The vendor letter was updated at the April meeting and a date set for the orientation meeting at Blu Water: August 30 at 3:30. The orientation meeting serves to answer any remaining questions that vendors, especially new vendors, might have. This helps to make the day of the event go more smoothly when everyone knows the ropes. Permits for both the park and sidewalk are being pursued and the hunt is still on for music, which rocks the neighborhood! A larger group of musicians works best when the stage is outside; solos and duets get lost with the usual noisy bustle on the street. Attention students who need community service hours: volunteer! There are always last minute chores with chairs, delivering water to vendors, etc. ~Diane Snell

Prior to our panel discussion, we will have a brief election of officers. All Current officers are running again and no prospective candidates have contacted the council at this point. Our program features a panel discussing our changing community. Shanna Crutchfield will moderate the panel; she has many years of experience in this field and was Program Manager for the Race and Social Justice Program for the last 12 years of her career with the City of Seattle.

Leschi market is turning 70 years old! They are a household name, located on the shores of Lake Washington, proudly serving customers since 1948. Often referred to as the “biggest little market” in Seattle, Leschi has passed through several family generations with continued success. As our way of saying “Thank you” to the community, please come celebrate with us Friday May11th to Mother’s Day Sunday May 13th! We are featuring an outdoor produce tent sale, on hand local product vendors, in-store special Prime Rib Sandwich promotion ending with a sale on Leschi Market’s famous homemade sausage on Sunday. Our bright and friendly staff looks forward to seeing you Mother’s Day weekend! ~from the Leschi Market staff

Editor’s Note: This month’s guest editorial is by Ruby Holland, a Leschi resident who is resisting the changes that upzoning can bring. Displacement is predicted to be high in the Central District because of the upzoning that is expected to occur this year. Please be aware that voluntary displacement is already occurring in the CD. Many times, parents of children previously priced out of the CD, pass away or move to assisted living facilities. The children of that resident, who have already moved elsewhere, find that their best option is to sell the property. This will continue and will provide lots of properties for developers wishing to rebuild, yet this is not addressed here. This article is for the many CD homeowners whose property is in the upzones who do not wish to be displaced. We want you to know that you do have options to do whatever is right for you and your family. We want you to make your decision from strength, not fear. This article is also for any of us struggling with rising property taxes. Why stay in the CD? Below are responses from people in the CD, as well as some who have been displaced: We are close to everything: Parks, fishing and boating activities, downtown. As we age, we need to be close to hospitals and other amenities for seniors. We need sidewalks to walk on, which many suburbs do not have. As we age, we stop driving. Public transportation is better in Seattle than in the suburbs. Houses are getting scarce in the suburbs. Traffic is bad and getting worse. When we talk about ways to stay in our homes we are talking about ways to pay for an increase in property taxes. Here are some strategies: Redevelop your property into an apartment building, working with a developer to sell and stay in the CD. This option resonates with many who wish to downsize from a multi-bedroom home that is no longer needed. The developer will build on your land and you will get a return on the investment that your family has put into the property. There are benefits for all parties. A real estate attorney is recommended when going this route. Add an accessory dwelling, attached or unattached, like a mother-in-law suite, an apartment over your garage or a Tiny House in the backyard. Remodel your home, which could be less frightening than redevelopment. Adding an upstairs or downstairs apartment, or add rooms to rent, perhaps offering short-term rentals, like Airbnb rentals, or renting rooms the old fashioned way by posting a “Room for Rent” sign. Offer long-term rentals to foreign exchange students or guest lecturers. Contact the student housing offices at our local colleges. Rent yard space, perhaps for a Tiny House, or boat storage. Offer parking in your yard, driveway or garage. Reliable parking will continue to be needed as more folks move to this area. This list is far from complete. We continually find ways to turn our lemons into lemonade. The point is that this is a time of introspection. Decide where you want to be in life. You may well find that your wildest dreams may now be possible because you can get more money for your home. Make sure you know your property’s true value, and work with a real estate agent to proceed in your best interests if you choose to sell. But if you choose to stay put, know that it is not only possible, but also doable and desirable. For taxes and home repair help for seniors, contact the City of Seattle at 206-263-2324. ~Ruby Holland

Greetings! I hope that by the time you receive this newsletter arrives, spring will have finally arrived! As I write this, we sometimes wonder why we put up with this weather. If you have ever noticed, people’s attitudes and smiles increase significantly when the sun comes out. This month’s program is certain to be exciting! Shanna Crutchfield will be moderating a panel and bringing a viewpoint and experience working in this arena from a long career in consensus building. We will have a quick election of officers before the panel begins. Remember that in June we are honoring those unsung heroes in our everyday lives that make a difference. We will be accepting nominations until May 4. Please submit to leschinews@comcast.net. I wish you abundant spring flowers and the sunshine to grow them. I wish Happy Mother’s Day to those mothers in our neighborhood! May your children and grandchildren honor you on May 13 and every day. Respectfully submitted, Janice Merrill Brown, LLC President

Race, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leschi is changing. Are the changes the result of capitalism and gentrification? Are neighborhoods becoming racialized and how does that contribute to the questions of “Who is my neighbor?” and “What is community?” An in-depth look at the factors at play in the changes happening in Leschi and neighborhoods in the greater Seattle area. Join us for a panel discussion on the topic of Our Evolving Community: Race, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as panelists share their own experiences, perspectives and opportunities for facing change while embracing our differences. Wednesday, May 2 at 7pm The Central Area Senior Center, 500 S. 30th St.

