June 2009

The Salmon Bay Natural Area – a plaza, outlook and managed vegetation area that runs parallel to the Burke-Gilman Trail north of the Locks – is an often overlooked feature of Ballard. A new piece of public art may change that.

At the June 10 Ballard District Council meeting, Dave Boyd of Groundswell NW unveiled an artist's rendering of a 17-foot-tall statue that will be installed in the Salmon Bay Natural Area.

Boyd said he hopes the statue will draw the attention of Burke-Gilman Trail users and raise awareness of the natural area. There will be an unveiling ceremony for it in the fall, he said.

The statue depicts a figure holding two salmon aloft. In the middle of the salmon are multiple colored circles that represent salmon eggs, Boyd said.

One of the purposes of the Salmon Bay Natural Area is to learn about the life cycle of salmon and to improve the salmon habitat, according to Groundswell NW.

Martin Oliver, a curator at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, is the artist behind the statue. The statue will be made of cast bronze and draped in Salish ceremonial garb. The salmon and eggs will be made of aluminum and glass.

Miller Paint Company, an employee owned company that has been in Ballard since 1962, has just completed a renovation at its Ballard location on the corner of 15th Avenue Northwest and Northwest Leary and is holding a re-opening celebration June 20.

According to a release from the company, the two-year, $750,000 renovation started in 2007 with the demolition of a two-story section at the south end of the property. This building once housed the Artist Brush division of Miller Paint and served as an office space in later years. Its removal has allowed for a loading dock to be added.

The second year of the project, which begun on Feb.1, 2009, brought a massive renovation to the Ballard store that included necessary electrical upgrades, the addition of about 1,000 square feet to the store, as well as a complete re-organization of the store.

The re-opening celebration is Saturday, June 20, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and includes snacks and refreshments.

Miller Paint has been a part of the Seattle landscape since 1935. It has several locations throughout Washington and Oregon.

“My sister is coming from Issaquah to see you!”

Those were the first words I heard from one of the vendors at the Sorticulture set-up in Everett yesterday. A twinge of regret rippled through me. I’ve been vending here for five years now, or has it been only four? It’s all a blur.

“I’m not vending this year, I’m only doing this display.”

“Oh.”

It was hard just going to this show and simply setting up a display. Or, maybe I should say, it was easy setting up the display, but hard to hear that my customers will miss me.

And, I will miss them.

It takes a certain kind of person to be able to put it out there, to meet and greet a whole bunch of people, all day long – for days in a row sometimes. I didn’t realize this until I hired a helper for the big Northwest Flower and Garden Show one year. She really wasn’t able to handle the busy-ness and commotion, she kind of wigged out and became manic - I had to fire her on the third day because she was scaring me.

Jim Vatn is Ballard through and through. He has lived in Ballard for all of his 65 years – graduating Ballard High School in 1962 – and in that time he has seemingly put the energy of a dozen men into improving and celebrating the community.

He is, or has been, a member of the Ballard Rotary Club, the president of the Seattle Seafair, a member of the Swedish Medical Center Board of Governors, a member of Seattle's 17th of May Committee, a member of the University of Washington Department of Scandinavian Studies, a member of the Nordic Heritage Museum, a member of the Norwegian Chamber of Commerce, the chair of the Ballard High School Athletic Committee and an early member of the Ballard High School Foundation.

In honor of Vatn's involvement in the community, the Ballard High School Foundation gave him the Capt. Wm. R. Ballard Award, the Ballard Chamber of Commerce gave him the Stan Boreson Award, and the Ballard High School PTSA honored him with the 2007 Acorn Award. He was even knighted by the king of Norway for his involvement in the Norwegian-American community.

In times like these personal responsibility really matters. People have to take the initiative to make things happen, work hard and try to make ends meet. Gary Ashton is that kind of person.

Ashton has a one man business and most of the time he does gardening, pruning and general yard care. But he has branched out into painting and even car detailing because it's what you do if you want to get ahead.

Ashton started his business in a very humble way. He worked out of his car, carrying his shovels, buckets and other garden tools anywhere he could, publicizing his business with hand-made ads.

But then his car broke down and he had to try and keep going by taking the bus, finally saving enough to buy an old truck. But that, too, failed and he was back to square one.

