Junction Plaza Park (4545 42nd Ave SW) ribbon cutting and community celebration is tonight, June 29th, at 5:30 p.m!

Photo: Donna Ryan Photography

Seattle Parks and Recreation, the Junction Neighborhood Association, the Seattle Parks Foundation and the West Seattle Junction Association are hosting the event, which features live music and light refreshments. Please come join us!

Donna Ryan Photography is a new  Junction business which opened in May 2010.  Aside from photography, Donna carries children’s clothing, shoes and accessories – including the Tea line.

West Seattle is having a community car wash benefiting the West Seattle Food Bank and Haiti through World Vision.  The car wash will take place on Friday, June 25^th between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets are being presold for $10 each; you can purchase a ticket and get your car washed at Keller Williams Realty at 4452 California Ave SW; John L Scott Realty at 5242 California Ave SW and State Farm Insurance at 4727 44^th Ave SW. Tickets may also be purchased at both Windermere locations, West Seattle Realty and Prudential Northwest Realty in Jefferson Square.

This idea was spawned by need!  For just $1000 our local food bank can provide 300 bags of groceries delivered to the homebound elderly and disabled members of our community. The demand in our community for food has gone up during the recession. The circumstances that millions are facing with respect to housing, food and clean water is mind numbing. Our goal is to raise $2000 each for our community food bank and Haiti.

This idea started with the real estate brokers and agents in West Seattle, but has grown to include three locations for the car wash and there are many more sponsoring businesses and service groups behind it.

There are three ways to help:

1.    Buy lots of tickets or just one.

2.    Call the businesses hosting the car wash to volunteer to help wash all those cars.

3.    Bring non-perishable food to drop off at any of the three car wash locations.

Photo: Seattle Public Library

Phoebe Kitanidis, Author of Whisper and Kimberly Derting, Author of The Body Finder will be reading from their books on Thursday, June 24th, from 6:30-7:45pm, at Southwest Library. Both authors will answer questions and then be available to autograph their books. This event is co-sponsored by Square One Books and they will be selling copies of both books at the event.

Library events and programs are free and everyone is welcome. Southwest Library is located at 9010 35th Ave SW.

Anniversary Celebrations and Shopping Events this Thursday, June 24th in The Junction:

Capers provides fun, frivolity and fantastic prizes from 6:30-8:30 pm, as they celebrate their 25th Anniversary! Join them in the toast to their continued success! RSVP to: capersparty@gmail.com.

Sweetie turns 7!

Sweetie celebrates their 7th Anniversary from 7-10 pm! They’ll be serving tasty libations, yummy hors d’oeuvres and scrumptious sweets. Come check out their fabulous new summer lines. They’ll have some great specials for this festive evening only. You’ll also have a chance at winning some fashionable prizes too!

Clementine features their Prairie Underground Trunk Show from 11 am to 7 pm! Eco-friendly organic cotton clothing, all discounted 20 to 50% off! And don’t forget to pick up a cute pair of sandals to go with your new outfit!

It’s Capers silver anniversary!  Congratulations!

“June 24th Anniversary Party. Raise a glass with us to celebrate our time in the neighborhood and what the future holds.”

Thursday, June 17th, 7 pm at Easy Street (West Seattle), The Stranger & Easy Street Present: Drunks & Punks – A Music and Drunk of the Week Photography Show by Kelly O!

Photo: Kelly O

“Photographer/writer Kelly O is best known for her “Drunk of the Week” feature in The Stranger (it’s kinda self-explanatory). This will be her first music photo show, but will also include a bunch of her classic “drunk” shots. You wouldn’t usually pose for a photo, but come 2 AM, watch out…you just might be a drunk of the week.”

Local post-punk big deals the Absolute Monarchs take the stage at 9pm.”The Absolute Monarchs, already reigning over Seattle basements and clubs with their no wave garage-ey gracelessness…Pulling, but not lifting from bands like the Monorchid, Sonic Youth, Drive Like Jehu, and Billy Childish these four have crocheted a scarf and mitten set of dangerous rock angst. Your new favorite band.” – The Stranger

We are counting down the days until West Seattle Summer Fest, July 9-11th! Curious about which bands are playing?