RESTRICTED FUNDS This month we’ll talk about the Leschi Natural Area. This is one of the more active funds as donations from residents and grants flow in and out. There is a dedicated group of volunteers who have been restoring and maintaining this area for more than a decade. Funds are used for native plants and also for hiring EarthCorps to work on the slope where Parks does not allow volunteers. The view from this park is fantastic!

March 12.2018—Attending: Trevor Lalish-Menagh, Janet Oliver and Diane Snell (not a quorum) Treasury Janet will publish the February report in the next newsletter. (It will always be behind as the deadline for the newspaper comes before the end of the month.) April Program Tracy and Trevor had worked on a flyer to publicize the program. Diane will send an article to the Madrona News. Tracy will post on NextDoor Leschi. Tracy is getting refreshments for the event. Parks No Parks news in John’s absence. Next Board meeting It will be held at the Senior Center until May when Dian F. is on vacation and building will not be open. Meeting adjourned early Post Meeting Business The Board approved by email sending a check for $300 to Leschi Elementary School for their annual Give fund drive. Vote was unanimous.

RESTAURANT REVIEW I must confess that I am probably the last person who should write a breakfast review; breakfast to me is drinking a cup of black coffee and eating a slice of toast while listening to Amy Goodman. However, I was with family and we had just completed a difficult piece of family business and obviously felt we deserved a treat. We turned up at a bustling BluWater and were lucky to get a last empty booth. A large birthday party was breaking up and it made the whole atmosphere festive. I was hoping for lunch, but they were in the midst of their Saturday brunch and lunch options were minimal So I tried something I would not be making at home: a Belgian waffle. The waffle was good as was the whipped cream, but the strawberries were the California variety—pretty but bland. Of course, it was March and I could hardly expect those delicious smaller but tastier Washington berries. Other brunch items tried: House Pancakes ($9); Bistro Eggs with Roasted Red Potatoes and choice of Smoked Bacon or Pork Apple Sausage ($10.50) and a Goat Cheese ‘n Spinach omelet ($11.50) which also had artichoke hearts in it. Everyone enjoyed their selection and the omelet looked especially tempting but the amount of egg involved would keep me going for a month. A hearty eater is definitely needed for this option! The servings are large and one does feel as though it’s a good deal for the price. Ambiance: bustling that morning. Décor seems dated but then we’ve been going there since it was Leschi Lake Café and so it feels like home where one should never change the furniture (at least in this house). Bluwater Bistro 102 Lakeside Ave., 206.328.2233 Mon–Fri: 11am–2am; opens at 9am on Sat & Sun ~Diane Snell

SAVE THE DATE alert! The end of April brings our annual wine tasting event in partnership with the Lakewood Seward Park Community Club. Join friends and neighbors Saturday, April 28 from 7–9pm, and enjoy tasting wine while nibbling on appetizers and desserts. Only $25 gets you in the door to this annual can’t miss event. More info here: lspcc.org/wine-tasting. Leschi Market hopes to see you there. Spring has officially arrived! Gone are the dark, gray, cold days. Spring brings cherry blossoms, baseball season, fresh cut grass, longer days, and of course, new wine. Featured here are some of Leschi Market’s favorite new arrivals. RED 2015 Domaine Jean Royer Châteauneuf-du-Pape Tradition ($32.69) “Far and away Royer’s best wine this year seems to finally pull together all of the ideas he’s been playing with (or maybe it discards them?). The blend of 80% Grenache and 20% Mourvèdre spent time in demi-muids and stainless steel and found harmony, developing lots of wonderfully silky, supple tannins that linger easily on the fruit-and-spice-laden finish. Terrific. Drink now through 2030.” ~Wine Advocate, 95-points. 2015 Les Trouvés Red Columbia Valley ($19.99) “Mourvèdre and Syrah each make up 40% of this blend, with the balance Grenache. The aromas draw you into the glass, with notes of garrigue, black pepper and blackberry. The palate is dense and ripe, pulling no punches but delivering a whole lot of hedonistic appeal. The value can’t be beat. Editors’ Choice.” ~Sean P. Sullivan, 92-points. WHITE 2017 Ostatu Blanco Alavesa Rioja ($13.99) Bodegas Ostatu is a family winery in the heart of the Rioja, protected by the Sierra Cantabria mountain range. Ostatu dedicates a single parcel to Viura, planted in chalk and clay soil, which gives this great Chablis-like minerality. The vines are approximately 60- to 70-years-old, and aging in neutral barrels adds weight and complexity. ~Technical notes. 2014 Giocato Sauvignon Blanc Goriska Brda Slovenia ($10.29) “Giocato Sauvignon is a softly aromatic quality wine. Its soft fragrance is reminiscent of elder blossoms, dried grass and kiwi, which is complemented by the soft aroma of melon and ripe pear. In the mouth, it gives a smooth, fresh taste; it is medium bodied with a nicely pronounced acidity. Its after-taste is accompanied with the aroma of grapefruit.” ~Winemaker notes. PINK 2017 SuLei Pinot Gris Rosé Crawford Vineyard Yakima Valley ($16.99) “Crisp and bone dry. It highlights some delicate fruit flavors of white peach, honeydew melon and Alpine strawberry.” ~Winemaker notes. 2017 Tranche Pink Pape Rosé Blackrock Estate Vineyard Yakima Valley ($14.99) “The 2017 Rosé is a blend of three traditional Châteaunuef-du-Pape varieties: Grenache, Counoise and Cinsault. Delicate aromas of lemongrass and honeydew. The wine falls effortlessly onto the palate as light alpine berry flavors combine with stone fruit qualities and crushed shale minerality. Driving acidity provides excellent focus and direction, lingering, mouthwatering finish.” ~Winemaker notes. A Leschi favorite! 2017 Erath Rosé of Pinot Noir Oregon ($11.99) “The epitome of freshness, this peppy rosé titillates the senses with aromas of nectarine, rose petal and ripe, juicy Casaba melon. Buoyant acidity provides long-lasting flavors of apricot, tangelo and Fuji apple.” ~Winemaker notes. Kenneth Benner, a Seattle area native, is a trained chef and has worked in such restaurants as Barbacoa, B.O.K.A. Kitchen + Bar, and Dahlia Lounge. Ken is the wine buyer at Leschi Market. He has a passion for learning, a meticulous palate, and a tenacity for searching out the best for his customers while offering some of the most highly coveted wines in the area. His wine column is intended to inspire and explore new choices in wine, learn about wine with his readers, and share his knowledge and experiences in the wine world. Check out the latest at www.LeschiMarket.com or request to be added to email updates or send questions, comments, or suggestions to ken@leschimarket.com and follow the wine department directly on twitter at twitter.com/leschimarket .

