The Schooner Lavengro, built in 1926, is piece of floating history in Lake Union. Originally hailing from Mississippi, she is the last original “Biloxi schooner ‘White Winged Queen’” in existence, and still sails under a traditional gaff rigged sails. Now, Lavengro is in the caring hands of Kim Carver and Curtis Yu, who are developing a maritime and art program for kids aboard the schooner this spring. Carver and Yu are also hosting public sails (by donation only) every Sunday, leaving from the South Lake Union docks at The Center for Wooden Boats, where Lavengro is currently based.

Carver writes:

From May through October 2012, “Schooner Kids” is offering “What Boat is That?,” a fun interactive dockside class for children ages four through ten. Kids will get to learn a few seamanship skills aboard the antique schooner with Captain Kim, and complete a bookbinding and printmaking project belowdecks with Chief Mate Curtis. The book can later be used to record and identify the different kinds of boats they see on Lake Union and Puget Sound.

Captain Kim, teaching how to lower sails on Lavengro

A local woman has just started NeXT Minds Robotics 4-H Club, aimed at teaching STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) using robotics. Club founder Jan Satterthwaite says the kids will, “build robots and use software to plan, test and modify sequences of instructions from a variety of real life robotic behaviors.”

Satterthwaite just received The Harry Burcalow Innovation Grant to begin building the club. However, she fears the club won’t make it through the next school year, as King County 4-H programs will be shut down September 30, 2012 due to government budget cuts.

Satterthwaite writes:

Our club is currently serving youth, ages 9 through 14, with the intentions of modifying the curriculum as members grow and develop. The kids come from a variety of school settings—home schooling, Seattle Public Schools and Independent Schools. Several of these kids have not experienced a positive group connection and/or are showing signs of at risk behaviors. The accessibility of this club’s activities will support the kids in this community, steering them towards a life of successful contributions.

…I am hoping that with enough publicity, we can find support for these essential after school programs that so many kids have relied on for several decades.

To learn more about the program, contact Satterthwaite by email at jansatterthwaite@gmail.com.

February 11 is Seattle’s 18th annual Neighbor Appreciation Day, ”a special day to reach out to neighbors and express thanks to all who make your neighborhood a great place.” Neighborhoods all over the city will be hosting special events like work parties and potlucks to celebrate. The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods says the day is a homegrown observance:

The celebration began in 1995 when Phinney Ridge activist Judith Wood suggested that the City designate “a special day to celebrate the goodness in those around us and to reach out and strengthen our bonds to each other.” Mayor Norm Rice proclaimed the Saturday before Valentine’s Day as Neighbor Appreciation Day. The observance has grown every year since.

Here is a list of Saturday’s events around the city (from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods):

Fire Station Open Houses
Time:  Saturday, February 11, 11 a.m.
Location:  Fire Stations 5, 6, 9, 11, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41
Contact:  Bill Mace, 386-1337
Description:  Several Seattle Fire Stations will participate again this year by hosting community members on Neighbor Appreciation Day between 11AM and 1PM.

Mason Bees presentation
Time:  Saturday, February 11, 2 p.m.
Location:  Barton St Community Garden and P-patch, SW Barton and 34^th Ave SW
Contact:  Laura Raymond, 615-1787

Description:  Interested in learning how to improve the pollination of plants and trees in your yard? Or perhaps curious how you could support the environment by hosting non-stinging native bees without any fruit trees in your garden? We’ll be hosting Missy Anderson (alias Queen Bee), a King County Master Gardener and owner ofwww.rentmasonbees.com.

Neighbor Appreciation Day Pancake Breakfast
Time:  Saturday, February 11, 10 a.m. – noon
Location:  South Park Community Center, 8319 8^th Ave S
Contact:  Carmen Martinez, 684-7451

Interfaith Community Church Historic Building open house
Time:  Saturday, February 11, 11 a.m.
Location:  1763 NW 62^nd St
Contact:  Interfaith Community Church, 783-1618
Description:  Friends and neighbors come visit this historic building (built in 1890). A brief presentation about our building will be shared at 12 noon. Cookies & tea will be served.

