December 2011

The 2nd Annual White Center tree lighting was surprisingly well attended with more than 80 people gathered in front of Mac's Triangle Pub on Sunday, Dec. 11. Shortly after 5 pm with Santa and the cheerleaders from Evergreen High School in attendance Aileen Sison began the countdown to the flipping of the switch illuminating the tree.

Sitting atop the tree was a very special tree topper made by Matt Tilton of Tilton Fine Metalsmithing (206) 334-3084, made of stainless steel, brass, bronze and aluminum. It has stars that hang from it and move in the wind. It's intended to be used for this purpose from now on.

Tilton, at 9052 Delridge Way s.w. is also responsible for the new bike racks installed around the community.
They are now at Proletariat Pizza, Company, and Full Tilt Ice Cream, and the Southgate Roller Rink and "We just gifted one to the Sherrif's department," said Tilton.

This year, getting the tree and making the event happen was the task of Aileen Sison, Britney Trujillo, Trevor Hoke.

John Enger has been named District Governor for the 2014-2015 for Rotary International, District 5030, covering 53 clubs in Greater King County.

Enger is a long tome West Seattle Rotarian who currently serves as an Assistant District Governor and District Conference Chair.

"My mentors in the West Seattle club are it's 24 active past presidents and when my year as District Governor begins, there will be three past district governors including Gene Tonnemaker, Duane Ruud and Ann Liberato the current District Governor in our club," Enger said.

Enger is media professional, now retired, whose career with the Banana Pages directories and other media extends back for decades. He joined that company in 1971, becoming the ad manager in 1975. The company, owned by Doris Richards and Warren Lawless urged Enger to join the Rotary Club.

"Rotary has changed so much over the time I've been in it," Enger said," the biggest change was when they admitted women in 1987. The U.S. had been trying to do that for years but being an international organization there were many countries who still said no. West Seattle was very early on. Leslie Woodruff was our first female member."

by Kyle Howard

Chief Sealth and Rainier Beach girls’ basketball teams took the court Friday night after the boys game at Chief Sealth. This game proved to be all Chief Sealth from the get go with a big victory for the Seahawks 54-12. Great defense and being able to get easy, close range shots was the key to their success.

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Chief Sealth played tough aggressive defense throughout the game, forcing 20 Rainier Beach turnovers which lead to easy shots for the Seahawks. Rainier Beach just couldn’t get things to click, forcing a lot of bad shots resulting in air balls and plenty of turnovers. The Seahawks also had success from deep range, knocking down several three pointers.

by Kyle Howard

A Metro League matchup between Rainier Beach, ranked No. 3 in the state and Chief Sealth took place Friday night Dec.9 at Chief Sealth High School. The gym was packed and the band was playing loud, creating a great atmosphere for the game. Rainier Beach looked great from the start and did what they’ve done best through the years, win big. Despite it being a close game through the first quarter, Rainier Beach took control of the game in the second quarter, outscoring Chief Sealth 23-4, giving them a 49-24 lead going into the half. The Vikings were lead by sophomore guard Naim Ladd, who was the game’s high scorer with 17 points, Junior guard Marquis Davis’s great three point shooting gave him 16 for the game. Three other Vikings scored at least 10 points.

By Greg McCorkle
Boxers from Police Activities Leagues and boxing gyms from around Puget Sound converged on the Evergreen High School gym in White Center to showcase their talents in the “Leave No Doubt” boxing show to honor the community work done by the late King County Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Cox. Officer Cox was instrumental in the establishment of King County PAL in White Center.

21 bouts featuring 42 boxers ranging in age from 9 to 17 showed off their pugilistic prowess to a crowd of approximately 200. The show even drew boxers from a northern California gym.

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Officer Cox’s widow Maria spoke briefly before the evening began about her late husband’s love of the White Center community, and then wished all of the boxer’s good luck.

The Timberland WagonEars mule carriage is back for rides around the Junction during the Hometown Holidays.
The team, made up of mules Penny and Pat (half sisters), and run by Raschell Hermann, provides rides on Sundays in December from 11 am to 3 pm around the Junction.

They are Belgium Draft Mules, and 13 and 14 years old.

For more information about Hometown Holidays visit www.wsjunction.org

As bars were closing around 2 a.m. on December 10, a man in his early to mid-twenties drove his vehicle into a crowd of people leaving a bar in Fremont, striking six people.

Officers quickly responded and took the suspect into custody.

A 31 year-old pedestrian was treated at the scene by Seattle Fire Department (SFD) and transported to Harborview Medical Center (HMC) for treatment. He was listed in stable condition.

A 37 year-old pedestrian was treated at the scene by SFD and transported to HMC for treatment. He was listed in stable condition.

A 21 year-old pedestrian was treated at the scene by SFD Medics and transported to HMC for treatment. He was listed in critical condition with life threatening injuries.

A 22 year-old pedestrian was treated at the scene by SFD Medics and transported to HMC for treatment. She was listed in serious condition.

A 21 year-old pedestrian was treated at the scene by SFD and transported to HMC for treatment. He was listed in stable condition.

A 28 year-old male pedestrian declined aid.

The adult male driver was processed for DUI and subsequently booked into King County Jail for Vehicular Assault.

The Lady Beavers hosted the Bothell basketball team on Friday evening for their second conference game.

Ballard took the lead in the first quarter and continued to build on their lead throughout the game. By halftime the Lady Beavers were up 35 to 28 and came very strong for the third quarter. Ballard scored 37 more points in the second half while allowing Bothell to score only 9 points for a final score of 72 against 27.

Cailey Beckett led the team's scoring with 16 points , followed by Samantha Hall with 13.
 

The Beavers boys basketball team beat the number two team in the state ranking last night.
Playing against Bothell at a home game on Friday, Dec 9, the Beavers played a close but strong game.
Bothell got ahead by two points in the first quarter but Ballard game back in the second quarter, scoring 16 points for a halftime lead of 29 to 21.
The second half was equally close with both teams scoring 32 points for a final score of 61 to 53 for Ballard.

The boys basketball team is now 3-1 and 2-0 in KingCo and Coach Billy Rodgers is hopeful.

"Kingco is tough again this season but I know we have a good team and our kids are expecting great things," he said.

Last year's successful team finished second in the KingCo tournament and went to the state tournament. Four players of that team graduated, most notably Salim Gloyd and Nick Onstad-Hawes.
 

From the Argosy website:

The Argosy Christmas Ship™ festival is a holiday celebration that has been a Northwest tradition for 62 years. Its main purpose is to bring communities together to celebrate the holiday season. From our flotilla of ships to the crowds of people who gather onshore, this celebration is one of the gems of the holiday season.

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Each night, through December 23rd, 2011 the Argosy Christmas Ship™ sails to different Puget Sound waterfront communities, over 45 in total. Choirs onboard sing 20-minute performances to these communities, all broadcast via state-of-the-art speaker system.