Murray Morgan is back. The region’s favorite historian and an award-winning journalist, Morgan (1916 – 2000) is the author of more than 20 books, three of which have been recently re-issued by the University of Washington Press. For readers unfamiliar with Morgan, he proved colorful, humorous, and great storytelling could be married with accuracy and insight to retell history. He is a writer whose wit and economy of words is celebrated by novelists, journalists, locals and fellow historians alike. Skid Road: An Informal Portrait of Seattle is the best known of Morgan’s works. It tells the story of Seattle from the arrival of the Denny gang to the 1962 World’s Fair. Along the way, we are introduced to the willful and creative characters that left their mark on the city. We meet Anna Louise Strong, the pro-labor Seattle School Board member who made an enormous impact during the Seattle Strike of 1919 and would go on to chronicle the Russian and Chinese regimes from the inside. And Doc Maynard, early settler and unorthodox entrepreneur who would encourage naming the nascent city for his friend Chief Sealth. And there is a delightful story of the recall of a Seattle mayor due to his unethical and immoral behavior, which included his failure to nix plans for the building of the largest brothel in the world on Beacon Hill. This is a book you want to read for pleasure as well as for gleaning unforgettable tidbits to impress those out-of-town visitors. Skid Road is by no means a comprehensive history of the city. As Morgan’s daughter Lane, a fine writer in her own right, remarked at a recent publication event, Morgan was a white man writing in the 1950s and the work is limited by that context. Were he alive today, there is little doubt his work would be populated by a more ethnically diverse crew. Morgan was a native of Tacoma who attended the University of Washington. He cheered the 1936 UW men’s rowing team (the boys in the boat) as they crossed the finish for gold at the infamous Berlin Olympics. He was stationed in the Aleutians during World War II, later practiced journalism in New York and sojourned for a time with his family in Mexico. Well-traveled and adventurous, Murray Morgan and his wife, Rosa, were Northwesterners at heart and lived for decades outside Tacoma at Trout Lake. Murray and Rosa were occasional visitors to our neighborhood, visiting the Leschi Water Park while they were at the UW, and later stopping by to see their daughter Lane who lived in Leschi from late 1975 to late 1979 near 34th and E. Yesler. As an aside: Lane remembers taking the 27 Yesler bus home from her work at Argus—a notable Seattle weekly before The Weekly—and walking down through the woods below the elementary school, or else riding the Madrona bus that ran along Lake Washington Blvd. (Imagine: a bus that ran along the Lake!). One of the neighbors she enjoyed conversing with was Roger Lippman of SDS and Weathermen fame who was put on trial as a member of the Seattle 7 (see Kit Bakke’s recent book, Protest on Trial .) The re-issue of Skid Road carries an introduction by Mary Ann Gwinn, the former book editor for the Seattle Times. The two additional Murray Morgan titles that the UW Press has released are Puget’s Sound: A Narrative of Early Tacoma and the Southern Sound with an introduction by Michael Sullivan, and The Last Wilderness: A History of the Olympic Peninsula with an introduction by Tim McNulty. Check them out from the library or support your local independent bookstore. ~Anne Depue

I have been reading a book called Global Warming and the Sweetness of Life, A Tar Sands Tale, by Matt Hern and Am Johal, with wonderful illustrations by Joe Sacco. Here is how they see where we are: “Our performances of recycling and climate-justice marching are matched by our relentless fossil-fuel consumption. We’re self-aware carbon pigs, climate villains, and walking biohazards, bifurcated into self-disciplining, self- renouncing selves, one part constantly monitoring and castigating the other.” I am part of a Facebook group called Zero Waste, which is a perfect example of that. We are looking for micro solutions to plastic and trash, as we drive, fly and relentlessly consume. The Youth Climate Strike, and the Green New Deal, tell us what is necessary to save the planet: nothing less than drastic suspension of our current habits and re- thinking everything we do, as well as powerful political pressure on our somnolent politicians. Many artists are deeply concerned and depressed about climate change. Here is Lou Cabeen, a well-known artist based in Seattle: “Since 2016 I have engaged in an ongoing research project with fellow artist Sarah Jones that we call ‘Botanizing the Anthropocene.’ As an artist and truth-teller I want to understand how best to respond to our changing climate without being immobilized by despair.” The exhibition “Surge,” which took place this fall at the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner Museum, presented a landmark collaboration between 10 scientists and 24 artists addressing the ways in which current sea level rises and storm surges affect the Northwest. It is continuing to expand every year (I will be writing more about it soon). Currently in Seattle we have two exhibitions addressing Climate Change: “Between Bodies” at the Henry Art Gallery, and Mary Coss’ one person show, “Groundswell” at the Method Gallery. At the University of Washington Henry Art Gallery, Nina Bozicnik curated a pioneering exhibition of six artists who work with the interface of technology and nature, what she calls “humans and more than humans.” All of them are addressing “legacies of violence” on the planet; she offers works that emphasize the “sensorial”, the body, the trans body, that emphasize intervention by bodies other than white males who have for so long been wasting our planet. By far the most accessible was Carolina Caycedo’s Water Portraits . She hung fabrics floor to ceiling that flowed with imprinted images of rushing intense river waters. They gave us a new way to experience and be with a river. Water flow is not outside of us, but flowing into us with its power and agency. Caycedo has worked for twelve years on “Be Dammed” that looks at the impact of dams in Colombia, specifically on the Yuma River, also known as the Magdalena River where nineteen dams are planned. She spent months speaking with local indigenous peoples about their lives before and after the dams seen in her film A Gente Rio/We River. Sin Sol, Forest Memory by Micha Cárdenas and Abraham Avnisan includes augmented reality on iPads hanging in the midst of an immersive forest landscape. It imagines ways to survive in a world unable to sustain itself. Hormonal Fog , by Candice Lin and Patrick Staff disperses anti-testosterone herbs; imaginary volcanic explosions, a narrative by Caitlin Berrigan, proposes explosions triggered globally by trans feminist scientists as a rupture in patriarchal violence. Susanne Winterling makes visible the bioluminescent single cell organisms in the deep sea. And finally, the internationally renowned ecological artist, Ursula Biemann explores connection through sound with creatures in the deep Arctic sea in a semi-science fiction film called Acoustic Ocean. All of these works take time to experience, as they address the violence to the earth, but offer alternative ways of feeling and imagining a future. Cross species communication alters our deeply engrained hierarchy of white men at the apex of civilization with license to extract what they want, where they want, how they want. In contrast to the complexities of this show that embraces the past, present and future through a technology/ human interface, Mary Coss’*- show “Groundswell” gives us a physical, sensual, immersive experience. She is addressing advancing salt water in estuaries in Willapa Bay and elsewhere, and the severe ecological impacts on the intersecting webs of plants and animals as fresh water recedes. Her installation includes salt covered grasses, rocks and creatures, particularly barnacles that anchor themselves as salinity advances. Even as we feel the suffocation of life, we admire its beauty. Which brings me back to Global Warming and the Sweetness of Life. What is the Sweetness of Life? According to these authors, it means “right living” based on “collectivity, responsibility and social embeddedness .an individual in the context of their community” embracing decolonizing alternatives to development. That is very much what “Between Bodies” suggests as it imagines a transgender future. Mary Coss, in contrast, gives us the concrete present moment. ~Susan N. Platt artandpoliticsnow.com Events around town “Groundswell” March 1- April 6, 2019 at METHOD: Friday & Saturday, 12-5pm or by appointment: info@methodgallery.com in the Tashiro Kaplan Building in Pioneer Square, 106 3rd Ave S, Seattle, WA “Between Bodies” Oct 27, 2018 – Apr 28, 2019, Henry Art Gallery, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursdays; free on Thursday night and all day Sunday. Seattle Art Museum: “Jeffrey Gibson: Like a Hammer” to May 12 “Gibson’s complex work spans fashion and design, abstract painting, queer identity, popular music, and the materials and aesthetics of Native American cultures. The more than 65 works on view include beaded punching bags, figures and wall hangings, abstract geometric paintings on rawhide and canvas, performance video, and a new multimedia installation.” Tacoma Art Museum: “Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: In the Footsteps of My Ancestors” to June 30, 2019, major contemporary Native American artist; it includes themes of conflict, dream, and identity. Smith has always operated on a cusp—culturally, temporally, aesthetically, and from a gender perspective—which gives her work vitality, originality and relevance. ARTS at King Street Station “yəhaw̓” to Aug. 3, 2019 “The title of the show, yəhaw̓, is drawn from the Coast Salish story of Native