You can expect the usual treasures at today’s Maple Leaf Garage Sale (above photo from the block-long sale on Northeast 94th Street between Roosevelt Way Northeast and 12th Avenue Northeast).

But there are also refreshments to keep you fueled while you shop the day away (photo at right from 1243 N.E. 97th St.).

As well as face painting for a cause at the block-long sale on Northeast 94th Street between Roosevelt and 12th Avenue, where kids are selling goodies and painting faces to raise money for local animal shelters.

And there’s also bigger multiple-family rummage sales at the Maple Leaf Evangelical Church at 96th Street and 12th Avenue (shown above), as well as at the Eagles, 8201 Lake City Way N.E.

Most of the sales continue until 3 or 4 p.m. today. Check out our map, which includes times and other details from many of the individual sales.

If you need a break from the Maple Leaf Garage Sale later today, you can get a free bite to eat along with entertainment at the annual Picnic at the North Precinct.

Once a year, each of the Seattle Police Department five precints invite the public to meet the police offers who serve their area and learn more about crime prevention.

Picnic at the North Precinct (and at the other precincts) is from 1-4 p.m. today at 10049 College Way N. (view all of the picnics on this map). Here’s what else you can expect, from the SPD:

In addition to talking shop with your neighborhood cops, you can watch local bands and performers, play around in a bouncy house, participate in a raffle for items donated by local businesses, meet the four-legged officers from the K-9 and mounted units, tour the precincts, and check out the cool gadgets used by special units like SWAT.

“The picnics are a good opportunity for people to get to meet the officers working in their community,” says East Precinct A/Sergeant Chris Kelley, who works in the Community Police Team, “It humanizes us and it is nice to interact with the community on a personal level, not solely as law enforcement.”

UPDATE: Check out this map of the Maple Leaf Garage Sale!

Maple Leaf Garage Sale returns this weekend, and this time it has a central location at Eagles Mother Aerie No. 1, 8201 Lake City Way N.E., where you can either donate items for them to sell (but no large furniture) or rent your own table for $15.

The Eagles sale is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. All unsold items must be removed at the end of the day. For more information, contact Faye at 206-762-5125.

There are also plenty of houses and even blocks participating throughout Maple Leaf. We’re assuming the times are also 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., unless otherwise noted:

• 9101 Roosevelt Way N.E.: “We are in the process of moving from a three bedroom house to a boat, so there will be MANY items for sale.”
• Block-long sale on 14th Ave. N.E. between 82nd and 85th will include the home numbers 8232, 8228 and 8224 (from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.)
• 1219 N.E. 96th St.
• 814 N.E. 80th Street (starting at 9:30 a.m.)
• Block-long yard sales on 11th Ave. N.E. between 80th and 82nd (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.): “Good stuff!”
• 1022 N.E. 94th St. (9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday)
• 508 N.E. 84th St.
• Block-long on 95th between Roosevelt and 12th (for the 12th year in a row, Steve adds!)
• Sale at 8th & 98th is “A handyman’s dream,” Robert says. “I found lots of various nuts, bolts, washers, screws, connectors, piping, pulleys and other stuff while preparing a few things for sale. Almost like a mini Maple Leaf hardware store. Also sprinkler pipe, chairs, and other stuff.”

If you’d like to add your house to the list, email us at [email protected].

Dave from Northeast 84th Street sent us photos from their ragin’ block party last night for National Night Out:

A fire truck from the Green Lake station stopped by.

They had a great turnout with plenty of food!

And they even had live music from the Fabulous Juncos.

How did you celebrate last night’s block party?

In addition to Saturday’s community-wide Maple Leaf Garage Sale, Blue Saucer is bringing a new tradition to Maple Leaf with a “Pop-Up Open Market” from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 19.

So far owner Billie Bryan has secured 20 vendors who will be selling “crafts, collectibles, junque and more,” including:

• Art
• Jewelry
• Repurposed items
• Clothing
• Posters
• Handbags
• Hats
• Papercrafts
• Candles
• Soaps
• Knits
• Handspun yarns

“We’re so excited about the fantastic response!” Bryan tells us.

