White Center resident, writer and historian, Ron Richardson has just penned a history of the building, most commonly known as the Southgate Roller Rink.  You may recall that Ron previously penned a detailed history of White Center. Both articles can be found at HistoryLink.org website which has a compendium of articles on Washington State history.   The Roller Rink originally started as a boxing gym and, in fact, produced some nationally ranked boxers, including Harry “The Kid” Mathews who went on to fight Rocky Marciano at Yankee Stadium.  To wit some excerpts from Ron Richardson’s excellent and well-researched piece.

The Southgate Roller Rink (now Southgate Event Center) is located in the center of White Center (at 9646 17th Ave SW), a neighborhood of South Seattle. It was originally built by Hiram Green (1863-1932) in 1920 as a boxing arena. From 1937 for the next 70 years it became a roller rink, most recently famous for hosting the Rat City Roller Girls.

snip

Green and his arena established a connection between boxing and White Center.   A regular fighter at the arena was young Al Hostak (1916-2006) from Georgetown.  Over the years Hostak trained, boxed, and tended bar in White Center. In 1939 Hostak won the middleweight championship of the world against Tacoma’s Freddy Steele in front of  30,000 at Seattle’s Civic Field. White Center resident Harry “The Kid” Matthews (1922-2003) kept White Center on the boxing map into the 1950s.  Harry turned pro at the age of 15, hence the nickname “The Kid.” He fought former middle weight champion Al Hostak in two memorable fights, winning one and drawing the second.  Later in his career Matthews defeated Ezzard Charles (1921-1975), former world  heavyweight champion  After 20 years of boxing Matthews record was 87 wins, 7 draws and 7 losses out of 101 fights. His biggest fight was at Yankee stadium in 1952.  Matthews was knocked out by Rocky Marciano (1923-1969), future heavyweight champion of the world. This was a big disappointment, but no disgrace as no one ever did beat Marciano.

Rocky Marciano knocking out "The Kid" Mathews at Yankee Stadium

Hiram Green died in 1932. The Depression took down many an enterprise and boxing in White Center ws no exception. The building passed in to the hands of Green’s daughter, Ethel Green (b. 1909).  Ethel married William “Pop” Brown (d.1969).  William Brown had come from England to the United States during World War I. By 1934 the couple brought in dance bands to replace boxers and the building became a dance hall.

In 1937 Ethel, and ‘Pop’ Brown made a crucial and profitable decision.  They reopened the large hanger like building, calling it the Southgate Rollerdrome.  The name reflected a local attitude in that they considered White Center as the south gate to Seattle.  As it turned out, a large skating rink was the right idea at the right time and in the right place.  Generations of people recall the good times, friendships, skating instructions, and competitions.

And the story goes on to the present.  I invite readers to peruse the piece, as it is full of delightful anecdotes and trove of historical information.   Thanks Ron!

There is just something about the word Brunch that I detest. Part of it is the need to take two words, that are just fine on their own, and smoosh them together to form a new word when either of the old words would have worked just fine. It also strikes me as some pretentious activity taken up by the country club set after a rousing round of golf. I love breakfast, one of my favorite meals of the day really. Lunch is normally my first actual meal of the day, since I tend to sleep in a little later than I should and I end up running out of the house snacking on a piece of dry bread. With those criteria, one would think that I would love brunch. I like the concept, just not the name.

The name normally brings on a big fuss over something that should be very simple. Breakfast should be simple. Pancakes. That is a breakfast. Eggs, potatoes, some sort of fried pork and toast. That is breakfast. Simple, easy breakfast. Brunch is something like this: “Bob’s Red Mill “mighty tasty” hot cereal vanilla-pear compote, Bellwether Farms fromage blanc, crunchy pecans $10”. That is really just freakin oatmeal with cream and nuts, but with the “brunch” tag on it, it is some how now worth TEN DOLLARS. You could buy an entire silo of rolled oats for ten dollars. Yesterday morning I had a four-egg omelet, with cheese and bacon, a side of pancakes, and hash browns for $6.75. Sure, I did not get to eat that in Belltown. There you pay for the view. Like watching a junkie nod off on a bus bench on 3^rd Ave. No, I had that breakfast at Young’s.

