Meserole Memorial Dedication

The Meserole Memorial Median, at 14th Ave NW & NW 58th St, is the culmination of two years of planning and untold hours of effort from your East Ballard Community Association neighbors, in collaboration with parishioners from St Alphonsus. A beautiful bronze plaque was installed in the south end of the newly planted median creating a beautiful and sacred space in our community.

On Sunday May 20 a ceremony, officiated by Father Dan of St Alphonsus Church and Peter Locke of the EBCA, marked the touching dedication of the Meserole Memorial Median.

Three days of thorough hand weeding by Lori Twietmeyer, Shannon Dunn, Dawn Hemminger, and Steph Shelton cleared the median for Dirt Exchange topsoil and mulch delivery followed by the installation of 80 new plants on Saturday. Thanks to Sarah for planting help.

Landscape designer Stephanie Shelton donated her services choosing drought tolerant groundcovers and grasses that will soon blanket the median in a lovely natural palette of greens. (Less hard labor weeding when we next meet at Adopt-A-Street clean up in October!)  She also made an exquisite arrangement for a standing vase that was placed by the new plaque for the ceremony. A bronze plaque, commemorating Agnes Meserole’s loving life and service to her community, was designed by Peter Locke and deftly set in concrete by Bob Serwold. Many thanks to Kim Serwold for keeping the endeavor moving forward and on track.

Shelby Locke of Foodz Catering donated delicious frittata and bundt cakes and Nellie’s Coffee donated -what else? – coffee. Blowing Sands Glass Studio, once again, offered the hospitality of a beautiful (dry) space in which to meet with neighbors and get to know each other. Schematic drawings of the new 14th Ave NW Park were also on display.

When you have a chance to stop and enjoy the completed median, imagine how proud you would feel having given your time or money to create such an asset to our community. Join the EBCA in future projects intended to enhance the beauty and increase the safety of our little corner of the world.

Shannon Dunn is a co-chair of the EBCA and newest contributor to the East Ballard Community Association blog.

Thank-you Dirt Exchange

Outstanding service is the “gift with purchase” offered when doing business with Dirt Exchange . Located at 1515 NW Leary way this company is locally owned and operated.

Owner Gary was a pleasure to speak with when asking for support for an EBCA community project recently completed at 14th Ave NW & NW 58th St. The median at that crosswalk was being renovated, beautified and made environmentally sustainable in preparation for a dedication ceremony that took place on Sunday May 20 –more on that successful event in the following story.

Support from the Dirt Exchange came in the form of a quality product delivered on schedule, for a generous discount. As the only source of revenue for the EBCA is those Ballard Market receipts neighbors turn in for a 1% rebate, his generosity is greatly appreciated.

A weeding war in the median was waged over several days, removing by hand all traces of unwanted growth. (Those were your neighbors you saw out in the orange vests,  not a chain gang or SDOT crew!)

Once the weeds were all cleared, a beautiful women drove up in the Dirt Exchange truck to deliver 8 yards of topsoil. Brittani, the ownerʼs daughter who you see in the pic above, was a skilled and efficient operator. Watching her back a dump truck into the median between the oak tree and the sculpture was inspiring.

The outstanding service began with her willingness to dump the soil in several smaller piles making the spreading job much easier and faster. It got even better when she agreed to allow an hour for us to spread the topsoil before delivering the four yards of mulch that layered on top.

If a single action distinguished this first experience using Dirt Exchange it was Brittani noticing the couple of remaining bags of yard waste sitting by the curb and hefting them into the truck and whisking them away. After days of hard labor this act of kindness is unforgettable.

Be sure to check out the Dirt Exchange Facebook page. Brittani updates their page and has been known to offer discounts and just last Saturday was even offering free Hemlock seedlings.

Shannon Dunn is co-chair of the EBCA and newest contributor to the East Ballard Community Association blog.

Dedication Ceremony for Agnes Meserole on Sunday May 20

On December 15, 2007, East Ballard lost an angel named Agnes Meserole in a tragic car-pedestrian accident at the intersection on 14th Ave NW & NW 58th St. Agnes was a St. Alphonsus parishioner and a St. Alphonsus pre-Kindergarten aid. At that time, her son, David and grandson, Willy attended the Parish School.

Please join Fr. Dan, the St. Alphonsus community and the East Ballard Community Association (EBCA) on Sunday May 20 at 9:15am for a celebration of Agnes’ life and unveil a permanent memorial in her honor. There will be a processional from the vestibule on the west side of the church to the intersection.

Thank you to the St. Alphonsus community for donating the memorial plaque. Thank you Blowing Sands for all that you do for the neighborhood. Thank you Foodz Catering for the tasty treats. Thank you Steph Shelton for the landscape design.

If you have any questions, please contact Kim Serwold–784-0146 or bkcserwold@juno.com.

The sun was welcome for our Spring Adopt A Street Cleanup

Saturday April 14 marked our Spring Adopt A Street Cleanup and the sun came out to join us for this very fun event. 28 caring neighbors worked for 3 hours to pick up trash and weed the memorial median at NW 58th St and the EBCA would like to specially acknowledge each and every one of them.

Our first thanks go to the handful of volunteers who waged war on the weeds in the median in preparation for a dedication ceremony on May 20th. A bronze plaque in memory of Agnes Meserole will be installed in the yet to be planted median adjacent to the crosswalk. Thank-you to Milto Garcia who lives in South Seattle, in the neighborhood just for the morning. Thank-you to Ben Brackin, photographer from Building C Artists Studios on 14th who did a lot of the heavy lifting. And thanks to EBCA’s resident Landscape architect Steph Shelton, Bernadette P., Cassie Dunn, Ellen Kissman (adopt a street tool guardian) and the unstoppable Shannon Dunn, who have brought the median a step closer to the goal of being an easily maintained, beautiful and sacred space.

