Girls on the Run of Puget Sound, a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching girls about self-respect and healthy living through active running games, is looking for assistant and lead coaches!

The organization operates an after-school program for 3rd to 5th grade girls at 14 locations around the city, two of which are right here on Queen Anne – John Hay Elementary and Coe Elementary. The programs, which tackles issues like nutrition, body image, media awareness, emotion health and positive communication are open to all girls, including those who do not attend a participating school.

The programs for both elementary schools are as follows:

John Hay Elementary
September 29 – December 10
Tuesdays & Thursdays
3:40-5:00pm

Coe Elementary
September 28 – December 9
Mondays & Wednesdays
3:30-5:00pm

Volunteer head and assistant coaches are needed at both sites. Groups will meet twice a week for 1 1/2 hours for a total of 10 weeks, and train for a non-competitive 5k race at the end of the session. Each group will have four coaches (two heads and two assistants). Lead coaches must be at least 21 years of age, while assistant coaches must be at least 16. For more information on volunteering with GOTR, or for an application, click here. Coaches do not need to be elite runners, but should live healthy lifestyles and be committed helping young girls.

Registration for the fall 2009 program is due by September 18. The season kicks off September 28.

After a surge of last-minute participants, the city has extended the deadline to take the neighborhood plan survey by a week and a half.

Since yesterday the number of Queen Anne residents who have filled out the survey has gone from 22 to 62, a good increase considering today was initially the last day the questionnaire was to be available for residents to take online. The Seattle Planning Commission has extended the final deadline until next Friday, August 21. For those of you who haven’t had a chance to take the survey yet, you can do so by clicking here.

In the last 24 hours Ballard participation has jumped from 200 to 476. Queen Anne has nine days to catch up!

Seattle Parks & Recreation has been working to improve the West Queen Anne Ballfield #3 for months, including plans put forth this last July to build a retaining wall that would level the slopping field. Currently the project is on hold until a few last details can be sorted out. Seattle Parks announced today that it will be holding a public meeting tomorrow, Thursday, August 13, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the Queen Anne Community Center to discuss a specific issue concerning the plan  — the color of the new chain link fence.

This is the second public meeting Seattle Parks & Recreation has held concerning Ballfield #3. The West Queen Anne Little League Association, Foushee Construction and Seattle Parks will build a retaining wall along the sidwalk on W. Blaine St to the existing stairwell at the east side of the field, to correct the field’s slopping. The existing chain link fence will continue along the top of the retaining wall. The color of the fence will be established at tomorrow’s meeting.

The Queen Anne Community Center is located at 1901 First Ave. W.

Seattle Parks & Recreation Project Manager Gary Gibbons, the contact for the Ballfield #3 project, can be reached at (206) 386-1511 or gary.gibbons@seattle.gov.

It’s that time of year again: This weekend Hempfest will take over three waterfront parks, bringing with it added traffic congestion for cars and bikes in the area. The festival will take place on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Elliott Bay Park, Myrtle Edwards Park, and the Olympic Sculpture Park, but set up and tear down for the event will restrict park access from at least Friday to Monday, but possibly longer.

According to the Hempfest website and Publicola, beginning this Friday, August 14, until Monday, August 17 bicyclists riding through Myrtle Edwards Park, a 1.25-mile stretch along the waterfront that is used as a commuting route for hundreds of cyclists every day, will be required to dismount and walk through the park.

However, another report released on the 6th says otherwise, and signs currently posted in the park instruct bikers to dismount as of 6 a.m. on August 11 until 8 p.m. on August 19.

Publicola reported yesterday that the city had originally asked cyclists to dismount at Myrtle Edwards from Tuesday, August 11 to next Wednesday, August 19 – what would have been a nine-day closure of the path, book-ending the two-day festival, so that vendors could safely set up for and tear down the event. However, after getting a big lobby push from bicyclists who use the popular path, the city decided to reduce the closure to just four days — Friday to set up, and Monday to tear down. We’re still digging to find out when the finalized restriction days are.

Until then, bicyclists and pedestrians who plan on using the path though the park anytime from now through next Wednesday should be aware of the restrictions and expect to see an increase in their commute time due to the huge crowds Hempfest draws. Our editor over at MagnoliaVoice was at the park yesterday and confirms that they are already setting up for the weekend event.

Hempfest, an annual event in Seattle held on the third weekend in August since 1991, is being held August 15-16 and will feature life music over five stages, a comedy stage, and a long list of noteable speakers on hemp and marijuana policy reform. Admission is free.

Just in time for the start of school, Project Treehouse is staging a fashion show to raise awareness for Treehouse’s free Wearhouse store, which provides clothes to kids in foster care.  Tonight’s fashion show takes place at Treehouse in South Seattle,  and will feature local kids modeling some of the store’s clothing donations.  Snacks and drinks will be provided.  The event is free but you’re encouraged to RSVP at drives@treehouseforkids.org.  Donations of new back-to-school items are also welcome.