Young’s is a family owned dinner on 16^th just north of Roxbury. It is the kind of place that brings you the newspaper after the last guy was done reading it. The waitresses will know your name after you have been in there a couple of times. Omelets are less then eight bucks, and the booths are comfy. They also serve Chinese food, that I have never tried. Own of the daughters told me that when they opened 35 years ago, they just did Chinese food, and some one suggested that they try breakfast. They moved into a bigger spot a few doors down, and thought they would give breakfast a try to pay for the bigger space. Mr. Young did something right, because he is turning out the best breakfast plates in town. Huge. Low on the grease, and simple. Breakfast does not get better than this. Brunch might try. but this is the pinnacle of breakfast.

Young’s 

9413 16th Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98106
(206) 762-3438

Tues-Sat 8 am-5 pm, Sun 8 am-3 pm CLOSED MONDAYS. Cause Monday is starve White Center day.

Although descriptions of White Center often include the adjective, “gritty,” the reality is that the neighborhood has, in recent years, changed considerably.  Not long ago, prostitutes flaunted their wares throughout the area, drug markets operated openly, drunkards stumbled from tavern to tavern and ruffians roamed the area like extras in a Mad Max movie.  As Herb, the owner of Central Heating on Delridge, put it, the stretch from his business on Cambridge to Cafe Rozella was a freeway of drugs and prostitutes.  I, who have seen some rough neighborhoods, would not step out of my car on the stretch of 16th Ave south of Roxbury.  As far, as I was concerned, this was a no-man’s land of losers and predators.  I am not sure how the area became so blighted but part of the reason lies in its netherworld as a piece of unincorporated King County.  In many ways it was the lawless wild west.

White Center was changing before we decided to open Cafe Rozella in 2004.  King Country Sheriff’s Deputy, Steve Cox was well underway in his campaign to clean up the neighborhood.  The community had been up in arms against the criminal element for some time.

I grew up in the south side of El Paso, Texas, where biculturalism is a norm.  As well, there were some pretty rough areas and you had to hold your own in a fight.  So when Leiticia and I looked at White Center as a location for a traditional coffee house, one that would honor the best traditions of the European gathering place, we were not put off by the rich medley of cultures.  To the contary, we embraced the immigrant communities who were opening up markets, restaurants, Pho shops, fruit stands, taquerias and carnicerias.  This melange of people were in the process of changing the character of White Center.

In 2003, we scouted out a location for our cafe.  After much searching, we found a lovely gem of a building sitting unadorned in the heart of White Center.  We decided that the Rozella Building would be perfect for what we had in mind.  The Rozella Building was built by Italian immigrants and named after Patriarch’s daughters.  Good kharma there.

As we took possession and started the demolition before the build-out, we started to get a taste of the old White Center.  Every morning, as we got to work, we would find used condoms, needles, malt liquor cans, and other paraphernalia of the sordid in front of the building.  A resident of the apartments upstairs, told us that four people had died in the aparments in the last year, mostly from acute alchohol intoxication.  Doug, from Center Tool Rental informed us that his alarm went off so many times, he was getting sick of being fined by the police who often arrived after the miscreants had left.  At least two of the upstairs apartments were notorious drug dens and homes for alcoholic denizens looking for a place to pass out.  The laundry room was used by prostitutes to take care of their clients.  And the gangbangers regularly parked in front of the building, hip hop blasting, cold stares at my crew of workers.  Yes, this was going to be a project.

As patrons of the cafe know, we have an outdoor sidewalk cafe with tables and chairs.  Drunkards saw the outdoor cafe as just another place to squat while they downed their cans of malt liquor.  When you are as large as I am, it usually doesn’t take much convincing to get these guys to move on.  But occassionally, one would mouth off and refuse to leave.  I found it effective to grab their cans of liquor and squash them.  A couple of times they would lunge at me and I would push them into the cement.  This eventually discouraged vagrancy.

The prostitutes usually showed up on the weekends.  I would take out my digital camera and say, “hey, how’d you like to be on the web?”  The pictures were emailed to the Sheriff.

The gangbangers were a little more difficult.  Lucky for us, Deputy Cox was quick to respond with a couple of extra deputies.  “Ricardo, you want me to move these guys out?” he would ask.  But by this point, the sight of three patrol cars was enough to scatter them like roaches in light.

More pernicious still were the dealers upstairs.  They had a good gig going and they were not about to let it go — easily.  I shot pictures of their customers, and of the dealers and passed them along to Steve Cox.  Still, these guys were obstinate.  Even friendly visits by Cox and his deputies would not convince them to shut down. One of them was especially mean and violent and he not only threatened me but also that big rock of a man Steve Cox.  Weed and Seed folks talked to the landlord and finally convinced him to start removal actions.  The landlord would invariably ask me to serve the legal papers as he was too frightened to do it himself.  A couple of times, Deputy Cox and his deputies had me go do a knock, as they searched for cons with outstanding warrants.  It was a rush.

