October 2009

The Shipwreck Tavern, a new beer and wine lounge at 4210 S.W. Admiral Way just east of the Admiral Junction, made a huge splash opening night, Saturday, Oct. 10.

The nautical themed bar netted many enthusiasts sipping drinks, chatting loudly and listening to the rock band, Colby Imus and the Good Lieutenants, who some said had a "Tom Petty sound." The main floor and loft area were packed almost from the time they opened until after midnight.

Adding to the festive ambiance, two large flat-screen TV's were broadcasting the Huskies game. Some in the crowd cheered during their final touchdown in the closing minutes of the game to win it.

Owner Chris Long and bartenders Brian Nowka and Melissa Watson worked at the Alki Homestead until it was shut down in January after a fire damaged it. Homestead owner Tom Lin did some consulting for the new tavern and helped his former employees get started there.

"I worked about 12 years at the Homestead and see a lot of Homestead customers here tonight," said Watson. "It's a rush."

Mandi Kerchner wore a red ornate pirate costume.

In a close and hotly contested race, the Ballard girls cross country team finished fourth in a field of nine teams at the Fort Worden Invitational on Saturday.

Lake Stevens won the girls competition with a team score of 77 points, followed by La Center at 82, then Kingston at 86, followed by the Beavers at 86 points (Kingston finished third over Ballard on a sixth position tiebreaker).

Senior Erin Philbeck led the way for the Beavers with her seventh-place finish over the three mile course, running 18:41.

Junior Natalie White placed 10th overall in a time of 19:00, while junior Erle Lima was 14th in 19:27.

Junior Hannah Murphy was 19th in 20:04, and sophomore Alyson Fromm closed out the scoring in 43rd place in 21:03.

In the boys' race, senior Aaron Hamilton led the Beavers to a third place team finish, as he placed sixth in a time of 15:42.

Lake Stevens won the boys' team title with 34 points, followed by Liberty of Issaquah at 57, then Ballard at 97 points.

Following Hamilton were junior Blair Scott in 15th in 16:08, sophomore Jason Mills in 22nd at 16:30, sophomore Garret Wirta in 26th at 16:31, and freshman Ryan Kelly in 28th at 16:34.

The Ballard High School football team overcame a tough start and a tough season to get its first win of 2009.

The Beavers (1-2 conference, 1-5 overall) beat Lake Washington (1-2 conference, 1-5 overall) 20-14 Oct. 9.

Coach John Bowers said it was a tough game for Ballard. Lake Washington had a long score on the second play of the game and the Beavers made some mistakes, but the team was able to battle through both for the win.

Bowers said he was particularly impressed with the way Ballard controlled the ball for the last 8.5 minutes of the game, keeping Lake Washington's offense on the sideline.

"The kids have prepared very well all year long and continue to get better," Bowers said. "They got what they worked for."

Senior Fraser Biemiller got things started for the Beavers with a one-yard touchdown run.

Senior Matt Law-Phipps handled the rest of the scoring for Ballard with a 50-yard touchdown reception and a 38-yard punt return for a touchdown. He also kicked in two PATs.

The win could be a turning point this season for Ballard. Not only had the team not won a game prior to Oct. 9, it hadn't lost by less than 30 points all season.

The Ballard High School girls swim team came up just short during its Oct. 9 meet against Juanita, losing 93-92.

The Beavers had a good day overall, winning a number of events and posting a handful of state qualifying times.

Ballard's relay team of Annemarie Thayer, Gailyn Portelance, Katie Jo Burkland and Dylan Miller won the 200 medley relay.

Thayer won the 100 fly with a state qualifying time of 58:51.

Thayer also hit the qualifying mark in the 100 back, winning with a time of 1:00.78.

Burkland placed second in the 500 free, but still had a state qualifying time of 5:07.03.

Janine Warren won the 100 breast for Ballard in a time of 1:15.95.

The Beaver relay team also won the 400 free relay with a state qualifying time of 3:46.33.

The girls swimming KingCo championship takes place Oct. 29.

Ballard residents celebrated the opening of Ballard Corners Park this afternoon with pizza, fresh apple cider and speeches from the people who helped the park come into existence.

More than 50 community members brought their kids and their pets out to the park to enjoy the festive atmosphere at Corners Park located at the corner of 17th Avenue Northwest between Northwest 62nd and Northwest 63rd streets.

About a dozen local children cut the symbolic tape to commemorate the park’s grand opening and everyone enjoyed free Veraci pizza—some lining up again and again until the Veraci employees ran out of dough.

