We know how much Maple Leaf likes to celebrate its neighbors, so we wanted to make sure you knew about the next excuse to gather: Neighbor Appreciation Day on Saturday, Feb. 9.

The 19th annual Seattle-wide celebration is designated as a day “to reach out to neighbors, create new friends, and express thanks to those who help make your neighborhood a great place to live,” according to a news release from the city.

It recommends these ideas for participation:

• Plan an activity for your neighborhood such as a block party, potluck, or work party. The Neighbor Appreciation Day website provides ideas, tools, resources, and templates to help community members organize an activity. Once scheduled, the event can be posted to the events calendar.
• Attend one of the many community activities listed on the events calendar. Many Seattle Fire stations along with Seattle parks and neighborhoods are hosting celebrations and work parties.
• Send Neighbor Appreciation Day e-cards to your neighbors. The selection features artwork from past winners of the Neighbor Appreciation Day Student Art Contest.
• Share a story or two about your favorite neighbors. Community members can post stories about great neighbors or their neighborhood.

Do you have plans to celebrate Neighbor Appreciation Day?

UPDATE: Among activities planned in Maple Leaf is a Feet First Stairway Walk described below:

Nature, urban art and environmental design - this tour of Seattle stairs has it all! We’ll visit Thornton Creek, the biggest year-round stream in Seattle, provides a running theme: you’ll cross and re-cross it; view it bank-side and from tree-canopy height. And you’ll see how it’s been re-engineered by both humans and animals (yup, beavers)!

Walk Leader: Founder and publisher of Outdoors NW, Carolyn Price

Numbers: 4.7 miles: 326 steps down, 136 steps up

When: All walks start at 10 am on Saturday, February 9. Please RSVP for detailed instructions about the meet up location.

February is children’s oral health month, and local dentist Dr. Veronica Bello is offering free dental checkups for kids from ages 3 1 to 10 who do not have dental insurance.

The free oral exams and cleanings are offered from Feb. 11-15 at Avila Dental, in the Northgate Park Professional Building, 11050 Fifth Ave. N.E., Suite 202.

If you or someone you know has a child who could benefit from this offer, schedule an appointment through their website or by calling 206-420-3836.

In addition to ordering delivery from Flying Squirrel Pizza Co., you now can make that a gluten-free pizza, co-owner Bill Coury told us.

When the restaurant at 8310 Fifth Ave. N.E. first opened in September 2011, they touted gluten-free options that included salads and other sides, but what many gluten-free diners really wanted was gluten-free pizza. At the time, Coury told us:

“We’re just not carrying [gluten-free pizza] right now because to be honest, it’s all terrible. We’ve tried recipes, we keep trying recipes, it’s just not up to our quality standards that we expect. … When we say gluten-free options, we mean that yes, we have a plethora of gluten-free salads, we just don’t have any gluten-free pizza. It’s not that we’ve given up on it, but everything we’ve tried so far just is not good.”

Sounds like they’ve finally perfected their recipe! If you give it a try, let us know how it is.

Need some help with your taxes but can’t afford to pay for help?

The Seattle Public Library can help! Starting Monday, Feb. 4, free tax assistance will be available at the Northgate Branch, 10458 Fifth Ave. N.E., through Wednesday, April 17. Hours are:

• 3-7:30 p.m. Mondays
• Noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays

Free tax assistance will be available at various other branches as well. For more information, see the library’s news release.