The West Seattle Junction Association hosted its 25th annual Junction festival, now called SummerFest, last weekend and the place was packed for three days with warm summer weather.

Thirty bands performed on two stages. Close to 90 vendors filled booths that lined three frantic blocks of California Avenue. While the festival offered a variety of musical voices, crafts and foods, the message was the same: "Summer has finally arrived, so let's celebrate!"

Vendors and musicians seemed to appreciate the spirit of the festivities as much as their customers and fans. Subhan Schenker, and his wife, Shanti Schenker-Skye, read tarot cards in their booth, and promoted their at-home meditation and "Family Constellation Therapy" workshops.

"There is something that gets transcended here beyond 'business as usual,'" says Subhan, here a fifth year. "People from all walks of life come to the fest and we assemble, literally, a village of entrepreneurs, creators, artists. It's a wonderful mingling of people. We set up Friday at 6 a.m., break down Sunday evening, and, yes, it's tiring. But we've made something happen in the world that was not here before, and we leave something behind, like footprints in the sand."

A huge, inflatable, slide hosting a steady rotation of screaming kids is positioned next to three subdued sisters with a table of gifts for sale. However, these sisters are nuns, not sibs. They sell rosary beads and statuettes of Jesus, Mary, and a display of saints. They are missionaries with the "Marylike Crusade" and distribute pamphlets of "Fatima's Message to the World."

"We don't reside in one place, but travel and help the sick and elderly," says Sister Mary, donned in a bright blue and white habit. "Some fashions are being introduced that offend our Lord," she said, glancing at some sparsely dressed teens walking by. "We think people should dress with more modesty." A tough message on a hot day.

Sisters Josie Saldin and Lia Estipona, are actually, well, siblings, and had a booth, "Saldin Creative Gifts, Etc." They make beaded jewelry, but say their number one seller is their line of birdhouses, made in China. The shoe-box sized ornamental dwellings cost about $20. The birds you attract can enter a '50's Diner, wedding chapel, "love shack," or Noah's Ark to feed or nest. "It would be nice to sell more of our handmade items, but there are so many vendors selling beadwork this year," said Saldin, just as a customer raced into her booth to buy an imported ceramic smiling frog.

Leaning against a shady tree by the North Stage, musicians, and brothers, Snow and Garnet Keim, finish eating pizza slices in unison. They live just a couple blocks from the festival, and seem to be making a lot of noise in the music industry with their band, "The Blakes." Their performance, with drummer, Bob Husak, was on the Saturday night Summerfest schedule. They just played the Sasquatch Festival at the Gorge, and leave October for their Great Britain tour.

"I think there were at few hundred in the audience at Sasquatch," said Snow, modestly. "But the sun was in my eyes, so it was hard to count them." Snow, 27, was born in Maine.

"I was born in Alaska," said his 24 year-old brother. "Our parents were roving hippies. We moved around a lot."

According to their MySpace website, as teens and young adults they had to scrounge for meals and shelter, while listening to old Beatles, Kinks, and the Doors. Their band was named after artist and poet, William Blake, who coined the phrase "The Doors of Perception," popularized in '60's culture.

Before they were The Blakes, they washed dishes and delivered the Stranger newspaper, and say they can now support themselves from record sales and performances.

The world travelers consider West Seattle home and love it here.

Says Snow, "I go to the water almost every day. The bluffs down here, over the hill, are really something! You can live a mile from the water, and it's affordable. Where else can you do that? I haven't found it."

Garnet quips, "On the record, you don't want to move here. "Off the record, it's great!"

Steve Shay may be reached via wseditor@robinsonnews.com