Christmas Events on Mercer Island

Christmas gets an early start this year, with four events this week:

Argosy Christmas Ship

Tonight at Luther Burbank Park, the Argosy Christmas ship comes at 7:50. There’ll be treats, carols and a big lighted ship. More info.

 Holiday Tree Lighting and Firehouse Munch Tomorrow

 The annual tree lighting is Friday at 7 at Mercerdale Park. It was a good time last year. You get to hang out at the firehouse after if you go. More info.

Craft Workshop on Saturday

Just like the sign above says.

Girls’ Night Out Tonight

Many of the merchants in North Island are having shoping specials tonight– look for the Girls Night Out signs.

Mercer Island Bulletin Board: It’s Election Time

Fall’s here, and so is election season, according to the Mercer Island Bulletin Board at Island Crest Way and 40th:

If the signs on the road aren’t providing enough color, check out the blog’s election coverage or the debate coming up this Wednesday:

And finally, in non-election related news, the city is offering a free bike-commuting class for the winter months:

“Winterize Your Bike Commute” brought to you by Mercer Island Parks and Recreation Department in partnership with Cascade Bicycle Club.

• Date: October 14th
• Time: 6:30-8:30pm
• Location: Community Center at Mercer View
• Cost: Free to public, pre-registration required
• More info:

UPDATE: News from the city

• Fall Recycling Collection Event: 10/24. Recycle motor oil, old tires, dead batteries and other yucky  things. More info.
• Tent City Community Meeting: 10/22. Discuss “lessons learned” from Tent City. More info.

Time to Summer

Folks, there is a lot going on around here. Get your calenders out, Mercer Island. It’s time to “summer.”

Unusual Garage Sales

Notice Earthcorps lurking to the left, plotting good works for the summer.

This first garage sale is out of the ordinary because it’s the whole Island. Theoretically, at least. It’s at the MICC the Saturday.

And this garage sale is not ordinary because it’s cryptic message seems to be targeted to reach some character in The DaVinci Code. I can only guess that this sign does advertise a garage sale, perhaps at 4123 94th Ave, but you’ll have to break the code to figure out when.

Get Your Fish On

Affordable Seattle writes of a fishing workshop on Mercer Island from 1 to 3 pm on June 20. Crosscut noted last week that Lake Washington around Mercer Island is actually underfished, so get out there and catch some.

Into the Woods

At Youth Theater Northwest, til Saturday.

More Delicious Things

CultureMob alerts us to a Cheese Tasting at Bennett’s on June 24th. It’s a Cheese 101 highlighting Beecher’s cheeses, which Bennett’s uses to great effect in several dishes including their killer tomato soup. $50 (the class, not the soup) at 6:30 pm.

And in only-tangentially-related food news, a fun note: Starbucks’ new CIO worked a day at the Mercer Island ‘Bucks in November (North Island). Anyone notice or recognize him?

And finally, it’s June: the month where the Mercer Island Farmers Market finally re-opens. For those of you who have been jealously gazing at various farmers’ markets from Capitol Hill to Bellevue, like I have, our late bloomer will be here next weekend.

The Bulletin Board is Back

Due to the construction at Island Crest Way and 40th, the Bulletin Board was taking a break. But the weather’s nice and the signs are out.

First, the Mercer Island Country Club is recruiting new members. The Reporter writes that three private country clubs on the Island are recruiting, when they usually have waiting lists. The MICC is a bargain at a $3,500 initiation fee versus $6,200 at the Beach Club and $4,800 at the Mercerwood Shore Club.

Moving to events, there’s a garage sale this Saturday at the Boys & Girls Club:

And on its website, the City announced the Third Thursday Art Walk on May 21st. The Art Walks will go throughout the summer:

“From May into October downtown merchants and the Mercer Island Arts Council will stage an art walk every third Thursday, from 5 – 8pm in downtown Mercer Island. Join us for art, music, snacks, surprises and general fun as you walk from business to business–rain or shine.”

MIHS is showing Big Love,  a play that is “a unique, thought provoking, and exciting evening of theatre.” There’s still one weekend left:

And Spring is youth sports season:

That was today. Sorry, a little late on the post.

Seattle Brain Cancer Walk on Mercer Island May 30

Last year the first Seattle Brian Cancer walk was held here on Mercer Island. It’s happening again at the MIHS track on May 30th.

I had the chance to talk with Jim Seeks, a Mercer Island resident who walked last year along with 40-some other people. Jim walked to honor his friend Randy Peterson, also of Mercer Island. Randy’s no longer with us; his wife still lives on the Island. It was Randy’s doctor at Swedish hospital who set up the first walk. Jim now leads Team Randy, a team of Randy Peterson’s friends and associates.

Here’s some of Team Randy making its way around the track, from the gallery on the website:

Another from the gallery: crazy Cranium sent a team, complete with headgear.

The photos show people enjoying themselves, but looking through them it’s obvious that brain cancer has touched the lives of all of them, directly or through family and friends, in a very profound way. This walk is a way to show love and support and fight back.

