When we last spoke with Maple Leaf residents Garett Slettebak and Heather Berger (pictured at right), the founders of the annual Spoke & Food fundraising event were optimistic they’d be able to get a few Maple Leaf restaurants involved in the event by this year.

The event, which takes place June 28 this year, encourages people to forgo using cars that night and instead ride their bikes to participating restaurants, which then will donate 20 percent of revenue from that evening to the Children’s Garden program at Seattle Tilth.

So far, no Maple Leaf restaurants have signed up to participate, and Slettebak has set a deadline of tomorrow, May 13, for restaurants to join in.

However, there are some nearby restaurants participating, if you’re up to working off some calories on the ride home. So far, participants include:

• Casa D’Italia (Ravenna)
• The Scarlet Tree (Roosevelt)
• Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe (University District)
• Julia’s (Wallingford)
• Barking Dog Alehouse (Greenwood)
• Stumbling Goat Bistro (Phinney Ridge)
• Via Tribunali (Queen Anne)
• Snoose Junction Pizzeria (Ballard)
• The Lookout (Capitol Hill)
• Madrona Alehouse (Madrona)

Which Maple Leaf restaurants would you like to see participate?

“The Observers” by Scott Musgrove, whose art can be seen this month at Cloud City Coffee, 8801 Roosevelt Way N.E.

If you’ve been to Cloud City Coffee this month, you’ve likely noticed the art now on display, such as “The Observers,” pictured above.

The showing at 8801 Roosevelt Way N.E. features the works of local artist Scott Musgrove, a Pinehurst resident who “is a central figure in today’s rising Pop Surrealism art movement,” according to a new release.

His works will be on display through the end of the month, and you best appreciate it while you can. Musgrove already has had the coffee table book “The Late Fauna of Early North America” published, and his works have been showcased in New York City and Los Angeles, with a solo show coming up in Rome in 2012.

Learn more about Musgrove from the following news release: (more…)

By Katie Melton

Disagreements between neighbors about a proposed street mural at Northeast 96th Street and 12th Avenue Northeast has caused Maple Leaf artist Rachel Marcotte to put the project to rest.

“I think we can pretty much assume that there will be no mural in Maple Leaf this year. Disappointing, but oh well. I will try again next year, perhaps on my own street,” Marcotte tells us.

In our most recent post regarding the street painting, neighbor Dan Halligan commented that he liked the idea of the project being done on his street, Northeast 90th Street and 20th Avenue Northeast, but street conditions were of concern.

“While I’d love the mural on my block, we’re on the corner of 90th and 20th, a block past where the sidewalks end and the street is made of tar covered with gravel type. I don’t think it’d be suitable for a mural,” Halligan wrote.

The street Marcotte suggested the mural be painted on has similar conditions, and was not an issue for the project to move forward. We let Halligan know and asked if that swayed him to pursue the project, but he never got back to us.

Neighbors have a number of safety, aesthetic and financially related concerns regarding this project. One of the repeated issues was the dog painting that was proposed.

As some readers suggested in their comments, would neighbors be interested in submitting or suggesting alternate design ideas for a street mural?

Until then, wait until next year to hear any further ideas from Marcotte.

Katie Melton is the intern for Maple Leaf Life. She is a journalism student at the University of Washington.

Have you and your kids figured out a productive activity for them during the summer months?

If they’re interested in delving a bit deeper into the world of math, Explorations in Math is bringing two math camps to Maple Leaf’s own Math ‘n’ Stuff, 8926 Roosevelt Way N.E.

The first class is called “Adventures in Arrghrithmetic,” and is from 9 a.m. to noon July 11-15; followed by “Discovering Nature Detectives” from 9 a.m. to noon July 26-29. Both classess are for children entering first or second grades. Cost for each is $150 per child and is payable on Eventbrite.

Want more details? Continue below: (more…)

Anybody looking for a lost cat?

We got a notification that the cat shown at right was found this morning the near Maple Leaf Reservoir Park project:

I got the attention of the cat and it came right in. It is frail but very friendly and definitely belongs to someone as it has a pink collar but no tags.

If you recognize this cat, please call John at 206-255-9962.

By Katie Melton

Do you have piles of sensitive documents that you are hesitant to simply toss in the recycling? Join Salal Credit Union at its Northgate branch, 11023 Eighth Ave. N.E., for its annual Shredathon from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 14.

Photos from last year’s Shredathon courtesy Salal Credit Union.

Salal had its grand reopening and celebrated a new name last spring, also introducing us to the credit union’s annual Shredathon.

“People can just drop off their two grocery bags of shredables to be destroyed for free, it’s an open event,” said Lora Lee with Salal Credit Union.

The event is focusing on educating the public on the seriousness of identity theft, which continues to be on the rise. The goal is to understand the risks of disposing of sensitive materials, and what materials should be destroyed.

