We’re kicking off the new year by getting organized and setting dates for this year’s EBCA events. Mark your calendar and get ready to work and play in the neighborhood this spring!
If you’d like to help us organize these events, please reach out to Dawn at eastballard@gmail.com to join a committee.
EBCA Spring Fling in Gemenskap Park April 11, 2020 10AM-1PM This will be our 2nd annual egg hunt for all ages with lots of family activities and fun in the park.
EBCA Spring Clean along 14th Ave NW May 9, 2020 10AM-1PM We will be celebrating our 15th year cleaning up 14th Ave NW from NW 65th to Salmon Bay. Come join a tradition!
Join your neighbors at Ballard Commons park from 12:00pm-1:30pm this Sunday Jan 26, along with Kick It Boutique in Ballard. District 6 Council member Dan Strauss has been invited and has promised to show up and speak. The media has also been invited.
The following is an excerpt from the Facebookevent page: “Bring the kids, bring the pets, bring yourselves for an hour and a half peaceful demonstration on asking our new leadership for D6 what is the Public Safety plan for Ballard; specifically the areas that we all work, live, and go about our lives. Bring signs with tasteful slogans, and link arms with like minded individuals who are wanting answers to address the safety concerns in the neighborhood”.
If you’ve been reading this blog over the years, you probably already know what a huge role Groundswell NW has played in mentoring the EBCA and advocating on our behalf with the City to create our beloved Gemenskap Park, and if you haven’t heard of them, well, you have a chance to learn about this great nonprofit, meet the people who drive this all-volunteer venture, and start working on your New Year’s resolution to get more involved in your community!
Incite Action. Create Community. Celebrate! Thursday January 29, 6:30PM-8:00PM Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Center (Lower Brick Building) 6532 Phinney Ave N
After a short Groundswell business meeting, guest speaker, Courtney Sullivan, will share the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) top 10 City for Wildlife designation for Seattle. This designation recognizes cities that are not only taking direct action to help wildlife, but whose residents are also creating wildlife habitat in their backyards, balconies, at schools and throughout their communities.
The Seattle region currently has a total of 974 Certified Wildlife Habitats, out of which 33 are Schoolyard Habitats. Sustainability plans such as the Seattle Climate Action Plan and the Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan seeks to restore green spaces, creeks and urban areas. “Seattle maintains over 6,400 acres of parklands, 2,500 of which are forested and undergoing intensive restoration efforts,” (Seattle Parks Department) With large, contiguous parks such as Discovery, Lincoln and Warren G. Magnuson Parks, as well as smaller gems distributed throughout the City, Seattle provides good habitat for a wide variety of wildlife species, and continues efforts to improve these animal homes. Being both an Urban Bird Treaty City and a Bee City, Seattle acknowledges the value of wildlife and healthy habitats, and is working to provide a safer home for wildlife through its policies and actions.”
Courtney joined the National Wildlife Federation in April 2008, where she engages and develops community stewards and formal and non-formal educators, advocates for educational policies, and supports coalitions for sustainable environmental education and stewardship. For more information visit: www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife.
After Courtney’s presentation, Groundswell NW will announce this year’s local heroes and there will be plenty of time to mix, mingle, enjoy refreshments and visit with community partners. The EBCA will have a table, so please come by and say hello!
Learn more about this event and the amazing achievements of Groundswell NW on their website, their 2020 reportwhich has a great article about Gemenskap Park, and don’t forget to follow them on Facebook! Looking forward to seeing you at the celebration!
Join the EBCA November 2 for a Fall Festival in Gemenskap Park. There will be fun for all, including a pets and people costume parade, a pumpkin patch, story telling, treats, lawn games and more!
What: EBCA Fall Festival When: Saturday November 2 10:30AM-12:30PM Where: Gemenskap Park (6000 14th Ave NW)
Thank-you Indu and Emmett for making the park look so nice!
Although the clouds and wind were a little ominous, the sun did come out for a bit this Saturday as we set out to clean up 14th Ave NW and Gemenskap Park! We had 20 volunteers who picked up trash and weeded the medians and Gemenskap Park rain gardens along 14th. Coffee, donated by Tim from Ravenswood Apts, homemade scones from Chris, and fruit from Linda, kept us fueled as we picked up trash from NW 65th all the way to 50th Ave NW.
Big thank-yous go out to the following volunteers who went the extra mile to support this great event. If you want to be on the volunteer call-out list for next time to help organize this event, reach out to eastballard@gmail.com
Rob, who donated printing for our flyers!
Linda, Casey and Holly who posted flyers throughout the neighborhood
Linda and Dawn who helped load up the car, set up the event, work the event and then break it down. Whew!
