The East Ballard Community Association is proud to be a community partner for  the King County Metro Ballard/Crown Hill In Motion program this Fall. The Ballard/Crown Hill In Motion program can help you get the most out of the existing transportation network, improve your health and the health of your community, and even save you a few bucks!

Every car trip we reduce benefits our health and environment.
Start today:

1. Check out the Ballard/Crown Hill In Motion page
2. Pledge to change two trips per week from driving alone to something else and receive an unlimited use ORCA  card good through November 24.
   
3. Become eligible to win fabulous rewards from Ballard/Crown Hill businesses.

Who is eligible to participate?
You are! If you…

• Live or work in the Ballard/Crown Hill neighborhood
• Are 16 or older
• Have at least one car in the household (so you can drive it less!)

It doesn’t get much easier than this! Make your pledge today!

I just got a message from the folks at Blowing Sands Glass that there are still a number of raku-fired fish from August Night Out waiting for pick up.  These darling fish need a good home, so please come by the shop at 5805 NW 14th and take yours home.

And while you’re there, don’t forget to drop off your Ballard Market Receipts. 1% of your purchase will be donated by Ballard Market to go toward care and watering of the planters along 14th.

Thanks East Ballard neighbors for an awesome August Night Out last week in our soon to be new Park on 14th!

We had amazing hands-on art with fire with Dave Smith from Blowing Sands Glass and his daughters running the Raku firing of fish, Lon doing lampglass work and Frank blowing up his aluminum casting contraption.

We had the RapidRide bus park in the median where you could enjoy your potluck meal in air conditioned comfort and be greeted by RapidRide Man!

We had amazing food made by our neighbors.  Shelby Locke ran the grills and brought set up 14th as an outdoor cafe.  A very nice touch!

The band, Seeing Blind had dreamed of one day playing in the street across from where they live and their dream came true that night.  Scott and his band got to play at the other end of the street and got people dancing.

We’re also now more prepared for an emergency thanks to Linda and Terry getting through their East Ballard Prepares project and the EBCA had a booth set up for you to learn more about us and the park and where you could turn in your passport for the raffle!

Thanks to Ballard Market, Crash Landing Pizza, Tim Carroll (for the Starbucks cards) and The Bay Theater for donating raffle items!

And a heartfelt thank-you to our event coordinators, Shannon, Dawn, Casey, Holly, Linda, Peter, Scott and Christine.

We’re looking forward to seeing you all again at our next event!

The EBCA will have a table set up at this Tuesday’s Ballard Town Hall meeting with the Mayor. Come by to learn about all the great community organizations in Ballard, including the EBCA, enjoy some local entertainment and chat with the Mayor. We’ll  see you there!

download flyer here:
http://mayormcginn.seattle.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/6-26-12-Ballard-Town-Hall.pdf

The Meserole Memorial Median, at 14th Ave NW & NW 58th St, is the culmination of two years of planning and untold hours of effort from your East Ballard Community Association neighbors, in collaboration with parishioners from St Alphonsus. A beautiful bronze plaque was installed in the south end of the newly planted median creating a beautiful and sacred space in our community.

On Sunday May 20 a ceremony, officiated by Father Dan of St Alphonsus Church and Peter Locke of the EBCA, marked the touching dedication of the Meserole Memorial Median.

Outstanding service is the “gift with purchase” offered when doing business with Dirt Exchange . Located at 1515 NW Leary way this company is locally owned and operated.

Owner Gary was a pleasure to speak with when asking for support for an EBCA community project recently completed at 14th Ave NW & NW 58th St. The median at that crosswalk was being renovated, beautified and made environmentally sustainable in preparation for a dedication ceremony that took place on Sunday May 20 –more on that successful event in the following story.

Support from the Dirt Exchange came in the form of a quality product delivered on schedule, for a generous discount. As the only source of revenue for the EBCA is those Ballard Market receipts neighbors turn in for a 1% rebate, his generosity is greatly appreciated.

A weeding war in the median was waged over several days, removing by hand all traces of unwanted growth. (Those were your neighbors you saw out in the orange vests,  not a chain gang or SDOT crew!)

