Category: Seattle and Beyond

Fun News From the #ArlingtonFlyIn

Carl Setzer
Arlington Fly-In Logo

My good friends, Jack & Francine over at Whiskey Ridge Brewery in Arlington will be providing beer for the beer-garden at this Year’s Fly-In. This is exciting news for them! (Full disclosure: I built their website and help with their social media.)

In case you didn’t know, the Arlington Fly-In is a big deal for recreation aviation enthusiasts. This began as a one day fly-in and spaghetti feed WAAY back in 1969. It’s quite a hoot and one of the more unique Northwest events. This year it’s July 9-11.

 

Neighborly Reminder: Fireworks Are No Longer Legal in #Lynnwood

Carl Setzer
City of Lynnwood Logo

With much angst, Lynnwood’s city council banned fireworks last year. I expect that they’ll be vigorous with enforcement. Or they won’t, but I wouldn’t push my luck. Anyway, just making sure everyone is thinking about it. Whether or not you like it, it’s now the law.

City officials would like to remind Lynnwood residents that discharging fireworks, even the ‘safe and sane’ variety, is no longer legal in Lynnwood city limits. Instead, we urge you to enjoy a local firework show hosted by one of our many neighboring cities.

On June 17, 2014, the Lynnwood City Council adopted Ordinance 3066 which prohibits the sale and discharge of fireworks in the city, effective in 2015. Anyone caught discharging fireworks in the city limits will have their fireworks confiscated. They may also be cited and face misdemeanor charges.

Visit our events calendar for a listing of local shows at www.ci.lynnwood.wa.us/events.

#Lynnwood’s Lynndale Elementary’s Last Hurrah

Carl Setzer

Well, it’s the last community event in the original building. Built in 1957, Lynndale will undergo an 18 month tear-down/rebuild starting almost immediately after the school year ends. This building has been a touchstone for many, many people over the years, and though we’re excited about the possibilities of the new building, we’ll miss the old one.

So, on June 12, starting at 5:30, there will be a BBQ potluck dinner.  This is for everyone in the Lynndale community who has been involved with Lynndale Elementary in any way since it opened its doors in 1957!  A memory table will be set up, people can have one last view of the building, and hopefully they will be able to reunite with friends from their past. This is a BBQ potluck (we need people to a bring side dish, salad, or dessert to share).

Trust that the wonderful community that is Lynndale will continue during the remodel and into the new one. Lynndale is truly Looking Back, Moving Forward.

Driving to Port Angeles today

Carl Setzer

Later today we’re zipping of to Port Angeles for the North Olympic Discovery Marathon’s Kid’s Marathon. My son’s been training with his school’s running club. They’ve run a total of twenty-five miles before today. This afternoon, they’ll run the final 1.2 miles to complete the official marathon distance.

I love Port Angeles! It’s a gorgeous drive to get there; a fun way to spend time with family and friends. A ferry ride will be a delight. It’s been some time, and with the summer-esque weather, it’ll be a particularly delightful trip.

The Victorian downtown enchants me. Plus, the waterfront simply bubbles with charm. It’s not often I’m able to drop to a slower place. Love that, even if it’s just an afternoon.

Driving in Bothell

Carl Setzer

One of the students at my taekwondo school needed a ride home. I never want something as basic as transportation to prohibit participation. So, I find myself driving down old Filbert Road after dark.

I’ve driven this road countless times. It’s a part of the area that, on the surface, doesn’t look much different. But I see through the trees. There are many lights where, once, there were none.

Filbert is long and narrow, and quite dark. I remembered many dark drives over the years. Yet the twinkling of progress lurks nearby. For the good, and the bad, this duality of life.

There are times I miss the old, but I delight in the new too much to be put out. Life’s too short for misery 

Lynndale’s last days

Carl Setzer

Sitting in the old gym last night listening to another concert, I felt a sense of finality. This building, built in 1957 and remarkably unchanged since, is doomed. Within a month, this building will be gone. Making way for the new.

Memories haunt these halls. Though I never was a student here, my son’s whole academic career resides here. Over the past 7 years, I’ve been in many meetings, many activities in many of these rooms. This place contains many memories, and probably the majority of my son’s.

One of the Edmonds School Districts’s oldest buildings, it contains the style of those schools I grew up with. Going forwards, he moves into a structure built in the 2000s, then to one from the late 80s. Yet, there’s connection for me. Name-wise, these are the same institutions I attended.

