White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Retired Brigadier Gen. Steve Ritchie, legendary as a pilot ace during the Vietnam War, is speaking in White Center tonight, as noted here previously. Holy Family Parish School invites the community to hear him speak to the Seattle Chapter of the Air Force Association and the Puget Sound Chapter of the United States Air Force Academy Association of Graduates. That appearance is at 7 pm, 9615 20th SW (map), no admission (though school donations accepted), but principal Frank Cantwell requests that you RSVP – fcantwell@hfseattle.org.

Food, entertainment — live bands and dance performances! — and shopping are under way outside Holy Family Church and School at Roxbury/20th, for the annual Community Street Fair.

It began officially at 9 am but really got rolling with a blessing around 10:30 am, with Holy Family’s Father Horacio Yanez:

Then, Rudy Alvarado – who was on a first-response team that rushed to New York nine years ago – led a moment of silence in memory of 9/11 victims. You can drop by till 6 tonight, again 9-4 tomorrow.

What could have been a frightening morning at Holy Family School turned into a story about smart second-graders who knew just what to do when they saw something dangerous-looking. Here’s the tale.

Also note – tomorrow and Sunday are the days for the big Community Street Fair at Holy Family, with new features this year including salsa and chili contests!

Just out – the flyer for next month’s big event at Holy Family. Hopefully we’ll get better weather!

Crossposted from partner site West Seattle Blog, since the memorial service is in White Center – this is an announcement from the family of West Seattle sailor Jarod Newlove, killed last week in Afghanistan:

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jarod Newlove’s memorial service will be held on Monday, August 9, 2010, 11:00 am at Holy Family Catholic Church, 9622 20th Avenue SW [map]. Following the memorial service there will be a procession to Tahoma National Cemetery, 18600 SE 240th Street, Covington [map], where committal service with full military honors will be given at 2:00 pm. There will be a reception directly after the committal service at Kent Civic Center, 10120 SE 260th Street, Kent [map], to honor and remember Jarod and all the joy he brought to our lives. All events are open to the public; please join his family and friends to honor PO2 Jarod Newlove.

10 am-4 pm, Puget Sound Blood Center will have a mobile blood drive at Holy Family‘s Tice Hall (just don’t drop by noon-1 pm, it’ll be closed for a break) tomorrow (Saturday 12/26). Blood supplies tend to run low during the holidays – so the “gift of life” matters now more than ever.

From the Puget Sound Blood Center:

With a decrease in donations and an increase in accidents, we could use help maintaining a stable blood supply over the holidays.

As we exchange gifts during the holidays, please remember that you have the most precious gift inside you to give.

Please give others a chance at a better life:

– Saturday December 26th
* Holy Family Parish- Tice Hall 9516 20th Ave SW 98106
* 10:00AM- 4:00PM (closed 12-1pm)

The Puget Sound Blood Center is a non-profit, community and volunteer based organization. For more than 60 years, the PSBC has been improving the quality of life for sick patients in the Puget Sound area. This is all thanks to the generous donors who are saving lives in Western Washington every day. Your volunteered blood is distributed to 70 local hospitals and clinics in the Puget Sound area. For more information, please contact 1-800-DONATE-1.

Just got word from Holy Family Parish School that they’re also selling trees and wreaths – you’ll find them at the church parking lot. Proceeds go to the school. Trees run from $20 to $69.

Knights of Columbus Council 8437 is sponsoring a spaghetti dinner at Holy Family School (9615 20th Ave SW) on Saturday night. Seating for dinner will start at 4:30 pm and continue until 7:00 pm. In addition to dinner, there will be a raffle for prizes. The cost for dinner is $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for children under 12. Tickets can be purchased by calling Ross Youngs (206) 932-8771; they can also be purchased at the door.

We dropped by within the past hour – didn’t take into account the fact that things would be slow because of 5 pm Mass! Booths, food, bouncy toys, scheduled to be in action till 10 pm tonight, resuming 10 am tomorrow, along 20th SW south of Roxbury. Music too – Paulina Alvarado was singing during our visit:

*South Park Bridge is scheduled to be closed 7 am-7 pm.

*Holy Family School‘s “El Carnaval” Street Fair is scheduled for today and tomorrow, 10 am start both days.

Went to the Holy Family website to doublecheck on this weekend’s El Carnaval street fair – and discovered this announcement:

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Fr. Ramon Velasco, who many will remember was our parish’s parochial vicar until last year. Fr. Ramon passed away earlier this week, and leaves behind many friends and family members one of whom is a member of the parish, Rosa Velasco. His funeral Mass is scheduled for this Friday at Holy Family before his body is returned to the Philippines.

Unfortunately, we discovered this just as all of the events concluded – a reception has just ended, following a Funeral Mass earlier today that was to be led by Archbishop Alex Brunett.

From Frank Cantwell, principal of Holy Family Parish School in White Center:

I would like to invite you to “El Carnaval” that we are holding on August 29 (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and August 30 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) 2009. We are planning to close 20th Street from Roxbury for one block between the Parish and the School, and open this area to the entire community for an opportunity to meet our neighbors. We plan to have bands, a variety of food, and a beer garden. We will have our school open to everyone. We are also planning to have lots of fun and games for the children.

Holy Family Parish School has a rich history having served the White Center community for over 80 years. We are a very diverse community and we are welcoming everyone to come together to have a lot of fun.

That’s White Center Now/West Seattle Blog video of the Seattle Fire Department Pipes and Drums Band and the Walter Kilgore Memorial Honor Guard tonight at Holy Family School (20th and Roxbury; map). They helped pay tribute to the four firefighters who lost their lives 14 years ago tonight in Seattle’s notorious Pang warehouse arson; the memorial was part of a benefit dinner will be held to raise money for scholarships to be awarded at HF by the Randy Terlicker Endowment Fund, named after a Holy Family alumnus who was one of those four lost heroes (the others: the Honor Guard’s namesake Lt. Kilgore, Lt. Greg Shoemaker, and firefighter James Brown).