White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Time to look ahead to this year’s youth-sports seasons. Southwest Little League baseball is registering players for spring! You can sign up at southwestlittleleague.org or in person on February 12th, noon-3 pm, at the Little Log Cabin in Steve Cox Memorial Park, 1321 SW 102nd.

10:47 AM: We’re at the Edgewater Hotel on the downtown Seattle waterfront, where the owner of the former Highline Bears has just announced the team’s new name: Dub Sea Fish Sticks. After a process that involved fans proposing more than 200 possible new names, followed by 5,400+ votes between this name and one alternative (Dub Sea Seal Slingers), this morning brought the official unveiling. Owner Justin Moser says they’ll also start calling Mel Olson Stadium at Steve Cox Memorial Park – the team’s home stadium – “The Fryer.” Temporary mascot, as seen above, but another contest will engage people soon in naming the official mascot. The team didn’t play the past two summers because of the pandemic but they’re planning games this year, starting June 4th. The team’s website is now at gofishsticks.com.

ADDED 11:54 AM: Here’s our video of the big reveal:

Back in June, we reported on the White Center-based (former) Highline Bears‘s plan to pursue a new name. Now it’s down to the final two, and they’re inviting you to help choose. From today’s announcement:

Today the Highline Bears summer collegiate baseball team announced the final two possible new team names. The final names are the DubSea Seal Slingers and the DubSea Fish Sticks. The team will now let the community vote online for which name they want to see on the field next summer. Fans can vote online at RenameOurTeam.com, and they can also vote by pre-ordering merchandise of the logo and team name they like best. Voting will remain open for four weeks and the final team name will be announced on November 15th.

Back in June the team announced they would be renaming the team and ran a “Name the Team” contest for 2 weeks. After receiving more than 200 entries, they flew in the baseball-branding company Brandiose. The branding company has helped name dozens of teams in minor league baseball over the past fifteen years, including the Rocket City Trash Pandas and Armadillo Sod Poodles. While in town in July they canvassed the area, ran community focus groups, and brainstormed with the team about what direction they should go. Over the course of the past three months the team has been working on narrowing down all the fan entries, checking trademark statuses on potential names and developing the final two brands,

The team plays more than two dozen games during regular summers (not the past two years, though) with a 40-player roster of college players from around the country, who stay with host families during the season. Their home field is Mel Olson Stadium at Steve Cox Memorial Park.

From Public Health-Seattle/King County we get word of a COVID-19 vaccination pop-up tomorrow (Wednesday, August 18th), noon-6 pm at Steve Cox Memorial Park (1321 SW 102nd) in White Center. All three authorized vaccines will be available. so this is open to everyone 12+ – no appointment necessary.

Just in – this announcement of a vaccination event noon-6 pm tomorrow (Wednesday, July 28th) at Steve Cox Memorial Park:

Baseball season hasn’t even started yet and already there’s been a snow-out. Southwest Little League had to postpone last Saturday’s planned in-person signups to THIS Saturday – so you can go register noon-2 pm February 20th at the Log Cabin at Steve Cox Memorial Park (1321 SW 102nd). Here’s our original report on this year’s SWLL registration.

As mentioned at last week’s North Highline Town Hall, a special Halloween event is coming up at Steve Cox Memorial Park – this weekend:

Join the White Center Teen Program for some Halloween fun!

Saturday, Oct 24
2 – 5 pm
Steve Cox Memorial Park

Families are welcome to drive or walk through the park to pick up goodie bags packed with face masks, DIY arts and crafts projects, official Spooky Town slime, candy, prizes and even pumpkins (while supplies last). Don’t miss the “Pumpkin Patch Maze” on the outdoor basketball court, a Dragon Eye hunt on the multipurpose field, the I Spy Spooky Town Adventure in the windows of the Log Cabin, and a step and repeat photo opportunity on the Log Cabin steps.

Please enjoy this event responsibly by:

Keeping it moving
Wearing a face covering
Staying six feet apart
See you on Saturday!

Parks also announced the installation of “a second set of two Portland Loo-style restrooms near the play area at the park. We’re almost done with construction – one part of the new sidewalk will remain closed until we install a handrail (currently on order). The whole area should be open by late October.”

King County’s mobile pet-food bank is coming back to Steve Cox Memorial Park, for those who need pet food but are having trouble affording it. Look for it there (1321 SW 102nd) noon-3 pm on Friday, July 10th.

You knew this was coming, but still … The Highline Bears have sent their final word on
2020:

The local summer collegiate baseball team, the Highline Bears, announced to their players this past Monday evening that they will be canceling their entire 2020 season, due to the lack of potential fields being available in a reasonable amount of time.

The Bears would have been starting their season on Friday, May 30th, but the opening night and all home events had been canceled due to Covid-19. In the letter to fans in May the Bears had stated they were planning on having the team play on the road with no fans, if permitted in phase 3. “The likelihood of Pierce and Snohomish county going to phase 3 by our deadline of July 6th and fields being available for us to play at in phase 3 was just too uncertain for us to continue to move forward,” said the General Manager, Justin Moser.