If you can’t make it to the fashion show, you can also drop off donations for the Wearhouse at Queen Anne Boutique (2212 Queen Anne Ave N) throughout the month of August.  The Wearhouse provides nearly 3,000 kids in the Seattle area with clothing, school supplies, toys and books.

Artists are being called upon to design a new mural for the underpass at Dexter Ave North off Highway 99.  Queen Anne Murals is awarding $200 to the artist chosen who creates a piece of art that will be transformed into a 20-feet tall, 100-feet long mural.  The existing mural, which was painted 15 years ago, has long been damaged by graffiti. (Thanks to Rodrick Swinford for the pics!)

The original mural tells the story of homeless people who are integrated back into society with the assistance of others.  The new project hopes to bring awareness to this theme, but also shed light on the importance of greenbelts as animal sanctuaries.  Birds are of particular interest, to tie in with the nature on both sides of the underpass.

Starbucks has already donated $1,000 to help pay for art supplies but they still need to raise an additional $5,000 in order to begin work on the mural this fall.  ArtWorks, a program that helps at-risk youth, The Aloha Inn, and other neighboring businesses have also volunteered to help out. 

Deadline for artist submissions is on Monday, August 24 by 5pm.  Visit Queen Anne Mural‘s site for more specific requirements. 

Registration opened today for Seattle community centers and pools. Classes and programs offered in Queen Anne vary from arts, to sports and fitness, to lifelong learning, and are available for all ages — toddlers, youth, adults and seniors.

For more information, visit the Queen Anne Community Center page. You can also search for classes and register at SPARC, the Seattle Parks and Recreation Connection. For the full brochure of class offerings, schedules and events in Queen Anne and Magnolia, click here.

Tomorrow the Seattle Animal Shelter and Petfinder.com will host “Adopt-a-Less-Adoptable-Pet” Day in an effort to connect the thousands of overlooked homeless animals with potential pet owners.

Petfinder.com is the largest online database of homeless pets, however 95 percent of their members surveyed have noticed that it is exceedingly difficult to find homes for the adoptable pets they’ve posted to the site. And so Petfinder set aside Wednesday, August 12 to work toward finding homes for “hard-to-place” pets.

The shelter (located at 2061 15th Ave. W., one block south of  the Ballard Bridge) will feature the “less-adoptable-pets” for one week, starting tomorrow, through next Tuesday, August 18. All “less-adoptable-pets” who find a home during this time will have their adoption and microchip fees waived. For more information click here.

Every third Thursday of the month the shelter also houses its “Cool City Pets” event, which showcases small animals that also need homes. Small animals available for adoption include gerbils, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, mice and rats. This event will take place on Saturday, August 15, from 12-3pm. Click here for more information.

In June of 1998 the City of Seattle Neighborhood Planning Office devised this plan for Queen Anne. The detailed long-term plan broke down into seven specific projects including the residential and economic development and sustainability of both the “Uptown Park Neighborhood” of lower Queen Anne and the “Uptown Center” at the top of the hill, as well as several improvements on transportation for and around Queen Anne, including plans for a “dedicated electric trolley bus” at the Counterbalance, the “Queen Anne Bicycle Beltway,” a comprehensive system of bicycle routes that would encircle Queen Anne Hill.

A neighborhood plan status report released in May of this year encourages residents that the plan is well on its way. Steps taken so far? Improvements along Queen Anne Boulevard and sidewalk installation along Wilcox Wall, a historic site along the west side of the neighborhood. “Counterbalance Park: An Urban Oasis,” which was completed in July 2008, and has been home to many neighborhood events, including the resent Night Out party.

And now the Seattle Planning Commission wants your input. They want to know how the residents of Queen Anne feel their neighborhood plan is going, and they’ve devised this online survey to find out. The last day to fill out the questionnaire is tomorrow, Wednesday, August 12.

And as you can see from this graph, Queen Anne residents have not exactly been jumping to take the survey. We’re the brown bar near the top, unlike our Ballard neighbors, who are leading in responses. You can find a link to the survey here to take part in the questionnaire and let Seattle know how you think the Queen Anne neighborhood plan is coming along.

The 3rd annual Canlis Backyard Burger BBQ Block Party that took place at the East Queen Anne Playground last Sunday afternoon was not only a good time, but a massive success. According to Canlis Private Dining & Promotions Assistant Rachel Lund, attendees of the block party raised over $1,740 towards the Queen Anne Helpline, an organization dedicated to providing a variety of aid services to residents and neighbors of Queen Anne.

This breaks last year’s record of just over $1,000. The turnout was incredible, considering they only announced the party 48 hours in advance. They do this to keep the block party a truly Queen Anne event, Rachel said, though news of the event spread like wildfire even at a moments notice.

When asked if he was surprised at the big turn-out this year, Mark Canlis said,

Not Really. Word travels fast in this neighborhood. It’s a tight-knit community, and Queen Anne enjoys a good party.

In addition to raising money for the local organization, the block party also supplied over 1,300 burgers and 600 milkshakes to partygoers. The restaurant hosts the party every year as a way of saying thanks to the Queen Anne community.

Sometimes you just can’t eat the fruits of your labor fast enough.  Don’t let your garden bounty go to waste, though.  Donate your extra produce to Solid Ground’s Lettuce Link program, which provides fresh fruits and veggies to Seattle-area food banks, meal programs, shelters and senior centers.  Mary’s Place meal program (610 Dexter Ave N) is in need of apples, pears, plums and cooking apples in particular.  They’re also big fans of greens and collards.  To make a donation to Mary’s Place, call Sheri or Marty at 206-621-8474.   For more information on other locations in need, visit Solid Ground‘s web site.  Don’t have a garden?  They also need volunteers to help pick fruit, deliver or donate their green thumbs.   

With Jim Henson’s Fantastic World coming to a close this Sunday after having its West Coast premiere at  Experience Music Project|Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (EMP|SFM) back in May, the museum’s newest exhibition will take us from puppets to outer space.

Spaced Out: The Final Frontier in Album Covers opens this Saturday, August 15 and will run until January 3, 2010. The exhibition will feature 117 album covers from the late 1940s, 50s and 60s, all with futuristic space-age themes that highlight society’s fixation on the age of space exploration, and how this obsession infiltrated numerous musical genres of the time, including pop, jazz classical and folk.

The exhibit will host several interactive features for visitors, including creating your own life-size album cover and playing instruments features on many of the albums, like the Theremin, an electronic musical instrument used to make “space sounds.”

The exhibition features album covers from the collection of Cheryl Pawelski, the Vice President of A&R at Rhino Entertainment, who said she first began collecting the albums for the music, but later noted how the imaginative nature of the sounds captured her.

Spaced Out! The Final Frontier in Album Covers will be located on the third level of the EMP galleries. Tickets range in price from $12-$15, and children under 5 get in free. To find out more, click here. (Disclosure: EMP|SFM is an advertiser on Queen Anne View).

Hello Queen Anne! I’m Thea Chard, a fellow Queen Anne resident and QueenAnneView.com’s new editor. In this position I will serve as your go-to person at the site, which exists to provide not only a daily news source for Queen Anne, but also a community forum for the residents and patrons of this neighborhood.

I want to take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about myself, because as much as I’m thrilled to have been given the opportunity to delve into my neighborhood on a daily basis, the real reason I’m here is to help this site become a way for us all to connect with each other. This is a venue for our community conversation, after all.

I am a native Seattleite who grew up in Magnolia, went to high school in Ballard, and after four years away at college in California, returned home and settled in beautiful Queen Anne. I am a writer. I am your neighbor.

I received my B.A. from the University of Southern California, where I double majored in Print Journalism and English, with an emphasis in creative writing. Over the course of my professional career I have been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to work with many media organizations, in print, online and broadcast journalism. While living in Los Angeles I worked on the online staff for “Marketplace,” a daily business radio program produced by American Public Media. I spent six months reporting for the Los Angeles Times from their northern European bureau located in London.  I have written for publications ranging from the Los Angeles Times, to the Santa Monica Daily Press, and most recently Seattle Magazine.

And now I am here, ready to write about everything that makes our amazing neighborhood (which I am proud to say is officially the best spot in town) – tick. I love Queen Anne. I live in Queen Anne. And now I will spend my days documenting our home, writing about all things Queen Anne here, at QueenAnneView.com.

Canlis Restaurant hosted their 3rd annual Canlis Backyard Burger BBQ Block Party at the East Queen Anne Playground this Sunday afternoon.  Managing Owner Mark Canlis said that after 59 years on Queen Anne, this was the family-owned restaurant’s way of saying thanks to the community and to do something fun to get everyone together.

More than one thousand people attended this year’s CB5, which was moved to the lower level of the playground for more space.  Not a bad turnout, considering the party was only announced 48 hours earlier.  Everyone was invited to stop by for free food and live music.

Chef Jason Franey (left) and his team grilled 1,200 homemade Canlis burgers for hungry attendees.  Dick’s Burgers blended nearly 600 of their famous chocolate shakes.  There was also Hawaiian shaved ice, freshly sliced watermelon and Tim’s Cascade Chips for people to grub on while Dry Soda and Jones Soda quenched everyone’s thirst.  There are worse ways to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon!