Neighbor Appreciation Day Swim
Time:  Saturday, February 11, 12 noon
Location:  Southwest Pool, 2801 SW Thistle St
Contact:  Nancy Eisner, 684-7440
Description:  Join the Pool staff as we celebrate our neighborhood and our swimming patrons! Festivities include refreshments served in the lobby 12-2 pm and the Free Public Swim 1-2 pm.

Fire Station 16 Celebration

Time:  Saturday, February 11, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Location:  6846 Oswego Place NE

Contact: Bill Mace, 386-1337
Description: Join the Seattle Fire Department and Seattle Firefighter’s Union, Local 27 in celebrating the new Fire Station 16. Neighbors will get the chance to tour the new fire station and meet the firefighters. There will be safety information displays, children’s activities, refreshments, and an antique fire engine with historic photos on display.

A “Bird Friendly Neighborhood” Family Nature Explorers Discovery Days
Time:  Saturday, February 11, 10 a.m.

Location:  Magnuson Community Center, 7110 62nd Ave NE
Description: Join Magnuson Nature Educators for hands-on indoor and outdoor nature activities for the whole family.

Restoration event at Alder Creek Natural Area
Time:  Saturday, February 11, 9 a.m.
Location: 1200 Lake Washington Blvd E
Contact: Wallis Bolz, 329-3672

HANDS ON – Community Skills Fair
Time:  Saturday, February 11, 10 a.m.
Location:  Meadowbrook & Ravenna Community Centers
Contact:  Elise Koncsek. Learn more at sustainableneseattle.ning.com.

Description:  Workshops will include tool sharpening, cheese making, building solar ovens, electrical repair, bread baking, fermentation, clothing repurposing, making apple butter, gluten free baking, cistern installation, plant propagation, fruit tree pruning, and more!

Restoration event at Golden Gardens
Time:  Saturday, February 11, 9 a.m.
Location:  8498 Seaview Pl NW
Contact:  Rhonda Goebel, rhondagoebel@yahoo.com

Neighbor Appreciation Day Swim
Time:  Saturday, February 11, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Location:  Ballard Pool, 1471 NW 67^th St
Description:  Enjoy snacks, games, prizes and a $2 promotional price on swimming, from 12:30 to 1:30 in celebration of Neighbor Appreciation Day.

Discovery Day Work Party
Time:  Saturday, February 11, 11 a.m.
Location:  Magnuson Community Center
Contact:  Emily Bishton, 684-7026
Description:  Help build the Resource Conservation Landscape, a vibrant garden in the planting beds surrounding the community center. The work will be simple and fun for all ages, and children are welcome if accompanied by a parent or group leader. Volunteers will help build healthy soil by sheet-mulching and adding compost and do some simple re-grading to create level planting areas. Tools, gloves, and refreshments provided for all volunteers.

PNA Mystery Book Exchange

Time: 10 – 1 p.m.

Location: Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Ave N

Contact: Chardell at chardell@phinneycenter.org

Description: Trade your gently used mystery books for something new to read. This event is free.

Restoration event at Longfellow Creek Greenspace – Delridge Natural Area
Time:  Saturday, February 11, 10 a.m.
Location:  2407 SW Graham
Contact:  Mike Arizona, m_a1533@yahoo.com

Restoration event at Roxhill Park
Time:  Saturday, February 11, 10 a.m.
Location:  850 SW Roxbury St
Contact:  Scott Blackstock, scottie1039@aol.com

Restoration event at Licton Springs Park
Time:  Saturday, February 11, 10 a.m.
Location:  9536 Ashworth Ave N
Contact:  Liz Kearns, worklogs@earthcorps.org

For more information about any of these events, visit the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods’ site.