people from all tribes uniting around a common cause and lifting up the sky together. In the spirit of the story, this exhibition will be a collective portrait of Native America, including creatives of all ages and stages in their careers, from Urban and Reservation communities, working in contemporary and traditional materials, and in ways that may or may not be widely recognized as Native.” Portland Art Museum “the map is not the territory” to May 5 “This exhibition focuses along the eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean stretching from Oregon through Washington and Vancouver, B.C., up to Alaska. What does it mean to make art in this region today, and what are the immediate inspirations and pressing concerns that drive each artist’s work?” Center for Contemporary Native Art “Not Fragile” selected glass works by native artists curated by Ryan Feddersen. “Though often associated with delicacy, glass is forged through intense and violent forces—a meteorite impacting the earth, a nuclear bomb detonating, or a 2,000 °F crucible. Not Fragile features artists from across the Pacific Northwest who use glass in innovative ways to impart messages of strength, resilience, and insubordination.”

The Leschi Community Council Board is now accepting applications for Leschi Stars. Applications must be submitted by April 20 to be considered; winners will be presented with the prestigious star at our annual May meeting. Please use this application: 2019 Leschi Star Nominations—Instructions Once a year we honor Leschi Stars, those folks or groups who have made a big difference in Leschi. Example of an individual: Henrietta Price who has been a crossing guard at Leschi Elementary School for more than two decades and encourages the children to do their best as she safely guides them across the street. Group example: Keller Williams staff who sent 60 folks to Leschi Park to weed, mulch, prune for their day of community service. Send us your answers to the following: Your nominee’s name and contact information. Tell us why this person is a STAR! Be specific. How do these activities enrich life in Leschi? Your name and contact information. Send an email to leschinews@comcast.net, or mail to: LCC 140 Lakeside Ave. Suite A, #2 Seattle, WA 98122 And join us for the unveiling of this year’s neighborhood LESCHI STARS on May 5, 7pm at The Center!

During our semi-annual switch on and off daylight saving time (DST), there are always flurries of articles that come out extolling the benefits of making DST permanent. Supporters point to fewer car accidents, less crime (apparently burglars aren’t early risers), an increase in economic activity, and perhaps most significantly for us here in the Pacific Northwest, less seasonal depression. Additionally, the “Spring Forward” time switch in particular disrupts people’s circadian rhythms and is associated with a variety of hazards, including more workplace injuries, car accidents, strokes and heart attacks. In recent years, the chorus for year-round DST has grown louder. Washington, Oregon, and California all have legislation in the works that would make a permanent switch to DST. If this legislation passes at the state level, it still requires a passage in congress and a presidential signature, but given that Trump recently tweeted in support of year-round DST, I don’t see why any sort of legislation would die in D.C. DST was first used by Germany during World War I to conserve fuel, and it was used sporadically throughout the U.S. until the “Uniform Time Act of 1966” established DST beginning at 2 AM on the last Sunday in April and ending at 2 AM on the last Sunday of October, effective 1967. The Uniform Time Act was amended in 1986 to extended DST, and DST was again extended with the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to where it currently is today: the second of Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November. During World Wars I and II, the switch to DST saved energy by decreasing the amount of lighting people used in the evenings. However, recent studies have found that the decrease in lighting is offset by an increase in heating/air conditioning, and some studies show that DST may even increase energy usage. With LED light bulbs and HVAC systems becoming ubiquitous, it seems intuitive that this would be the case. But with the host of other benefits that come with DST, is it worth a permanent switch? This writer thinks so. However, the U.S. has had year-round DST before, namely during 1942-1945 (WWII) and 1974-1975 (the energy crisis). In both cases, we shifted back to having seasonal DST due to concerns about children going to school in the dark. Will public attitudes be different this time around? Only time will tell. ~Charlie Phillips Charlie Phillips, a Madrona resident, received his B.S. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Washington and works in Portland as a meteorologist. Check out his weather website at to charlie.weathertogether.net .