There also will be live music from Mark Juan playing Spanish guitar, and from Highball Whistle, a three-piece girls’ string band.

Bryan adds that although she’s full on many vendors, she’s still on the lookout for more “pantry” items such as jams, jellies and pickles. For more information, stop by the cafe at 9127 Roosevelt Way N.E. or email Bryan at [email protected].

As for the rest of you, we’ll see you at the Pop-Up Market!

You’re invited to help make the 80th birthday of one of the residents at Aljoya Thornton Place spectacular.

Photo of Sunnie Gordon courtesy Aljoya Thornton Place.

Sunnie Gordon, who turns 80 on Saturday, Aug. 11, has one birthday wish: to do something kind for children. And it’s easy for you to help. Aljoya tells us:

Sunnie knew this year she wanted to ask her friends to donate to an important cause, but thought asking for cash was tacky. So, she made some calls, talked to some neighborhood firefighters and found out about the Teddy Bear Patrol, a local program that gives children in traumatic situations a small, fuzzy, stuffed animal to sooth their spirits.

Sunnie’s 80th Birthday party happens Saturday, August 11th at Aljoya Thornton Place, at 450 100th St. She has invited about 150 people and hopes to collect at least 80 teddy bears and stuffed animals to give to the Teddy Bear Patrol.

“I hope to inspire other seniors who have everything they need to use their special day to do something worthwhile for others,” says Sunnie.

Aljoya Thornton Place welcomes any drop by teddy bear donations the weekend of August 10 - 12 at the community’s front desk. On Monday, August 13, Sunnie will take all of the teddy bears collected to WARM 106.9 FM, home of the Teddy Bear patrol to make her official birthday donation.

Once again, the Maple Leaf stop on this year’s Chicken Coop & Urban Farm Tour was at the home of Seattle Seedling author Stacy Brewer. But in addition to her chicken coop, her mosaic also was a big hit among visitors.

So much so that Grace Seidel, organizer of the Maple Leaf Summer Ice Cream Social, convinced Brewer to teach a mosaic class starting at about 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 10, to the first eight people who reserve their spot with her at [email protected]. She tells us:

We’ll have a two-hour session to make flower stones - the little tile mosaic flowers I put on large river rock. That will give everyone an opportunity to work with ceramic and thinset adhesive and I’ll be able to demo a few other things that should give you the tools you need to do any project. It’s $50 per person and I told Grace, I could host 8 people max (assuming everyone understands that we’ll be cozy and will be working in my dining room/kitchen).

You can see samples of her mosaics for sale on her Etsy page. And while you’re there, maybe you can pick up a few of her eggs, too! As Brewer wrote on her Seattle Seedling blog, she’s selling the egss her famous chickens lay for $2/half-dozen.

Police today report a man sitting in the street on 15th Avenue Northeast was struck and killed by a car about 2 a.m.

The accident occurred in the 10400 block, or just at the bridge over Thornton Creek 15th Avenue, in the southbound lane, police said.

From a police press release:

According to the witness, the man was sitting in the road with his legs crossed, elbows resting on his knees and his head cradled in his hands. As the witness approached the victim in an attempt to remove him from the road, a 1997 Infiniti Q45 travelling south on 15th Avenue N.E. struck the man, killing the 32-year-old man. The driver of the car drove off without stopping.

Officers found the car a few blocks away, in the 2700 block of Northeast 98th Street. Police said the 23-year-old driver appeared to be impaired by alcohol.

Neither the driver nor his female passenger were injured, police said. The driver was jailed for investigation of vehicular homicide and investigation of hit and run, the press release said.

Michael on Northeast 97th Street and 15th Avenue Northeast told us today that he woke up to his car prowled and mail strewn in the yard:

Our car was prowled last night. Nothing taken but a box of student material was tossed about in our front yard and the neighbors mail was strewn in our yard as well. I strongly urge everyone to get a locking mailbox. I constantly see mailboxes in this immediate area open and the mail all over the ground. Use your workplace as your shipping address if possible too. If you do not have a locking mailbox it’s just a matter of time.

Tim warns us that there’s a tree down on 105th between 5th and 8th.

