A good walk (not) ruined. Hear about an amazing journey!

I've know Erin since she was about 6: she's the daughter of a former colleague at the Hutch, and she was (rather more recently) a graduate student in a lab down the hall. Erin and Hig really did walk and paddle all the way from Seattle to the end of the Aleutian peninsula, blogging as they went! You can read their adventures on the blog, or you can read the book and/or come to the slide show. Erin will be interviewed on KING5 at 8AM on the 29th, and by KUOW at 9AM on the 30th.

We also go to the same dentist. At one point their inflatable raft was ripped apart by a bear. The thing that impressed our dentist most was that they were carrying enough dental floss to sew raft (and tent) back together again.

It's a great story. See you there.

Halloween at the Bottleneck Lounge

The BottleNeck Lounge and Skillet Present the Third Annual Hillside Harvest Feast

On Halloween!!

Date:                          Saturday, October 31, 2009

Time:              3:00 PM - close

Where:              The Bottleneck Lounge

                          2328 E. Madison St. (between John and 23^rd on Capitol Hill)

www.bottlenecklounge.com    (206.323.1098)

www.skilletstreetfood.com

Charge:              No cover

The BottleNeck Lounge and Skillet Street Food combine forces on October 31^st to present the best Halloween Party this side of Transylvania.  Skillet’s Airstream will be parked directly in front of the newly-expanded BottleNeck Lounge, located at 2328 E. Madison St. on the backside of Capitol Hill.  Doors open at 3 PM and Skillet begins service at 4PM.  We’re bringing in some great seasonals, including Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin Ale and Spire Mountain Dark and Dry Cider.  Enjoy with a tasty burger smothered in bacon jam (and yes, veggie fare will be available too).  Load up for your night on the town or hunker down with us for a spooktacular event!

Skillet will stop serving when the food runs out (hard to guess) but the party goes all night!  Prizes for best costume awarded at 6 PM and midnight and toasty drink specials created with Amarula Cream Liqueur until close.  Great food, great company – a ghoulishly good time!

The BottleNeck Lounge is a 21+ venue.

Halloween in the Arboretum!

(click image for readable version)

Miller Halloween Carnival (and toddler pumpkin patch)

(Reminder) The staff at Miller will be happy to see you and your children. They will be equally happy if you can volunteer to help at the event - contact Director Jeremy Doane at 684-4753. (click on image for legible version)

Miller Community Center Preschool

Miller Community Center is starting a  half-day preschool for 3 to 5 year olds, starting November 2nd. For further details see the brochure, available on paper at the Center, or right here (via the miracle of electrons). For more details contact Center Director Jeremy Doane at 684-4753  or the preschool: miller.preschool@seattle.gov

Community Council Election Forum

The Capitol Hill Community Council is proud to present a forum featuring candidates for Seattle Mayor. The purpose of the forum is to provide an opportunity for residents and other stakeholders on Capitol Hill and the surrounding neighborhoods to meet the candidates and learn more about them.  More specifically, the Council will engage the candidates in dialogue concerning their vision for the city and how they will seek to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Seattle. We will discuss topics such as the relationship of city government to its residents & neighborhoods, city planning in regard to open space & land use, and transportation. We hope you can join us for this exciting event!

Date:                    Saturday, October 17th, 2009
Time:                   4-6pm
Location:            Pigott Auditorium, Albers School of Business & Economics - Seattle University

If you have questions pertaining to the topics above that you would like posed to the candidates, please send them to us at chcc.officers@gmail.com. Please note that there will also be time for general audience Q&A.  This is an event sponsored by the Capitol Hill Community Council with the gracious donation of space from Seattle University.

************* informal notes****************

The format will go something like this

4pm Welcome, introductions, CHCC announcements

4:15 Mallahan question round

5pm Short Break

5:15 McGinn question round

6pm End

Our innovative format allows the Council to get into issues one-on-one with each candidate - it's a dialogue between each candidate and the community rather than an argument between opponents. 

We're also encouraging folks to attend the A&A Building Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at Seattle University right before the mayoral candidate forum from 3-4pm.  The A&A Building is lovely, and this event is also a celebration of SU's commitment to community.

Seattle University map:  http://tinyurl.com/forum-map

More info at CHS blog:

• about the A & A building
• about the candidate forum

Chicks Play Hard 2009

I wanted to let you know that Chicks Play Hard 2009 is coming up in a few weeks.  We are looking for both volunteers and participants.

We are pleased to once again partner with Seattle Parks & Recreation/ Miller Community Center to provide this event free for the community.  Cappy's boxing returns this year to Chicks, as well as belly dancing, double dutch and fencing.

Chicks Play Hard will be held Saturday, Oct. 24, at Miller Community Center from 11 am to 4 pm.  Participants should be ages 9 to 13.

Each year we rely on volunteers to serve girls in the community and provide them with a great day. Volunteers should send an email to chicksplayhard@gmail.com and let us know if you can volunteer for part of the day, or the entire time.

