 2-4 PM

Thrive Art School is located above Cafe Da Pino on the corner of Ravenna Avenue and NE 65th Street. They also have a location on E Madison Street, across the street from Cafe Flora.

Shop local, and help out your local food bank at the same time

The University District Food Bank (4731 15th Avenue NE) has a few opportunities for us to help out their cause here in December, while supporting a few local businesses.

Via email (emphasis mine):

Ten Thousand Villages Shopping Event

Where: Ten Thousand Villages (6417 Roosevelt Ave NE)
What: Buy Fair Trade Holiday Gifts
Why: Ten Thousand Villages will donate 15% of their net sales to the Food Bank
When: 6 PM to 9 PM, Thursday, December 1st

Shultzy’s Sausage Fundraiser

Where: Shultzy’s Sausage (4114 University Way NE)
What: Buy a liter of beer at Shultzy’s Sausage
Why: Shutzy’s will donate $1 to the University District Food Bank for every liter of beer sold
When: December 1st through December 31st

The University District Food Bank may be located in the U-District, but they assist individuals and families living in rest of Northeast Seattle as well. Every week over 1,100 families receive groceries, toiletries and other supplies from the UDFB, and over 80 percent of the food they distribute is donated.

Happy Thanksgiving, Ravenna

We here at the Ravenna Blog would like to remind you of the importance of proper waste disposal during this holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Rally and march near Montlake, University Bridges this afternoon (updates)

This afternoon, the 99% are coming north of the cut.

A rally and march are planned for the University of Washington area, starting at 3:30 this afternoon.

From Working Washington’s facebook page for the event:

On November 17, people from across the area will converge at the functionally obsolete Montlake Bridge to demand our political leaders build bridges to good jobs, not make more cuts. This is part of a national day of action for jobs that’s happening in dozens of cities across the country.

The schedule of events today appears to be:

3:30 PM – Gathering at the grassy area just west of the intersection of Montlake & Pacific

4:00 PM – Rally

4:30 PM – March

One possible route the march could take we’ve gleaned from the website The Stand, a project of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO (WSLC) and its affiliated unions. The Stand describes the march route as starting near the Montlake Bridge, but ending at the University Bridge to the west, due to “safety concerns cited by the Seattle Police Dept.”

A call to the front desk at the North Precinct reveals no final march route plans in place at the time of this writing; however, the officer on the phone said “they’re having a big summit on it right now.”

Capitol Hill Seattle echoes the march route move to the University Bridge, citing a Thursday Day of Action itinerary (at the bottom of the post).

UPDATE (12:14 PM): The Seattle Times’ Today File confirms the move to march to the University Bridge instead of to Montlake, citing the information on The Stand’s website that we mentioned earlier.


View November 17th rally and march in a larger map

UPDATE (12:21 PM): The Seattle Department of Transportation has sent out the following traffic advisory (via email):

SEATTLE  An Occupy Seattle rally and march today has the potential for creating major delays on all arterials leading to and from Ship Canal bridges during the afternoon commute.

The rally is scheduled to take place between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. on the University of Washington campus and then is expected to march west on NE Pacific Street to the University Bridge at roughly 4:30 p.m. The demonstrators plan to block the bridge during the afternoon rush hour so their presence will likely cause traffic delays throughout the afternoon commute until after 6:30 or 7 p.m. Demonstrators may also block the Montlake Bridge during that timeframe.

Seattle Police Officers will be on hand to minimize traffic congestion but the blockage of any one bridge could impact other nearby Ship Canal bridges. Commuters should allow additional time for detouring to another route. Motorists who must get to the University or Children’s hospitals should plan for extra time to reach their destination.

The protests could be very disruptive to transit service this afternoon. For information or questions about transit service, please call Metro Transit customer service at 206-553-3000, and sign up to receive Transit Alerts at www.kingcounty.gov/metro/alerts.

UPDATE (2:44 PM): The Seattle Department of Transportation has a network of traffic webcams across the city, and there just happens to be one at Montlake Blvd NE @ NE Pacific St (first picture revealed after you click the camera indicated by the picture below).

This rally and march is part of a larger “Mass Day of Action” planned for today, with events happening all around the country.