“This is a big event for Ballard,” said David Folweiler, co-chair of Friends of Ballard Corners Park. “I hope that [park] will get well used.”

Folweiler and co-chair Rebecca Carr were instrumental in obtaining funding for the park through city and county grants. They worked with Groundswell NW, a local community parks advocacy group, and the community to see the park through from its initial design phase all the way up to the park opening today.

It is one of the most stirring sights in all of sport --- a single cross country team, with nearly 5,000 meters of distance run, charging the finish line en masse. So it happened last Thursday, Oct 8, at Lincoln Park.

In a five-team meet, Ingraham had already placed three runners in the top six. Chief Sealth had commandeered third and fifth.

A lone Franklin runner had finished fourth. Then, over the crest of a short rise 120 meters from the finish, they---or rather it--- appeared: the West Seattle phalanx. Leading the array came Michael Wickham, then Jesse Tarabochia, then Lars Stromberg, and Chad Miller, and Eli Swedlow.

All five West Seattle scoring runners poured across the finish line in a stream. The next Ingraham runner was nowhere to be seen.

Sometimes in cross country, the scoring runners are not the whole story. In a seven-man varsity, the last two function as non-scoring displacers, bumping other teams' runners farther down the standings.

West Seattle's Nick Barnecut finished 14th. Still no Ingraham runner. Then the hero of the day, Ryan Foley, in 17th place, crossed the finish line.

Color, lots of color, seemed to unify the art decorating walls and display tables of West Seattle business Thursday night, Oct. 8 for the West Seattle Art Walk.

Eric W. Fillmore proudly discussed his painted wine bottles illuminated by votive candles in a Windermere meeting room.

Krissy Maier displayed her colorful, imaginative jewelry in boxes on the Keller Williams counter and answered questions about her work as people tried her rings on for size.

Capers, a stylish gift shop at 4521 California Ave. S.W., decorated its shop with several former art walk artists. Their policy has been to continue displaying artwork by a featured artist in the center of their showroom, while displaying a new artist up front by the window.

The next Art Walk will be Nov. 12 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

CLICK ON PHOTO FOR SLIDESHOW.

After two straight shutout losses, the Ballard High School boys tennis team made some positive gains in a 5-2 loss to Juanita Oct. 8.

Ballard's Neal Berg blanked his Juanita opponent in their singes match, winning in two games by a score of 6-0 in each.

Charles Beaudoin had almost as much success for the Beavers in his singles match, winning in two games by scores of 6-1 and 6-0.

While the doubles teams of Duncan Moore and Nate Hegerberg and Alec Barrett-Wilsdon and Nelson Cooper lost their matches, each took their opponents to three games.

Ballard (1-7) has three matches left in the season. The next is against Lake Washington at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 13 at Lake Washington High School.

When Ballard resident Holly McLean lost her job at Expedia in January, she found herself with a few options.

She could keep looking for another job, of which there did not seem to be any, she could buy into a franchise as a guaranteed moneymaker, or she could allow herself some room for creativity and open her own business.

"I wanted to get into something that I was passionate about and loved," McLean said.

She wanted to follow her own vision and not try to fit into someone else's mold, said her husband, Steve Klemaier.

That vision led McLean to Savour, a specialty food store she plans to open in November on Market Street in the space formerly occupied by Best Regards and a portion of Annabelle's Consignment.

McLean said Savour will carry a combination of shelved goods, wine and artisan cheeses representing different regions of the globe.

She said she wants to try to keep her goods local and unique – items that can't necessarily be found at Whole Foods or Ballard Market.

"There's so much out there that there is really no need to overlap with anyone else," Mc Lean said.

Savour will also carry tabletop gifts as well as wine and food accessories.

You have already heard all about the youth culture. The corporate media has bombarded the world with airbrushed models and ads for tummy tucks and neck flab removal to the point of overkill.

But this youth culture has more than TV and Internet ads to blame for its existence. Did you ever consider that this country was founded by younger families who were strong enough to brave a trip on the Mayflower?

No way would a shipload of old men and women have ended up on the eastern shores of this country with new babies in hand, conceived and born during the trip. The oldest members of the tribe, so to speak, were left behind. The wisdom and storytelling of the elders was also left behind.

But that was not all bad. The daring and perseverance needed to last out the first years of the colonial life could only have been withstood by young virile bodies with no fear of the future. That is why the old men who make wars send in the under twenty year olds to fight from the trenches.

Younger people think they can never die. They think they are invincible. At least the ones who make it through basic training think so.