Chris and Alice Canlis joined the band Kana on stage. (Thanks, skibum1175!)

In the annual Tug-O-War game, it was Canlis versus Queen Anne.  The Canlis team did their best to win…

…but they weren’t any match for these fierce Queen Anne competitors. 

A giant stock pot collected donations for the Queen Anne Helpline.  Last year’s event raised more than $1,000 for the organization.  We suspect this year’s BBQ raised even more.

After being viciously attacked by a raccoon in the backyard of their Queen Anne home a week and a half ago, the Metzner family say Rosie, a 4-year-old Maltese, is doing much better.

Early in the morning on July 27, the Metzners, who live on the 2100 block of 10th Avenue West, were startled to hear their dog yelping outside. A large raccoon was attempting to pull the 5 pound dog through a small space between the side fence and deck, when Sue, Rosie’s owner, found them. Sue writes,

The attack happened at about 5 a.m. when I get up to get ready for work. She ran to the back corner of our fenced in yard and suddenly started yelping.  When I went to help her, I could see that her foot was stuck under the fence and when I tried to free her, I could feel and hear the raccoon on the other end. It was awful.

I freaked out and started yelling at the top of my lungs for some help. My husband came and ran outside the fence and literally grabbed the raccoon off of her and started yelling that we needed a tourniquet and had to get her to the emergency clinic “now”.

Rosie, pictured above before the attack, was severely injured, especially in her right hind leg and tail, which were gnawed by the raccoon. After fighting off the animal, the family rushed Rosie to the Elliott Bay Animal Hospital, and later to the Emerald City Emergency Clinic in Wallingford, where veterinarians amputated her right leg and part of her tail, which the raccoon had chewed beyond salvage.

As of Wednesday, Rosie has undergone another successful surgery, removing more of the infected area around her leg and tail. According to her family, she is doing well and “appears to be a lot less uncomfortable.”

Sue writes,

I am sickened by what happened and feel that people should know the dangers that exist regarding these animals that Disney thinks are so cute.

The family believes the raccoon had been living under their porch with three others (one close in size to the attacker, and two smaller), and have since sealed off the space. As most Queen Anne residents know, raccoon sightings are not uncommon. Though the Metzners have not seen the four raccoons since, they wanted to warn the community, especially those with small pets. They have three other Maltese dogs themselves. Sue adds,

The vets said that they have seen a lot of raccoon attacks this summer and she did better than many.

Developers have scrapped plans to build a 32-story residential tower on Denny Way a few blocks from the Space Needle, and the property is now for sale, reports the Seattle Times. Icon Tower was a tall, narrow condo building planned for a small, triangular parking lot (see in Google StreetView), and it would have been the tallest structure in close proximity to the Space Needle.

California developer Laconia purchased the property for $4.38 million in 2007.

Be patient if traffic seems a little slow at the 4-way stop of Boston and Queen Anne Ave N today.  Firefighters from Station 8 are standing in the middle of the street collecting donations for their 55th annual Fill the Boot campaign, which raises money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Firefighters will be on location until noon if you want to make a donation. 

It was the first ever Dog Day at the Queen Anne Farmer’s Market this week.  Not every market allows people to bring their pups but as director Julie Whitehorn summed it up, “Queen Anne loves its dogs.”  No questions asked.  From the looks of things, the four-legged friends didn’t mind a bit. 
 
This little doggie went to market.

So did this one named Roxie.

Who knew cats aren’t the only ones who like fish?  Lorene from Two If By Sea Foods handed out pink salmon for a treat.  There were also special biscuits made by Dog Mountain Farm and pooch pics from Chris and Emi’s Photography.  The Seattle Humane Society’s Maxmobile was there to adopt out pets, too.

At the end of the evening, pet boutique Mes Amis chose a king and queen canine and awarded prizes.  He’s a little camera shy but 11-month-old, “100%-mutt” Django was crowned king of the pack.

She may not be an actual cougar, but Django’s queen IS a 9 1/2-year-old boxer named Maddie. 

Next week is Wellness Week at the market.  Check their website for updates.

You may have noticed the unusual art project that now adorns the lawn in front of Bethany Presbyterian Church along Queen Anne Avenue. Called “Walk of Faith,” it’s made up of 44 stakes, each enscribed with a personal story.

“I’m having people write down a little bit of their life, their walk with God, the good, bad and the ugly. You know, not the pie in the sky, but life,” said artist Abbie Berry, who attends the church. “It’s fun to get people to do something they wouldn’t normally do.”

One stake features a story written by a man who almost died in a bicycle accident. It includes a photo and a piece of the chain from his bike.

Berry says this is the tenth year she’s created an art project in front of the church. “Walk of Faith” will be up through the month of August.