The weather is turning; it’s time for CHILI! Put your culinary skills to the test in Victory Heights’ first ever “Chili Cook Off“. Start perfecting those recipes; this event is two weeks away!
Details:
– Sunday, Oct 3rd – 4pm to 6pm – Contestants will set up near the Victory Heights park. We will find cooks a spot in the right-of-way. (Electricity will be provided to keep your culinary masterpieces hot and tasty!) – A winner will be selected from each of the two categories (with meat and meatless) – DEADLINE to sign up is FRIDAY, SEP 24th! More details here… https://signup.com/go/oXUOLHg – The public will vote for the winner in each category. Prizes awarded!
Ever wonder what’s in that metal, tan-colored box by the tennis courts? Find out when Seattle’s Emergency Communication Hubs respond to imaginary earthquakes using the gear that’s in that box.
Maple Leaf Reservoir Park / Playground (not in Victory Heights Park)
Hub Volunteers need YOU to make this exercise successful. They need practice responding to the overwhelming requests for help that are likely after the “big one” hits. Everyone benefits from these drills. Volunteers get better at supporting their communities, the public learns what the Hubs can and cannot do, and the overall system gets stronger. Win Win Win.
What is an “Emergency Communication Hub”? It is a practical solution that takes advantage of a well-known phenomenon. Humans are social creatures; they instinctively gather after a large disaster to figure out what to do. Whether formally identified or not, every community has a natural gathering spot. It’s usually a green space, a parking lot, or a wide street. Somewhere open to the sky. We call these spaces “Hubs”. Groups of volunteers all over Seattle are familiar with the natural gathering spots in their neighborhoods and have agreed to “activate” when normal communications are down (no cell phone signals and no internet) to help their communities. These groups of neighbors become their communities’ Emergency Communication Hub. Seattle currently has sixty-six active Hubs. They have a system to collect and post information from authorities and help their neighbors meet basic needs. In the more developed sites, like Victory Heights, neighbors have pre-positioned supplies and equipment to help with this organizing effort. These supplies will be used and the processes will be tested during this exercise in September.
PLEASE DON’T MISS THIS DRILL! Many Victory Heights neighbors have participated in emergency drills in the past but this event will be a great refresher and/or training session. We don’t practice enough to be skilled responders – and it will be fun!
Show up for either, or both, imaginary earthquake events. Saturday, Sep 18th, from 9am to 1pm we’ll be on the north side of town – at the Maple Leaf Playground. Saturday, Sep 25th, from 9am to 1pm we’ll be on the south side of town – Jefferson Park. Getting involved is easy. More information can be found on the website at www.SeattleEmergencyHubs.org or by contacting Ann Forrest @ NorthSeattleHubs@gmail.com.
Parking is available at:
St. Catherine of Siena Church (814 NE 85th Street)
Our need for connection is greater than ever. Whether we’re struggling through this crazy pandemic, working together to prevent crime, or coping with natural disasters. We are social creatures by nature. Connection is not only crucial to surviving tough times but it’s also the key to long term well-being. Neighbors helping neighbors. Practice, and model, being a good neighbor by connecting with those around you.
We ask ALL neighbors to reach out during difficult times (heat wave, wildfire smoke, power outages, snow storms, etc.) and check on those living near you. A knock on the door or a quick phone call – just to ensure that everyone is doing okay. There are folks around you that might need a bit more support – older adults or those with access or functional needs. Please be certain to reach out to them. Introduce yourself and give them your contact information. When you do, please let them know that we also have folks in the community that care and can help if you aren’t available. We attached a flyer to this message that you could print and give out to neighbors who you believe might appreciate knowing about another neighborhood resource.
This neighborhood resource is called “Community Connections”. For now, we’re collecting phone numbers of folks in the Victory Heights community that might need a little extra support during difficult times. Maybe they need help finding a booster vaccine or assembling a makeshift air filter. Maybe they need the walkway to their car shoveled or information about warming centers during an extended power outage. Whatever the need, we urge neighbors to look after one another and use their “Community Connections” as a secondary resource. Coordinators for Community Connections will reach out to folks with a quick phone call – just a check-in during trying situations – to make sure all is well.