By AMANDA AUSTIN

UW News Lab

For three years, the exterior wall of Golden Oldies in Wallingford was home to five musical icons spanning just as many generations. Elvis, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, Debbie Harry and Kurt Cobain were immortalized in a graffiti-style mural until 2010. Early one morning in August, the driver of an SUV, presumed by police to be texting behind the wheel, plowed through the record store. Casualties included 3,000 records, 2,000 CDs and hundreds of 8-track tapes.

Store-owner Dean Silverstone was heartbroken, he told Seattle P-I reporter Casey McNerthney. Since then, time, good music and an outpouring of community support have helped to mend his distress. Soon, the store’s west wall will be graced with musical greatness once again: The Beatles are slated to take to the figurative stage next, thanks to mural artist David Heck.

Photos by Amanda Austin

Heck, a well-known local artist with more than 23 years of experience, is going to recreate the album cover of the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” on the 45-foot-wide space. Heck has made a name for himself creating everything from murals to business signs, automobile sideboards to restaurant logos. He’s left his artistic signature on interiors and exteriors, on wood, metal and canvas.

This won’t be the first time the artist brings an album cover to a grand scale. The first album Heck painted as a mural was Michael Jackson’s “History” on the Tower Records building on Fifth Avenue North and North Mercer Street, back in 1995. He painted over those murals with new album covers every six to eight weeks for 12 to 15 years, he said. The best part, Heck added, was getting to meet many of the bands whose covers he had created when they were in town touring.

“Abbey Road” will be the third or fourth Beatles’ mural that Heck paints, he said. The cover art was chosen through a survey sent to members of the Golden Oldies Rebate Program, better known as GORP. Of the group’s 11,000 members, 1,700 responded, and the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” was voted No. 1.

This album cover is a perfect fit; the photo of the four Beatles has been consistently imitated, satirized, distorted and honored over the years, and is easily recognized by almost any age group. It was important that the reputable neighborhood fixture be decorated with cover artwork worthy of the honor. After all, Golden Oldies is recognized at the national level. In 1989, the independently owned franchise made it onto U.S. News and World Report’s radar, heralded as “one of the best sources” to find old records.

“Abbey Road” was recorded during the summer of 1969, just months after rumors that the group might break up terrified a nation of fans. Despite widespread doubt that the artists could collaborate and create a successful record in light of their personal differences, “Abbey Road” was a huge hit. Its songs include “Come Together,” “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” “Octopus’s Garden,” “Oh Darling” and “Here Comes the Sun.”

Today, Rolling Stone Magazine ranks it the 14th greatest album of all time and adds that it is “their most polished album: a collection of superb songs cut with an attention to refined detail, then segued together … with conceptual force.” Heck says he is excited about the project because “it’s fun to work on” and it’s been great to watch everyone else enjoy it.

“It’s such an iconic image,” he said. “Everyone will be able to recognize it.”

The mural, just like the original image, will depict progression—movement portrayed in both a literal and figurative sense. Life-sized illustrations of the four famed musicians will march forward in synchrony across what is now, arguably, the most famous crosswalk in the world.

This triumph lends itself to Golden Oldies’ story. The private company marched on in the face of a devastating accident, and it continues to prevail in the struggle to remain relevant to a technology-obsessed culture that has all but written off anything that can’t be plugged into an iPod.

Silverstone hopes the mural will help his business “continue to flourish as it has for the last four decades” (the store will celebrate its 40th birthday this year). He envisions the completed mural will be something the patrons of Dick’s Drive-In across the way will be able to enjoy as they stop by for their burger fix.

Wallingford resident Meika Hubbard, 26, who lives right down the street from the record store, thinks it sounds like a cool project. “I support local art in all its forms and murals are a great way to bring uniqueness, color and life to the side of a building,” she said.

“I think the mural will add another bit of originality to the already fun and exciting Wallingford neighborhood.”