And it’s a casual affair: you can go as fast or as slow as you want.  As Jim said, “There are very few rules and regulations.” That’s my kind of event.

Details: The walk begins at 9:30 am and awards and festivities are at 11:30. In between, you walk or run as many times around the track as you can.  More on thier website.

Around Town

The Mercer Island Half was this weekend. Thanks to pauldf for this photo:

I didn’t run this year but if you did, check out the race results or a first-hand account from zml.

Coming Up: Wine

Cellar 46 is having wine and food specials in honor of their anniversary this week. They also have regular happy hour specials, Tuesday through Saturday from 4-6pm:

• $ 10 wine flights
• 50% off appetizers
• 25% off wines by the glass

I’ve been for wine and starters a couple of times and it’s good. Haven’t gotten around to reviewing the place yet, but the Seattle Times has done a nice job.

Spring Recycling Event

The city of Mercer Island is running a spring recycling event this weekend: March 28, 2009 9 am–3 pm at the Mercer Island Boat Launch.

If you’re always trying to figure out what to do with old batteries, this is for you. You can also take computer equipment, appliances, and all manner of things. See the flier for more details.

Run Off the Schools Breakfast at the Half Marathon

It’s the Mercer Island Bulletin Board, that virtual place for events and notices. Got one? Email mercerislandblogger @ yahoo.com.

The Most Important Meal & The Most Important Cause

Ken Glass tipped us off to the annuals schools breakfast. In his words:
It’s a great, fun community event designed to raise money (especially important this year as the schools face budget cuts from Olympia and aren’t allowed to ask taxpayers if they wish to pay more for schools).

First and foremost are finding sponsors, angels (donors whose donations get matched) and table captains.

Put it on the calendar and sponsor if you can. And if you eat too many pancakes for the kids, also coming up in March:

Mercer Island Half Marathon

There’s also a 10k and 5k run. I ran this last year and it was a lot of fun.
Register here.

Speaking of Schools, Go MIHS!

The MIHS swimmers broke a state record in the 400 relay and the womens’ basketball team won the King County title. Nice!

Photo credit: Issaquah Press.

Public Announcements

Just doing my civic duty:

Openings for Pages with State Senator Fred Jarrett

Tour the state capitol. Watch a bill become a law. Hobnob with State Senators and other pages. It’s a great job if you can get it- but you’ve got to be 14 to 16 years old and have a C+ or better GPA. Tell that smart kid on your street to sign up, because government matters. See the State Democrats blog for more.

Pages, get yourselves down here. Photo credit: scarfacectm.

Light Rail Open House re: Environmental Impact on Jan 27

You know you’ve been waiting for it: the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the East Link Light Rail Project by Sound Transit. You can download the draft EIS from the city website and read it cover to cover. Then prepare your comments for the January 27th open house. Who needs movies?

Let’s Go to a Show

It’s theater time on Mercer Island, with two productions open now or soon. Bat Boy, at Mercer Island High School, is about a vampire boy. When John Hopkins did it, they called it “a musical with some guts.” Ouch. Anyway, the show was originally an off-broadway musical, and it’s been banned at some schools, which means it’ll probably be pretty good. Dates and tickets.

The Monkey King is a Chinese play being performed at Youth Theater Northwest. There’s a great clip from the Beijing Opera on YouTube. If the kids can do half of that, they’re pretty talented. And I’ll give them plenty of room on the sidewalk if I see them. Running til May 10; get tickets.

Music on Mercer is still looking for band students for their summer program. And we’ve got a couple of sports programs I’m more than a bit late on- there was registration for the Mercer Island Youth Soccer club on May 4th, but it looks like you can still go to the website and register.

Water Polo: not reported in time to drive attendance on May 2.

And finally, I’m really in deep water on this one, but I didn’t make the goal of getting this game on May 2 on the blog in time. Luckily Mercer Island girls Water Polo has a great website with a calendar.

On the Definitive Authority of the Mercer Island Bulletin Board

I’ve seen some other signs pop up over Mercer Island, in other locations than Island Crest Way and 40th– most notably at ICW at 68th, and occasionally across from the Post Office. In the opinion of this blogger, these are not definitive Bulletin Board locations, for the simple reason that I don’t pass by them regularly and therefore it would be hard to post them here. Other bloggers with more convenient locations can claim them and then we can have a lively debate over the definitive authority of each Bulletin Board location.

Nonsequiter: Keeping Mercer Island History Real

And finally, congratulations to Mercer Island’s Phil Flash. According to the Mercer Island Reporter:

Last Tuesday, Flash was given the Willard Jue Memorial Award by the Association of King County Historical Organizations, or AKCHO, for his persistence, devotion and enthusiastic work in preserving Mercer Island’s historic legacy.

Thanks Phil! I love Mercer Island history, and you’re keeping it real. Richard Sprague suggested I get in touch with you a while back, and I’ll try harder because I went and got married instead.

Yes Schools Yes Gets a Yes

According to the Mercer Island Reporter, the schools levy that campaigned so aggressively at the Mercer Island Bulletin Board passed.

Nice work, Yes Schools Yes! Who doesn’t like capital facilities and technology for schools?