During this time we had the support of the community, including Russell Parks, Betsy Harris, Peggy Weiss, Melinda Bloom and the weed and seed folks, amongst others.

But what really changed the course was the cultural events that we began to sponsor.  Shortly after opening, we had a Brazil night and a Mexican Independence Day celebration.  For the latter, we hired a wonderful conjunto band from South Park.  The place rocked. People were dancing outside of the cafe on a Friday and Saturday night.  Nobody had seen anything like this in White Center.  It was a blast.

During the summer we started having at least one weekly musical performance in front of the cafe.  Where once the place was littered with vagrants, prostitutes, drunks and dope dealers, we had families and children enjoying the music, frolicking and dancing under the stars.  Surprisingly, there was resistance from some of the old timers in the business community.  But the community loved it.  We followed up with poetry readings, a writers’ group, a conversation cafe and other cultural affairs.  Things changed and the continue to change.

Time to get out there and help spiffy up the White Center area.  Come and help with clean up and green up sponsored by the City of Seattle.  Mayor will be in attendance so if you want to chat with Mayor Nickels, here’s your chance.

Cafe Rozella, White Center’s hub and coffee house, wants to thank all our wonderful patrons for making 2008 our best year and for electing Barack Obama, President of the U.S.

We look forward to better times.  We cannot pass this opportunity to give thanks to: Mike the artist, mike the mechanic, mike the longshoreman, little mike and big mike, Cherrie, Onion, Eric the Swede, Joan, Carlos, Eduardo, Bill, Bill and Bill, Robert, Aileen, Laura, Jorge, Argelia, Paige, Eric, Vassily, Carmen, Flora, Sim, Chica, Jason, Anne, Jeremy, Austin, Ron, Gabrielle, Athena, Chad and Tracy, Andrew and Moe, Jessica, David, David and David, Ruth, Ringo, Paul, John, Maury, Rob, Gary, Gary and Marjorie, Jim, and everyone else who contributed to the wonderful community that is White Center and Cafe Rozella.  We love you all.  Truly.

Right now a number of businesses are open in White Center, including Walgreens, Bartell, Pho 88, El Paisano, Taqueria Guaymas, Center Tool Rentals and, of course, Cafe Rozella.   If I have not included your business send me a message or call (206) 763-5805.

Hungry for some real burgers and fries?  Zippy’s is open and will stay open till about 7:30.  Fear not foodies.

As I write this post, the venerable Chicago Tribune and the Lost Angeles Times teeter on bankruptcy.  The New York Times Company (NYT) plans to borrow up to $225M against its mid-Manhattan headquarters building to ease a potential cash flow squeeze. The NYT company has over $1B in debt. Both Seattle papers, The Seattle Times and the Post-Intelligencer, are announcing that the “dead tree edition” will be smaller in size, and presumably in content.  All of the foregoing papers, and many others, have already made painful cuts to their staffs and likely will continue to make further cuts.  Despite these losses, the online versions of all of these newspapers are enjoying more views than ever.  There is no shortage of people wanting to read the news, it just so happens that online traditional media have not found a business model that monetizes these online eyeballs.

I for one, read far more newspapers now than I ever did when you had to buy your newspaper in print form.  Paradoxical.  I leave it to others to put forth the reasons and why-fors of this financial crisis in traditional media.  But one thing I would add, traditional media have been very slow to adapt to changing technologies.  As early as the mid-90s anyone with any sense knew that the future lay online.  Yet it took well over a decade for most newspapers to recognize the need for an online presence.  Even then, they still failed to fully comprehend the trends in social media and the net.  The irony is that you can read the NY Times technology section to catch up on web trends and wonder if the editor is also reading the same section.  I suspect that there is a means vs. substance disconnect in journalists, especially the old school types.   Whatever it is, they better catch one quick cause they are dying a slow and painful death.

Big Brother Big Sister is having their “Big Night Out” Today.  Full Tilt is donating 30% of the days till to them. So are a number of other businesses in the area. Follow the link below to find some place that interests you.

http://www.bbbs.org/site/lookup.asp?c=guLUJbMRKtH&b=4696831

Many of the businesses will have represententive from Big Brother on hand to answer any questions that you may have.

