White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Now that it’s November, the holidays are rushing toward us. Village Green Perennial Nursery is organizing a tree sale to raise money for Community School of West Seattle (which is on the WS-White Center line, right along Roxbury). You can get your order in over the next week – read all about what’s available and how to order by going to this Village Green webpage.

Thanks to Jim Clark for sharing photos of today’s cyclocross race at Lakewood Park, scheduled at the last minute after the permit was revoked in West Seattle. His gallery is here.

Per White Center Jubilee Days via Twitter – all are welcome at this free fun festival, 5 pm to 7:30 pm.

Thanks to Liz for calling our attention to the sad news: Barb Peters of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council and North Highline Fire District board lost her battle with cancer this week. There’s a tribute to her on the NHFD site; see it here. From the published obituary that Liz forwarded:

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent in Barbara’s name to: North Highline Fire District Aid Car Fund, 1243 Southwest 112th Street, Seattle, WA 98146. In her memory, Barbara asked to please spend time with a child that is close to you. That time spent and your love for that child will be with Barbara forever. A graveside service will be held at 1:30 PM on Monday, November 2nd at Riverton Crest Cemetery, 3400 S.140th, Tukwila 98168 with a reception following at Rainier Golf and Country Club, 11133 Des Moines Memorial Dr. S.

You can read Ms. Peters’ full obituary here. She was 72 years old.

Just got this announcement:

White Center’s Safe Night Out will be held October 31, 6:30 to 8:30pm at Hillcrest PCA Church (10404 34th Avenue SW) in White Center. Hillcrest is teaming with Arbor Heights Community Church, the White Center Safety
Council, and other community partners to provide a safe outlet for children to have fun this Halloween.

Due to Halloween falling on a weekend this year, there is an increased need for a safe atmosphere for children to dress up, play games, participate in raffles and cakewalks. The Safe Night Out will feature large bounce slides, games for children from ages 2 to 12, facepainting, prizes for Most Original and Most Creative costumes, a cakewalk and more.

The Safe Night Out also couples as a food drive for West Seattle Food Bank.

For each donation of a bag of non-perishable items, Hillcrest will give a gift certificate to a White Center restaurant or a donation from one of our sponsors.

For more information contact Brian Sisco or Patty Quigley @ 206.937.0101

(We’d call the location a little more Arbor Heights than White Center, but certainly it’s clearly open to all!)

Our partner site West Seattle Blog covered a controversy yesterday afternoon regarding a cyclocross bicycle race that was scheduled to be held in Lincoln Park this Saturday, till the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department abruptly pulled the permit, saying it had committed to the community years ago that the park would no longer host such races and that it shouldn’t have granted the permit in the first place. Promoters at MFG Cyclocross started working to find an alternate site – and they have just announced that Lakewood Park is the alternate site. We’ve also found additional details on the King County Parks news website.

Teen games at 2:30 pm, family story time at 6:30 pm, all at the White Center Library. Here’s the full event listing!

7 pm Thursday, Full Tilt Ice Cream, be there. From the invitation published on the WCFTA website:

Who is invited? Artists who live in and those who love the GREATER White Center Area/ Unincorporated King County, and a little bit outside that line. That means ALL artists. Music, dance, film, theatre, visual, 3-D, photography, written, mixed-media, young, old, in-between, student, emerging, established, etc.

What is this about? This is about creating your opportunities. What do you want/need from your community in order to further your work/goals? What can you give to your community to help strengthen it? White Center for the Arts is opening the line of communication. This is not a formal, stuffy meeting, but the first meeting of many where your voice can be heard, new alliances can be created, and we can figure out how to best accommodate you, the artist, in our own neighborhood.

Want to know more about what’s ahead for your student in algebra, and how to help? Get a firsthand experience in Parent Math Academy, Monday night 6 pm at Highline Public Schools HQ in Burien – full story here.

9 am-1 pm today, you can drop off donations for Samoan disaster survivors at Evergreen High School – there’s a program, with entertainment, scheduled to start at 11 am. A list of what’s needed, plus more information on the event, is on the White Center Community Development Association website – see it all here.

The county says it ran out of H1N1 vaccine after three days of giving it to people with major health trouble and no insurance. So now what? Here’s the news release, as published on partner site West Seattle Blog.

Interested in helping stop youth violence? You’re invited to a meeting next Wednesday, 1 pm. From organizers:

Location: Steve Cox Memorial Park, SW District Office (east of basketball court-)

Topics:

* Guests: Robert Gant, SW Network Coordinator & also present will be the SW Intake & Referral Specialist, Mayor’s Youth Violence Prevention Initiative
* Program updates

(photo added 8:33 am)
A crash has Roxbury blocked eastbound at 17th, and 17th blocked southbound from there as well. UPDATE: Deputies say two vehicles collided – one was trying to turn – two people were taken to the hospital, including the driver of the pickup in the photo we just added. ADDED 9:57 AM: Tony Bradley photographed the rescue effort:

Crime and safety information, plus a chance to ask your questions – King County Sheriff’s Office, King County Parks, Liquor Control Board, Seattle PD are among the agencies usually represented, plus community leaders. St. James Place, 6 pm (free dinner so don’t worry about being hungry if you need to go directly there from work). 9421 18th SW (map).

One of the co-founders of White Center Now is getting a big spotlight – Full Tilt Ice Cream won its category for “Best of Western Washington”! We were there this afternoon as a KING5 crew interviewed Justin and Ann.

One of the clinics at which this limited amount of vaccine will be offered is in White Center. Here’s the full report, as published on our partner site, West Seattle Blog.

The announcement comes from the White Center Community Development Association – you can see the flyer here.

First we spotted the listing online here. Since it said “West Seattle” but its description left us stumped, we took it to the forums on our partner site West Seattle Blog, and asked whether anyone recognized the pool tables in the listing photo. Consensus – it’s The Wall, and now that we think about it, we’ve seen The Wall publicize live music shows as “West Seattle” rather than “White Center.”

White Center’s Cascade Middle School is getting a boost from a new grant, along with other middle schools in Highline Public Schools. Here’s the official announcement made today:

Highline Public Schools has been awarded a grant to expand community schools programs at Chinook and Cascade middle schools and establish programs at Sylvester and Pacific middle schools. The initial $200,000 award is part of a five-year $1 million grant funded by The Seattle Foundation and the Raikes Foundation.

Highline partners with the non-profit Community Schools Collaboration to provide academic and enrichment programs to students after school, as well as other support services to student and their families. The partnership will use the grant funds to create a support system that will help students achieve their maximum potential in school, work and life, including programs that ease the elementary school-to-middle school and middle school-to-high school transitions.

“This initiative helps schools connect to nonprofits and other neighborhood resources in ways that really make a difference for middle-schoolers in our community,” Michael Brown, vice president of community leadership at The Seattle Foundation.

“We are grateful for the Seattle Foundation’s investment in Highline and the prospect of a long-term partnership,” said John Welch, superintendent of Highline Public Schools. “Thanks to the Foundation’s funding, many of our students will benefit from academic support and enrichment programs that will effectively extend their school day and their opportunities for learning.”

The Seattle Foundation is the oldest and largest community foundation in the region. It’s mission is create a healthy community through engaged philanthropy, community knowledge and leadership.

The Raikes Foundation is a private family foundation focused on support for young adolescents so that they can grow up to be healthy, contributing members of society.

Two quick notes tonight: First, Full Tilt Ice Cream reports a TV crew will be there to do a story next Tuesday (October 20th) around 3 pm, and they’d love to have customers there for the occasion. Second: This may or may not be new, but it’s the first time I’ve happened onto it – Brewsky’s is listed for sale.