A review of the recent program at the Seattle Neighborhood Coalition The City gives a mixed report about meeting its goals to fight climate change. On March 9, a forum of air quality officials and experts gave mixed reviews for the future of attaining the goals set by Seattle’s Climate Action Plan (2013). The discussion was initiated by the Seattle Neighborhood Coalition, which meets every second Saturday morning in Leschi’s Central Area Senior Center. On hand for the discussion were Craig Kenworthy, Director of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency; Chris Page, Climate Director of the City of Seattle; and Timothy Wilson, Environmental Engineer, UW with John Barber and Bob Rosenburger as moderators. Seattle’s most important indicator of carbon emissions is the result of transportation and construction, but Seattle is not meeting its targets — carbon emissions from cars and trucks are actually increasing, not decreasing. Seattle has set goals to reduce carbon emissions for cars and trucks by 82% by 2030, but for the last few years, the trend is going worse, not better. The biggest deterrent to meeting this target is the huge surge of offices and residents. On the average, Seattleites are driving and polluting less, but there is far too much new traffic. Another piece of bad news about carbon emissions is that air traffic out of SeaTac Field has increased by 37% since 2012. Airplanes drop ultrafine particulate pollution over Seattle, especially from planes coming over for landings, which is most of the time. Currently, a study of the health effects of the particulate pollution from planes is underway in a study of the Beacon Hill area. The Seattle Times and KUOW have had reports out in the last two months about Seattle’s inability to meet up to the goals of the Kyoto protocol on global warming. Air quality, overall in Seattle, is fairly good among US cities from a public health standpoint, but increasingly there are longer and longer periods of heavy pollution from regional forest fires. Advice from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is to close all windows and doors when forest fire smoke prevails and buy or install air-cleaning equipment. It was clear from the audience that Seattle can do better and actually be a leader in fighting climate change. Here are some ideas: Cattle production results in some of the nastiest and worst pollution affecting climate change: the expulsion of methane gas from cows and steers. The world needs to cut down on the eating of beef. Why not cut beef out of the school lunch program? City-owned trucks, even including fire trucks are super-sized and diesel-fueled. Seattle should replace its fleets with smaller, electric trucks, as already done in most of Europe. If growth is the problem of too much traffic, cut back on the practices that encourage the too fast pace of growth, such as placing a temporary moratorium on the building of new office space. Talk about climate change has clearly been too much on the back burner of public discussion. The time to avoid the disastrous course of harsh global warming and extreme weather events is to revise the strategy and implement ASAP. ~John Barber

Renee Holmes moved back to Seattle from California 4 years ago to care for her 88-year-old aunt, Darlene Gordon. “Mother Gordon,” as Renee affectionately calls her, has lived at the Chateau Apartments, at 19th and Fir in the Central District, for the last 30 years. Chateau is home for Mother Gordon. Her physician is at the nearby Community Doctor clinic. The local grocery store clerks give her a hug when she drops in. She frequents the nearby senior center to see old friends. Her church is two blocks away from home. Living in the Central District allows Mother Gordon to age with dignity. Now Cadence, a $185-million corporate developer, has announced plans to demolish the affordable Chateau building, displacing the working-class tenants, many of whom are families of color. “Why does she have to leave? Why do we have to be uprooted from our communities? She’s very hurt, and I’m hurt too,” says Renee. The story of the Chateau tenants is unfortunately the story of Seattle, as big developers displace working-class renters and homeowners in search of mega-profits. All across our city, as construction has boomed, working people, communities of color, students, seniors, LGBTQ people, and disabled community members have been economically evicted, in some cases pushed into homelessness. The Chateau tenants are organizing and fighting back. Working alongside my City Council office, they are