newrainiervista.com

You are invited to come to the a community potluck to celebrate both the Lunar New Year and Black History Month next Saturday (Feb. 12) at Neighborhood House from 5pm to 7pm. Here are the details:

5-6pm Soul Food and Vietnamese Dinner (Please bring a dish to share with your neighbors)
6-6:30pm Black History Presentation
6:30-6:45pm Vietnamese Music and Dance
6:45 - 7pm Vovinam Au Lac Lion Dance Team

For information, call Kate Farmer at 206-461-4568 ext. 211 or Naomi Chang at 206-722-4010 ext. 2

SouthendSeattle.com, a community blogging project focusing on the passions, expertise and shared resources of people in South Seattle launches May 24th, 2010. Celebrating the wide cultural and social diversity of residents and businesses in the region, volunteer contributors populate eight categories including Business, Community, Culture, Family, Home and Garden, Neighborhoods, Well-being and a Give Back section highlighting the Rainier Valley Food Bank.

While neighborhood blogs are seen as newspapers, SouthendSeattle.com is a magazine format, including content from the perfect Georgetown Saturday to the inside scoop on the plan for the new Rainier Beach community pool, ways to relieve stress, and recipes inspired by local restaurants. Neighbors will discuss ways to build sustainable communities and what grows best in Southend gardens, as well as the rich resources found within Seward Park. Additionally, Sam Osborne will share the stark realities and stories of hope from his experience as the Executive Director of the Rainier Valley Food Bank. The site is also offering an events calendar, resource listing and free classified advertising.

The site covers territory surrounding America’s most diverse zip code, 98118, where over 60 languages are spoken and over 40% speak a language other than English at home. Roughly bordered by Interstate 90 to the north, the Duwamish River to the West, the area north of Grady Way in Renton, and east of Lake Washington to the east, communities include Beacon Hill, Mount Baker, Genesee, South Park, Georgetown, Columbia City, Hillman City, Lakewood-Seward Park, Rainier Beach, Bryn Mawr- Skyway, Lakeridge, and northern portions of Renton. The site currently offers translation into 23 different languages through Google Translate.

For more information contact Maia Segura at 206-898-7090 or maia@southendseattle.com.

A group of residents in Rainier Vista have formed to talk about the issue around light rail train noise.  If folks are interested in learning more they can contact:  QuietOurValley@gmail.com to learn about efforts to reduce noise around the Mt. Baker Station, Beacon Hill tunnel, MLK Way, Cheasty Blvd.

Have questions about light rail, crime, city services or other issues?  Get answers from your Seattle City Council on Tuesday, Sept. 22.

Tuesday, Sept. 22
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club
4520 Martin Luther King Jr. Way South

Everyone deserves to be listened to, and heard.  Please mark your calendar now for Tuesday, Sept. 22, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club and join us for a vibrant conversation that will help us shape an even better future for our great city.

You’ll be asked a series of questions on some key issues, including light rail, crime prevention and accessing city services, and we’d like to hear your input. Following discussion on these topics the meeting will transition into an open question and answer period, with ample time for asking councilmembers your questions.

If you are unable to attend, e-mail the Council your questions in advance to Counciltownhall@seattle.gov. For questions about the meeting or more information, call Council President Richard Conlin’s office, 206-684-8805.

Your voice counts!  Please plan to attend.

Our local Habitat for Humanity site (4015 MLK) will be hosting the opening ceremonies for Habitat’s 1st Annual Build-a-Thon. This FREE festive event will feature an all you can eat breakfast, kids corner with arts and crafts, Habitat inspired games (how fast can you hammer that nail?), Build-a-Thon updates and much, much more! You won’t want to miss out!

Saturday, Sept. 19
10:30am - noon

Please RSVP to Jillian at jgross@seattle-habitat.org if you would like to attend!

For more information about the Build-a-Thon or to register to volunteer, visit: www.habtiatbuildathon.org

Our Restricted Parking Zone (RPZ) goes into effect on July 1 (Wednesday). Street parking is being restricted to prevent our neighborhood from becoming a parking lot for the light rail station at Edmunds. For general info on RPZs, check out the City’s page on them. For details about our Zone 29, check out this page.

Parking permits are being offered for FREE for the first two years. Discounts for low-income households are available. Even if you never park on the street (you have a garage, you don’t have a car, etc.), do consider getting a guest permit so that visiting friends and family don’t have to run outside and move their car every two hours.

The March for Youth mentioned previously was canceled. It’s currently tentatively scheduled for the end of August.

The Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club is holding its annual Gumbo Feed fund raiser at the club (4520 MLK Way South, 98108) on Saturday June 13th from 2pm-6pm. Executive Director Bill Burton’s wife Ruthie, who makes some of the best gumbo in Seattle, is going to make her famous, mouth watering, very appetizing chicken and seafood gumbo. Their goal is to raise $3,000.00 in support of our programs for kids. Individual ticket prices are $15 and includes Gumbo, cornbread, dessert and a drink. For more information call 206.436.1899.

The New Rainier Vista Family Support Group is hosting a panel discussion, “How to talk with NRV community kids when there’s an issue” on Friday, May 1, 2009, from 6:00pm – 7:30pm at the Neighborhood House Paul Allen Room. This discussion will include:

• Panel comments from different ethnic/linguistic groups – Ethiopian; Somali; Vietnamese; Chinese and mainstream American
• Ways to communicate with kids from different cultures
• Ideas and understandings of what each culture expects when a child or adolescent misbehaves
• Ways to compliment kids from different ethnic backgrounds when you see and appreciate positive behavior

All community members are welcome! Some activities for children will be available. If your child comes with you, please bring a favorite quiet activity (e.g. a book) for your child.

For more information please contact Seble Mesfin, Group Leader at “seb6mike (at) yahoo (dot) com” or Naomi Chang, Community Builder, at “nchang (at) seattlehousing (dot) org“.

The last few days have been a welcome reminder that it will not be cold and gray around here forever. Even though Spring doesn’t officially start until the middle of next month, and even though it’s likely to be wet and miserable some more, the plants outside have started waking up already. On the Landscape Committee’s walkthrough this month, we saw crocuses in bloom and lots of daffodils getting ready for center stage. It won’t be long before the dandelions follow.

So, just a reminder that it’s time to start paying attention to your yard. For homeowners, please remember that Impact is only contracted to mow lawns. You are responsible for making sure that your non-lawn areas are weed-free. Adding mulch to these beds will neaten their appearance and suppress weeds. Also, the next few weeks is an excellent time to trim off any remaining die-back from last year’s growth, especially on the lavender and coneflower plants. You’ll know in the next six weeks or so which plants didn’t survive the winter’s freezing and will need to be removed and/or replaced.