The Bears said that they lost most of their partners and sponsors when the stay at home order went in place in March. The Bears did say even though local businesses were unable to purchase advertising this summer that they will continue to offer advertising to all businesses at no cost for the next year, even though they aren’t playing.

“We were hoping to be able to have some sort of season for our players this summer but the uncertainty is just too big right now. Making our players and coaches wait even longer with the odds of playing dwindling, just didn’t seem right. It’s sad and unfortunate for a ton of reasons, I feel for our players and coaching staff. Ben Harley did an amazing job putting this team together. On paper this is the best team we’ve ever had, including 9 Division 1 players,” Moser said.

The Pacific International League that the Bears play in, are hoping they can play sometime later in July but that will be dependent on certain counties moving into phase 3 and fields being available. The league continues to meet every week to plan and discuss if playing this summer will be possible.

The Highline Bears said that they are planning to come back in 2021 “stronger, bigger and better” bringing the community the “best show in town”. Moser also said that Covid-19 has affected this like so many other businesses: “I’m not going to lie to you, this has been a huge hit to our club financially and we can use all of the support we can get from our community.”. If you would like to support the Highline Bears during this difficult time, you can purchase new 2020 merchandise on their website at shop.highlinebears.com

Just announced by the Highline Bears:

The local summer collegiate baseball team, the Highline Bears, announced Wednesday that they will be canceling all their home games and events this summer at Mel Olson Stadium inside Steve Cox Memorial Park.

The Bears would have been starting their season on Friday, May 30th but the opening night had been postponed due to Covid-19. In the letter to fans from the team, they state that they are planning on having the team play on the road with no fans, if permitted in phase 3.

The Bears stated that they lost most of their partners and sponsors when the stay at home order went in place in March. The Bears did say even though local businesses were unable to purchase advertising this summer that they would continue to offer advertising to all businesses at no cost for the next year, whether or not they play.

The Pacific International League that the Bears play in, has voted to start playing games in phase 3 when permitted but do have a drop dead date of July 6th for games to start before having to cancel the season indefinitely.

The Highline Bears exclaimed that they are planning to come back in 2021 “stronger, bigger and better” bringing the community the “best show in town.” If you would like to support the Highline Bears during this difficult time you can purchase new 2020 merchandise on their website at shop.highlinebears.com

Here’s the full letter to fans:

Dear Fans,

The Highline Bears have made the tough decision to not host any home games, or events for the
2020 summer.

After discussing different contingency plans with our staff and King County Parks we have decided
that we will not be able to host anything at Mel Olson Stadium this summer. With that said, we will
be letting our players play on the road if permitted, when the state moves to Phase 3 of the
reopening plan.

Our priority every summer is to bring the best experience to our fans, community and of course the
players we host from all over the country. Unfortunately, with the current state of events we will not
be able to have the normal summer we are used to, playing baseball and putting on a show in front
of hundreds of fans every Friday and Saturday night. This summer will be 100% committed to
providing our players a safe opportunity to play if allowed to. Our players college seasons were
canceled, and we will do everything we can to get them back out on the field when it is deemed safe
to do so.

The Pacific International League has voted to move back the first day of the season to June 24th
which would be the first day possible for our state to move to phase 3. The Bears will play games in
Tacoma, Edmonds, Redmond and Everett along with some other locations this summer, all with no
fans in attendance. The league hopes to play games into the second week in August.

In early March we spoke with our partners/sponsors and nearly all of them had to pull their
commitment this summer to continue to support their employees and make sure their business
could continue to operate. We have decided that we will continue to offer advertising for all of our
partners throughout the year at no cost to them. In times like this we need to support our local
businesses as much as we can. We ask that our fans please do their best to patronize all of our
partners and continue to support our local business community.

We are optimistic that 2021 we will come back stronger, bigger, and better than ever, bringing our
community the best show in town. All single game and season ticket holders will be given a credit
for tickets in 2021, or can receive a full refund by contacting the Highline Bears.

If you would like to support the Highline Bears during this time you can do so by purchasing new
2020 merchandise at shop.highlinebears.com. We can’t wait to see you all back at the ballpark in
2021!

Thank You,
Highline Bears

The White Center Teen Program is hosting the a FREE Bingo Event for Senior Citizens on Friday, November 22nd from 1-3 pm at the Historic White Center Fieldhouse (also known as the White Center Community Center), in Steve Cox Memorial Park (1321 SW 102nd).

On Friday, November 22nd, the staff and participants of the White Center Teen Program are once again hosting a special Bingo Event for Senior Citizens. Doors open at 1 p.m. and games (two cards at a time) are FREE. Coffee, snacks and prizes are also provided at no charge. Teen volunteers will be on hand to assist with calling the Bingo Games. Special Guest Agency King County Community and Human Services will be in attendance. All White Center Senior Citizens are invited to attend.

For additional Information, please contact Jody Addicks, King County Parks at 206.477.2095

The King County Parks Night Out party at Steve Cox Memorial Park is on until 7 pm. We stopped by and caught deputies just before they headed back out on patrol.

Good crowd so far, we’re told!

