Tonight as our extended holiday-lights spotlight continues, we revisit the
West Seattle Polar Bear Challenge. We first reported one month ago on this community-created combination of scavenger hunt, food drive, and local-business support. 67 homes and businesses are on the official Polar Bear Challenge map – including the one where you’ll find the polar bear above, 5700 block of SW Charlestown. That site, by the way, also has characters from the legendary Island of Misfit Toys:
Back to the Polar Bear Challenge. Its delighted organizers report that participants have collected many hundreds of pounds of food. And even if you don’t visit displays, you have one more chance to donate before the WSPBC wraps up on New Year’s Day:
MISSION CANTINA: At 2325 California SW in The Admiral District,
Mission Cantina (WSB sponsor) is offering shopping as well as dining (takeout or patio). They’re open 11 am-8 pm Sundays-Thursdays and 11 am-9 pm Fridays and Saturdays, including Christmas Eve/Day. The Holiday Mercado includes “unique gifts like mezcal tasting boxes, Mexican chocolates, fun gifts from Alair, ornaments, stockings and more! All purchases include a raffle ticket for awesome prizes from Easy Street Records, Alair & Mission, and we’re delivering to the winners on Christmas Eve!” Also, Mission’s
Tina Padilla tells WSB, “We now have eGift Cards through GiftFly! We’re still taking donations for the West Seattle Food Bank, and from now until Christmas the owners are matching all donations!”
Martha “Marty” McLaren, a past West Seattle/South Park representative on the
Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors, has died. Ms. McLaren, a Puget Ridge resident, was 76 years old. She was a longtime educator and community advocate, but her highest-profile role was that of board member. She won election in 2011 by unseating incumbent
Steve Sundquist and then four years later was unseated herself by current board member
Leslie Harris. We talked with Ms. McLaren after her election in 2011; she spoke of her teaching career following her involvement with advocacy as a PTA leader while her children were in school. More details on her life are in her obituary, which we’ve just received:
Thank you to Atticus, Hope Lutheran, and all our neighbors who donated food at Atticus’s drive-thru food drive this past Saturday at Hope Lutheran. Together you donated 1,908 pounds of food and raised $1,120 to help our neighbors this winter.
Special thanks to the awesome Atticus for putting this all together! We are very grateful for your support.
We know Atticus is grateful to the donors, too. Looking for a way to help? Here’s how to donate to the WSFB. (And there’s a growing list of other holiday-season giving opportunities in our
Holy Rosary School’s tree lot will close Sunday evening for the season. A fresh load of trees was delivered for the weekend.
Wreaths, garland, and
Seattle Lutheran High School’s poinsettias are also available for sale. Come to the lot, located behind the school, Saturday and Sunday from 9 AM-9 PM. This tree lot benefits Holy Rosary School, as well as three local nonprofits: Hickman House (a domestic violence shelter), Seattle Lutheran High School, and West Seattle Food Bank.
The lot is off 42nd between Genesee and Dakota. It’s also open until 9 tonight. Your options include shopping from your car (or stroll the lot, masked and distanced) as well as getting a tree delivered – details here.