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The Columbia City Solstice Festival is coming! Please join us for a drop-in lantern-making workshop!

Saturday, December 12 - 2:00 to 5:00pm
Rainier Vista Neighborhood House - Paul Allen Room (4410 29th Ave S)

Materials will be available for $5/person or “pay-what-you-can”. Can’t come but want to make your own lantern? Instructions for making your own lantern at home are online at http://columbiacitizens.net/make-a-solstice-lantern.

• The next NRV Community Kitchen event will be next Monday, 12/14 at 6:30pm – 8:30pm. The cost will be $6 per person.  The menu will be:

We will prepare the food and then eat together if time permits.  Bring a container and bag to carry food home with you.

This is a fun way to get out of the house (despite the cold weather) and come meet your neighbors and eat yummy food and have fun!  Spread the word if you can and we hope to see you there!

There are lots of great events going on this month in Columbia City!  Check out a list at <a href=”http://columbiacitizens.net/forum/t-201403/holiday-events-kick-off-this-saturday-12-5</a>ColumbiaCitizens</a>.

Also, the Columbia City Business Assoc. is offering a month of businesses offering reciprocal coupons: eat at Tutta Bella, for example, and get a coupon for various retailers offering specials. Buy something at Andaluz, and get a coupon for restaurants offering specials. Coupons are good from December 5 –30 and there are some great deals available. For more info, visit <a href=”http://columbiacityseattle.com”>http://columbiacityseattle.com</a>.

Come celebrate the Winter Solstice and the (very slow) return of the sun with the Columbia City Solstice Festival, Sunday, December 20, 2009. Be there with bells on - Rain, snow or shine!

Festivities start at 4:20pm with sunset procession. Light up the night with candles, lanterns, bike lights, and glow sticks and join the procession to the Solstice Festival! Bring bells and noisemakers to create a joyful sound as you gather with your neighbors and friends to celebrate the (almost) darkest day of the year. The procession will begin at multiple locations and will pick up other groups along the route at:

• SW corner of Rainier Ave S & S Hudson St (near tree)
• MLK/Hudson from Light Rail
• Volunteer to lead a group from your neighborhood!

At 5:00pm, meet at the Southside Commons (3518 S Edmunds St, Seattle 98118) for a Sing-a-long with Columbia City Choir and area musicians. Light candles, walk the labyrinth, and enjoy refreshments and mingling with neighbors and friends.

Become a part of the Solstice Festival planning committee and share your ideas on how to make this a great tradition for SE Seattle! Email anorris@seedseattle.org to be added to the mailing list or to sign up for a volunteer position listed below.

• Distribute posters/flyers (Available at SEED office - 5117 Rainier Ave S)
• Solicit in-kind donations from businesses (refreshments, lantern-making supplies)
• Assist with lantern-making workshop (set-up, help make lanterns, clean-up)
• Organize groups to walk to solstice
• Solstice event set-up/clean-up

This event is supported by SEEDArts, along with the Rainier Valley Post.

The December meeting of the HOA Board will be this Tuesday, Dec. 8, at 7pm at the McBride Court Community Room. All homeowners should have received a copy of the budget for 2010. If anyone wants to reject the budget, you must attend this meeting (or send a proxy form - you should have received one of those, too).

Other important topics that are on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting include proposed changes to the Rules and Regulations and Bylaws documents, including protected trees, garbage can locations, board officer term lengths, and several other procedural provisions. There will also be a review of the Landscaping service contract with Impact.

Come make your voice heard.

The Traffic & Safety Committee Meeting that was scheduled for next Monday, December 7, has been postponed. The new date is Monday, January 4, at 7pm in the Paul Allen Meeting Room at the Neighborhood House. That’s the big room downstairs. All interested parties are welcome.

According to the Sound Transit Central Link email alerts:

Starting Monday, Dec. 7 and lasting until Dec. 30, Central Link light rail will operate every 15 – 20 minutes between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. due to track maintenance. Maintenance will also temporarily close some platforms on one side of the track. If your normal boarding location is closed, please board both northbound and southbound Link trains at the opposite platform.

We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for riding.

This shouldn’t affect anyone who is riding during the day. Evening socialites, late commuters or off-business-hours folk will likely have a longer wait for their train.

Mike McGinn, Seattle’s new mayor-elect, is hosting a town hall at Rainier Beach HS tonight at 7pm. More information is at http://www.rainiervalleypost.com/?p=18803.