On December 2nd Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound are hosting Big Night Out, a fundraiser for the orginization taking place at area retailers, restaurants, bars, and bowling alleys. Full Tilt will be hosting an event that night for Big Brothers Big Sisters, but in the meantime they are looking for some local help.

Lamonte’ needs a big brother. If you can help, please contact Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound today at 877-700-BIGS or www.bbbsps.org.

“I want a Big Brother to hang out with, have fun, and learn how to play sports with.”

– 7 year old Lamonté

Lamonté is an outgoing, energetic 7 year old who lives in White Center with his mom. Because he does not have any siblings or a father figure in his life, Lamonté’s mom is looking to find a good role model for her son through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound. Lamonté loves sports, and he says that he is looking forward to learning how to play sports and going to sports games with his Big Brother. Lamonté is also interested in animals, computers, art, and music. When he signed up to become a Little Brother, Lamonté said, “I want to see how it feels to have a Big Brother.” Lamonté’s mom says that she knows it’s hard for her son to grow up without a dad or siblings, and she wants someone in his life that he can look up in addition to her. If you have a few hours on the weekends to hang out, play catch, or go to the zoo with a local child like Lamonté, please contact Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound today at 877-700-BIGS or www.bbbsps.org.

The White Center Community Development Association and Trusted Advocates will host the 2008 Community Summit this Saturday, November 8th at Mount View Elementary School.  The event starts at 8:00 am and ends at 3:00 p.m.  Please come and offer your input on the future of your community.   Mount View is located at 10811 12th Avenue SW.

This year’s community summit will gather families, government agencies and local community-based/non-profit organizations in a fun family-friendly environment.  Live cultural performances, ethnic foods, door prizes and children’s activities are just a taste of what the summit has to offer!

Come learn about the issues affecting your community and how you can be involved in a positive way.  There will be info booths and workshops on health, education, jobs, housing, annexation, immigration and more.  Translation services will be provided in Cambodian, Vietnamese, Spanish, Tigrinya, Somali, Amharic, Samoan, Arabic and English (other languages upon request).  Childcare will be provided.

For more info:  Ebony Davis: (206) 694-1082 ext.  168 – ebony@wccda.org or Ian Dapiaoen:  (206) 694-1082 ext. 175 or ian@wccda.org.

There is an interesting theory making the rounds in financial circles.  The thinking is that the more Starbucks locations a place has is correlated to the degree of financial distress.  The correlation is not with coffee, as countries with venerable coffee house traditions, Italy and Brazil, have not been hit as hard by the financial meltdown.  According to Daniel Gross, the author of the Starbucks theory:

My tentative theory: having a significant Starbucks’ presence is a pretty significant indicator of the degree of connectedness to the form of highly caffeinated, free-spending capitalism that got us into this mess. It’s also a sign of a culture’s willingness to abandon traditional norms and ways of doing business (virtually all the countries in which Starbucks has established beachheads have their own venerable coffeehouse traditions) in favor of fast-moving American ones. The fact that the company or its local licensee felt there was room for dozens of outlets where consumers would pony up lots of euros, liras and rials for expensive drinks, is also a pretty good indicator that excessive financial optimism had entered the bloodstream.

The theory has some appeal for independent coffee houses, such as Cafe Rozella.   Unlike Starbucks, you will find few independent coffee houses in the lobbies of financial skyscrapers.   But, there is an interesting backdrop to this theory and White Center.

Sometime back, while White Center struggled to right itself financially, a play was made to get Starbucks to open up a location in the heart of White Center.  In fact, the Walgreens Superstore at 16th and Roxbury contains the appended building designed to lure Starbucks to the neighborhood.   Starbucks corporate staff studied the area and decided that there simply weren’t enough greenbacks floating around to justify a store in the area.  We, at Cafe Rozella, only became aware of the Starbucks machinations after launching our coffee house.  Had Starbucks opened a corporate coffee house in the middle of White Center would it had speeded up gentrification?  Would it have driven up home values to unrealistic heights only to see them crash with the real estate bubble?  Certainly, it appears that White Center and its surrounding environs have mostly been spared the overvalued real estate crisis overtaking the rest of Seattle.  Perhaps we should be thankful that Starbucks took a pass on WC and drink a toast to Cafe Rozella.

