Inaugural “Philanthropy Through Song Concert” on Saturday afternoon

Thirty young singers from the internationally recognized Indianapolis Children’s Choir are performing in the inaugural Philanthropy Through Song Concert at the Sand Point Community United Methodist Church (4710 NE 70th St.) this Saturday, June 27, at 4:30 PM.

The choir is under the direction of Ruth E. Dwyer, who is also the founder and artistic director. Dwyer is the sister of Judy Dwyer Schulte, and aunt of Ravenna neighborhood friends Dan, Karina and Elias Schulte.

Indy youth choir

From the event’s press release:

In honor of our First Responders and the Schulte Family

Please join members of the Sand Point UMC Choir, Les Martin (Director), and the Indianapolis Children’s Choir in a joyful concert of hope, joy, endurance and the celebration of those who help one another. A free will donation will be taken with proceeds going to anti-drunk driving education and traumatic brain injury research and therapy.

Spoke & Food is back! Ride and dine, and support Outdoors For All

For the second year in a row, thanks to Ravenna Blog’s sponsors and supporters, we are able to sponsor the Ravenna neighborhood during the Spoke & Food evening of dining and bikes* on Tuesday, July 29th.

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Vios Cafe at Third Place and the Ravenna Blog, together again for Spoke & Food 2014.

Starting at 5 PM on Tuesday, various restaurants around the city and beyond (Bothell! Lake Forest Park!) will be donating 20% of their dinner bills to a local non-profit. And you get a great excuse to dust off your Schwinn and enjoy a summer ride to dinner with friends and/or family.

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Full list Spoke & Food 2014 host restaurants, sponsors, and supporters. Click to enlarge.

This year’s fundraising recipient is the Outdoors For All Foundation (headquarters located at Magnuson Park, so you’ll even be supporting a Northeast Seattle non-profit). From their About page:

Sit Skiing. (Photo by Outdoors For All, used with permission.)

Sit Skiing. (Photo by Outdoors For All, used with permission.)

The Outdoors for All Foundation is a national leader and one of the largest nonprofit organizations providing year round instruction in outdoor recreation for people with physical, developmental, and sensory disabilities since 1979. Outdoors for All’s year round programming includes snowboarding, snowshoeing, cross country and downhill skiing, cycling, hiking, river rafting, canoeing and kayaking, day camps, water skiing, rock-climbing, camping and Custom Events.We are a customer driven organization where each year more than 2,000 children and adults with disabilities exercise their abilities thanks to the training and support of more than 700 volunteers. Outdoors for All offers opportunities for individuals, families and custom programming to meet your needs. Please take a look at our programs and contact us at anytime so we can find a recreation option to fit your needs.

The Northeast-ish Seattle restaurants who are participating this year are:

Green Lake: Duke’s Chowderhouse
Maple Leaf: Flying Squirrel Pizza
Montlake: Traveler Montlake
Ravenna (WOO!): Vios Cafe at Third Place Books
U-Village/U-District: Eureka

*Bikes not actually required! If your party would like to donate 20% of your bill to the Outdoors For All Foundation during the event, but you arrived at the restaurant by other means, no sweat!

Plant sales sprouting up all over NE Seattle

Four local-to-Northeast-Seattle plant sales coming up in the next three weeks, so we’ll just get to it:

1. Olympic View Books & Blooms – Friday and Saturday, April 25-26

Olympic_View_Books _Blooms

13th Annual Plant Sale for the Olympic View PTA. Friday April 25th (9am-7pm) and Saturday April 26th (9am-7pm). Used Book Sale starting Friday afternoon.

The Olympic View Elementary Plant Sale is a fundraiser presented by the Olympic View PTA. All proceeds directly benefit students.

Quack Dogs will be at the sale from 3:30-6:30 PM on Friday.

This sale also tends to feature art and botanical projects made by Olympic View students — I myself own a couple of pottery mushrooms, and they are ADORABLE.

2. FlorAbundance Spring Plant Sale – Saturday and Sunday, April 26-27

FlorAbundance-logo

FlorAbundance is the Arboretum Foundation‘s annual plant sale. It’s been held at the Arboretum itself for two years while Building 30 at Magnuson Park was being renovated. And now it’s back!