Steve Jobs remembered at University Village Apple Store (PHOTOS, UPDATES)

Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, passed away today after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 56 years old.

While Steve Jobs himself was far removed from our neighborhood, the reach of his work, vision, and passion most certainly is not. And it was with that thought that I went down to University Village’s Apple Store three times after Jobs’ death, to see what folks were doing to mark the occasion:

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Evening of Wednesday, October 5

Lots of news trucks. This is just two of the four that I could see.


Cameras and reporters queuing up for live shots.


A few people were leaving messages on the black film currently covering the windows — the store is in the process of getting a makeover, and is set to reopen on Friday, October 7.

A few bouquets of flowers, some personal notes, and a single lit candle had been left next to the entrance.


And the iconic logo’s lights had been turned off.

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Morning of Thursday, October 6

I noted at the time (on twitter): Small but constant stream of folks walking by the @UVillage Apple Store. Stopping for a few moments, in silence. Taking pictures.

GeekWire was by the store after I was, and captured more of the comments left on the store windows.

The SunBreak also stopped by. Editor and Publisher Michael van Baker shares his thoughts on the memorial here.

The Seattle P-I’s Big Blog has a post up, which includes a photo slideshow.

The Seattle Times has posted a video of some Seattle residents visiting the store and sharing their thoughts (verbally and on the black windows).

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Evening of Thursday, October 6

Obama-cade: The video!

President Obama’s motorcade heads down NE 75th Street through Ravenna and into Wedgwood for his Seattle Backyard Conversation.

Filmed from the corner of 23rd Avenue NE and NE 75th Street:

NE Library Firefighter Story Time: When you gotta go, you gotta go

Front grill of Engine 38 - THAT'S HOT

Firefighter Story Time at the Northeast Library (6801 35th Ave NE) yesterday had everything you’d ever want in a Firefighter Story Time: Lots of firefighters (one of which was in his FULL GEAR), a HUGE crowd of enthusiastic listeners, a good story highlighting fire safety, and ACTION.

Lieutenant Milton, Firefighter/Storyteller

The crew of Engine 38 treated a crowd of over 200 parents and kids to a reading of No Dragons for Tea: Fire Safety for Kids (and Dragons) by Jean E. Pendziwol.  But before he got too far into the story, Lieutenant Milton did warn the crowd about his pager:

If this thing goes ‘BEEP BEEP,’ we have to go.

We all laughed.

With so many eager listeners in the crowd, Lt. Milton had the rest of the crew spread out through the space with extra copies of the book so that everyone could see the pictures.

Firefighters Lt. Milton and John Paul Jones

Firefighter Becky Mathews turns the page.

Firefighter Dyer, not part of Engine 38's crew that day, was also on hand to help.

After the story, Firefighter Chris Hassel showed off his full firefighting ensemble.

Flash photography is NOT helping us out here, but still looks pretty cool. (Hassel on left, Lt. Milton on right)

A now helmeted and masked Hassel shows the crowd his position relative to a smoke-filled room.

At this point, the crew of Engine 30 headed outside to ready the truck for inspection.

Priority parking behind the library

Fire engine 38's cab section

One of many storage areas on the engine, opened up to reveal the equipment inside.

Doors to the engine’s cab were opened, and a multitude of storage areas were revealed all over the exterior of the engine.  Kids and parents filed out of the library and surrounded the engine and her crew.

Then Lt. Milton started to talk about the differences between fire engines and fire trucks, and how this engine hooks herself up to a hydrant,

This engine carries its own 500 gallons of water all the time! Neat!

and then we heard:

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Lt. Milton looks at his pager, says, “‘Motor vehicle accident.'” Pause. “We gotta go.”

“AWWWWWWW…” said the crowd.  What a bummer. But duty calls! What are you gonna do?!

The crew of Engine 38 rapidly closed up all the compartments and hopped in the cab as the crowd backed away to make room for the engine to head out.

Here’s a video of their all-too-soon departure:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7uxuTD-zT0&feature=player_embedded

I think the engine sounded really sad about leaving, don’t you?

But take heart, citizens of Northeast Seattle! There’s another opportunity to see a fire engine up close just this next week, as Firefighter Story Time heads to the Green Lake Library (7364 E Green Lake Dr N) on Wednesday, October 13 from 11:15-11:45am.