(Picture is from New York Times website)

The New York Times Travel Section celebrates the quirkiness of Seattle’s Fremont and Ballard neighborhoods, in a piece entitled, “A Seattle That Won’t Blend In.” It probably goes without saying, that once the literati celebrate a place’s Bohemian character, the place is no longer Bohemian and likely has gentrified to the point of gentility.  True Seattlelites, as the late Emmett  Watson of lesser Seattle might have noted, know that one is more likely to find Adobe geeks, PCC yuppies and trophy wives getting botox shots in Fremont than they are to find witches, hippies and beats.   But so be eat.  Let the tourists have Fremont and Ballard.

At Cafe Rozella we like to riff on the old Fremont, by saying that White Center is the “new” Center of the Universe.  In some sense, we do carrry the torch of real quirkiness, as affordability, ample bars and coffee houses feed the artitistic temperament.   And as we well know, The New York Times is not going to be celebrating our charms anytime soon.  So on this night of witches, warlocks and saints, drink a toast to the White Center that IS before we toast to the White Center that WAS.  Cheers!

I just noticed a new salon opening up on Roxbury. Right now there is just a small sign in the store front, but I was able to track down the owner.

It’s Casanova, a full service salon for Men. Owner Neyirys says, “It is a full service shop for men manicure, pedicure, massage, hair cuts, braids, shaves, facials, shoe shining, all services exclusively for men. It will open mid-November and we will rent chairs and also hire.” It is near the corner of Roxbury and 16th, next to Pho 54 on Roxbury.

At this point they are still in the construction phase, but I will post pics as things progress. They have a limited website up at the moment. casanovallc.com

There may not have been a lot of vendors, but the ones that were there were great! And they’ll be back tomorrow. Check out my new work shoes, only $15!

Here are some pics from the Zapotec Weaving exhibit and sale at Cafe Rozella going on today.   Drop by – great rugs.  Wonderful cause:  direct to producer sale!

Looking at Oaxacan rugs

Click pic to play video

We got that video inside the old Southgate Skate Center in White Center around noontime Friday, where crews are working hard to get it ready for the debut of the White Center Swap Meet next Saturday-Sunday. They had planned to put up almost 100 stalls this weekend, but do note that staffer Mandel Medina told us sellers will need to bring their own tables. The stalls will be movable, workers say, to configure the fully renovated space (including restroom upgrades!) for other events. Swap Meet hours for starters are 1-7 pm Saturdays (starting 10/4), 10 am-4 pm Sundays (starting 10/5).

Ok, so I promised sometime back to do a rundown of all the great places where you can get a Vietnamese Sandwich, which, next to Ramen, is the poor student’s sustenance.  There are as many Vietnamese Sandwich shops, as there are Pho shops and Asian markets, in White Center – which is to say alot.  So, rather than run down the list, I will share my personal favorite.  For my money, the tastiest Vietnamese Sandwich is, without hesitation, served at Banh 88.  The meat is always excellent, the dressings are fresh and the bread is always toasty fresh.  Load up some Vietnamese garlic hot sauce and you have a piece of heaven for a mere $2.75.  My personal favorite is the barbeque pork sandwich but all the sandwiches, including chicken, beef and vegetarian fare are excellent.  Nikki, the amiable proprietor, is an excellent cook and demands nothing less of her staff.  I have never been disappointed with any meal from Banh 88.  

I must add that besides the Vietnamese Sandwiches, Banh 88 does a full array of great Vietnamese salads, curries and noodle dishes.  This is the place to go with a crowd of people and try everything on the menu.  The curry dishes are likely the best in Seattle.  You can find Banh 88 at 9418 Delridge Way SW (98106), phone 206.768.9767, it is located just south of where Delridge and 17th Ave. SW diverge.  Hours are 11 am to 8:00 p.m.

That said, I invite cognerati to comment on their favorite White Center Sandwich Shop.  

Just in. Someone stole the Village Green sign from the corner of Roxbury Ave. SW and 26th Ave. SW (Safeway block). The sign chained to the tree and whoever took it SAWED off the leg and Stole the sign.

If anyone sees a sign around – probably lying on the side of the road somewhere…or being reused as a ‘newly made over’ sign- please contact Vera at Village Green. These signs are not cheap and for a small business owner it’s quite a hit (speaking from experience). Someone also had to have seen this event take place…sawing wood takes a minute or two… Contact for Vera at Village Green Perennial Nursery
10223 26th Ave SW
Seattle Wa. 98146
206-767-7735

Anyone seeing the sign or the person(s) who took it, please call!