March 2014

GriefShare Support Group
Grace Church
10323 28th Ave. S.W.
Saturdays through May 17, 10 a.m.—noon. This international grief recovery support group is open to anyone who has lost a loved one to death. You can start at anytime and it doesn’t matter how long ago the death occurred. There is a one time cost of $15 for a journal. Contact: Barb at 206-932-7459 or Grace Church 206-937-8400.

2014 West Seattle 5K Run/Walk Registration Party
West Seattle Runner
3727 California Ave. S.W.
Sat., April 5, Noon-4 p.m. One last chance to register in person and receive the discounted $30/adult registration. This event will take place May 18 at Alki Beach. The first 100 participants are automatically entered in a drawing to win a new pair of running shoes from West Seattle Runner. Help celebrate the 6th anniversary of the West Seattle High School PTSA fundraiser! For information or to register - www.westseattle5k.com Keep fit and help WSHS.

Discovery Shop
4535 California Ave. S.W.
206 937 7169

By Kyra-lin Hom

I've never been shy with my opinions regarding our current education situation. So it should be no surprise to any of you that, though I treasure my undergraduate education, I fully acknowledge its failure to prepare me for the working world.

The liberal arts structure is designed to churn out inquisitive scholars not competent workers. And as much as we may romanticize the mystery-solving scholar, how many impassioned undergraduate students actually pursue fields of scholarly research post-graduation? I don't have any statistics available, but I'm sure we can all agree the numbers aren't high. Yet our love affair with the liberal arts has still trickled down into our high schools as well.

In the house
At 2 p.m. on Mar. 20 officers were called to Palm Ave. S.W. on the report of a young suspect walking down the street highly intoxicated. The suspect, a 17 year old black male, was reported by witnesses to be wandering down the street and stumbling as he walked. An officer spotted the suspect in the front yard of a residence and parked across the street to get out and talk to the suspect. Once out of the car the officer realized he had lost sight of the victim and couldn’t see where he had gone.

After doing a quick look around the residence the officer realized that the front door was partially open and reasoned that the suspect must have gone inside the house. The officer pushed the door open, announced himself, and was greeted by the home owner. After explaining to the home owner what was going on they both proceeded to look through the house. When they came to a bathroom on the main floor the home owner opened the door and then quickly shut it saying “He’s in there”. The officer drew his gun and entered the bathroom finding the suspect standing inside.

I got a call this week from an old neighbor who lived across the street from me in McMicken Heights, near SeaTac airport years ago. He is an avid reader of this paper and has a million stories to tell about his life as a soldier in the Far East during WW2. 

I was captivated by his numerous narrow brushes with disaster and his charmed life while I was building bombers at Boeing in South Park.

  We chatted for the best part of an hour. He recalled a day in 1951 saying he had a permit to shoot an Elk and would like me to go with him to Yakima where the range was open for a weekend. He even offered to lend me a rifle.   

We headed east in my battered old DeSoto sedan. The U.S. Baldy tires seemed ill-suited for the muddy back roads of the eastern Cascade range but we both felt it would do. I bought a hunting license that Saturday morning and we took off for Yakima.

Those mountain roads are not fit for a Billy Goat, much less an underpowered sedan. Johnny sat shotgun and nervously watched what he could see of the edge of the mud and gravel, which wasn't much. We slipped and slid up to a small parking area and pulled the emergency brake.

By Emile Monte

“Kitties! Kitties!” Joan, a resident of Park West Skilled Nursing Center’s Memory Unit, seemed to be channeling her inner little girl as she squealed and shuffled after the two chubby black cats in her wheelchair. Clinical liaison Brooke Nelson picked up and gently set Ethel, the chubbier of the two, in Joan’s lap. Joan’s thin and quivering hands stroked Ethel’s neck and she cooed, “Good kitty.” When Ethel finally jumped down Joan sat back and asked me, “Do you have a cat at home?” Yes, I said. Two, actually. She nodded approvingly. “We all had cats growing up in Ireland.” Brooke gave me a meaningful look. “See,” she said. “This is a memory that’s been unburied.”

I had been asking Brooke what she meant by saying that the cats are there to “heal.” After all, Ethel and Lucy’s new companions are all like Joan: elderly, afflicted with dementia and Alzheimer’s. They are people very near the end of their lives. Theirs is not a question of recovery. As it turns out, this healing concept is intuitive, if not so easily articulable.