demanding that Cadence find them alternate affordable and accessible homes in the Central District. They recognize the city must grow, but they don’t accept that working families and seniors like themselves be pushed out of Seattle so corporate developers can make double-digit profits. Earlier this month, the tenants, along with me and the Rev. Angela Ying from Bethany United Church of Christ, presented Cadence executives with a petition signed by 15 of the 19 Chateau households. In their demands, they are calling on Cadence to sign a binding agreement to locate and move each household into comparably sized and comparably priced apartments in the Central District when the company demolishes the Chateau. The tenants are fighting for all of us: They are demanding that in the new building, Cadence go 15% above city requirements for the number of affordable apartments included. It will take a unified and powerful movement to get Cadence to concede to these demands. And a victory for the tenants will be a victory for our whole movement for housing justice in Seattle. I urge you to sign the petition to support the Chateau tenants. Please encourage others to do so as well. Our movement’s recent victories on renters’ rights show that when we fight, we can win. The move-in fee cap and payment plan, the law that bars rent increases in substandard homes, the $29M for affordable housing after defeating the political establishment’s attempt to build a fancy new police precinct - these were possible because ordinary people got organized. Just like the residents of Chateau, tenants and homeowners throughout the city must fight together to challenge the domination of corporate developers and a system that puts profit over people. And we need to build the movement for rent control, and to tax the ultra-rich like Jeff Bezos and Amazon, so that we can fund a massive expansion of affordable social housing. Two days after the tenants presented their demands to Cadence, more than 130 people attended a meeting of the City Council’s Renters Rights Committee, which I chair, at the Central District’s New Hope Missionary Baptist Church. There were union members, housing justice activists, immigrant rights activists, faith leaders, senior citizens and young students. We heard Roselle Johnson explain that the Chateau is close to her parents, who are both elderly. Her father is undergoing cancer treatment and her mom just had knee surgery. “They depend on me. If Cadence is going to move us out, I don’t know where I’m going to live. Who’s going to help my parents?” she asked. “We organized at the Chateau to stand up for our rights against Cadence. And we’re glad to see so many other tenants, friends, and neighbors supporting our cause,” Johnson told everyone at the meeting. “This is our city. It’s our neighborhood. And we will fight for the right to live here!” she said. Please join me in standing with Roselle, Renee, Mother Gordon and the other tenants at the Chateau Apartments. Let’s fight together to make Seattle affordable for all. ~Kshama Sawant Seattle City Councilmember, District 3

Editor’s note: Guest writer, Georgia McDade offers an opinion piece on a current dilemma. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam should not resign. A staff worked on the yearbook. Most likely, there was a faculty advisor, perhaps more than one. How many people must have seen the photograph from its submission to its publication? There was no proofreader? No one saw the galley? Did not the printers see this photo? Nobody in the community complained when the yearbook arrived? Of course, I believe the photo is offensive. I know there are other such photographs in the country; ever so often we hear of a fraternity or sorority—college students—using blackface at a party, in a contest, etc., today! The Northam photo is thirty-five years old! It was taken in medical school where most students have gone to college at least four years. When I decided to write this article, I wanted to know Northam’s hometown, its size, the percentage of the populace who happen not to be white, race composition in his school, neighborhood. I was sure it was small. I thought, obviously, his family, most of the persons he came in contact with saw nothing wrong with blackface, never thought of themselves as prejudiced, never thought of people not like them. They may never have thought of racism. They had no need. He knew no better. He should be forgiven; he has made positive strides for all of the people in his state; that includes blacks. But a quick glimpse showed me my conclusions were