Thank-you to Casey Condon, Holly Hoag, Jonathan Bell and his mom Sue who cleaned out the overgrown grasses in the bioswales.

Thank-you to Will Rava, and his girls, Lillian, Abby and Celia (long-time dedicated EBCA volunteers), Jen Valiere-Douglass, Clara, Lydia, Leon Robert and his son Waylon, Lori Twietmeyer (graphic designer who created the EBCA logo), Alice Dews, Joanna Bice, Christine, Scott and Sam Owens who picked up trash on 14th from NW 65th all the way to Salmon Bay.

Thank-you to Linda Frank for running the volunteer sign-in table and relentlessly recruiting passers-by. Linda has participated in every single EBCA Adopt A Street Cleanup!

And thank-you to our local businesses, The Ballard Market for the grub and Blowing Sands Glass for the shelter, use of their facilities, collecting Ballard Market receipts to help fund watering of the planters and so much more!

Don’t forget to mark your calendar for the next Adopt A Street Cleanup on October 21st!

Lots of fun at the Planter Steward Spring Clean

Thank-you to Randy at Stoneway Hardware for supporting our neighborhood!

Saturday morning was truly dedicated to the hard-core Seattle souls that don’t let a little rain or cold get in the way of making their neighborhood shine. As they say, April showers bring May flowers and so with this good start, our flowers are going to be going gangbusters by May! Our morning started with a quick stop and photo-op at Ballard Stoneway Hardware where compost was to be had for the planters. Thank-you Randy (pictured above in front of his store) for contributing a few bags to our cause. Over on 14th, the real fun was soon to begin as Shannon, Steph, Lori, Ray, Sharon, Casey, Dar and Dawn pitched in to clean out the dead leaves, deadhead, prune and compost.  The tall grasses have been removed since they were getting too tall. We left a few in the median at 59th if anyone wants them!

Interested in more fun in East Ballard in April? Come join us on April 14 for our Adopt A Street Cleanup!

April 14,  2012 10am-1pm
EBCA Adopt A Street Cleanup on 14th Ave NW
Location: Sign-in at Blowing Sands Glass – 5805 14th Ave NW
This is our twice yearly clean up event on 14th Ave NW. We will be picking up trash along 14th Ave NW and enjoying treats donated by The Ballard Market. Time and volunteer turnout permitting, we will also be weeding the areas around the planters. We’ll provide vests and tools. Make sure to come dressed for the weather.

Great community support at 2nd park design meeting

Thank-you to everyone who attended the 2nd community involvement meeting on March 7 for the 14th Ave NW Park. Over 50 neighbors showed up to  St. Al’s School Cafeteria to review and comment on Mithun’s latest concepts for the park. Based on community response, the Salmon Ladder idea was selected as the springboard for future design. Please note that most of the effort for this phase of the project will be focused on the “bones” of the park with less emphasis on programming. Specific programming features will be decided in later community meetings.

Topics of discussion:

lighting
The issue of lighting for safety but also privacy to the home owners along 14th was discussed. These issues will be an ongoing discussion as the design progresses.
A special thank-you to Dave, who lives on 60th, for paying the $5 a month to SPU for keeping the light in the alley on!

trees
The city arborist has assessed the trees currently planted in the park area and has determined which are healthy and will remain. The unhealthy trees identified will be removed and replaced at a 2 to 1 ratio.

limiting access to private property along 14th
A concern was raised regarding uninvited access to private property. A conscious decision was made by the design team to retain the existing sidewalk. Therefore, this current border between public and private property will remain.

 parking
Although parking will always be a topic of discussion, the comments solicited and received by Parks from this meeting, are 3 to 1 in favor of park over parking.

speed reduction
The presence of the new City Chief Traffic Engineer, Dongho Chang, was auspicious. Speed reduction had been an ongoing challenge due to the street classification. A subsequent meeting between Dongho Chang and the EBCA resulted in an agreement to reduce the speed limit to 25 mph along 14th Ave NW between Market and NW 65th. This will result in safer multi-modal transportation and reduce the transition from divided right of way  to side by side right of way from
1 1/2 blocks to 1 block. This means more money spent on park and less on street!

This was a great  opportunity for the community to meet with Patrick Donahue from Seattle Parks and Recreation. He is newly assigned as the 14th Ave NW Park Project Manager.  The EBCA looks forward to working with Dongho, Patrick  and all of our neighbors in creating a great public green space in East Ballard.

Community Involvement Meeting for the 14th Ave NW Park next Wednesday

Mark your calendar and tell your friends and neighbors about this very important meeting for our community. Mithun and the Parks Dept will be presenting designs for the park based on input you provided at the January meeting.

March 7, 2012, 7-8:30pm
14th Ave NW Park Boulevard Public Involvement Meeting #2
St. Alphonsus School cafeteria – 5816 15th Ave NW
- Enter building east of the church (map)

If you missed the first meeting in January, please check out our blog post which includes a link to additional resources presented at the meeting (including proposed designs). Based on input provided at the meeting and feedback provided via this blog and to the Parks Dept, the Salmon Ladder concept has been selected and will be presented in more detail at the March 7 meeting.