Last chance to see the Highline Bears this year! Tonight (Saturday, August 3rd) is their final game of the season, 7:05 pm at Steve Cox Memorial Park vs. the Redmond Dudes. It’s Fan Appreciation Night, too. Need tickets? Go here!

Just a week and a half until Night Out – and if you’re not having your own block party, here’s a big White Center party where you and your family are welcome:

The annual King County Parks Night Out Against Crime family event is back on Tuesday, August 6th from 5-7 pm at Steve Cox Memorial Park (1321 SW 102nd). King County Parks has participated in the National Night Out event for over a decade and is thrilled to be hosting families in the park for the annual event. This year’s activities will feature Super Hero themed crafts and games in honor of the Spider-Man movie night coming up at DTMP on August 10th. Confirmed guests of honor include Deputy Bill (Kennamer) from the White Center Storefront, Teen Librarian Devon from the White Center Library, and a popular caped crusader.

Night Out at SCMP is once again sponsored by the teens and staff of the White Center Teen Program. The WCTP offers free recreational, educational and social enrichment programming to over 1400 culturally diverse participants ages 12-19 each year. The program operates five days a week, forty-eight weeks a year and provides structured recreational classes and programs, homework assistance, educational and computer resources, leadership training, volunteer opportunities, special events, field trips, and drop-in activities. Teens and staff will be providing super hero themed crafts, games and hot dogs between 5-7 pm on the evening of the 6th.

Just two days away! You can find a list of participating employers and resource providers by going here.

The 12-3 final score was only part of the story as the Highline Bears opened the 2019 season at Mel Olson Stadium in White Center’s Steve Cox Memorial Park on Saturday night. So many other fun touches were part of the night – like home-team players high-fiving fans in the stands as they were introduced (above, catcher Owen Napieralski). Then there were the Shorewood Elementary students who sang the national anthem:

The “unofficial mayor of White Center,” Christine Spencer, threw out the first pitch:

And there was the guest base runner:

Hudson Borg had his own cheering section at home plate:

Mascot Buntly the Bear roamed the stadium:

Other sightings ranged from his between-innings Macarena to a moment where he sat down and checked out our laptop (hard to type with paws, so he moved on). All that and we haven’t even gotten around to the baseball yet. Yes, there was a full nine-inning game between the Bears and the visiting Laces:

That’s #12 Cody Chavis. You can see the full Bears roster here. They all had a lot to high-five about:

The night also included facepainting, live games, the youth league West Seattle Baseball running a 50-50 raffle, and … chair-throwing. See for yourself next home game, which is Friday night (June 7th):

It’ll be National Donut Night on Friday; can’t miss that. Here’s the schedule; here’s where to get tickets. (Kids 8 and under are free!)

Play ball! Tonight at Steve Cox Memorial Park’s Mel Olson Stadium, the Highline Bears open their 2019 season – pregame festivities at 6:45 pm, first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm. The Bears (see the roster here) are collegiate players with a two-month schedule of home and road games. Ticket prices are low (get your tickets in advance here) and the games are full of fun. Here’s the promotion schedule, including fridge magnets for the first 350 tonight. See you at the ballpark!

One week until Night Out – and you are invited to what might be the biggest one in the area, Family Night Out at Steve Cox Memorial Park! Here’s the announcement we received:

The Annual King County Parks Night Out Against Crime Family event is back on Tuesday, August 7th from 5-7 pm at Steve Cox Memorial Park (1321 SW 102nd). King County Parks has participated in the National Night Out event for over a decade and is thrilled to be hosting families in the park for the annual event. This year’s activities will feature Pineapple Fiesta-themed crafts and games in honor of the Coco movie night coming up at DTMP on August 4th. Confirmed guests of honor include Deputy Bill from the White Center Storefront, Teen Librarian Devon from the White Center Library, and King County Parks own Marta the River Otter Mascot.

Night Out at SCMP is once again sponsored by the teens and staff of the White Center Teen Program. The WCTP offers free recreational, educational and social enrichment programming to over 1200 culturally diverse participants ages 12-19 each year. The program operates five days a week, forty-eight weeks a year and provides structured recreational classes and programs, homework assistance, educational and computer resources, leadership training, volunteer opportunities, special events, field trips, and drop-in activities. Teens and staff will be providing island-themed crafts, games and hotdogs between 5-7pm on the evening of the 1st.

See you there!

Thanks again to Gill Loring for another look at the Steve Cox Memorial Park work zone – closer, this time:

Project details are here (PDF).

Thanks to Gill for the photo! Work continues at Steve Cox Memorial Park, a $3 million upgrade described by King County Parks as follows:

The project will construct a multi-use synthetic turf athletic field with LED lights and a ten-foot-wide paved walking path around the field perimeter. The field in-fill will be a rubber turf material coated with a colorant and encapsulated with a polyurethane coating. This material was selected to help reduce on-field temperatures and the overall environmental impact of the in-fill.

As mentioned previously, this project is why the Jubilee Days carnival has a new location this year (White Center Heights Elementary) and the fireworks show is on hiatus.