LESCHI
Leschi Park Centennial posters are appearing around the neighborhood as we gear up for the 100th birthday of Leschi Park on Aug. 15.
A stage will be erected in the park to host the music groups and speakers. A history tent will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. to display old photos, postcards and books of a bygone Leschi.
The program begins at 11 a.m. with a tree walk led by Arthur Lee Jacobson (pre-register by calling 206-726-0923). At noon, the All City Marching Band will set the stage for an afternoon of old-time music and a peek back into history.
At 1 p.m., author and historian Junius Rochester will speak on the early history of the lake community and Nisqually Tribe chief Cynthia Iyall will tell about the importance of this area to the tribe of Chief Leschi, her great-great-uncle.
The Sedentary Sousa Band will perform at 2 p.m. Lynn Gough will narrate a vintage fashion show of the attire worn by park strollers and lake bathers 100 years ago at 3 p.m. At 4 p.m., the Seattle Labor Chorus will relate the labor history of the period with narrative and song. The festivities will end with music of the era performed by The Cornucopia Concert Band.
There will be dragon-boat rides offered throughout the day from the pier and antique cars to admire.
The Leschi Community Council will have a membership table set up where there will be displays of the ongoing work done in Leschi Parks by the Greenspace Committee and photos of the successful council-supported music program at Leschi Elementary School.
The lakeside restaurants will be open special hours and offering take out food for those who need some sustenance during the festivities.
Also, the Jackson Street Music project will host a special event on Aug. 29: a tribute to musician and revered music teacher Joe Brazil, who passed away a year ago.
The musicians will consist of former students of Joe, who started out in Detroit and came to The Boeing Co. in 1962 as its first black tool and die maker. He taught the History of Jazz at the University of Washington beginning in 1969 and was well known for inviting famous musicians visiting Seattle to come to his classes and play with the students. He founded the Brazil Academy of Music that same year to serve the community and youths with cultural enrichment. He also began a prison-outreach program.
This man will be recognized by former students Gary Hammon on the sax and Ed Lee on the trumpet, backed up by a rhythm section of former students. This event begins at 1 p.m. at Flo Ware Park, at 28th Avenue South and South Jackson Street.
This is the third in a four-part concert series that aims at bringing music (jazz in particular) back to the Jackson Street area. It is also aimed at providing opportunities for young people to perform in a public venue.
- Diane Snell
MADISON PARK
As good stewards of the community's resources, the Madison Park Community Council (MPCC)has embarked on a project that requires community support to be successful. That project, currently called the Madison Street Park Expansion, is chaired by Kathleen Stearns. The object is to reclaim the end of East Madison Street between 43rd Avenue East and Lake Washington. The property is owned by the Department of Natural Resources and Seattle Department of Transportation.
The committee is applying for a Small and Simple Grant from the city. It is a matching grant in the form of time, money or goods, which the city will match. Pledge forms are available by sending an e-mail to council@madisonparkcouncil.org.
To support the operations of MPCC and its committees, the council is hosting a used book/DVD/CD sale to take place at the Madison Park Bathhouse, 1900 43rd Ave. E., on Sept. 26, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you would like to contribute, drop your donations off at Park Postal.
Some of our other committees include:
•Streetscape Committee - The committee is on the third phase of a large multi-year grant for replacing damaged sidewalks and trees. The current work is to replace the sidewalk in front of Wells Fargo and Starbucks. We may lose a tree or two, but they will be replaced by larger paper-bark maples. The committee also plans to apply for another grant for 2010.
•Pedestrian Safety Committee - The committee has received funding to support the pedestrian crossing-flag system. Six intersections on Madison Street are monitored: at 32nd Avenue East, Broadmoor, East Garfield Street, 41st Avenue East at Bert's Red Apple and 42nd Avenue East to the park. Three flags are placed on each side for pedestrians to use when crossing; each flag costs about $4.
Although the system works very well and has improved the pedestrian safety, the flags are disappearing at an alarming rate. We need your help to stop the loss.
•Communications Committee - This group is actively involved in developing a combined website with the Madison Park Business Association and has also been producing a monthly newsletter. We soon will apply for a technology grant to support this work. To check our progress and/or to sign up for the newsletter, go to our website at www.madisonparkcouncil.org.
There are many opportunities for volunteering and contributing; if you wish to participate, e-mail council@madisonparkcouncil.org.
The council meets on the third Monday of the month at the Madison Park Bathhouse at 7 p.m.
- Ken Myrabo
MADRONA
The flower baskets along 34th Avenue are dripping with summer color, and downtown Madrona recently welcomed two new businesses.
Naam restaurant, 1404 34th Ave., serves authentic Thai food in the space formerly occupied by Coupage. Besides traditional seating, Naam offers diners a chance to eat lounging on a day bed or ordering takeout food to go. Buggy, a kids' clothes consignment store relocated from Beacon Hill, is now open above Domestic Furniture, 1422 34th Ave.
Tent City is currently calling Madrona home. The homeless camp moved into the open field across from St. Therese Church in mid-June and will stay until mid-August. Members of the Madrona community have hosted several potluck dinners for the residents, and more get-togethers are planned.
Two of the four houses near Madrona Drive and East Howell Street that needed to be moved to make way for the new Epiphany School parking structure met the wrecking ball instead. Fortunately, two of the 1900s-era structures were saved and relocated. Some neighbors on East Howell were less than thrilled when trees had to be pruned or moved to make the street passable. But eventually a deal was struck, and the homes moseyed their way west from their staging area on the Epiphany playground to waiting home sites in nearby Madison Valley.
Every Friday from 3 to 7 p.m., the parking lot of Grocery Outlet at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and East Union Street goes green as the site of the Madrona Farmers Market.
Stay in touch with Madrona at www.madrona.us.
- Kimberley Herber[[In-content Ad]]