have wrong. The only assumption I got right was Northam’s coming from a small town. According to the 2000 census, his birthplace, Nassawadox, Virginia, had only 572 people in it; Onancock, Virginia, where he grew up, according to the 2010 census, had a population of 1,525 people, predominately white, almost 1/3 African Americans; in smaller percentages were Native Americans, Asians, and Hispanics. I’m guessing both places were smaller when Northam was growing up. So, I cannot blame the offense on Northam’s having been in a cave of all whites, all ignorant of other races, living lives minus any experience of people not like them. Without searching further, I decided that I know enough about some neighborhoods to make comments that aptly describe many neighborhoods. Because of segregation and class, the U. S. has countless neighborhoods that are heterogeneous. Then I began to wonder where people learn about blackface and KKK robes. What makes them think dressing in this manner is harmless? Do they think nobody black will see it, that all whites agree with them, that no one will be offended? Or do they not care whether someone sees or is offended? I always think if we can talk about a subject, we can at least make persons with opposing views see our views. Political correctness never entered my vocabulary—something of such import is correct or not correct. More and more, I’m beginning to change my mind about a resignation. Northam apologized; then he said he was sure he’s not in the picture. He admitted that at another time he had put on blackface to be Michael Jackson. And I honestly believe he would have moonwalked for the press had his wife not said, “Inappropriate circumstances.” The governor ought to know better. He represents a state with people of at least four different ethnicities. He became governor not with white votes only. He represents Virginia inside and outside the state. If Northam had admitted he made a mistake, said he should never have taken that picture, condemned the people in the picture or anyone else who thinks blackface and KKK robes and hoods are funny, I would agree that he should not resign. He could have said, “Most of my adult life has been spent making the world a better place; look at my record.” I agree with Northam’s comment, “I would hope none of us are the same person we were thirty-five years ago.” I hope we’re more compassionate, tolerant, understanding, loving, forgiving. We need elected officials who possess these traits when we elect them. We should not have to teach them in office. Governor Northam should resign. After he learns more history, perhaps he should run again. ~Georgia McDade Georgia Stewart McDade, a Louisiana native who has lived in Seattle more than half her life, loves reading and writing. Earning a Bachelor of Arts from Southern University, Master of Arts from Atlanta University, and Ph. D. from University of Washington, the English major spent more than thirty years teaching at Tacoma Community College but also found time to teach on every level at several other institutions of learning.

Greetings Leschi Neighbors, Spring is here and the sunshine and warm weather we are experiencing as I write this letter, are welcome. We had such a mild January, then boom: snow. It is hard to complain though, when some parts of our country have been inundated with snow, floods and dreadful storms. It’s time for planting, nurturing, encouraging and refreshing our homes, gardens, friendships and reaching out to friends, old and new. We are fortunate to live in such a picturesque, unique part of a vibrant city. While Seattle has many challenges as many cities do, we do not have any pockets of true blight and that is a good thing. Soon we will be presenting our Leschi Stars program where we feature people who are silent heroes of our community that go over and above to guide, assist, contribute and therefore enhance other’s lives. We will also be looking for topics that are of interest in the community for the upcoming year after our summer break. If you have ideas or topics that you feel would be of interest, please contact us and we will strive to accommodate programs that our residents value. April’s program will feature the housing dilemma, which has to rank as one of Seattle’s greatest problems. Displacement faces the residents of the Chateau Apartments. Located in the heart of the Central District at 19th & Fir, many elderly residents are facing eviction. Elderly homeowners do not to leave their houses but how do they manage the ever-increasing property taxes? And finally, a ray of hope as we hear about creative ideas for housing that reduces development costs. Join us for this community meeting at April 3 at 7pm at The Central. John Barber, our resident overseer of the Leschi landscape will be heading up the street end cleanups again this spring and summer. Watch for his announcements and you are very welcome to come help. Even stopping by to say a quick hello makes the volunteers feel appreciated. Warm regards, Janice Merrill Brown, LCC President