After the west wall is completed, Jimi Hendrix’s “Are You Experienced” and the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds,” ranked No. 3 and 4 by GORP members, will grace the exterior of the east wall. The album ranked No. 2 was by Janis Joplin, but isn’t being made into a mural. Heck estimates that the mural will be completed within the next month, as long as the weather doesn’t keep him from his work.

In the meantime, here’s a message to any text-happy SUV driver who might be driving through the area: Let it be.

AMANDA AUSTIN is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.

One of our readers sent us this message:

Hi all,

Just wanted to inform you that our car was rifled through last night (February 6 or 7) at North 42nd Street and Burke.  I believe I forgot to lock the doors on the car, so thankfully no windows were broken, and although the person looked through the various compartments of the vehicle, we don’t believe anything was stolen.  I think the lesson is that the thieves are out there vigilantly looking for unlocked cars, so we must be vigilant, as well.

Thanks.

Metro Transit is asking for your two-cents: they have a beta version of a new website and want you to try it out. Metro hopes the new design will make information easier to find, and has set up the website to be viewed more easily on mobile devices and more accessible to the visually impaired.

“When building a site as large as Metro Online,” said Bob Virkelyst, supervisor of Metro’s Marketing and Service Information group, “it’s useful to have a period of time where our customers can test it out, give us feedback, and help us make revisions and improvements to the website. The comments will also help shape how the site develops as we move forward.”

Metro says in 2011 alone, there were 13 million visits to their site.

If you’re a boat person and a history buff, listen up: The Center for Wooden Boats (CWB) is opening a new photography exhibit that looks at the history of boats and industry in Seattle. The exhibit opens tonight, Feb. 3,  at 6 p.m. at the CWB (1010 Valley Street).

Photo courtesy of the CWB

The exhibit is titled “Persistent Work: Images of Industry on Lake Union and Salmon Bay.” The CWB says it, “combines historic pictures of Jenson Motor Boat Company, Pacific Fishermen’s Shipyard, and the George Broom & Son building with new images of the buildings using high density large format photography.”

Photographer Abby Inpanbutr and curator Shelly Leavens have gathered stories and images representing the significance of the buildings’ past and present uses.  It shows our region’s maritime industrial heritage, and shows that it is still alive and continues to provide jobs and the tools that men and women use daily on our waterfront.

The photography exhibit is free, and is open to the public through July 2012.

The City of Seattle’s and Waste Management’s Think Green recycling challenge is nearing an end, and Wallingford is in the lead, which could mean a “Main Street Makeover” for our ‘hood.

Wallingford, or “Friday North” as referred to in the challenge, has a solid lead over the nine other areas in for the win.  The challenge encourages Seattle communities to reduce their overall waste by decreasing garbage and increasing their efforts to recycle and compost. The one that reduces the most waste will win a $50,000 grant to give their community a “Main Street Makeover.” Grant money will be spent on improvement projects within the winning community. The competition runs through the end of March 2012.

The winning neighborhood will be determined by the highest diversion rate, which increases as recycling and composting increase and garbage decreases. The six-month competition began in October 2011.

Daily deal emails have taken over many an inbox in recent years, and many businesses in Wallingford have experimented with sites like Groupon, Living Social and Tippr.  Students in the University of Washington entrepreneurial journalism class, taught by our partners The Common Language Project, take a look at how the popular coupon sites have affected local watering holes and supermarkets.

Continue reading“Groupon Fever”

After months of nothing but cable television and knitting to keep you busy, the time has come for you to toss down those knitting needles and head outside for the first Wallingford Art Walk of the year. However, don’t stow away the needles quite yet; this year the Art Walk will be happening every other month in an effort to better plan and promote each walk.

The organizers have decided to make each walk a different theme. February’s walk, not surprisingly, is “Love.” They’ve asked Wallingfordians to create “Art Hearts” to “show their love for Wallingford,” and will display those hearts at the Wallingford QFC for the month of February.

Here is a full list of artists and venues: