From Andrea Faste, Board President

Groundswell NW Events

Sun, 04/04: Easter Egg Hunt at Ballard Corners Park

There will be an Easter egg hunt this year after a construction caused hiatus last year. As in years past, this will be an informal hunt. Bring plastic eggs filled with candy and/or toys and trinkets to hide in the park at 10:15. The children will be let loose at 10:30 in waves from youngest to oldest. Children might want to bring a basket or bucket.

Sat, 04/10: Salmon Bay Natural Area Work Party

Join us to keep this natural area a viable habitat for wildlife and beautiful resource for the community to enjoy. Help Salmon Bay Natural Area by volunteering on Saturday, April 10 from 9am to noon. Volunteering is a great opportunity to make new friends while beautifying the neighborhood. Come learn about our recently completed extension of the Salmon Bay Natural Area and innovative solutions to improve shoreline habitat. Read more about our expansion in this BNT article.

We supply the gloves, tools, water, warm beverages, light refreshments, and safety for the area you are working in. We will have coffee! We suggest wearing your older clothes & comfortable shoes. Events take place rain or shine, so please come prepared for weather. The work parties are appropriate for all ages!

Saturday's Project:

We just completed a work party on March 13 & added low growing native vegetation to the west planter bed. Saturday's project will focus on planting, weeding, and litter pickup at the Salmon Bay Natural Area to prepare the site for the Dedication Ceremony, tentatively scheduled for May 22nd from 10am to noon. Marvin Oliver, a renowned artist of Quinalt heritage, is creating a welcome figure for the Salmon Bay Natural Area to celebrate the transformative powers of the salmon life cycle and to remind all of us of the stories, history, and creativity inherent in local indigenous cultures. The sculpture will be installed in April and our planting party will add vegetation along the top of the slope.  We hope to see you Saturday!

Sat, 04/17: ebca April Day Out - Planting Partnerships Planting and Adopt A Street Cleanup

This will be a fun event for the whole family! Join your neighbors in helping keep our neighborhood streets clean and beautiful. Admire the new planters and get your hands dirty by doing a little planting thanks to plants donated by Swanson’s Nursery and neighbors.

We'll have lots of treats for you to eat and drink

We'll provide tools, gloves and vests, but bring your own gardening tools and gloves if you wish. Please dress appropriately for the weather, cause this will be a rain or shine event!

Tue, 04/20: Sunset Substation Community Meeting #4

Come see a presentation of the preferred concept plan, based on input from the previous meetings, blogs and steering committee deliberations with our lead consultants from CAST architecture.

Sat, 06/05: Salmon Bay Natural Area Workparty

Join us to keep this natural area a viable habitat for wildlife and beautiful resource for the community to enjoy. Help Salmon Bay Natural Area by volunteering on Saturday, June 5 from 9am to noon. Volunteering is a great opportunity to make new friends while beautifying the neighborhood.

Come learn about the unveiling of a 17-foot-tall statue that commemorates the transformative powers of the salmon life cycle. The unveiling will be celebrated during a dedication ceremony on Saturday, June 12 from 9am to noon. Read more about the event in this Ballard News Tribune article.

Wed, 06/16: Friends of 9th Ave NW Park Meeting

Location: 1006 NW 70th Street.

We hope to have updates on development of the park.

Sat, 06/19: Summer Solstice Celebration

Join Sunset Hill Community Association's Annual Potluck Picnic and see the final product of our joint project to develop plans for a community gathering space under a solar canopy at the abandoned Sunset Substation. SHCA will supply hamburgers and hotdogs, updates on future programs, music, kazoos and a fun time! More details to come . . .

Sat, 06/26: 2nd Annual Edible Garden Tour

The 2nd Annual Edible Garden Tour will be on June 26th, from 10a-3p, so save the date!  The theme this year is "Start with a Pot, or Start with your Lot!" This inspirational and educational self-guided tour will focus on East Ballard, from 65th to Market and 14th to 3rd. This year's tour will feature gardens with espaliered fruit trees, vegetables growing in small pots, and edible curbstrips that look good and can feed your family. We'll start with a look at the school yard garden being grown by the children at St. Alphonsus Church and School.

On the day of the event, pick up your map/walking guide for a $10 donation at the little parking lot on NW 59th off 15th NW on the NORTH side of St. Alphonsus Church. Hope to see you there!!! Kids under 18 free. Carpool or bike encouraged.