There is a charitable component, too.

Salal will be accepting donations of nonperishable food for Northwest Harvest, so visitors are encouraged to come prepared with their shredable documents and donations.

From start to finish, the shredder will be tearing up anything and everything you want to keep out of identity thieves’ hands, so stop on by Saturday for the Shredathon.

Katie Melton is the intern for Maple Leaf Life. She is a journalism student at the University of Washington.

Simon Youth Foundation has posted a story about the fundraiser in March for Northgate Middle College High School, an alternative school in Seattle Public Schools that’s located inside Northgate Mall. It writes:

Beth Brunton, a coordinator and educator at the Simon Youth Academy at Northgate Mall in Seattle, Wash., is like a lot of nationwide teachers, facing reduced budgets and program cuts.

What’s different is that Brunton and her students are taking action to offset the cuts.

“Our students took all the initiative and came up with the idea for what turned out to be a delightful event that raised funds and the profile of our school,” Brunton says.

Read more here (and don’t neglect the shoutout to Maple Leaf Life!).

For most of Maple Leaf, the 2020 arrival of the North Link Sound Transit light rail stations is just a blip on our radar. But how much do you really know about the project?

Learn more at one of the upcoming North Link spring open houses, including one about the Northgate Station from 6-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 17, at Olympic View Elementary School, 504 N.E. 95th St.

There also will be meetings May 26 about the Roosevelt Station at Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center Gymnasium, 6535 Ravenna Ave. N.E.; and one about the Brooklyn Station on June 9 at the Hotel Deca Grand Ballroom, 4507 Brooklyn Ave. N.E. Both meetings also are from 6-8:30 p.m.

Speaking of public transportation, if you still want to comment on cuts to bus stops for routes 41 and 73, which both are oft-used lines for Maple Leaf residents, you now have until tomorrow, May 10, to do so. You can send an email to [email protected] with “Route 41, 73″ in the subject line; or call Metro’s message line at 206-296-4511, and record your message, including the location of your stop.

You might not have heard of the talented young artist Gloria Joo, but you still might want to take advantage of your chance to meet her at the open house for her art show from 3-5 p.m. Saturday, May 7, at Fine Impressions Gallery, 8300 Fifth Ave. N.E. The Maple Leaf gallery writes in its monthly newsletter:

Gloria has interned at the gallery on Saturdays while in high school. She is a National Honor Society student, and plays first chair violin in the Seattle Youth Symphony. She has received full tuition and support to attend Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., this fall, where she will pursue studies in neurobiology, with music and art as “interests.”

Gloria’s senior project was to study art and develop a portfolio. In January, she was accepted into the Teen Advisory Program at Seattle Art Museum. The culmination of the project is this event at Fine Impressions to show her portfolio.

Although Gloria has had little training in art, she is a natural artist. Even the work she did before her classes, which she describes as “before I could draw,” is exceptional.

Come meet Gloria and see her work, so you can say you “knew her when….”

And while you’re at the gallery, the newsletter also offers a few tips for those of us who may not be as prepared for Mother’s Day as we’d like: (more…)

Starting today, residents and businesses can opt-out of receiving phone books and junk mail.

A look at the discarded phone books, courtesy the City of Seattle.

Last fall, Seattle became the first city in the country to allow residents and businesses to opt-out of receiving certain things at their homes – including phone books and junk mail. Today the city launched a new online registry to make the process easy.

“We heard from hundreds of people who are frustrated with the system of receiving multiple phone books every year and requested a reliable way to stop the waste. This is it,” said City Councilman Mike O’Brien, chairman of the Seattle Public Utilities and Neighborhoods Committee and sponsor of the opt-out legislation. “The new system provides real accountability — phone book companies must comply with peoples’ choices or face penalties.”

Those penalties are as steep as $125 per phone book if delivered to a residence or business that has opted out.

The city says this move will stop an estimated 2 million phone books from hitting the recycling bin, saving taxpayers about $350,000. “According to the U.S. Postal Service and Seattle Public Utilities research, Seattle homes and businesses receive an estimated 17,500 tons of unwanted paper in the form of junk mail and yellow pages phone books, approximately 100 pounds of waste per household, each year,” a release from the city states.

If you want to opt-out, you must do so 30 days before the scheduled delivery. Dex Pages plans to deliver next month; register by May 16 to opt-out.

The opt-out site is here, which includes both phone books and junk mail.

If you’re in the Maple Leaf neighborhood at lunchtime today, forget about the gray weather and stop by the Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream truck, which is scheduled to be parked from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Washington Dental Service building, 9706 Fourth Ave.

Seasonal flavors will include Thai Tea Ice Cream and Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet.