Our April program will look at three facets of one of Seattle’s most pressing problems: the lack of low-income housing. Displacement by landlords, presented by Chateau Apts. Elderly homeowners and rising property taxes, presented by Ruby Holland A creative plan to reduce the high cost of development, presented by Joan Paulson Please join us and add your thoughts to this critical issue! April 3, 7pm at the Central Area Senior Center, 500 30th Ave S

This month we look at the Wade Vaughn Memorial Fund. When our beloved historian, Wade Vaughn, died a few years ago, his family generously requested donations to be made to the Leschi Community Council. For a bit, the Board struggled to decide the best use of these funds. We first thought of putting a bench at each street-end park, but the Parks Dept. beat us to that. Coincidentally, we were having our annual Art Walk and we were impressed with the number of folks who stopped to look at The Leschi Diary and wanted to buy a copy. Unfortunately, it has been out of print for years and we have long wanted to update it and reprint it. It would be good to add projects like the String of Pearls to this history. This has been discussed with the Vaughn family and they approve of this project. Wade’s daughter Sharon is working on getting the original book scanned and we (the Board) are working on pulling together what we feel should be updates. If there are scribes in the neighborhood who wish to contribute, please feel free to send your contribution to the Board using our official address; 140 Lakeside Ave. Ste. A Box 2, Seattle 98122. ~Diane Snell

February, 11, 2019—LCC Board Meeting— Meeting was cancelled due to snow and reports were given by email as follows: JOHN BARBER Darrell Howe and Darcy Thompson conducted a very successful work party, planting many new conifers in a part of the Leschi Park woods that was devastated by the blowdown of many trees. Leschi Mart was extremely well prepared for Snowmageddon. Speaking of preparation for emergency events, the store stayed open nearly the whole time and deserves our support. Leschi Park is in greater use than ever, with neighborhood parents bringing their children to work off their built-up energies by building snow men and snow forts and coasting down the slopes in any manner of sleds and discs. DIANE SNELL Diane Morris offered storage in her basement as her daughter had cleaned it out and there is lots of room. Jim says selling the projector is not feasible; it’s too old and doesn’t have the bells and whistles of newer models. He suggests giving it to the Goodwill unless someone wants it. (John Barber came forward and promised to pass it on to the next generation.) Need to discuss program for April. Eva has a neighbor who has done a lot of research on security and she felt that due to the number of incidents reported on NextDoor Leschi, it is a good topic for a meeting. The Rio Thing is unable to make the new date for the wine tasting. Any ideas on music? (Janice suggested Garfield and we did get a jazz trio.) No one else submitted any topics. Janet Oliver trekking in Patagonia and back in mid-March. ~Respectfully submitted by Diane Snell

Some local businesses come and go, but not Golden Wheat! March marks its sixth anniversary at the Cherry St. location (2908 E Cherry). It is not only thriving, but owner Angel Roche has opened a second bakery/café in Mt. Baker on the ridge (1368 31st.) A self-taught baker, Angel gets rave reviews for his croissants and cinnamon rolls. Breakfast eaters have loved the burritos. And I adore the cakes! Birthdays seem to creep up on me these days and I find it easier to order a chocolate cake (dense and rich) or a Tres Leches cake (light and melt in your mouth) from Golden Wheat. Angel who maintains that his talent comes from his build, (“I am built like a baker”), wants to thank the neighbors for his success. And we’d like to thank him for choosing the Madrona/Leschi border to open a shop of delectable goodies. If only they would start a daily croissant delivery to arrive the same time as my New York Times, it would be heaven on earth! ~Diane Snell