Other Events

Tue, 04/06: Public Meetings on Our Future Energy Sources

Seattle City Light invites you to share your thoughts on what our energy future should look like. Have a positive effect on the planning that would affect our future electricity rates and the health of our environment. Come attend any of the three evening public meetings scheduled, though the closest for north-end residents is at Loyal Heights Community Center on April 6th at 7 pm.  The flyer with the other meeting locations and times is posted here.

The 2010 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) is a 20-year look-ahead at how we will meet our anticipated needs for electricity. It leads to a recommended strategy and near-term action plan for acquiring electricity resources. Your input helps to shape the analyses used in the IRP planning process. Light refreshments will be served and the first 100 attendees will receive a free compact fluorescent light bulb and an energy-saving showerhead.

Wed, 04/07: Golden Gardens Play Area Meeting

Seattle Parks and Recreation invites you and your family to meet with the design team for the Golden Gardens Play Area Improvements. Parks design team will introduce the project at this first of three public meetings for design. We want to hear your ideas for building an improved play area at Golden Gardens Park. One of our goals is to relocate the play area away from the existing high traffic location.

This renovation project, identified in the Parks and Green Spaces Levy, provides for a larger play area with play equipment designed for children ages 2-12, will upgrade the play area to meet current safety standards and provisions of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Parks encourages you to come and give your thoughts on the location of the play area and which play equipment and design features work best for your neighborhood.

Come get involved!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010, 6:30 - 8 p.m. at Golden Gardens Bathhouse 8498 Seaview Pl. NW., Seattle WA 98117

For more information on this project please visit http://seattle.gov/parks/projects/golden_gardens/playground.htm.

For more information or if you require special meeting accommodations, please contact Virginia Hassinger, Project Manger, Seattle Parks and Recreation at virginia.hassinger@seattle.gov or 206-233-7936.

Tue, 04/13: Soundview Park Cleanup

Second Tuesday of each month. Soundview Park Cleanup. Contact Deb Stamey deb.stamey@comcast.net

Sat, 04/17: 30th Annual Carkeek Park Earth Day

Carkeek Park registration begins at the Carkeek Park Environmental Learning Center at 8:30 a.m. For more information see http://www.seattle.gov/parks/calendar/volunteer.htm#/?i=2.

Sat, 04/17: Fremont Peak Park Work Party

Earth Day work party at Fremont Peak Park, 4351 Palatine Ave. N.

Sat, 04/17: Piper's Orchard work party

We will be doing orchard maintenance, including guild planting around the base of trees.

Location is Piper's Creek Trail between McAbee entrance and water treatment plant in Carkeek Park 950 NW Carkeek Park Rd, Seattle, WA 98177-4755.

Sat, 04/24: Crown Hill Cleanup

Crown Hill Cleanup. Meet in the Petco Parking Lot, 8728 Holman Rd NW.

Sat, 04/24: Baker Park Weeding Party

Please join us for a weeding party at Baker Park. Baker Park is between 14th NW and Mary NW east and behind the Crown Hill Safeway.

Wed, 04/28: Crown Hill Park Public Meeting

Sat, 05/01: Tilth Plant Sale

Groundswell NW and Sustainable Ballard will share a booth at the annual Tilth Plant Sale, set for May 1 and 2 from 9a-3p in the big meadow west of the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford.  Stop by to pick up more information on our garden tour.

Sat, 05/01: Save Our Community Centers

Sat, 05/01: Seattle Free Walks -- North Beach Natural Area

A wooded ravine, home to blue herons, otters, and songbirds. Here we see what makes a Puget Sound tributary watershed corridor. Bring a snack for a potluck picnic. Nettle tea provided.

Meet at North Beach Elementary School, then walk over to park. We will wait 15 min. on site before walking over. The trail in is a one way route, so we should be easy to find.

Tue, 05/04: 2011 City Budget Public Meeting

Join the Mayor and City Council to discuss next year's budget, including potential significant cuts to Parks and Recreation:
5 pm sign-in to speak
5:30 pm public hearing

Sun, 05/09: Llandover Woods 2nd Sunday Work Party

Llandover Woods is a pristine serene urban forest with abundant native plants and wildlife- we work on restoration every month.

Please RSVP each month by email so we can plan our work sessions.

Wear sturdy clothes and bring water, coffee, or snacks.
We provide gloves and tools.

Meet 9am sharp at end of the parking lot just west of the white brick pillars at the end of 145th.

Sun, 05/09: Mother's Day in the Piper's Creek Watershed

This Mother's Day, take the mom in your life on a naturalist-guided walk through Carkeek Park: While we stroll along Piper's Creek trail, you, your family, and your special lady(ies) will play games and get exercise, all while learning about the history and function one of Seattle's largest urban watersheds.

The walk will start at the McAbee Entrance of the park (6th Ave. NW & NW 100th Pl.) and we'll stop in the orchard for tea and treats. Register yourself and your family today!

Wed, 05/12: Ballard Roadside Raingardens

Sat, 05/15: Crown Hill Neighborhood Association Annual Meeting & Workshop

CHNA Update and presentation by Jim Diers, 10-noon.

"Neighbor Power" Workshop w/ Jim Diers, noon-2:30.

See flyer for more info.

Tue, 05/18: Ballard Community Kitchen

Sustainable Ballard will be hosting a 'community kitchen' at the Ballard Community Center every third Tuesday of the month.  The first evening of cooking will be May 18,  6pm - 9pm.  The menu will include TAMALES, several different types, and a mexican soup and salad/greens.

Sat, 05/22: Golden Gardens Play Area Renovation Community Meeting

Seattle Parks and Recreation invites you and your family to the second of three meetings with the design team for the Golden Gardens Play Area Improvements.Parks will present design alternatives for the new play area and continue the discussion on play equipment options which we began at the first meeting in April 2010.

Click here for more info.

Tue, 05/25: Urban Forest Symposium – Saving Trees

Join Plant Amnesty, the University or Washington Botanic Gardens and a host of co-sponsors for a really interesting one-day symposium, "Saving Trees." This event promises to give us all the latest scoop on how collaboration among planners, arborists, engineers and tree advocates works to create places where trees can grow in the big city.

The day kicks off with a keynote address by Denis Hayes, Bullitt Foundation president and national coordinator of the first Earth Day. Case studies and panel discussions follow with topics such as saving trees during development, innovative design technologies, legal protection for trees and more.

Other Speakers and Topics:

Case study of saving mature trees during construction. Jim Barborinas, President and Owner, Urban Forestry Services

Innovative Design in Green Infrastructure. Case studies of Silva cells and Seattle 's celebrated Street Edge Alternatives (SEA Streets) bioswale project.

Do you know the law? Panelists explain how tree ordinances and landscape codes can put goals for urban sustainability into practice.

Panelists:
Terry Flatley, Urban Forestry and Natural Resources Manager, Community Services Department, City of Renton

Peggy Gaynor, Landscape Architect, President and Principal Landscape Architect, Gaynor, Inc.

Kevin LeClair, Senior Environmental Planner, Department of Planning and Community Development, City of Bellevue

Micki McNaughton, Certified Arborist, former Urban Forestry Specialist, Washington State Department of Natural Resources

Nolan Rundquist, City Arborist, Department of Transportation, City of Seattle

Brennon Staley, Land Use Planner, Department of Planning and Development, City of Seattle 

For more details see the event flyer.

Cost: $45. Lunch is an additional $15 (There will be a free lunch for the first 100 registrants).

Sat, 06/05: Ballard Corners Workparty

Please join us for a work party at Ballard Corners Park (at 17th Ave NW & NW 63rd St) on Saturday, June 5, beginning at 9am. We could really use help this month with weeding and spreading wood chip mulch. The Parks Dept will be delivering a big pile of wood chips and we need to spread them in all the beds. There will be a lot to do and many hands make light work!

Some tools will be provided, but if you have them, please bring gloves, weeding tools, a pitchfork, a wheel barrow, and buckets/containers for collecting weeds and trash.

Sat, 06/19: Carkeek STARS Volunteer Work Party

Join other enthusiastic volunteers for a fun morning of forest restoration and trails maintenance. We have a wide variety of tasks you can help with. We provide gloves and water (we encourage you to bring your own bottle of water, to reduce plastic waste). Please wear sturdy shoes. Suitable for teens and older. Follow the STARS signs to our meeting place. We're here the third Saturday of every month. Welcome!

If you are a group of more than 5 persons contact Dale Johnson at 206-362-2980 to plan logistics.

Sat, 06/19: Golden Gardens - Green Seattle Partnership Work Party

Join us for a restoration work party at Golden Gardens - See website for important details on what to bring and where to meet. greenseattle.org