Here’s the line-up so far:

Photo: Hell's Belles

Photo: PSBC

Sunday, June 13th you can sign up to donate blood at The Junction Health & Wellness Fair. The Puget Sound Blood Center Bloodmobile will be located in the Wells Fargo parking lot (44th & Alaska) from 9am-3pm (closed from 11:30-12:30). You can schedule an appointment by calling (800) 398-7888 or schedule online at schedule@psbc.org (walk-ins will be accommodated as much as possible). For questions about eligibility, please call PSBC at (206) 292-2543. Please ask a friend who has never donated before to donate with you!

Here are some facts about donating blood: Only 5% of people who are eligible to donate blood actually do. If you live to be 72 years old, there is an 80-90% chance you will need a blood transfusion.
You can donate blood every 56 days. The actual donation process only takes 10-15 minutes (although the whole process takes about an hour).

Be sure to check out The Junction Health & Wellness Fair after your generous donation!

Here are a couple of ways to welcome summertime to West Seattle…

Photo: The Mullet @ Hotwire

Come celebrate Backyard BBQ season, kicking off the month of June, at Hotwire Coffee! Several new delicious beverages…It’s all about the party with the “mullet” - vanilla, honey & orange peel latte. Or try the “Nascar” – way more than 500 laps of left turns – raspberry dark chocolate mocha. Mmmm. Try the “MD 20/20″ – dark cherry & vanilla latte, a class act even out of the brown paper bag. What more can you ask for?

Come say hello to Shaw Dixon at The Grand Opening Celebration for Baked in Seattle, this Thursday, June 10th, from 6-9 pm at Blue Willow Catering & Luncheonette! Enjoy free appetizers, wine, mini-cheesecake and fruit-filled crumblepie. Then be sure to check out West Seattle Art Walk!

Photo: Baked In Seattle

Saturday – So many choices over the next few days, so we’ve narrowed down a few. Junction True Value is having their Grand Reopening Celebration this Saturday, June 5th! They will have vendor demonstrations from 10 am to 2 pm, refreshments, door prizes and daily specials. Come by and check out their updates to both the interior and exterior of their building!

Photo: Capers

Capers celebrates their 25th Anniversary from June 5th-July 3rd! The entire store is at least 20% off – furniture, linens, serveware, home decor, bath & body care, glassware, candles, baby gifts, handbags, accessories, etc. They have special purchase pillows for $9.99, decorator fabric 1/3 off and much more! Stop by and wish them a Happy Anniversary!

Photo: Clementine

Clementine is having a Trunk Show, Saturday, June 5th from Noon-6pm! Be sure to check out Spark Designs Jewelry and one-of-a-kind reversible jackets from Happ & Stanscz. Enjoy a glass of champagne while these ladies help you put together an outfit that will make you sparkle.

For those about to rock, The RockSport Bar & Grill has Hell’s Belles, the all-female AC/DC Tribute Band playing June 5th at 10pm! Get tickets, if you wait, they might be sold out!

Sunday - Puget Beach Shellfish is back at the West Seattle Farmers Market until June 19th. Puget Beach Shellfish is located in Olympia and will be bringing local Puget Sound oysters, clams, mussels and geoducks to market.  The market is kicking into full swing over the next few weeks with over 40 farmers and fresh food vendors participating every Sunday.

Photo: SIMA

Monday – And speaking of kicking, starting Monday, June 7th at 6:30 am, Seattle Integrated Martial Arts, starting Monday, June 7th has the West Seattle Ultimate Fitness Challenge! 4 weeks, 4 days a week of tremendous workouts including kickboxing, strength training, core development, and more! Total body workout that is fun, challenging and open to all levels of experience and fitness levels. Call 206-935-4531 ASAP for more details. Seattle Integrated Martial Arts is located at 4711 42nd Ave SW.

 JUNE 4-6th, Damaged Actors Productions is presenting Fool For Love by Sam Shepard at the Easy Street Records in West Seattle, starring Megan Blackstone, Todd Van der Ark, Mark Naborczyk, and Juan Davilacampodonico. Admission is pay-what-you-will on June 4th and 5th at 10pm (doors @ 9:30) and June 6th at 8pm (doors @ 7:30). The performances is all ages and those twenty one and up may purchase beer and wine at the bar. Come support Damaged Actor’s continuing endeavor to produce exciting stories in exciting locations!

Eddie has just traveled over 2,000 miles to take back May from a rundown hotel in nowhere, Texas, but May has another man in her life. An old man chuckles and drinks from a bottle as the two unravel their tale, and their sanity. As their past explodes into their present, May and Eddie fight the eternal battle between Man and Woman as they tear into and away from each other.