Columbia Citizens

Live locally.

Consult your community calendar.

• story time for babies (Wed),
• farmers market (Wed),
• Sustainable South Seattle (Wed),
• Bats of Seward Park (Wed),
• a mosaic project (Thu),
• a biligual play group (Fri),
• Landmark District Review Committee (Fri),
• a running group (Sat),
• toddler tales & trails (Sat),
• Kids Day America (Sat),
• Vietnamese story time (Sat),
• wine tasting in Lakewood (Sat),
• bicycle Sunday,
• Game On! at the library (Tue),
• "My Jim" author at the library (Wed),
• and Citizens post more events all the time!

In the calendar, you can click through to each event's online information. If a local event is missing, please send a Citizen's alert.

Starting Friday May 15, we open Angels and Demons, Dan Brown's blockbuster bestseller that preceded The Da Vinci Code.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Star Trek, which is terrific fun and audiences are loving it, continue through May 21.

Be sure to check our website for the most up-to-date movie information! Or, better yet, sign up for our weekly newsletter and get movie times delivered straight to your inbox.

See you at the movies.

Giờ đọc truyện tiếng Việt! (Vietnamese Story Time) Saturday May 16th from 1:30 to 2 pm. Thư viện công cộng Seattle tổ chức giờ đọc truyện bằng tiếng việt cho trẻ em! (The Seattle Public Library is hosting Vietnamese Story Times for young children!)

Play and Learn Friday May 15th from 11:30am to 1pm. Grupo Bilingüe de juegos para padres y cuidadores con niños entre las edades de nacimiento hasta 5 años. / Bilingual play group for ages birth to 5.

Homework Help Volunteers will assist students with homework on a drop in basis on Mon-Thu, 5-7:30pm.

Game On! Tuesday May 19th from 3 to 5 pm. Come by for open play on the Wii (including MarioKart!), sing to stardom on American Idol, and practice your dance skills with Dance Dance Revolution. Free food!

Seattle Reads "My Jim": Meet Author Nancy Rawles Wednesday May 20th from 7 to 8:30 pm. Come meet Nancy Rawles and join in a discussion between readers and writer.

Sustainable South Seattle

Columbia City Library — May 13th at 6pm

Sustainable Seattle's Neighborhood Indicators-to-Action Project

This project is meant to build on — and not compete with or duplicate — existing neighborhood efforts. Ideas for projects include: hands-on weatherization workshops, establishment of a garden, installation of bike racks, and fruit-tree planting. About $1500 is available to each neighborhood for these projects.

Energy Policy

Come hear about developments on energy policy at the local, state and federal levels. Carrie Dolwick from the NW Energy Coalition and NW Sustainable Energy for Economic Development will be on hand for an overview of energy policy followed by a discussion on community energy planning and development.

read more...

Calling all area teens!

SummerSTAGE Auditions for teens (ages 11-17) begin Sat, May 23 (2pm – 4pm) and continue on June 6 (10am - noon) at the Rainier Valley Cultural Center, 3515 S Alaska St.

This summer, work with professional theatre artists to put on an amazing stage production. Tyrone Brown, founder and Artistic Director of Brownbox Theatre, returns to direct this year's SummerSTAGE performance, produced by Maria Glanz.

Rehearsals begin June 8, and performances run July 23 - August 1. To set up an audition appointment, contact Maria Glanz at 276-6471. For more information visit the RVYT blog.

Columbia City land use and landmarks

A few items to share this week:

• a recommendations meeting with the Design Review Board about a project at 5022 MLK Way S — a small mixed use building with a lotta parking lot;
• a land use decision about a project at 3902 S Ferdinand, to convert the Mission Baptist Church to residential units and a bed & breakfast;
• and the Columbia City Review Committee meets to discuss signs and rules about signs.

honoring our parents

understanding aging and finding supports

Understanding aging concerns in your family members is vital to linking them up with resources local and nationwide. Join staff from Senior Services and Jewish Family Service as they share critical knowledge about planning ahead and working with your family members to make informed decisions.

Monday June 8th 7:00-9:00 4655 S Holly
Fee $10, no one turned away for inability to pay

Call 722-0317 for more information.

Rainier Valley Historical Society Director

Rainier Valley Historical Society is looking for a new Executive Director! This is a part-time salaried position with a small nonprofit located in Columbia City. Learn more about us at www.rainiervalleyhistory.org and call Connie Cox at 760-0344 for a full job description and information.

facebook fan-fare

Neighbors are on facebook, and so's the wiki! The Columbia Citizens page draws directly from our discussion board. It features Wikli alerts and the first post to any new discussion thread. If you're a "fan", you'll see occasional items posted by Citizen moderators in your regular news feed. This should be a casual way to share new and interesting stuff that neighbors have tucked into the site.