Registration and more information at www.chicksplayhard.com

Thank you for helping us spread the word, and feel free to contact us with any questions.

Sincerely,

Mary Guiden
Chicks Play Hard volunteer

Saturday: Capitol Hill Park Groundbreaking

Miller Playfield Inauguration Update: field users to be told about parking lot

Many Nova and SBOC families and students, and a few Miller

residents, gathered at Miller on Saturday Sept. 19th, and enjoyed watching lacrosse and soccer demonstrations while dining on the remarkable and delicious selection of potluck dishes that they had brought. The meal finished with a variety of flavors of ice-cream donated by Bluebird Ice Cream and Tearoom (I'm still not convinced by the beer-flavored ice-cream, even if it is Elysian Porter).

A note from (guest of honor) Councilmember Rasmussen, to the Parks Department:

Saturday evening I attend the celebration of the completion of the Miller Playfield. It was well attended and the community is very happy with the results. Several people wanted me to know how helpful Karen O'Connor was in the success of the event.

One area where they need help is with the amount of on street parking that impacts the neighborhood. They asked if the Parks Department would encourage the teams and other people or groups who use the community center and especially the athletic fields to use the parking lot that is between the school and the community center.

Would you be able to develop signs or provide notice to people that the parking is available and encouraged there?

Thanks very much.

Tom Rasmussen

I replied:

I second Councilmember Rasmussen's thanks to Karen O' Conner and would add that Ted Holden, the projec

t manager for th e field replacement, was a joy to work with and was very diligent.

Directing field patrons to the lower parking lot: I attach a specimen map I made a while ago (at end). I'd be happy to aid

in the design of an official map to distribute to teams and post on Parks websites, and would suggest that Parks require teams to distribute either the maps or

links to a Parks website.

I would further suggest that SDOT post brown directional signs to point out the way to the parking lot: the attached map makes good locations obvious.

Many thanks again, both for the lovely new playfield, and for last Saturday's celebration.

And many thanks to Councilmember Rasmussen for taking the time on a Saturday evening to attend the event.

The Parks Department has agreed to implement many of our suggestions:

September 23, 2009

Dear Mr. Taylor and Councilmember Rasmussen:

Superintendent Gallagher asked me to respond to your email about the parking impact at Miller Playfield. It is exciting to hear that Miller Playfield Project was such a great success and I thank you for your continued support for Miller Community Center and Playfield.

I have asked Dennis Cook, Citywide Athletics Manager, to compose a letter to be sent immediately to current Miller Playfield users to direct them to the parking lot off 20th and E Republican St., adjacent to the west of Meany Middle School and east of Miller Community Center. That letter will also be sent with all new field permits so field users know in advance where to park to help mitigate the parking impacts. Also, we will ask the larger athletic organizations to post the Miller Playfield parking instructions on their websites. Dennis will work with the Athletic Field Coordinators to plan regular meetings with user groups to explain

to them the importance of parking in the assigned parking lot. We will also look into possibly developing signs or maps to help direct Miller Playfield users know where to park.

Other athletic fields have experienced similar parking problems and we have, working with the user groups, gotten the parking situation under control. It will take the support of all involved to make the parking a success, but I am confident the field users want to be good neighbors

If you have further questions or concerns please contact me at christopher.williams@seattle.gov or 206-684-4136.

Sincerely,

Christopher Williams

Deputy Superintendent, Seattle Parks and Recreation

cc: John Bates, Athletic Field Scheduler, Seattle Parks and Recreation

Dennis Cook, Citywide Athletics Manager, Seattle Parks and Recreation

Sue Goodwin, Recreation Division Director, Seattle Parks and Recreation

Raft Hollingsworth, Athletic Field Coordinator, Seattle Parks and Recreation

Christopher M. Williams
Deputy Superintendent/Chief of StaffSeattle Parks and Recreation
(206) 684-4136 Office
(206) 233-7023 Fax
christopher.williams@seattle.gov

I'm sure you'll join me in thanking the Parks Department for the elegant new playfield, and for the ongoing efforts to make it work for everyone.

Granite Falls Railroad Days Parade

(reposted, yet again, to remind you that the parade is Saturday October 3rd, noon in Granite Falls. Weather looks good for another viewing of the Shriners' waterproof fez covers).

I've been to the Granite Falls Parade (Railroad Days, 1st Saturday in October) several times: it's the classic small town parade (class of 2009, 2010, 2011 etc, assorted kids' floats) but also Seafair Pirates, multiple Shriners' groups and lots more local fun. Don't miss the BBQ sandwich at the Fire Hall afterwards!
Still pictures of a moving (OK, slowly moving) parade can't capture the essence of the event, so here are a few little movies. (you might need to install the Flash Player to see them)





Yes, it was drizzling: note the transparent fez covers!