Columbia Citizens

Live locally.

Consult your community calendar.

• farmers market (Wed),
• true Neapolitan pizza on the piazza (Wed),
• Windermere's Columbia City Night Out (Wed),
• Southeast District Council (Wed),
• DINKs & SINKs (Thu),
• a special movie showing: Veer (Thu),
• preschool story time (Fri),
• a running group (Sat),
• Vietnamese story time (Sat),
• a shore run/walk @ Seward (Sun),
• Bike Sunday,
• Hillman City Business Association (Wed 7/1),
• Heritage Parade planning (Wed 7/1),
• an evening book group (Wed 7/1),
• 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.

Up and The Hangover are still going strong and will stay another week. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen bursts upon the scene Wednesday at 1 pm.

Next week on July 1, we start two new movies, Public Enemies with Johnny Depp as John Dillinger, and the new Ice Age movie, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

This week on Thursday we will be hosting the Northwest premiere of Veer, a documentary film about bicycling life style and culture. Show times are 6:30 and 8:30. Tickets are $10. The event is already a huge success with half the tix already sold in advance. The director of the film, an avid cyclist, will be in attendance and answer questions.

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.

Also this week, come watch local favorite chef Julie Andres of La Medusa as she works her magic on some seasonal greens. Demo starts at 3:30p.

See you at the Market! Weds 3-7pm in the Columbia Plaza parking lot

Giờ đọc truyện tiếng Việt! (Vietnamese Story Time) Saturday June 27th 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!)

Evening Book Group Wednesday July 1st from 6:45 to 7:45pm. Join us for a book discussion at the Columbia Branch. Everyone is welcome. This month's title is The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. Pick up your copy at the Information Desk!

Make a Book Tuesday July 7th from 1-3 pm. Instructors from the Seattle Center for Book Arts show you how handmade books can add a creative twist to traditional soft-cover and hard-cover books. All bookmaking materials and supplies provided. For ages 12 and up

Summer Reading Come to the library to sign up, find out about summer events, and win prizes!

Library programs are free and open to the public. Everyone is invited to attend.

Be our friends on myspace.

• Wed — Columbia City Night Out
• Thu — West Africa Foundation: save the children of West Africa charity
• Fri — (theater) Obscured By Clouds laser-light show with Echo Helstrom & Dream Tiger
  (lounge) 41 Miles
• Sat — Big World Breaks
• Tue — Tuesday Night Matinee with Joslynn’s Territory & Adey

Here's the full list of events.

Tutta Bella celebrates Verace Pizza Napoletana

In a rare visit to the United States, The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN) will visit Seattle, from Naples Italy, to certify seven local establishments, making Seattle the U.S. city with the highest density of certified Neapolitan pizzerias. Tutta Bella, the first Seattle establishment to become VPN certified, is proud to call Columbia City the home of Vera Pizza Napoletana in Seattle!

Want to show your love of Vera Pizza or learn more about it? You're invited to savor for a free slice at Pizza alla Piazza on Wednesday June 24th from 4 -8 pm. Swing by our piazza, located two blocks north of Tutta Bella Columbia City at 3827 S. Edmunds Street. We'll be making classic Pizza Margheritas in an outdoor oven alongside the talented pizzaioli of Ristorante Picolinos and Pizzeria Pulcinella, with a guest appearance by Mayor Greg Nickels and music by The Tarantellas. Hope to see you there!

Public Art Installation at Family Services

Come celebrate the installation of two incredible works of art created by local Southeast Seattle artists Mary Coss and Mark Ditzler, through SEED's Public Art Program. The Grand Opening of the new Rotary Support Center for Families (1900 Rainier Ave S) will be on Friday, June 26 from 3-6pm. There will be a traditional ribbon cutting and speeches from 3-4pm and then live music by The Toucans (steel drum band), bouncy house and activities for the kids, tours of the new facility, great food and drink, and more! For more information, contact Abbey Norris, Public Art Manager at gro.elttaesdees|sirrona#gro.elttaesdees|sirrona or 760-4289.

