We’ll be at the Duwamish Waterway Park on Saturday from noon to four for the Fifth Annual Duwamish River Festival. Food, fun, prizes, music, and yes, you can even make a birdhouse. You can also learn about the Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund site and what’s being done for cleanup. Or you can just hang out with Bert the Salmon. Either way, stop by and say hello to several ECOSS staffers who will be on site.
– Audrey
From the bulletin board at the South Park Neighborhood Center:
My name is Elizabeth and I am offering a free self defense class for the South Park community (all ages, men and women) on August 16th from 12-4pm at the Neighborhood Center (8201 10th Ave S).
The class will be very informal. Basically, I have a self defense book with excellent photos. I plan on demonstrating each move and then have everyone pair up and practice. After 20 minutes, I will demo the next move. It will take us two hours to go through the following moves:
1. Knee kick front/side
2. Stomp kick shin/instep
3. Elbow Strike forward/upward/side/back
4. Palm heel strike (with face scrape)
5. Hug defense
6. Rear defense
If there is interest and time we can also do ground defense, choke hold and wrist grab.
Will is one of our neighbors who has experience with self defense and he has offered to come and help demonstrate the moves, answer questions, and be an ‘attack dummy.’ He Describes himself as a 5’9” tall mean who is close to 400lbs and can be very intimidating when he wants to.
I will spend the first half hour of the class talking about using common sense to stay safe (trusting instincts, watching body language, yelling “NO!” etc), then 2 hours to practice moves, with potential additional half hour for those extra moves. The last hour of class will be open for people to practice whatever they want to, ask questions, and continue to discuss other personal empowerment techniques.
Please RSVP so we can get enough drinks – Elizabeth@artinstallation.com/(206) 940-6145
Last year, Aldan worked with some great people at FeetFirst and the Trust for Public Land to make ECOSS’s first-ever park for PARK(ing) Day. For those of you who didn’t come by South Park on that chilly, rainy day, we had hula hooping, ring tosses, and more hula hooping. So what is PARK(ing) Day?
San Francisco art collective REBAR first created “PARK(ing)” in 2005 to re-imagine the potential of the metered parking space. In 2006, in collaboration with TPL, REBAR founded “PARK(ing) Day”: a global exploration of the creative potential of streets.
Basically you take a parking spot along the street (there are tips for securing metered and unmetered spots) and you turn it into a park for a day. It was pretty fun, and really not as much work as you’d imagine since the partners have pretty much figured out everything you might possibly need to know. There was another park in our hood last year, and some in Georgetown, but this year we’d love to see more south-of-downtown neighborhoods represented! If you’re interested, there’s an Information and Training Event next Thursday August 6th, from 6.30pm – 7.30pm at the Officer’s Club in the Armory at Lake Union Park, 860 Terry Ave N.
E-mail Elaine Boyd to RSVP, and don’t forget to join the PARK(ing) Day Seattle Group on Ning!
-Audrey
For those of us fortunate enough to live in South Seattle, there is a familiar shared smile in conversations put on pause by the roar of planes overhead, on their way to/from Boeing Field or SeaTac. And this often happens indoors, since many of the buildings in our end of town are old and don’t provide much in the way of insulation from the noise. This time of year, especially.
For those of us who do not revel in the sonic booms common during the height of Seafair, there is hope, brought to our attention by the folks at Blogging Georgetown.
Turns out that an architectural and sound mitigation company got the contract from King County to continue the installation of sound proof windows, sound dampening insulation, and other items, to cut down on the noise from old Boeing Field. As it turns out, the program is free.
Photo by Slightlynorth
The best part about the program for those in the boundaries? Windows and doors designed to keep out the noise also offer improved weatherization for your home – meaning you can cut your utility bills AND your Tylenol bills, all for free. For more information, check out the FAQ and the Noise Mitigation Boundary map site from King County.
-Audrey
We would be remiss if we did not address the fatal tragedy that took place in our office’s neighborhood this weekend. Two women were stabbed in their sleep on Sunday morning at 3am, leaving one of the women too injured to survive. The suspect is still at large. Police say the suspect is a black male in his late 20’s or early 30’s, between 5′ 8″ and 6′ 0″, has a thin mustache, medium build and is slightly muscular. The FBI is now joining the manhunt.
There is an emergency community meeting tonight at the South Park Community Center at 7:00. Our deepest condolences to the friends and family of the two women. Let’s all do our part to make sure this doesn’t happen again – please contact the Seattle Police Homicide Unit at (206) 684-5550 with any information, or King County Crime Stoppers at (206) 343-2020 or send a text to “crimes” (274637).
7/21-Update:
The Stranger has a great article that details the community meeting last night (along with a sketch of the suspect) here.
7/22-Update:
A Community Candlelight Vigil in remembrance of the victim, Theresa Butz, has been scheduled for this Thursday, July 23rd at 7:30pm, at the South Park Community Center.