Once the weeds were all cleared, a beautiful women drove up in the Dirt Exchange truck to deliver 8 yards of topsoil. Brittani, the ownerʼs daughter who you see in the pic above, was a skilled and efficient operator. Watching her back a dump truck into the median between the oak tree and the sculpture was inspiring.

The outstanding service began with her willingness to dump the soil in several smaller piles making the spreading job much easier and faster. It got even better when she agreed to allow an hour for us to spread the topsoil before delivering the four yards of mulch that layered on top.

If a single action distinguished this first experience using Dirt Exchange it was Brittani noticing the couple of remaining bags of yard waste sitting by the curb and hefting them into the truck and whisking them away. After days of hard labor this act of kindness is unforgettable.

Be sure to check out the Dirt Exchange Facebook page. Brittani updates their page and has been known to offer discounts and just last Saturday was even offering free Hemlock seedlings.

Shannon Dunn is co-chair of the EBCA and newest contributor to the East Ballard Community Association blog.

Saturday April 14 marked our Spring Adopt A Street Cleanup and the sun came out to join us for this very fun event. 28 caring neighbors worked for 3 hours to pick up trash and weed the memorial median at NW 58th St and the EBCA would like to specially acknowledge each and every one of them.

Our first thanks go to the handful of volunteers who waged war on the weeds in the median in preparation for a dedication ceremony on May 20th. A bronze plaque in memory of Agnes Meserole will be installed in the yet to be planted median adjacent to the crosswalk. Thank-you to Milto Garcia who lives in South Seattle, in the neighborhood just for the morning. Thank-you to Ben Brackin, photographer from Building C Artists Studios on 14th who did a lot of the heavy lifting. And thanks to EBCA’s resident Landscape architect Steph Shelton, Bernadette P., Cassie Dunn, Ellen Kissman (adopt a street tool guardian) and the unstoppable Shannon Dunn, who have brought the median a step closer to the goal of being an easily maintained, beautiful and sacred space.

Thank-you to Casey Condon, Holly Hoag, Jonathan Bell and his mom Sue who cleaned out the overgrown grasses in the bioswales.

Thank-you to Will Rava, and his girls, Lillian, Abby and Celia (long-time dedicated EBCA volunteers), Jen Valiere-Douglass, Clara, Lydia, Leon Robert and his son Waylon, Lori Twietmeyer (graphic designer who created the EBCA logo), Alice Dews, Joanna Bice, Christine, Scott and Sam Owens who picked up trash on 14th from NW 65th all the way to Salmon Bay.

Thank-you to Linda Frank for running the volunteer sign-in table and relentlessly recruiting passers-by. Linda has participated in every single EBCA Adopt A Street Cleanup!

And thank-you to our local businesses, The Ballard Market for the grub and Blowing Sands Glass for the shelter, use of their facilities, collecting Ballard Market receipts to help fund watering of the planters and so much more!

Don’t forget to mark your calendar for the next Adopt A Street Cleanup on October 21st!

Thank-you to Randy at Stoneway Hardware for supporting our neighborhood!

Saturday morning was truly dedicated to the hard-core Seattle souls that don’t let a little rain or cold get in the way of making their neighborhood shine. As they say, April showers bring May flowers and so with this good start, our flowers are going to be going gangbusters by May! Our morning started with a quick stop and photo-op at Ballard Stoneway Hardware where compost was to be had for the planters. Thank-you Randy (pictured above in front of his store) for contributing a few bags to our cause. Over on 14th, the real fun was soon to begin as Shannon, Steph, Lori, Ray, Sharon, Casey, Dar and Dawn pitched in to clean out the dead leaves, deadhead, prune and compost.  The tall grasses have been removed since they were getting too tall. We left a few in the median at 59th if anyone wants them!

Interested in more fun in East Ballard in April? Come join us on April 14 for our Adopt A Street Cleanup!

April 14,  2012 10am-1pm
EBCA Adopt A Street Cleanup on 14th Ave NW
Location: Sign-in at Blowing Sands Glass – 5805 14th Ave NW
This is our twice yearly clean up event on 14th Ave NW. We will be picking up trash along 14th Ave NW and enjoying treats donated by The Ballard Market. Time and volunteer turnout permitting, we will also be weeding the areas around the planters. We’ll provide vests and tools. Make sure to come dressed for the weather.