In a lightly attended meeting at Holy Rosary School on Mar. 28 a new group calling themselves "Residents of the Junction" met for the first time to try and pool information, energy, and resources primarily in opposition to the micro housing development proposed for 4439 41st Ave. The project would contain 46 units but only provide parking spaces for 5 cars. The project has been drawing the ire of the neighbors since it was first announced and posted on the Seattle Department of Planning and Development website.

information from Southwest Seattle Historical Society

Next up in the “Words, Writers & West Seattle” series is West Seattle author Judy Bentley, who will speak about her book, Free Boy: A True Story of Slave and Master (University of Washington Press, 2013).

The Southwest Seattle Historical Society sponsors this free series.

The installment featuring Bentley runs from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, April 4, 2014, at Barnes & Noble Westwood Village. From each purchase, the historical society receives 10 percent of proceeds under the Barnes & Noble Bookfair program.

Bentley, who teaches at South Seattle Community College and is former board member of the historical society, coauthored Free Boy with Lorraine McConaghy, a public historian at the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle.

Monday, March 24
Fastpitch
Ballard 10, West Seattle 3
Gaby Wenn of the Wildcats struck out 15 Ballard Beavers batters in seven innings this past Monday, but still took a loss.
Eastside Catholic 8, Chief Sealth 2
Chief Sealth also went down to defeat in Monday fastpitch softball action.

Baseball
Eastside Catholic 10, Chief Sealth 3
Eastside Catholic got the best of the Seahawks in last Monday's Metro League game.

Tuesday, March 25
Boys soccer
West Seattle 4, Cleveland 2
West Seattle won against Cleveland in Tuesday's Metro League action.
Chief Sealth 1, Franklin 1
The Seahawks scored a 1-1 tie against the Quakers on Tuesday.
Hazen 4, Evergreen 0
Hazen's Highlanders hammered the Wolverines of White Center this last Tuesday.

Girls lacrosse
Southwest Seattle 13 , Tahoma 11
The Southwest Seattle team of West Seattle, Burien and Tukwila tallied a victory over Tahoma on Tuesday.

Wednesday, March 26
Fastpitch
Holy Names 15, West Seattle 0
West Seattle was dealt a lopsided loss by Holy Names on Wednesday.

To the City Planning Office and Elected Officials:

We write to you regarding the many new high density developments planned for or being erected in our neighborhood which do not include adequate parking for residents. These developments, listed below, pose potential danger to our hundreds of constituents, many of whom are children.

· 4439 41st AVE SW #3015444, 40 units, 5 parking spaces, 300 sf apartments
· 4433 42nd SW #3013912 (Junction Flats), 78 residential units and 2 work live units, 52 parking spaces
· 4505 42nd AVE SW #3106195, 50 units and 16 parking stalls and 4500 SF of retail
· 4447 41st AVE SW #3014929, 4-1900 sf condominiums with 4 parking stalls
· SW Oregon
· 4107 SW Oregon Street #3016175, 4 units and 4 parking stalls
· 4101 SW Oregon Street #3016748, 4 units with unspecified parking

Our concerns include:

Student and Neighborhood Safety

Services for Morey are Monday, April 7, 2014, 10:00 a.m., at Forest Lawn Funeral Home.
Guestbook:
www.dignitymemorial.com/forest-lawn-funeral-home-seattle/

By Ken Robinson, Managing Editor

Morest "Morey" Skaret, long time West Seattle resident, died Thursday, March 27 at his home in Fauntleroy. Skaret was in the care of his neighbor Elsie Freeland. He had been in poor health in recent weeks.

Born in Alberta, Canada, Skaret’s family moved to the Seattle area in the 20’s when Morey was a young boy. Over time, Morey had many adventures and the stories to go along with them. He loved to share these stories with everyone.

By the age of 25, during the depression, Morey had already “rode the rods” hitching rides on passing trains.

Riding under the box car, on two-inch thick rods, was considered the most dangerous aspect of hobo life. By 1938 Morey’s first real job was with the Seattle Police Department. His first assignment: standing in the middle of third and Union, directing traffic. Waving arms and standing as he did, for a few hours, Morey felt the need to use a nearby restroom in the alley near the old Embassy Theatre.