He adds, “Not sure what/when it happened, but somebody must know something since the tree fell on to some power lines.”

We didn’t mean to get you down about Seafair by complaining about the traffic in our last post. In fact, the return of Seafair means the return of many a tradition, including this weekend’s annual Lake City Pioneer Days, which is a Seafair event that stars the infamous Seafair Pirates in the Grand Performance Parade starting at 7 p.m. Saturday.

And after that, the Seafair Pirates are coming to Maple Leaf!!!

That’s right, Dan Kerege, president of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie #1, tipped us off that the pirates are heading to the Eagles nest at 8201 Lake City Way N.E. at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

Maybe next year we can get them to come to the Maple Leaf Summer Ice Cream Social!

In addition to Seafair traffic this weekend, brace yourself for the start of more construction on Northgate Way as the NE Northgate Way and Fifth Avenue NE Intersection and Pedestrian Improvements Project continues.

The gist of it is to simply stay off of Northgate Way, at least for the next two weeks while the Seattle Department of Transportation builds a new landscaped median on Northgate Way, and possibly until Thanksgiving when the entire project is scheduled for completion.

Here are the details from the project page: (more…)

Did the police cars wake your up last night, too?

Joanne and Laura both emailed us to let us know police cars woke them up around 1 a.m., and they wanted to know the scoop. Joanne writes:

Hi, I live on 2nd NE and 88th - does anyone know what was happening Thursday night around 1-2AM. I was awakened around 2 with several police cars in front of my house. I did call 911 and she said that they were looking for someone. When I let my dogs out in the morning I discovered that someone had forcibly opened 3 locked gates and left them open. I was lucky to discover this before my dogs escaped. Does anyone know what was happening?

And from Laura:

Anybody know what SPD was doing between 2-3am this morning? Seemed like 5 SPD vehicles were circling the area near the Latona cut through between 88th and 90th forever last night. Kind of scary!

Joanna and Laura, as well as other neighbors in the area alarmed by the police presence, will be happy to know that the suspect police were looking for was arrested. From the SPD Blotter:

Just before 1:00 am this morning, North Precinct officers responded to a suspicious circumstances call in the 800 Block of NE 92nd Street. The caller stated that there were two men in a car that had been parked across the street for the past half hour. One of the men had a flashlight. As the officer was arriving, the car started to pull away from the curb. The officer activated his emergency lights and the car stopped. Immediately the passenger got out of the car and ran west and then north on 8th Avenue NE. The officer contacted the driver, who remained in the car. He told the officer that his friend ran because he had outstanding warrants. A computer check of the man’s name confirmed that he had several outstanding warrants for his arrest, with a total bail of over $22,000.

Additional officers responded to the scene, as well as a K-9 team. The dog and handler began a track for the suspect and located him in a yard of a house in the 200 Block of NE 85th Street. The 43 year old suspect was taken into custody approximately 45 minutes after he ran from the car. The suspect complained of soreness to his stomach from jumping over fences in an attempt to get away, so he was taken to a local hospital to be checked out. After he was examined by medical staff he was then booked into the King County Jail for his many outstanding warrants.

If you enjoyed last week’s Maple Leaf Summer Ice Cream Social, you might want to consider visiting the summer social of our neighbors to the north for the annual Pinehurstfest from 2-5 p.m. Saturday at Pinehurst Playfield, 12029 14th Ave. N.E.

The free family festival features refreshments, kids activities including a bouncy house and gymnastics, local community organizations and the following live music:

• 2 p.m. - Blue Madness
• 3 p.m. - Sidewinder
• 4 p.m. - Flight 420

The Pinehurst Community Council organizes the event in partnership with the Meadowbrook Community Center. The event is sponsored in part by Seattle Parks and Recreation. For more information, go to to the Pinehurst Community Council blog.

Sarah warns us about a car prowler in Maple Leaf on Tuesday night:

Quick heads up: someone went through our prius (we’re on NE 90th, between 12th and 15th) tonight. My husband took the compost out at 11pm and found the light left on inside the car (parked in our driveway). No damage, nothing taken - we leave the car unlocked and with no valuables inside to steal - but someone definitely went through it after dark tonight.