Please join us in late April for the region’s largest and best plant sale, and help support the Foundation’s mission. As always, dozens of specialty nurseries will be on hand selling a wonderful selection of locally grown trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and edibles.

 40-plus nurseries: “There’ll be more than 40 nurseries in attendance,” says our volunteer Event Chair Bob Lilly. “Expect a unique selection of high-quality plants, including lots of veggies for your kitchen garden. As always, Langley Fine Gardens will have an amazing array of vegetable starts. In addition, for the first time in quite a while, they’ll be offering a diverse crop of ornamental salvias.

Here’s the sale’s vendor list, should you want to pre-browse (PDF).

 

3. WSU Extension Master Gardener Plant Sale – Saturday and Sunday, May 3-4

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Find plants from Master Gardeners and specialty growers, get free garden design consultations and quick tips, personal shopping advice from experienced Master Gardeners, and garden art and more from select vendors. See the veggie catalogs and tomato list at http://mgfkc.org.

Find it all at UW Center for Urban Horticulture, 3501 NE 41st St., Seattle.

Rain or shine, we hope to see you and help you start the best garden ever this year.

This is another sale that I’ve attended in the past and enjoyed. And if you’re a fan of the Opening Day of Boating, I recommend you park somewhere in Laurelhurst, go see the boats float through the Montlake Cut, then turn around and check out the plants on the way back.

 

4. Nathan Hale Horticulture Spring Plant Sale – Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, May 7-8 and 10

Details of the sale are still being worked out, says the Facebook page, but here’s some info about the program and location:

Description

Beginning Horticulture, Ecology and Advanced Horticulture are science/occupational education courses taught by Jessica Torvik. Approximately 150 students (grades 9-12) take horticulture each year.

General Information

Our greenhouse and urban farm are located one block north of Nathan Hale High School. From Lake City Way, turn eastbound onto 110th Street. Drive through the stop sign and past the high school. Turn left (north) onto 34th Avenue NE. Drive past Jane Addams K-8 School. Turn left (west) into our driveway (you will see a yellow gate) and head up the hill to our gravel parking area.

The Nathan Hale Horticulture program also holds a winter sale in December.

Fill Empty Bowls and support North Seattle families

Choose a hand-crafted bowl by a local student or artisan, fill it with delicious food from a selection of neighborhood restaurants, and support families in need in north Seattle.

Empty Bowls 2013

Empty Bowls Event 2013

North Helpline‘s 5th annual Empty Bowls fundraiser is Sunday, May 4th, Noon – 3:00 p.m. in The Commons at Nathan Hale High School (10750 30th Ave NE). Soup, salad, bread, and dessert will be provided by a number of local restaurants including Piatti Restaurante, Got Soup?, Wedgwood Ale House, and Kaffeekaltsch. There will also be an extensive silent auction and live entertainment. Tickets are $25 purchased in advance, or $35 at the door.

The event is part of the the Empty Bowls Project, an international grassroots effort to raise both money and awareness in the fight to end hunger. The bowl you enjoy a warm meal from and take home with you becomes a tangible reminder of hunger in our community.

North Helpline (12736 33rd Ave NE) combats hunger and homelessness in greater North Seattle by providing critical human services to more than 1,700 clients each week. They operate a food bank and health care clinic in addition to offering move-in support, eviction and utility shut-off prevention, help with obtaining a driver’s license or ID, and hygiene packs.

If you’re unable to attend the event but are still interested in supporting North Helpline, here are some other opportunities:

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Food Bank distributions in 2010

  • Visit the Wedgewood Ale House on Thursday, April 17th and 30% of your order will be donated to North Helpline.
  • Volunteer to sort or distribute food in their Food Bank, to pick up donations at local grocery stores, or to provide emergency services to clients.
  • Donate food or money, anytime.

 

Eckstein Band Rummage and Bake Sale this weekend

Eckstein Middle School’s Annual Rummage and Bake Sale is coming up!  On Saturday, April 5, from 9 AM – 3 PM, come for the deals, the baked goods, but especially to support Eckstein’s music program. All while accompanied by their award-winning jazz combos!