Ashton is not a quitter, though, and he had some signs and flyers made by a client that presented him in a more professional way. That seemed to help and he was able to get enough cash flow to buy a better truck.

"It's got a lot of miles on it but it runs well and looks good," Ashton said.

The West Seattle Rotary will host its Hiyu Kiddie Parade on Saturday, June 18 starting at 10:45 a.m. Kid's sign up early at 9:45 a.m.

It will begin at the corner of Genesee and California Avenue Southwest.

Kids who sign up (with parents in attendance) will get their picture taken and a free balloon. Bring bikes, wagons and candy to pass out.

For more information, Suzanne Goff (206) 436-2041 or sgoff@firstsoundbank.com.

Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Urban Forestry Unit will make a presentation to the Hawthorne Hills Community Council at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 17 at the Brig at Magnuson Park, 6334 N.E. 74th St., on upcoming forest restoration work along the Burke-Gilman Trail.
 
Parks and Recreation is working in cooperation with the Cascade Land Conservancy and other organizations, under the “canopy” of the Green Seattle Partnership, to restore 2,500 acres of forested park property by the year 2025.
 
This goal includes forest restoration along the Burke Gilman Trail. Work will begin at the Burke Gilman Trail, with the guidance of the trail’s own Vegetation Management Plan (www.seattle.gov/parks/BurkeGilman/Bgplan), in July of this year.
 
Restoration will begin with the removal of invasive species between 40th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 65th Street this summer, and will continue with the planting of native trees and shrubs in this area in the fall of 2009. This work will build on existing community volunteer work already in progress.
 

After 80 years, award winning environmental writer Emily Ungerecht Horswill, 88, has finally seen her life’s work come to fruition with the release of her historical novel, “Follow the Hawk,” which she started at just 8 years old.

Horswill, a Ballard resident of 40 years before moving into an assisted living facility in the Northgate area, grew up in eastern Montana in the Yellowstone badlands where Theodore Roosevelt’s ranch was located.

At 13 years old, in the middle of a dust blow, she moved with her family to northern Minnesota and left it all behind.

“When the drought came it didn't rain one drop for four years,” Horswill said. “All the animals died and starved to death, so we absolutely had nothing left.”

Horswill remembered the nights her father would tell stories about the badlands, which was spectacular until it was flooded, she said.

“He kept telling stories about it, it was a place that criminals hung out, these badlands were almost impenetrable,” she said.

Walk around the base of the Alki Statue of Liberty and see 1,503 bricks engraved with names of donors and perhaps their thoughts in brief.

Phase two of the project will begin next week with the additional of 852 bricks. Individuals, businesses, and organizations donated $100 per four-inch by eight-inch engraved brick, and $250 per eight-inch by eight-inch engraved brick.

No more bricks are available, however, eight of the 15 bronze plaques at $2,000 each are still available for purchase.

"There was renewed interest in purchasing engraved bricks after our Sept. 6 dedication last year," said Libby Carr. She and her husband Paul co-chair the Statue of Liberty Plaza Project and live just a couple blocks away from Miss Liberty.

"A 'phase-two' brick was designed by a young boy," said Eilene Hutchinson. She and her husband David keep a database of the bricks.

“He wrote, 'Be kind for the earth. Max age 6.' He chose a symbol of a tree, sun, and moon to be engraved by his name," said Hutchinson. "Here's a brick engraved, 'Marie-Pierre Koban, friends of Nantes, France.' Nantes and Seattle are sister cities."

On Thursday, June 11 at about 8 p.m., the victim was waiting for a bus in the 8300 block of 15th Avenue Northwest when the suspect came up to him and told him not to stand to close to him, then uttered a racial slur.

The suspect, described as a 43-year-old Hispanic man, then pulled a six-inch fixed blade knife from his backpack and made threats to stab the victim.

The victim walked away from the suspect and called 911. While talking to 911, the suspect walked back up to the victim and told him to go back to his old neighborhood, because he did not belong in this one.

Officers responded and located both the suspect and victim still at the bus stop. The suspect was arrested for investigation of malicious harassment and is facing a felony hate-crime charge.