To learn more about the program, please come chat with us this Friday, September 10th, at 1pm in the tennis court. We’ll have tables and chairs spaced out in the tennis court so you can bring lunch if you want – or partake of the yummy food trucks before they close up for the season.
If you can’t make it on Friday but want to know more about the program, please call the Victory Heights Community Council at (804) 557-4273. The call will go straight to voicemail and you will hear Ben Cober’s voice (VHCC President). Leave your name and phone number and Louise (a VH neighbor and co-coordinator) will call you back to answer any questions you might have.
Congratulations, Victory Heights! We celebrated our first year feeding homeless teens!
Please support us as we enter our second year! We can’t do it without your help!
We’re committed to providing one meal a month to TeenFeed – a non-profit that offers support to homeless youth. Founded in 1987, operations shifted with the emergence of COVID but TeenFeed remains a low-barrier organization that provides a hot meal, as well as many other services, to ~80 homeless youth every day of the year.
Choose a dish to make for Saturday, September 4thfrom the menu here…
Food can be store bought or homemade – no pressure to be a Chef Boyardee!
We just need it delivered warm (if it’s a hot dish) to 2005 NE 105th St (Amber/Jerry’s house) at 5 PM so the food can be driven down to the University District for distribution.
Menu for September:
Teriyaki chicken
Teriyaki tofu
Sesame noodle salad
Roasted broccoli
Fresh fruit
This is a great opportunity to come together as a community and support those less fortunate. Please reach out with additional questions. If you can’t help this month but would like to be contacted in the future, please contact us at VH.TeenFeed@gmail.com to be added to our list of Community Cooks!
Regards,
Ann Forrest & Amber Benson
Co-Coordinators
FYI… Family crisis is the most prevalent reason youth and young adults identify for becoming homeless.
Food Truck Friday, arranged by our community President, Ben Cober, has been a huge success, featuring many varied cuisines throughout the summer. Located next to Victory Heights Park on NE 106th Place, two trucks each week park between 11 AM and 2 PM, selling delicious food to perhaps weary home workers. Be sure and check them out by September 10th.
Ben says we’ll probably try it again in 2022, but perhaps experiment with dinners on Fridays instead. Send us feedback if you have a suggestion.
On September 10th, starting at 1 PM, after you’ve eaten, wander over to the tennis court to learn more about our upcoming Community Connections program for reaching out to seniors and other folks who may not be online savvy.
On September 18th, we are looking for volunteers to help participate in an Emergency HUB drill that will be held at Maple Leaf Park (the one with the water tower). Starting at 9 AM, the HUB will be open and staffed by volunteers, but we need YOU, the general public, to come and “overwhelm” us with requests and needs (we’ll have slips of paper with various fictional scenarios, no need for you to be creative). This “stress test” is the best way for us to improve our Emergency HUBs (like the one we have in Victory Heights Park) in case of a real situation. Mark your calendars.
Mayor Mondays, where Victory Heights invites the various candidates for Seattle Mayor to meet us and make a presentation (via Zoom) concludes with three more before the August 3rd primary.
On Monday, July 26th, Dr. Bliss will be joining us starting at 6 PM. Then on a special Wednesday night session on July 28th, Jessyn Farrell (rescheduled from an earlier date). And finally, on Monday, August 2, Casey Sixkiller. Then it will be time to fill out your primary ballots and have them postmarked by the 3rd. To get Zoom credentials to join in, write to our email: victoryheights.seattle@gmail.com.
In other Victory Heights news, the parks department is going to look at the large weeds that have mainly replaced the grass in the field. However, they won’t fix the wooden fence that runs alongside the east side of the park next to 19th Avenue NE: if they city were to replace it would be with an ugly metal highway barrier. Bleah!
On July 4th, a car took out one of the new art utility boxes on 23rd Avenue NE. Comcast replaced it with a temporary box but as they don’t need it any more, instead it will be permanently replaced with a flush cap. We will attempt to reuse the artwork on a future project.
Neighborhood Night Out is coming Tuesday, August 3rd. Get together with folks on your block so you can know your neighbors and be better ready for disaster preparedness (or just general safety).
Food Truck Fridays continue at the park each Friday from 11 AM to 2 PM. And don’t forget the Lake City Farmers Market by the library every Thursday afternoon.