One of Eckstein Middle School’s bands performs at a concert on June 7, 2014. (From the EMS Band Facebook page)

The sale is also looking for your donations to help make the event a success. (Spring cleaning, anyone?)

Bring clothing in wearable condition, household items others could use, books and music for fresh ears and eyes to enjoy, furniture in good condition, toys, games and puzzles with all pieces and parts, and sporting equipment for a budding athlete to the Eckstein cafeteria on Friday, April 4, from 1:30 – 4 PM. Please no electronics, unassembled furniture, baby carseats, or strollers. The cafeteria’s exterior entrance faces the garden area in the back parking lot.  

Monies raised from the rummage sale go directly to the Eckstein’s music program and are used to help offset some of the cost of off-campus music performances (like performing at the Monterey Jazz Festival and bringing home LOTS of awards), repair damaged instruments, and provide scholarship to children who need assistance.

Spoke & Food: Bike to dinner for good on July 30

How about we take a timeout from bicycle infrastructure matters, and get back to basics: It’s fun to ride a bike. Especially in the summer. ESPECIALLY to go meet friends for dinner, at a local joint.

Thanks to our own sponsors in the last year, the Ravenna Blog was able to help sponsor another great local thing: The fourth annual Spoke & Food evening of dining and bikes!

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From the Spoke & Food website:

Participation is easy. All you need to do is to bike to and from one of our participating host restaurants on the evening of our event. Invite your friends or family to meet you, bring your neighbors, pack up your kids or go at it alone.

Each of our participating host restaurants have agreed to donate 20% of ALL of their patron revenues from the evening of the event directly to the local non-profit that we select each year.

 

Dine at any of the participating restaurants listed on the Spoke & Food website from 5:30-9:30 PM on Tuesday, July 30th, 2013, and 20% (or more) of your dinner bill will be donated directly to the Bike Works non-profit.

TWENTY different restaurants around Seattle are participating this year, two of which are in our neck of the woods:

50-North-Web-Logo

50 North

5001 25th Ave NE #100;

just south of the Burke-Gilman Trail at 25th Ave NE

VIOS-logo_sm

Vios Cafe & Pub

6504 20th Ave NE;

inside Ravenna Third Place Books

 

From the Bike Works About page:

Bike Works is an innovative organization centered around bicycles that combines youth development, community engagement, bicycle recycling and a social enterprise bike shop to help build a sustainable and healthy community.

We’ll be stopping by these locations on the night of the event to check in, and perhaps to nosh.

Chef Lisa Nakamura asks us to Spread the Bucky (book signings)

Lisa Nakamura is local. So local, in fact, that she has two homes: One in the Sand Point area, with her husband, and another in the San Juan Islands, where Nakamura owns a restaurant (Allium on Orcas) and an ice cream shop (Lily).

Both Allium and Lily feature as local of food and ingredients as possible, like Allium Blend coffee from Local Goods Coffee roasters, greens from Maple Rock Farm, ice cream from Lopez Island Creamery.

But being part of a community, especially one as small and close-knit as those on the San Juans, means even more than just “Buy Local.”

It also means “Care Local.”

Lisa Nakamura (taken outside local coffee shop University Zoka)

Lisa Nakamura (taken outside local coffee shop University Zoka)

In 2012, Nakamura published a little book about a dollar bill named Bucky (illustrated by graphic designer/illustrator/foodwriter/photographer Denise Sakaki). Bucky gets passed around in a local economy, and in the process does a LOT of helping: He’s used to by a book for a construction worker, groceries for a bookstore owner, and fulfill the dream of owning a day care for one couple receiving him (and other Buckys) as a micro loan. He travels the world for 14 years helping many, many people, all the while still being a humble dollar bill.

Why did a chef write a book about a dollar bill? Nakamura discusses the answer to that question on her blog, in a post where she recalls a local woman coming into her restaurant and asking for a job — NEEDING a job — when no job was available to give.

If you think you’re doing better [than this local woman] , that it’s all going to be great, think again.  Your neighbors are still struggling.  That trip to the locally owned store, the extra dollar you tip your server, the vegetables you buy from the farmer in the field, that’s what my book is all about.

You make a reservation and you no-show?  Guess what?  You just cost a small business money in labor and time.  That server that was hoping for a good table and a good tip will now have to figure out some other way to make rent, to make ends meet.  You decide to save a couple of dollars by shopping at a big chain store instead of the mom and pop one down the street?  When that small store shuts down, you can take responsibility for it, because you helped its demise along.

Would you rather save a few bucks, and watch your local neighborhood wither away, struggle and scrape?  Or would you rather spend with more thought and consideration, and watch your community flourish?

 

All our Buckies add up. Each one has its own story, as do the people we pass them to. Keep the cycle going.

Nakamura will be selling and signing copies of her book, “Bucky the Dollar Bill,” at the University Village Bartell Drugs (2700 NE University Village St) today, from 3:30-5:30 PM. She’ll also be signing at the Bellevue Village Bartell Drugs (10116 NE 8th St, Bellevue) on Tuesday the 23rd, also from 3:30-5:30 PM.

One buck from each “Bucky” sale goes to support the Orcas Island Family Health Care Center, a non-profit rural health center providing access to primary healthcare and related medical services to island residents regardless of their ability to pay.

 

bucky

“Get Your Bloom On” at the Olympic View Plant Sale

The 12th Annual Olympic View Elementary School Plant Sale is happening this Friday and Saturday, April 26 and 27, from 9 AM-7 PM each day.

“Get growing with vegetable and fruit starts, herbs, flowering annuals, premium perennials, pottery, garden art, and more!”

OV_plant_sale

 

All proceeds directly benefit the students of Olympic View Elementary (located at 509 NE 95th Street just south of Northgate Mall).

Special events on Saturday include crafts for kids (11 AM – 2 PM) and Peaks Frozen Custard (from noon – 5 PM)

Timeout to say THANK YOU, on behalf of the Schulte family (UPDATES)

What follows is a compilation of the ways that neighbors and local businesses have helped the Schulte family since Monday, March 25.

We do not claim to know every story of giving surrounding the days and weeks after the tragedy, but this post is our attempt to list as many as we can.

If we’ve left anything out, feel free to leave your stories of kindnesses and thanks in the comments below.

During the last week of March, in the first days after the tragedy, local businesses stepped in and donated food to the family:

  • Grateful Bread (7001 35th Ave NE) donated sandwiches, salads and soup on March 28.

Grateful Bread_crop

  • Eat Local (nearest location at 503 Broadway E on Capitol Hill) donated six meals to the family on March 28.
  • When we found out that Karina’s birthday was on March 28 (mentioned by Schulte family friend Adrienne Bergman on one of the medical fundraiser sites for the family), we contacted Trophy Cupcakes (Northeast Seattle location in University Village). They graciously and swiftly donated a dozen cupcakes, which we were able to get to the family at Harborview Medical Center that day.

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  • Cafe Javasti (8617 35th Ave NE in Wedgwood and 8410 5th Ave NE in Maple Leaf) donated pastries and coffee for breakfast on March 29.

After the first few days of meals were covered by local businesses, Wedgwood resident Jess Creach set up a site for the Schultes at Take Them a Meal. People interested in helping the family with food can sign up for a specific date and meal (lunch, snack, dinner), which can be delivered in advance to the Sand Point Community United Methodist Church for pick up.

ttamlogo

 

At the time of this writing, the meal calendar for the Schultes was full through April 27. So far, 61 different people have signed up.

You can still sign up, too, if you’d like.

By the time we contacted the manager of Sand Point Metropolitan Market (5250 40th Ave NE), Mark Marsh, on Thursday, March 28, his store had already contributed flowers to the memorial site and food for after the prayer vigil.

On Friday, March 29, his store began taking donations at their checkstands from community members. Marsh told us on the morning of Friday, April 6 that the total amount donated by community members at their checkout stands so far is $7,434.00. This total does not yet include the $1,000 that Metropolitan Market will also be donating on top of that.