Progress is good. The new nudge school and high school are well crafted, delightful places. They meet the needs of 21st century students. Good ol’ tired, when Lynndale will soon join those ranks. And the gladness I feel tempers the sadness. The connections will hold.

Observed changes in #Lynnwood

Carl Setzer3 Comments

Yesterday I noticed that demolition started on the old Taco Bell just east of Highway 99 on 196th. It’s last incarnation: another taco place, this one of similar quality to the great taco trucks. Many memories, but the building’s neglect finally won.

We’re getting a CVS pharmacy, which surely shall add delight to an already very busy corner. It’s a high-volume intersection, so I expect they’ll do well. I imagine traffic to get worse there, though. Maybe it’ll hardly be noticeable, that whatever traffic improvements built will easily compensate. One can hope.

Gives me pause, all this development. Our suburb’s design focuses on cars. Parts of Lynnwood are walkable. Yet many spots require a significant level of bravery and/or desperation. I’d love to see more walkability and bicycle friendly design featured in our development. Maybe we can all feel encouraged to slow down and enjoy our neighborhoods. Discovering a great life that doesn’t involve lugging around tons of steel and plastic. One hopes. Well, on this one I act. Some things are important enough to demand action. Some things…

Grinduro: A New Kind Of Bike Race?

Carl Setzer

This looks like a freaking awesome party down in the Sierra Nevadas. But October is a hard time for me to get away, what with everyone else in school and all. Heck, maybe it will be a great time for ME to break away. Sigh, probably not.

GRINDURO
On October 10, the world will be introduced to Grinduro, a new format of bike racing that combines the best elements of a mountain bike enduro and a gravel grinder road race.The Grinduro is one long loop of pavement, dirt and singletrack, where finishing times aren’t based on overall loop time. Instead, you’ll be timed only on four segments that were designed to reward the most well rounded of rouleurs.

The course is a serious affair (8,000-feet of climbing in 60 miles of our favorite roads in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains), but the Grinduro isn’t meant to be a sufferfest. You’ll ride with friends, enjoy the rest stops, take in the views, and then give it all you’ve got during the timed segments.

Once you’re done riding, the real party gets started. Grinduro is not just a bike race. It’s a celebration of cycling with as much emphasis on the party as the ride, with excellent food, an impressive display of art and incredible handmade bikes, live music, free camping and a festival atmosphere.

Grinduro is a new kind of bike race, and you won’t want to miss this party.
Learn more and register today.
GRINDURO

Lynnwood’s Mayor Smith’s State of the City 2015

Carl Setzer
City of Lynnwood Logo

Doesn’t look like I’ll be able to make it, but here’s a great chance to be “in the know”.

Lynnwood Washington
SOC

You’re invited to join Mayor Nicola Smith on Tuesday, June 2 from 8-9:30am at the Lynnwood Convention Center as she delivers her 2015 State of the City Address.

Mayor Smith will be joined by Emcee Jim Stephanson of the Economic Alliance Snohomish County, with remarks by: Jean Hales of the Economic Alliance Snohomish County, Lynnwood City Council President Loren Simmonds, Lynnwood resident and volunteer Ed dos Remedios, and Owner of Lynnwood Acura Jim Marino.

This event is free to the community, but registration is strongly encouraged. Visit theEconomic Alliance events page to register.

For more information on the State of the City Address, visit us online or contact
Julie Moore at jmoore@ci.lynnwood.wa.us or 425-670-5023.

Seattlites And Complaining About The Weather

Carl Setzer

The Puget Sound region is set up for a lovely weekend. Temperatures are predicted to climb into the upper 70s and (*gasp*) low 80s. I figured out a long time ago that my Seattle area peeps have a narrow band of comfort: basically the 60s, plus/minus 5. Temps in the 40s get complaints of cold and the 80s are hot.

Most other places I’ve lived have a broader comfort range, but they also have a broader average temperature band. (Now, tropical islands tend to be more narrow. And they manifest the same behavior.) This small average range is a feature of temperate zones. Though folks from outside this region might just look at us as whiners, it’s really just a function of the environment. Sure, you might feel you’re tougher since you can put up with hotter highs and colder lows. But we don’t have too; our weather isn’t evil.

Yeah, I, too will be wearing shorts and sunscreen while languishing in the upper 70s. Happily so.

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