David and Cynthia at Blowing Sands Glass for letting us set up in front of their business
Casey for picking up the coffee
Linda for washing the work gloves afterward
…and thank-you to Jody, Rob, Casey, Kenny, Chris, Indu, Emmett, Laura, Waylon, Leon, Mary, Ellen, Mary Pat, Andrew, Sue, Akira, Cy, Pam, Jon, and more who showed up and made a difference by helping us keep the neighborhood looking so nice!
Thank-you Pam and Mary. Nice photo bomb in the background Linda!
Check out more pics in our Flickr album to see all the fun we had! Thank-you neighbors and we’re looking forward to seeing you again this coming Saturday our 2nd annual Fall Festival in Gemenskap Park!
Join the EBCA as we clean up 14th Ave NW and tidy up the rain gardens in Gemenskap Park. Bring your friends, bring the kids, we’ll bring the rest! This will be a rain or shine event, so dress for the weather.
What: EBCA Fall Clean Sweep When: Saturday October 26 10AM-1PM Where: Blowing Sands Glass (5805 14th Ave NW)
Then join us again in November for a Fall Festival in Gemenskap Park. There will be fun for all, including a pets and people costume parade, a pumpkin patch, story telling, treats, lawn games and more!
What: EBCA Fall Festival When: Saturday November 2 10:30AM-12:30PM Where: Gemenskap Park (6000 14th Ave NW)
Join the EBCA as we clean up 14th Ave NW and tidy up the rain gardens in Gemenskap Park. Bring your friends, bring the kids, we’ll bring the rest! This will be a rain or shine event, so dress for the weather.
What: EBCA Fall Clean Sweep When: Saturday October 26 10AM-1PM Where: Blowing Sands Glass (5805 14th Ave NW)
Then join us again in November for a Fall Festival in Gemenskap Park. There will be fun for all, including a pets and people costume parade, a pumpkin patch, story telling, treats, lawn games and more!
What: EBCA Fall Festival When: Saturday November 2 10:30AM-12:30PM Where: Gemenskap Park (6000 14th Ave NW)
You have an opportunity to VOTE YES for a neighborhood greenway along 6th Ave NW. If you don’t know what we’re talking about, then check out this video put together by the 6th Ave NW Greenway group or travel along NW 58th or 17th Ave NW to experience one yourself. Vote via Your Voice, Your Choice under District 6, Project 19-312 by Sept 30. Take a look at the other projects while you’re in there (you can vote for up to 3 per district). For additional East Ballard projects check out the crossing improvement at 15th Ave NW and NW 62nd and another one at 14th Ave NW and NW 56th as well.
If you’d like to learn more about the 6th Ave NW Greenway and/or get involved with their very active community group, check our their Facebook Page.
During our daily walks along 14th Ave NW, we’ve become curious about the white painted lines that have appeared in the intersection along 14th Ave NW north and south of Market. Our curiosity led us to contacting SDOT to find out what’s going on. We received a very prompt and helpful response from SDOT civil engineer, Oli Frenchowicz. Here’s what he had to say.
The project to install markings along 14th Ave NW in Ballard is scheduled for September (weather permitting). Our crews have quite a big backlog of street marking work due to the slow summer season start and large number of projects.
A contractor is scheduled in September to start the yellow line markings, and our SDOT crews will complete other marking work soon after.
The goal of the 14th Ave NW project was to better organize the vehicles at the intersections for improved operations, formalize the pedestrian crossing spaces, and improve visibility for pedestrians, vehicles, and cyclists operating along the corridor.
You may have noticed some sign work was already completed as part of this project. The parking restriction signs formalized existing parking restrictions per Seattle Municipal Code. Additionally, we designed to accommodate larger vehicle turning movements at the intersections. The parking restrictions will help larger vehicles (delivery trucks, fire trucks, garbage trucks, etc.) make the turns once the markings formalize the driving paths.
In addition, we asked Oli if they could paint a crosswalk going north/south across NW 59th on the west side of 14th at the south end of Gemenskap Park, which seems to have been left out of the original design. He advised that they would add this to their their project for consistency near the park.
Thanks to all the neighbors and pets who came out last Tuesday to spend a beautiful evening in Gemenskap park to socialize, play games and share lots of food and drink! By the way, if you’re missing a wooden spoon, we have it, just email us at eastballard@gmail.com. We hope you made some new friends, scheduled a play date or two and discovered what great things we can do together within a small patch of shared grass in the neighborhood.
We heard some great ideas around regular play afternoons in the park, walking dogs together, more events like last year’s Fall Festival and more. If you have an idea and want to run with it, reach out to us and we’ll help connect you with resources and spread the word!