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With the hope of reaching $10,000, the store will continue taking donations at the registers for one more week, until Friday, April 12.

Thank you to Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, Car Free Days, Eckstein Bikes, the Wedgwood Community Council, the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, and anyone else who helped organize the Memorial Walk on Monday, April 1.

Thank you to the Seattle Police Department for closing off roads and providing an escort during the walk. And thank you, Mayor Michael McGinn, for attending.

Thank you to the Wedgwood Top Pot Doughnuts location for supplying participants of the Memorial Walk with doughnuts and coffee. And thank you for the use of your property as a gathering, starting, and ending point for that walk.

Furthermore, Top Pot, thank you for walking, too.

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Wedgwood Top Pot manager Jennifer Surbaugh and one of the owners of Top Pot, Mark Klebeck, on the walk.

Other local fundraising:

  • The Wedgwood Safeway (7340 35th Avenue NE) donated a gift card for $100 on March 28. Also, thanks to  Bridgette in the floral department for donating buckets and food for flowers left at the memorial site.
  • The employees at the Wedgwood QFC (8400 35th Ave NE) made a donation to one of the funds for the family set up at the Wedgwood branch of HomeStreet Bank on March 28.
  • The Van Gogh Coffeehouse (8210 35th Ave NE) donated all their tips from Friday, March 29 and Saturday, March 30, for a total of $786.48.
  • Thank you to the (as of the publishing of this post) 989 people who donated $59,492 to the medical fund for Karina and Baby Elias that friends of the family Adrienne and Brett Bergman set up.

UPDATE (11:12 AM): We’ve been told by Per Johnson that the online amounts for the funds at HomeStreet Bank are only the online totals. “There have been a ton of people who have donated in-person to the tune of $5000,” Johnson says.

We’d also like to thank the staff of the Wedgwood Branch of HomeStreet Bank for all of their assistance.

UPDATE (1:38 PM): We’ve learned that the Wedgwood Drama Studio also donated money to the Schulte family. You can read about the studio’s mission here.

Bike to Bryant was started around 2007 by parents of Bryant Elementary students. The group’s goal is to encourage families to walk and/or bike to school together on a more regular basis.
This year’s big spring ride, scheduled for Friday, March 29, was almost canceled, in light of the tragedy. But organizers went forward with the ride and turned it into a moving memorial to the Schulte family. One hundred and fifteen riders participated. A moment of silence was observed at the start, and $106 was collected for the Karina & Elias Ulriksen-Schulte Medical fund.
Also, the Seattle Police Department provided an escort for the group, and closed down 35th Avenue NE during the ride to school.
Police closed down 35th Ave NE for the annual Spring Bike to Bryant Elementary ride. Photo by Car Free Days, used with permission.

Police closed down 35th Ave NE for the annual Spring Bike to Bryant Elementary ride. Photo by Car Free Days (carfreedays.com), used with permission.

Thank you to National Barricade (6518 Ravenna Ave NE) for donating use of some of your street signs (a pair of SLOW DOWN and yellow pedestrian signs) at both the east and west ends of NE 75th Street (at approximately 27th and 34th Avenues NE).

ped_sign

Thank you to the community members who attended the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association Spring Community Meeting on Tuesday, April 2. And thank you to the officials who attended or participated in some way, including (alphabetical by last name):
Rachel Cormier Anderson (City Attorney’s Office)
Nancy Bolin (View Ridge Community Council)
Tim Burgess (Seattle City Council President, mayoral candidate)
Dongho Chang (Seattle Department of Transportation)
Sally Clark (Seattle City Council President)
Captain Robin Clark (North Precinct, Seattle Police Department)
Rebecca Deehr (Mayor’s Office)
Dr. Beth Ebel (Harborview Medical Center)
Senator David Frockt (46th Legislative District)
Beth Goldberg (Mayor’s Office)
Peter Hahn (Seattle Department of Transportation)
Beth Hester (Mayor’s Office)
Gina Iandola (HomeStreet Bank)
Sherri Kokx (Eckstein Middle School)
Officer Eric Michl (North Precinct, Seattle Police Department)
Sergeant Dianne Newsom (North Precinct, Seattle Police Department)
Representative Gerry Pollet (46th Legislative District)
Tom Rasmussen (Seattle City Council)
Sergeant Don Smith (North Precinct, Seattle Police Department)
Peter Steinbrueck (mayoral candidate)
Eileen Whalen (Harborview Medical Center)
RBCA_75th_meeting

Thank you also to the staff of the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center, the respective board members of the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association and Wedgwood Community Council, and Jenny Frankl with the Department of Neighborhoods for help making the meeting happen.