Register now for Summer Art Camps at RVCC

Rainier Valley Youth Theatre's trademark blending of performing and visual arts, with an exciting focus on Native American cultures of the Northwest (including Alaska)! For more information on the week-long camps starting in July, please visit our website or http://rvytcamp.blogspot.com. To register, contact Maria Glanz at 276-6471.

TOUCH — Call to Artists

The Columbia City Gallery encourages artists in all media to submit artwork which reflects the theme touch. For a $25 entry fee, applicants may enter up to 3 pieces for consideration.

All entries must be received by July 31. Jurors for the exhibit are Suzanne Beal (independent visual arts writer/curator), Lisa Harris (Director, Lisa Harris Gallery) and Jeffry Mitchell (artist). We will award $1,000 in cash prizes. Visit our website to download the Call to Artists and Entry Form. Questions? 760-9843 or moc.yrellagyticaibmuloc|tra#moc.yrellagyticaibmuloc|tra

Art in the Alley — Call to Artists

The Columbia City Gallery is accepting applications from artists and craftspeople in all media to participate in Art in the Alley, Southeast Seattle's outdoor visual arts festival. Every year, the Gallery fills the alley just to the north of the gallery with art and the artists who make it.

Art in the Alley will take place on Friday, August 7th from 4 – 9 pm, in conjunction with Beatwalk.

For more information, please contact moc.yrellaGytiCaibmuloC|tra#moc.yrellaGytiCaibmuloC|tra or 760-9843

Veer at the Columbia City Cinema

Thursday, June 25, 6:30 & 9pm
brownpapertickets.com

• Fun bike culture panel talk between shows at 8:30 p.m. Hosted by Dave Hiller with Filmmaker Greg Fredette & special guests.
• Secure bike corral parking next door at Washington Federal Savings. $3 donation, open 5:30 - 11 p.m.
• Pre and post show happy hour libations and raffle at Lottie's Lounge (no host)

Veer explores America's fast-growing bicycling culture by profiling five people whose lives are inextricably tied to bicycling and the bike-centric social groups they belong to. The film follows these characters over the course of a year, offering a behind-the-scenes look at their personal struggles and triumphs. Veer examines what it means to be part of a community, and how social movements are formed. The film is narrated by Mathew Modine, renowned actor and bicycle advocate.

These special shows benefit the Cascade Bicycle Club's Major Taylor Project. We thank the film makers for graciously reducing their commission to make this showing possible.

read more...

Southeast District Council

The SEDC's effort to inform our participating members with timely and interesting speakers continues this month.

A look at the agenda will show we'll be getting briefed on the city's "Pedestrian Master Plan", on the state's plans to close the Department of Licensing office in Hillman City, and on the city auditor's audit of the district council system. There will be plenty of opportunity for comment on all three subjects.

Also, there'll be informative updates on neighborhood planning and on the neighborhood matching and street fund determinations, and we'll consider membership for the Genesee Neighbors group. This will be our final meeting before taking the summer off. We look forward to seeing you Wednesday evening.

Wed, June 24, 6:30 to 8:30pm
Rainier Community Center, 4600 38th Ave S

Columbia School — school garden

We are hoping to operate some of the long-standing school gardens at the school sites that are closing this June. This is a trial program, and this opportunity will be available only during the 2009 summer growing season. We are starting with the Columbia School school-garden.

Our intention is to recognize well-established school gardens as valuable resources to produce healthy food in these challenging economic times.

We will offer garden plots for rent to community members from Sunday, June 21 through October 31, 2009.

read more...

Columbia City in the news

Our news page is due for an update and cleanup. Meanwhile, here are a few items from this week.

• Jerry Large — A spate of burglaries drives a Citizen from the neighborhood.
• A 17-year-old gets busted and charged under King County's Repeat Burglar Initiative.
• PostGlobe reporters take a nighttime walk along the length of MLK

Hillman City Posts

• A Citizen has posted a new page about a meat buying club. It reads like an article — maybe it'll turn up in in the news next.

• We're tinkering with Twitter, and have updated Columbia Twitterzens to include each tweeter's profile image: