Groundswell NW Events

Sat, 11/07: Ballard Corners Park Planting Party

We have 200 bulbs to add to the park, and we could use help getting them in the ground.  Please come for planting and some general park clean up on Saturday, November 7th, beginning at 9am.  We'll be working rain or shine. Please bring your own tools (small spades are ideal).  If you would like to participate, but don't have your own tools, please contact Gabriella by Monday 11/2 at (206) 782-3238 or gabriella@seanet.com

Also, Thanks to everyone who has supported the development of Ballard Corners Park!  We had a fabulous turnout at our Grand Opening 10/10 in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the founding of Groundswell NW.

Thu, 11/19: Ninth Avenue Northwest Park Development Meetings

Seattle Parks and Recreation is hosting three public meetings to plan and design the new Ninth Avenue Northwest park development.

The first meeting will be on Nov. 19 and the second meeting will be on Dec. 17. A third meeting will be in early 2010. All meetings will be from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Whittier Elementary School, located at 1320 N.W. 75th

Sat, 11/28: 9th Ave NW Park Work Party

Friends of the 9th Ave NW Park will be having a work party followed by a holly sale on November 28th. Work party will take place between 9 and noon, while the sale will start at 1230pm.  Burn off that extra slice of pumpkin pie from Thanksgiving at the work party, and then go home with some lovely variegated holly to decorate your house!

Wed, 12/16: East Ballard Community Association Planter Partnerships on 14th Ave NW Kickoff

Meet the players: your neighbors, local businesses, schools and organizations who have already pledged their support and the Deptartment of Neighborhoods who's grant award makes this all possible.

See the playbook: check out the initial drawings and our work plan to bring together our community to make 14th Ave NW a safer and more beautiful street.

Join the team: choose how you will contribute to the success of this project.

Start playing: bring your neighbors and friends to this event. Enjoy good food, drink and company.

The east ballard community association is hosting this fun and informative evening to enhance the quality of life and sense of belonging in our community.

There'll even be supervised child care!

For more information, check out www.eastballard.wordpress.com or contact Dawn Hemminger at 206-953-3940 or eastballard@gmail.com

Thu, 12/17: Ninth Avenue Northwest Park Development Meetings

Seattle Parks and Recreation is hosting three public meetings to plan and design the new Ninth Avenue Northwest park development.

The first meeting will be on Nov. 19 and the second meeting will be on Dec. 17. A third meeting will be in early 2010. All meetings will be from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Whittier Elementary School, located at 1320 N.W. 75th

Sat, 12/19: Sunset Substation Kick-off & Solstice Party

Groundswell NW joins Sunset Hill Community Association and Sustainable Ballard in hosting a Winter Solstice Party, Potluck, Art Show & Sale, and the first community meeting about the surplus City Light substation property on NW 65th just west of 32nd Ave NW. Friends of the Sunset Substation, with Groundswell as fiscal sponsor, has received a grant from the Department of Neighborhoods to conduct a feasibility study of the parcel's potential as public open space. Come with your best ideas! The meeting starts downstairs at 6pm and the party starts upstairs at 7pm, with a keg and live music. Bring a potluck dish!

Other Events

Sat, 11/07: Ballard Street Cleanup

Sat, 11/07: Golden Gardens: Green Seattle Day!

Join EarthCorps and the Green Seattle Partnership as we celebrate Seattle's urban forests by planting native trees! Your help will contribute to our ongoing efforts to restore this amazing park. Today we will be performing maintenance on past restoration sites and removing invasive plant species such as English ivy. This is a Green Seattle Partnership project.

Click here for more information.

Mon, 11/09: Friends of the Troll's Knoll Tree Planting and Mulch Meeting

Well, we received our grant for $6000 in cash as well as the $6000+ we've received in donations, volunteer hours and resources from this community. Now we have some work ahead of us and we'd like to act fast.

This particular grant is to plant a tree buffer along the Aurora corridor and to mulch the black-berries that were cut this summer. If possible, we'd like to get the trees in the ground THIS NOVEMBER so the trees can have the benefit of being watered by nature all winter.

This means we have some decisions to make, trees and mulch to purchase and a volunteer effort to coordinate in a very short period of time. Therefore, we are having a community meeting this coming MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9th from 6:30pm to 7:45pm at the Fremont Public Library located at 731 N. 35th St. We will talk about how best to mulch, what types of trees we should purchase, volunteer and planting coordination, etc.

