REI is organizing a work party in Discovery Park this Saturday and they would love to have Magnolia residents join in to help.

Volunteers will participate in planting native species, removing invasive plants, and restoring a small corner of the park.  Snacks, drinks, and a free "Get Dirty" t-shirt are provided by REI.  Gloves, tools, and friendly know-how are provided by Discovery Park. All you need to bring is yourself, weather and work-appropriate clothes, and a willingness to do your part. The work party runs from 10a.m. to 1p.m.  For questions, please contact Rob Sendak at 206.470.4071 or rsendak@rei.com.  Click here to register for the work party.

The educational non-profit Successful School in Action (SSIA) is kicking off its 2010-2011 presentation series with a conversation with Seattle school board president Michael DeBell, and central area director Nancy Coogan. The talk will be held on Wednesday, December 1 at 7 p.m. at the McClure Middle School cafeteria at 1915 1st Ave W..

The event will be broken into two parts. The first, called Let’s Move, will take place from 7 to 7:30 p.m. Representatives from the Mayor’s office, who are working to launch the Seattle initiative of Michelle Obama’s national Let’s Move campaign addressing the issue of childhood obesity, will be in attendance.

In Seattle, health indicators give us a clear picture of alarmingly high obesity rates, with unacceptable disparities based on income and race. This is a problem that the entire community must understand and address. The Mayor’s Office and Public Health- Seattle King County are working on a public education campaign to showcase causes of childhood obesity and provide key action steps parents, kids, community members, educators, and others can take to help reverse this epidemic.

The second portion, from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. will include an introduction to Nancy Coogan and a short presentation from Michael DeBell, and a community discussion and Q&A session that will cover the following topics:

• What’s next with the new Student Assignment Plan?
• The new school reports
• What an area director actually does?

For more information, contact Successful Schools in Action at 206-375-5375

The new Lawton Park play area at 3843 26th Ave. West is now open.   

The renovation project, identified in the Parks and Green Spaces Levy provided new play equipment for children ages 2-12, site improvements to enhance safety and paving of east and west pathways to improve access by all users.  Low fencing will remain in place near the play area to allow the grass to establish.

Seattle Parks and Recreation in-house landscape architects incorporated ideas collected at two public meetings into the final design. 

Seattle voters passed the $146 million Parks and Green Spaces Levy by a 59% vote in November 2008.

Thanks to Steven Smalley for the photos!

The group working to save the Magnolia Farmers Market has two meetings scheduled for people interested in finding solutions that would allow for the continuation of the market.

As we have reported the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance (NFMA) announced that the Magnolia Farmers Market will not open in 2011 unless the Magnolia community can come up with at least $20,000 of community support.

On Tuesday, 11/30 the group will meet at the Magnolia Community Center from 6-8p.m. in an open forum to brainstorm ideas, opinions, options and resources.  The second meeting on Tuesday, 12/7 will focus on establishing an action plan and begin moving toward a positive outcome.  That meeting will also run from 6-8p.m. at the Community Center. 

If you want more information you can contact Nancy Gellos via email at nancygellos@comcast.net.

If you need to work off some of that Thanksgiving dinner, head over to Denali Fitness in Interbay.  They are holding a fundraiser for Food Lifeline and you can enjoy a free workout if you donate at least one can of food.

The promotion runs through Sunday (11/28) and Denali’s says anyone is welcome, including your out of town guests.

Denali is located at the corner of 16th Ave West and West Bertona Street.

Updated 6 p.m. An 91-year-old woman died early this morning in a fire in a single-family home at 1926 Clise Pl. West in Magnolia.  Neighbors say that the woman lived alone. 

Firefighters responded at 5:12 a.m. and discovered the house well-involved in flames. Neighbors told rescue crews that an elderly woman lived inside. Firefighters performed a search and rescue, and found the woman in a bedroom, said spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick. “She was unable to survive the smoke and flames,” Fitzpatrick said. Investigators believe that materials placed too close to a baseboard heater sparked the fire.

This is the home here, which is difficult to see from the street.  When firefighters arrived smoke was pouring from the front door.  The fire department said that ice on the stairs also posed a challenge for firefighters.  About 40 firefighters responded to the fire and one firefighter suffered minor burns and was taken to Harborview for treatment.

Congratulations to the volunteers at Magnolia’s Heron Habitat Helpers (HHH) for being named finalists for the 2010 Denny Awards for outstanding volunteer stewardship.    The  group is begin recognized for achieving the first wildlife sanctuary in the city of Seattle at Kiwanis Ravine Park, home of Seattle’s largest nesting colony of Great Blue Herons.

The winners will be announced at the event on December 7 at 6 p.m. at the Lake Union Park Armory at, 860 Terry Ave. N.  Acting Superintendent Christopher Williams will recognize all nominees, and present awards to winners.  