The Seattle Skeleton House with its clever front yard displays on 20th Avenue NE for the past few years is leaving Victory Heights for Denver. In a sign posted on Saturday, the Brauns announced, “Bye Neighbors! 🙁 The Skeletons are moving to Denver. Thanks for all the memories! Follow their adventure on IG @SeattleSkeletonHouse. We’re packing up + moving! We’re going to miss you all! –Skeleton House.”
The two skeletons have been delighting neighbors who would check every few days to see what they would be up to. In a fitting final tableaux they are packing their boxes:
Despite statewide covid restrictions being lifted at the end of June, the Victory Heights Community Council has been unable to get permission from the city to hold our annual Potluck/Ice Cream social in late July.
In June, the city said a gathering of our size (approximately 150 people) would require a COV-19 Health Action and Management Plan (CHAMPS). CHAMPS would require gates and temperature testing of all participants, something we do not have the logistics or money to execute.
Community Council Ben Cober said in a statement, “I sincerely want to thank Build Lake City Together, Teen Feed, Thornton Creek Alliance, and the North Seattle Tool Library for your willingness to set up at our event, and Ann, Jordan, Molly, and Linda for willing to volunteer your time and energy for the Potluck.”
We’ll let you know if we are able to reschedule in August or later.
Looking west at North Seattle College, the new span crosses over the southbound lanes of I-5
The long-gestating bike/pedestrian bridge across Interstate 5 that will connect the new Link Light Rail station with North Seattle College finally had its final piece assembled last night. Building a bridge over an active freeway is always a challenge, and the contractors built the forms in the medians and then with two early Sunday-morning freeway closures, were able to hoist them into position.
Looking north towards the new span of the bike/pedestrian bridge over I-5
When the light rail station opens in October 2021, the new bridge will allow pedestrians and bicyclists from the west side of I-5 to easily cross and either directly enter the station or take a ramp down to 1st Avenue NE.
Sound Transit hosted many, many open houses over the years featuring many different design specs, but funding was always a problem, and it wasn’t assured there would be a bridge built at all by the time the first trains began running.
The Northgate Link Light Rail Station opens October 2nd, 2021
In other news, the Victory Heights Community Council announced the huge success of the neighborhood-wide yard sale last weekend, with 40 houses participating and perfect weather in an otherwise wet weekend.
The Lake City Farmers Market is back in 2021, starting every Thursday beginning July 1st next to the Lake City Library from 3 PM to 7 PM.
Food Truck Fridays continue each week in Victory Heights Park from 11 AM to 2 PM. See our Facebook page for vendor details each week.
Mayor Mondays keeps adding more candidates which will take us up to the eve of Primary Day in August. 6 PM on Zoom each Monday with a new candidate. Lance Randall will be appearing on June 21st.
The Potluck/Ice Cream Social is tentatively scheduled this year for July 20th from 6-8 PM on NE 106th Street next to Victory Heights Park. At this moment officially the city isn’t allowing groups larger than 50 to congregate but all that is set to change on June 30th when all pandemic restrictions are due to be lifted in King County, and we hope to obtain a permit from the city to close the street and have our large gathering.
There are 40 items to locate throughout our two neighborhoods. Come by either the Pinehurst Pocket Park or Victory Heights Park starting at 1 PM on Sunday for instructions and a question and answer sheet. Volunteers will be there until 4 PM to give you help. There are no prizes, this is meant to be “fun and low-key, a very family-friendly” event. And not one you necessarily have to do on that Sunday either, you can do it yourself in your own time later.
In other news, we decided against doing an event on the 4th of July, owing to the city not issuing permits, and a lot of folks taking advantage of a long holiday weekend to get out of town. Plans are in the works for another potluck/ice cream social in July.
Meanwhile, Food Truck Fridays continue in the park each Friday between 11 AM and 2 PM with two different trucks each week (May 21st will be Street Treats and El Gran Taco).
Mayor Mondays continues each Monday at 6 PM with a new candidate running to be Seattle’s next mayor. Rodney Holt is next up on May 24th. Join our Facebook group or email list to find out how to join these Zoom chats.
Are you someone who needs yard or handy work done but it’s getting too hard for you to do it yourself? Call Neighbor Labor, volunteers who will come and do it for you. Contact us to put in a request.
The next (virtual) meeting of the Community Council will be Tuesday, June 15th. Get involved!