Thank you to the two women on 33rd Avenue NE who, very late on the night of Tuesday, March 26, worked together to scrub NE 75th Street clean with soap and water, and their own loving hands.

Schulte_memorial_night

Thank you to the three neighbors on 33rd Avenue NE who made the two white crosses for Judy and Dennis Schulte at the memorial site, added on Friday, March 29.

Thank you to the sixth grade class in one of Seattle’s middle schools who wrote a card for the family.

Thank you to Lacia Lynne Bailey for taking on the role of caretaker for the memorial on the corner of 33rd Avenue NE and NE 75th Street. Thank you for respecting every last flower petal, slip of paper, and stuffed animal left at the site, in honor of the victims.

Thank you to Judy’s Truffle, for being such a comforting (and fuzzy) presence at the memorial site, hugged and cried upon by countless people.

And finally, some thank-yous from the Schulte family, conveyed through Lisa Schulte (wife of Mike Schulte, a cousin of Dan).

Here are some thank you’s the family would like mentioned locally!!

Addy and Brett Bergman (set up the donation site)
Pastor Cathy and Sand Point Community United Methodist Church
The awesome neighbors and dear friends of the family including Daniel and Jennifer, Trevor, Felipe and Indre
Seattle Fire Department and EMTs
Seattle Neighborhood Greenways walk coordinator
EMI
Wedgwood/Ravenna Community, Jess Creach, Per Johnson (Wedgwood Community Council) & Rebecca Nelson (Ravenna Blog)
Harborview doctors and nurses
Seattle Children’s Hospital (Karina’s work)
Colehour and Cohen (Dan’s work)
Sand Point Metropolitan Market
All the incredible people who have donated time, money, food etc.

Lisa has acted as the main point of contact with the family during the last two weeks, and we (and other community members and organizations) are very, very thankful for her and the role she has played.

More on this story on Ravenna Blog:

Memorial service in Indiana for Judy and Dennis Schulte (last updated on Thursday, April 11)

Arraignment of NE 75th Street DUI homicides suspect on Thursday (last updated on Thursday, April 11)

Hundreds walk to remember, honor the Schulte family (PHOTOS) (last updated on Monday, April 1)

Prayer Vigil for mother and child this Thursday night (PHOTOS) (last updated on Friday, March 29)

Memorial to the family at NE 75th St grows (PHOTOS) (last updated on Sunday, March 31)

Memorial and medical funds set up for victims of Monday’s traffic tragedy (last updated on Thursday, March 28)

Suspect in Monday’s traffic fatalities no stranger to DUIs (last updated on Sunday, March 31)

Multiple casualty incident on NE 75th St near Eckstein Middle School (PHOTOS) (last updated on Wednesday, March 27)

Clothing, furniture, and all that jazz: Eckstein Band rummage sale this Saturday

A rummage sale to benefit the band programs at Eckstein Middle School (3003 NE 75th St) on Saturday, April 6, from 9 AM – 4 PM.

Furthermore, if you’ve got time (and stuff) on Friday afternoon, they’re still accepting donations:

Bring your donations (gently used clothes, household items, books, music, furniture, and sporting equipment to the Eckstein cafeteria between 1:30 and 4:00 pm. (The cafeteria’s exterior entrance faces the garden area in the back parking lot.)

As you shop the deals on Saturday, you can nibble on something from the concurrently-running bake sale, and listen to music from Eckstein’s award-winning jazz combos.

We’re sure that plenty of items will be marked at 99 cents, but we’ll bet that they’ll all have been washed prior to the sale.