-Elise
When I tell people I work in South Park, I am often met with either blank stares (“Where is that?”) or sarcastic comments (“Do you work with Cartman?”). In the rarer case where my partner in conversation has heard of the scrappy little neighborhood where ECOSS’s offices are located, they usually live in Georgetown or South Park, or have the impression that aside from crime, poverty, or waste transfer stations, there’s nothing else down here.
Not true, my friends.
Among all the other strong community development and neighborhood groups, the new “Market On Wheels” South Park Farmers’ Market starts on June 20th, and last weekend kicked off yet another community mural project at the now-defunct County Line bar just over the crumbling South Park bridge… okay that may not make our little neighborhood (did I already use the word scrappy?) sound like a booming commercial center, but both the Farmer’s Market and the mural represent an ongoing commitment to revitalizing this neighborhood. Dow Constantine, who has tossed his hat into the ring for King County Executive, even signed a highly-visible pledge to support the replacement of the bridge (which carries about 20,000 vehicles every day) as part of the mural work this weekend.
So if you’ve never been south of Yesler (other than the occasional trip to Alki, that is), my suggestion is to celebrate the end of Spring by coming to South Park on June 20th for the final weekend of the mural painting and the kick-off of the Market… and yes, you should still have time to get to the Solstice Parade in Fremont to catch some cyclists in the buff.
-Audrey
It was sunny and beautiful outside, but over 100 of you still came to our annual spring party! Continuing tradition of previous years, ecohaus offered us their beautiful showroom for the event (read about what they had to say on their blog). Members, donors and other community members joined us in supporting the River City Skate Park while enjoying great appetizers (prepared with love by the ECOSS staff!), delicious wine, coffee and music. Skate Like A Girl was on hand to offer us some great prizes for our raffle, as well as Wendy Woldenberg of W2 Jewelry Design, who sold her jewelry during the event.
When the night wrapped, we had raised a good chunk of money for a great project in our community. The theme of the 2008 Annual Dinner was “Community, Collaboration and Renewal,” and I was proud to see ECOSS continuing to turn those words into action in new ways.
Pictures coming soon! Thanks again to all who attended.
-Elise
Seattle is now home to another neighborhood farmers’ market. South Park’s Market on Wheels is getting ready for their first market on June 20th, in the parking lot of 14th and Cloverdale (Directions here). The market will be open from 10am until 3pm.
As to what you should expect? Sounds like everything we love about our other markets and then some. Their blog states:
Some of the products we have to offer will be veggies of course, but also prepared foods, from tamales to fresh cut up fruit. We will have pet products and bath salts. Art will also add that South Park flair to our event as well as service booths. Final deadline for vendor sign up is Friday, June 12th.
Additionally, Shea Anderson, owner of South Park’s all-organic, sustainably-minded nursery, The Sacred Garden, will be selling his plants and offering free consultations. More information is here.
For more information or to become a vendor, email the folks at Market on Wheels.
-Elise
The other week, we hosted the ECOSSolutions information session I mentioned in a previous blog entry. I thought it went quite well. The panel was informative about their respective programs and they gave clear, direct answers to questions from the audience.
Patrick Hoermann and Trevor Fernandes shared relevant stories about past experiences with former clients who saved money on hazardous waste disposal through financial incentives, while Jeff Ketchel demonstrated how easy it is to use the IMEX website to find or list waste materials. Michael Arbow of EcoLights NW and Yvonne Pascal and Dave Baugh of Total Reclaim spoke about disposal services for fluorescent lights, HVAC materials and e-waste. This combination of experts gave attendees disposal options for a wide range of materials.
The best part of the session was the great turnout from local businesses. 23 owners, managers and staff members attended the event, and several people stayed afterward to chat with each other and with the guest experts. Many said they enjoyed the casual, relaxed format of the session and a few made arrangements to follow up for future business or assistance opportunities.
Stay tuned for the next ECOSSolutions event, which is slated for some time this summer, topic TBA. Thanks to the Seattle Office of Economic Development, ECOSS staff and all the attendees who made this first session a success.
-Aldan
Please join us at the First Annual Member and Donor appreciation event from ECOSS!
ECOSS gets to say thank you to our supporters this year with local wine, beer, coffee roasters and food.
Entertainment will be provided by the gypsy jazz quintet Hochiwichi.
We will be raffling off a wine rack table and two bottles of wine from local wineries.
Proceeds from the event will go directly back to the South Park community.
Entry to the event is free for ECOSS members and donors. To become a member, click here.
More details:
When is it?
Thursday, May 28th at 5:30. Stop by after work!
Who can attend the event?
Anyone can attend, but we want this to be a special thank you to our supporters! Become a member!
How much is it?
Free!
How do I get there?
Directions to ecohaus are here.
What’s the entertainment going to be like?
Listen to the music of Hochiwichi.
Learn more about the sustainable practices of this year’s wine sponsor, Snoqualmie!
Please RSVP by May 26th to Elise and get to know more about ECOSS at this great community event.