You can find the full schedule of Firefighter Story Times here, at the Seattle Fire Department Event Calendar page.

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EXTRA FIRE DEPARTMENT-RELATED TIDBIT: The NEW Fire Station 38 (across the street from the Sand Point Metropolitan Market) should be wrapping up construction around the end of December 2010. Stay tuned for open house dates, and information on how YOU could own the OLD Fire Station 38.

Picardo P-Patch Fundraiser Dinner – Eatin’ in the Rain

It was the evening of Friday, September 17th.  The sky was grey, the clouds were ominous, and the rain was ABUNDANT.  I think I saw Noah himself at one point, wandering through the garden, muttering about lumber and cubits.  But the 40 or so diners (and dozen or so volunteers) who came to the first ever Picardo P-Patch Fundraiser Dinner that night had a great time, regardless of the evening’s weather.

[Click on any of the following photos to view a larger version.]

No jacket and tie necessary, but savvy diners arrived clad in functional beauties like THESE.

The original plan for the event was that the wine tasting portion would be held over by the Garden Goddess statue (yeah, THAT Garden Goddess statue), but of course the Weather God had other plans.

Instead, a canopy tent was set up in between the tool barn and the permanent shelter area. Appetizers (tapas) were in the tool barn, wines for tasting were under the canopy tent, and the “dining room” was the shelter area. Diners didn’t get wet unless they strayed out from under cover, or happened to be standing in the small gap between the shelter and the tent. It made for a very cozy and intimate, if still damp, arrangement.

Gosh, I wonder where exactly the table bouquet flowers came from. I have a good guess.

Music and tapas in the tool shed. Kind of made me wish there were guitars in here all the time, along with the shovels and rakes and the like.

Here we have 3/4 of the evening’s vintners: From left to right – Milton Tam (Picardo gardener and winemaker), and Andy Shepherd and Tim Bates, 2/3 of Roosevelt’s Eight Bells Winery.  All three graciously donated some of their respective wines to the event.

Andy and Tim were pouring their 2008 syrah and 2009 chardonnay. Milton was pouring AT LEAST 6 different wines of his own making (2009 pinot gris, 2007 viognier, 2004 cabernet franc, 2001 cabernet, 2006 syrah and 2007 cabernet sauvignon).  There were also a few other wines from another Picardo winemaker available for tasting, including a blackberry wine and a plum wine.

The fund raising possibilities didn’t stop at the dinner ticket price: Bottles of Spanish wines were available to go back to the table with your plate of paella.

Quality control: That’s what separates the professionals from the amateurs.

Happy customers raise their glasses.

Sangria in the making!

Here we see (l-r) Composting Toilet Committee member David Atcheson, Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods P-Patch Supervisor Rich Macdonald, and gardener/bon vivant Milton Tam enjoying the wine and weather canopy.

This was the salad.  How anyone could devour such a beautiful thing, I cannot say.  But there were no leftovers whatsoever.

This is Jim Kuhn, the Paella King and Picardo gardener, at work on the main course. He’s very fast.

King Jim with wife, Queen Claudia, building Paella the Second.

I was not yet at the garden to witness the beginning of the paella (nor would I want to divulge any of Jim’s paella secrets, if there are any), but I did take a series of pictures as the final ingredients were layered in.

Hey, where’s the rice?

[time passes]

Ahh, there’s the rice!

His Royal Highness, adding tomatoes.

The final product, in Technicolor.

Time to dine.

Dinner, served.

It was at this point that the photographer (moi) tried a few bites of the paella (delicious!) before she had to tromp back through the now BLACK p-patch and head home.  A dessert buffet provided by Picardo gardeners closed out the meal.

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From the Ravenna Blog post of September 14th that advertised this first ever fundraiser dinner for the Picardo P-Patch:

Why a fundraiser dinner for the garden?  Well, mostly because of this beauty:

interior, wide

Have a seat!

It’s the Picaloo, Seattle’s first composting toilet (read about its grand opening back on Saturday, April 3rd here). This fundraiser dinner is designed to help retire the last of the composting toilet debt, as well as provide funds for other Picardo projects (among them: new hose holders and more blueberry plants).