And you can end the week with a burger (or a grilled sandwich or maybe even a brat — check out the menu) from Charlie’s Buns ‘N Stuff, which also will be parked just south of Thornton Place, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday. UPDATE: Charlie’s Buns ‘N Stuff has canceled its Friday stop in the neighborhood, but plans to instead be here Monday for lunch.

Is it possible to have too many buckets?

No, we didn’t think so. Especially when the bucket is free for you, and results in a $2 donation to help fight diabetes.

All you have to do is stop by the Maple Leaf Ace Hardware, 900 Roosevelt Way N.E., on Saturday or Sunday, May 7-8. If you spend at least $25 filling one of their signature 5-gallon buckets as your shopping basket, you get the bucket free and Ace will donate $2 to the American Diabetes Association.

Ace writes on its Facebook page:

You can add a dollar or two if you like — all the money raised will go to the ADA in support of the Tour de Cure bike ride.

And speaking of the Tour de Cure, co-owner Mike Kelley will be bike riding in ADA’s Tour de Cure in honor of his brother, who has Type 1 Diabetes. This ride is a Century Ride on Saturday, May 21, 2011 at Marymoor Park in Redmond. Register to ride TeamACE and beat Mike to the finish, then you could win a $25 gift card from our store. To register and for official rules, go to diabetes.org/tour. Find “Join a Team;” type “TeamACE.”

The following post and photos come from John Wolff, a Maple Leaf resident who lives near Olympic View Elementary (more on flickers in Maple Leaf):

The current “Owl and the Woodpecker” exhibit at UW’s Burke Museum inspired me to build a starling-resistant Northern Flicker nest box (google “starling resistant flicker box”).

I poached the design (from Fiddle Creek Farms, Shaw Creek Bird Supply and See More Wild Birds), got it up rather late (early April), but by May 1 it’s already occupied! The sloping face with no perch exploits woodpeckers’ tree-climbing ability. I made, but did not install, the plexiglass starling shield; time will tell if it’s necessary. The front is hinged on nails for easy cleaning if starlings invade it.

If you have woodpeckers pecking on your house to excavate a nest cavity, this is a way to make them a better offer elsewhere, but check for insect infestation — if they’re pecking on your house for feeding purposes, you may have another problem entirely.

Their drumming is not to make a hole, it’s to attract a girlfriend. There is often a difference of opinion between drummers and their audience, so if they enjoy the tone of your sheet metal chimney cover more than you do at 5:00 AM, you can make them a better offer by mounting a better flicker drum someplace not on your house (more via the Baltimore Bird Club).

Flickers are under serious nest-cavity competition from the invasive, aggressive, non-native starlings (birders hate them) — so if you do this, you have to keep an eye on it and forcibly evict the interlopers.

Also, if you feed birds or put up nest boxes, make sure you’re not encouraging House Sparrows, a truly nasty invasive species that kills bluebirds, swallows, and purple martins in their nest cavities and has seriously depleted their populations (birders hate them, too). Learn more at All About Birds, Sialis and Sparrow Traps.

Wolff adds that a flicker may be trying to nest in a cavity at the top of an old telephone pole opposite the front door of St. Catherine’s School, so a nest box in that area could be just what that flicker is looking for.

Although Mayor Mike McGinn earlier released the questions and answers posed at his town hall-style visit to Northgate and Maple Leaf in March, some of the questions he was unable to answer.

Mayor Mike McGinn visted Thornton Creek Park No. 6 in March.

Now we have the answers. From the Mayor’s Office:

1) How can we respond to business concerns about day laborers looking for work at the corner of 117th and Aurora?
It’s important to understand that the main reason workers are there right now is that employers are stopping to offer them work. That’s unlikely to change in the future, but a lot of issues can be addressed with better communication between local businesses and the workers in question.

Casa Latina, a local non-profit that works to organize and educate Latino day laborers around the city, has generously offered to facilitate a meeting between local businesses and the laborers themselves to help each side better understand the other’s needs. Please contact Sol Villarreal in my office at [email protected] or 206-427-3062 if you’re interested in participating in such a meeting.

2) Will there be cuts to the school lunch program next year? (more…)

In anticipation of a potentially brutal 2012 budget, the Seattle City Council is planning a series of meetings to share information about the budget process and to seek information from its constituents.

Tonight the council will be in our neck of the woods at Meadowbrook Community Center, 10517 35th Ave. N.E., to discuss what is calls “one of our main priorities: parks.”

It’s a subject that’s near and dear to the hearts of Maple Leaf residents, with the opening of Maple Leaf Reservoir Park coming up in 2013.

Residents are asked to provide input on how parks should be prioritized just as money becomes a crucial issue for our new park, so make your voice heard tonight from 6:30-8 p.m.

For more information on the budget process, go to the Seattle City Council’s website.