We will be having other community meetings to further vet the project designs and talk about our next steps but at this time, we have trees to plant.

We hope to see you Monday.

Thank you,

Kimberly Scrivner
Friends of the Troll's Knoll
253-732-0885

Tue, 11/10: Bell Street Park Boulevard

Seattle Parks is hosting the first public meeting for the planning of the Bell Street Park Boulevard.  The meeting will be Tuesday November 10, 2009 from 7 - 9 p.m. at SAM Olympic Sculpture Garden.

This project represents an innovative use of Parks Levy funds to create parks in existing street space, and as such could set an important precedence for Groundswell's efforts to promote the 14th Ave NW Vision.

You are encouraged to come and participate in helping shape this new park on Bell St. Click here for more information.

Sat, 11/14: Class: Considering Chickens?

Not sure about how much work it is? Whether to design and build your own coop? What to do with the poop?

Do you learn better by seeing and experiencing and by asking questions?

Here's an opportunity for you to do all of that and see a couple of different chicken coops in action
-one fancy green-built 'Coop Mahal' and one simple that cost me almost nothing to build.

You will see and learn:

• Different choices of coop features and systems that will keep your chickens safe and happy
• Which design features reduce coop maintenance
• How to easily turn poop from a smelly problem into a valuable product
• How chickens really behave by watching them interact with their environment
• How to Incorporate chickens with your garden to benefit both
• See the simple equipment that has successfully raised many day-old chicks
• Available local resources of information and supplies
• Techniques for outsmarting predators

DATE: Saturday, November 14, 2009
TIME: 10:00AM-12:00 noon
PLACE: NW Ballard area (details provided when you register)
COST: $20, $5 from each registration goes to Seattle Farm Coop,
(seattleurbanfarmcoop@yahoogroups.com)
REGISTER/CONTACT: Ingela Wanerstrand,ingela@qwest.net

Fri, 11/20: Sunset Hill Community Assoc. General Meeting

Sat, 11/21: Parks Levy Sneak Preview

Take a look, talk to the experts, plant a tree:
Saturday, November 21, 2009 and Saturday, December 12, 2009
Kiwanis Wildlife Corridor, W Government Way, between 35th Ave. W & Brygger Ave. W

10:00am ­ 2:00pm

HHH is hosting these two workparties in partnership with: *EarthCorps, *Green Seattle Partnership, and *Seattle Parks & Recreation Department.

This will be a terrific opportunity to discuss the project, offer your ideas, get involved with your neighbors!

Sat, 12/05: Community Guild Monthly Coffee

Join us for coffee (or tea or apple cider) and conversation about what we would like to have and do to create a meaningful and joyful community for ourselves in Ballard.
Diversity issues? Inter-generational ideas? Book discussion groups? Movie nights? Game nights? What about the homeless? Resource sharing? Abundance Fair? Learning together? Dinner parties? local economic alternatives?

What can we do together to enhance your community experience?

Come share your ideas, hear what others are excited about, be inspired and find collaborators.

Thu, 12/10: Holman Road Median Study Meeting

On Thursday, December 10 at 7:00pm the Crown Hill Neighborhood Association and the Crown Hill Business Association will host a community meeting to review designs for a series of planted medians for a section of the Holman Road / 15th Ave NW corridor. Produced by a team of students from the University of Washington's Community, Environment, and Planning Program, these designs reflect the feedback received from over 290 Crown Hill residents through an online survey, as well as conversations with SDOT, Metro transit officials, and business owners along the corridor.

The student team will present several options for your comment. Feedback from the December meeting will be used to produce their final design recommendations. Far from being merely an academic exercise, it is our hope that together we can create a design that will actually be implemented. The Holman Road / 15th Ave corridor is a dominant feature in our community, and improvements to the corridor have the potential to make our neighborhood safer for both drivers and pedestrians, nicer looking and greener.

Sat, 12/12: Kiwanis Ravine Sneak Preview

Take a look, talk to the experts, plant a tree:
Saturday, November 21, 2009 and Saturday, December 12, 2009
Kiwanis Wildlife Corridor, W Government Way, between 35th Ave. W & Brygger Ave. W

10:00am ­ 2:00pm

HHH is hosting these two workparties in partnership with: *EarthCorps, *Green Seattle Partnership, and *Seattle Parks & Recreation Department.

This will be a terrific opportunity to discuss the project, offer your ideas, get involved with your neighbors!

Sat, 12/19: Carkeek STARS Volunteer Work Party