Wherever you log on — from a Columbia City coffee shop, from work, or from the comfort of home — let's use these facebook tools to help us connect in that original local-living medium: face-time.

read more...

Columbia City Cuts

Columbia City Cuts is your neighborhood family salon. Until the end of May mention this WikLi ad and receive 30% off all haircuts Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday!

Call 327-9591 for an appointment. Located in the heart of Columbia City at 4859 Rainier Ave S. Thank you, see ya soon!

call to artists: TOUCH

The Columbia City Gallery invites artists in all media to submit artwork which reflects the theme 'touch', for their 4th Annual Juried Exhibit. For a $25 entry fee, applicants may enter up to 3 pieces for consideration. We must receive all entries by July 31.

Jurors for the exhibit are Suzanne Beal (independant visual arts writer/curator), Lisa Harris (Director, Lisa Harris Gallery) and Jeffry Mitchell (artist). We will award $1,000 in cash prizes. Exhibit runs Sept 30 - Nov 15, 2009.

Questions? 760.9843 or moc.yrellagyticaibmuloc|tra#moc.yrellagyticaibmuloc|tra

Community Acupuncture Clinic opens on Ferdinand

Just in case you haven't seen our sandwich boards around, we've opened a new Community Acupuncture Clinic just off Rainier across from Jones' barbecue.

Our goal is to provide acupuncture to everyone (sliding scale from $15-$45) and to introduce acupuncture as it is practiced in China — that is, in a community setting. For those of us who have either lost our health benefits, never had them to begin with, or whose insurance companies only allow for a few visits for this kind of therapy — participants in the working class acupuncture movement are opening up clinics all over the country on the "healthcare for al"' theme.

As our rates are so low, this community model depends on volume, so come along, bring your friends and family, all get treated together. Make an appointment directly from our website, or call us: 760-6064

new Listening Mothers group forming

If you or someone you know has a new baby (newborn to 6 months of age) and is looking for more support in the transition to parenthood, please note the next Listening Mothers group offered in Columbia City meets on Mondays, June 1-July 27, 2009 at Lotus Yoga, 4860 Rainier Ave S.

Listening Mothers groups are limited to seven Mothers and their babies to give Moms a unique opportunity to get to know each other, feel supported, and share their experiences of being a mother. Integrating recent research with the intuition and understanding mothers have, this program explores the emotional life of mothers and babies. The fee for the eight-week session is $120, and scholarships are available.

50-hour Summer Fitness Challenge

10% off to Columbia Citizens Wiki Readers The summer session runs from June 28 - September 2.

The summer session will have four late afternoon/evening sessions available. Morning sessions will resume during the fall session. Participants attend four times a week: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday.

Sessions are semi-private (no more than four persons per class). Each class is 1 hour and 15 minutes in length, and participants commit to coming four days a week. Sessions are a combination of martial arts fitness, strength, resistance, agility training, circuit training, power vinyasa yoga and nutritional and lifestyle support. No workout is the same. Price is $450 + tax ($9 per session hour).

read more...

Introduction to Shamanic Dreaming

Tuesday, May 19, 7-9:30pm in Columbia City with June BlueSpruce.

The messages you receive in your dreams can transform your life. After this session you can join an ongoing dream circle.

read more...

Rekindle a refugee child's hope

Would you like to open your heart and your home to a refugee youth who has fled civil conflict or persecution? The U.S. is the only country in the world that accepts refugee youth and, lately, the need has been greatest for homes for teenage girls from Burma. To learn more about providing foster care on a long-term or a respite basis please contact Erika Berg with the Refugee & Immigrant Children's Program at Lutheran Community Services at gro.wnscl|grebe#gro.wnscl|grebe or 694-5780. The next information session will be Monday, June 8, at 6:00 pm.

Columbia City in the news

• Bull Stewart in the P-I: "Insurance is just a rip-off".
• Mikala has a piece about women's suffrage and leadership in the Rainier Valley.

Hillman City Posts

• Welcome dawnseattle.

• Site members can update their own posted comments, send private messages, upload small files, and have broader write-access across the wiki. It's easy to join.

• Guy Daniels has mapped a low-traffic bike route to downtown.

• KateK has posted for Kristen Young to the Sustainable South Seattle blog — Do you have unused computer gear to donate?

• A Citizen posted a referral about the Holistic Animal Clinic.

• A Citizen created a page about drywall services.

• In neighbors, we've got an updated list of the neighborhood's email groups and social networks.