Most Burienites are aware of the sky blue house in Dottie Harper Park, across the street from the Burien skateboard bowl.

This historic building was a home built in the '40s by Harold Kempinsky, a druggist with a store at 4th and Pike in downtown Seattle

Now it is a landmark home base for the Burien Arts Gallery and the annual Burien Strawberry Festival. This year, that will take place June 28th and 29th and include a list of six events at the blue building in addition to the immensely popular fresh strawberry shortcake and whipped cream.

The park, a tribute named after the famed community activist, also houses the Burien Library that will be moving to the Town Square. There is also a huge cedar stump near a small playground on which Richard Beyer, Fremont's famous sculptor, carved a number of Beyer-style figures. The stump was brought from Snohomish and carved at Beyer's Fremont studio in 1974. Beyer now lives in New York.

Joan Kempinsky, now living in Blaine, grew up in the blue house. She went to Chelsea Park Elementary and Highline High, class of '69, where she played Clarinet in the band.

She loved the heavily wooded park, camping out and hunting trilliums.

Originally owned by pioneer Homer Crosby, the sun-starved fir and hemlock forest suffered heavy damage during the record windstorm of 2005.

Dave Parker also lived in the big blue abode, but now lives at Three Tree Point, where he as a boy used to dig for geoducks and clams.

I visited the gallery this week and was greeted by a petite gray haired lady. Velda Teel.

When I told her my name, she frowned and said." Well, I finally get to meet you. I am still irritated with the bad review you gave our show at Burien Little Theatre."

The only review I could remember was a year or so ago, and it was full of praise so I asked when I did this deed.

She was not sure. So when I got to the office I checked. It was a review done by my grandson in 1992. Sixteen years ago. What a memory. I promised I would scold him, though he now works for the Tacoma News Tribune.

As we started to leave, we noted Velda massaging her wrist and inquired if she was okay.

She said, " Oh, a couple of months ago, I was standing in the parking lot and was hit by a car. It knocked me down and I got a broken wrist."

This is one amazing 92-year-old volunteer.

Meet Velda Teel, again

She is the 92-year-old champion volunteer for the Burien Art Gallery and the Burien Little Theatre.

She is standing next to what she calls, "My Last Fling", a '99 Pontiac Grand Am. parked in front of the gallery garage door. The door art, done by Robert Hardgrave is on removable panels and changed from time to time.

Velda is a work of art herself and has been volunteering for over 50 years-the last couple of years at the gallery.

She and her husband came to Burien in 1946, bought a lot (she was the first buyer) at what was then called Maplewild Terrace (near the great wall) from developer Ivan Yeakel.

She was a pal of Jane Bateman Henke, a pioneer art devotee and teacher.

When Velda told her kin she was moving to Highline, they warned her the place was alive with hostile Indians. She has never seen one even though she lives close to the Indian Trail that parallels Maplewild.