For the past 10 years, HHH has been a leader in conservation, demonstrating exceptional stewardship for the park, providing stellar leadership in enhancing the park, showing significant personal commitment, and generating a sense of community around the park.

If you would like to be part of HHH, they have a work party coming up on Saturday, December 11th.  Click here for details.

Its almost time to start shopping for a holiday tree and we want to let you know that Lawton Elementary is holding it’s second annual Christmas Tree Sale.

The sale will run three weekends starting this Saturday (11/27).  They will have a selection of Noble, Fraser, Grand and Douglas Firs. Trees are priced by height.  The tree lot is located in the school parking lot at 4000 27th Avenue West.

Proceeds from the sale benefit the students of Lawton Elementary by funding art and music enrichment, PE equipment, World Cultures Programs, Science enrichment and other projects.  You can use a credit card to buy the tree but they prefer that customers bring cash and checks if possible.

They will be selling trees on the following weekends: 
11/27 & 28 10a.m.-8:00p.m.
12/3 3:30-8p.m.
12/4 & 5 10a.m.-8p.m.
12/10 3:30-8p.m.
12/11 & 12 10a.m.-8p.m.
12/16 & 17 5-8p.m.

They will also be selling discounted Brown Bear Car Wash tickets and baked goods and serving up some complimentary cider and cocoa while you search for the perfect tree. 

Even though most of the roads are clearing up in Magnolia, there are still some trouble spots as evidenced by this photo we just got from Jason. 

He says that it appears the ambulance slid down the hill and the tow truck was trying to pull it up at 23rd and Armour first thing this morning.

Though a few big hills, like McGraw Street at both ends of The Village, are still closed, most of the roads around Magnolia are now passable.

Roads in The Village are pretty much bare and dry.

Much of the ice has now turned to this slush.

We found that most of the roads in Magnolia are basically clear with just a few patches of remaining snow.  This is 28th Ave West.

The Magnolia Bridge is clear of snow and ice.

Magnolia Blvd is also pretty much clear and the view of the Olympics is beautiful this morning.

We set a new record low temperature overnight with 14 degrees recorded at SeaTac.  Many of the roads in Magnolia are clear but side streets and hills are still icy this morning.  Here is the latest (as of 8a.m.) from city services:

Roads: 

• Currently the City has 17 trucks with salt spreaders and two flusher trucks deployed:
• · Snow routes are in good condition.
• · There was no significant re-freezing of cleared roadways during the past 24 hours.
• · There are no significant problems on the snow route network.
• · The Alaskan Way Viaduct and the West Seattle High Rise Bridge are bare and dry.
• · Focus is on reopening closed roads. The Seattle Police Department and SDOT are working to review roads currently closed and will update the list online.
• · The City will continue the same level of deployed vehicles for the morning commute; focus will be on efforts to prevent re-freezing, address trouble spots on Level 3 routes, and bring more roads off the closed list.
• · Because of the possibility of precipitation today leading to the formation of black ice tonight, some roads will remain closed.
• · 24 hour shifts will continue through Thursday, November 25.

Garbage pick up: 

• · Garbage, yard waste and recycling collection have been postponed in Seattle for a second day, due to dangerous road conditions; icy side streets prohibit safe collections. There will be no residential services on Wednesday, November 24.
• · Collection services for commercial and multi-family accounts will be available on a limited basis Wednesday, November 24, where access allows.
• · Customers whose containers were not collected on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of this week will have them collected next week on their regularly scheduled pick-up day, and will be allowed to set out double their normal amount of garbage, yard waste and recycling at no additional charge.

Magnolia Community Center:

• Will operate from 10a.m. to 5p.m. today for drop in activities.
• School Age Care Programs, athletic programs and scheduled recreation programs and classes are cancelled.

Library:

• · All locations of The Seattle Public Library, including Magnolia, will be open from noon to 5 p.m.

Discovery Park:

• Discovery Park Environmental Learning Center  will operate from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today for drop-in activities.

Thanks to Charlie for these pictures and information from his neighborhood:  Obviously there’s still plenty of ice and the steeper hills are still plenty treacherous.  We live on the corner of W. Manor Place and 25th PL W on the east side of the hill.  This is across the street.   This car (with California plates) didn’t do so well.

Share your photos of our winter weather with us at tips@magnoliavoice.com.

Its not expected to get above 24 degrees today but we found this dog who is staying warm.  He was bundled up in a nice dog parka and mittens while he waited for his owner to get a coffee this morning in The Village.

We recommend that you bundle up if you venture outside today too!

King County Metro Transit is operating on a  snow schedule and there were some service cancellations today.  We saw a number of Metro buses making their way through Magnolia today.

Yesterday, one bus was jackknifed in The Village and another was stuck on Throrndyke.  Today, those buses have been cleared.

We saw lots of people waiting at bus stops.

The buses are chained up and getting around pretty well.  If you need information on Metro schedules, click here.