Curious Kids Nature Guide: Explore the Amazing Outdoors of the Pacific Northwest , By Fiona Cohen, illustrated by Marni Fylling, published by Little Bigfoot, 2017 As the first daffodils and crocuses begin to evade winter’s grasp, thoughts turn to the outdoors and the bounty of adventures to be had in our local environs. It is time for the Bufflehead on the lake to head north to their breeding grounds in Alaska and Canada, and for the Osprey to return from their warm holiday in Mexico and South America. Little Bigfoot (an imprint of regional publisher Sasquatch Books) indulges our yearning for getting outside, with a charming book published last spring. This hardcover nature book for ages 6–10, is graced with accurate color illustrations and appealing monochromatic artwork. The book is divided into 4 sections: Forest, Beach, Freshwater, and Backyards and Urban Parks with short introductions to common flora and fauna. Some of my favorite facts after perusing: A wild honeybee visits up to 50 flowers per trip from the hive and on a good day, she can forage at more than 2000 blossoms. Male earwigs have curved pincers while the female pincers are straighter. The common white butterflies we see thrive on plants from the mustard family. Feathers over the nostrils of a woodpecker keep it from breathing in splinters as it hammers into hard wood. Extra eyelids keep its eyeballs from popping out from the force of frequent and intense hammering. And, best of all, “When woodpeckers aren’t feeding, their tongues coil back into their heads, around their brains.” I put that one in quotes so you wouldn’t think I made it up! Of course, one fact leads to other questions: If ospreys go to South America for the winter, when do they come back? Where do they stay along the way? Then again, curious kids nowadays have the resources to quickly find the answers to the questions any book does not answer. I was hoping there might be some information on maple trees here, being as top portions of three tall ones landed on our roof last week. But alas, the book focuses on conifers of which, I understand from the tree service and the open space officials, there aren’t enough of on our hillsides these days. They have not grown in after the maples as was once the natural cycle. And many of the maples are now “over mature” and the conifers aren’t there to keep the hillsides protected in the winter so heavy rains can compromise the maples’ roots. ~Anne Depue

In honor of Women’s History Month, I am celebrating Radical Women, a socialist feminist group based in Columbia City, but with branches all over the US and even internationally. I have been a supporter and friend of RW (as they refer to themselves) for about twenty years. They constantly amaze me with how effectively they get results. They choose an issue, they organize around it, they create attention to it and garner press coverage and next we see mainstream politicians actually responding and even passing new laws or dismissing old ones. Their current campaign “The Silence Breakers,” was extensively covered in the Seattle Times. The #Me Too movement encouraged individual workers at Seattle City Light to begin speaking up about sexual harassment and bullying. RW reached out to them and gave support to those brave individuals, helping them to organize an effective campaign. RW has a long history with Seattle City Light. More than a few Radical Women worked for Seattle City Light in pioneering apprenticeship programs in the early 1970s. They were breaking a barrier for the traditionally male trades. One of the founders of Radical Women, Clara Frazier, sued City Light for sexism, racism and discrimination way back in 1980, and won the case after seven long years. Radical Women’s primary goal is to build working class women’s leadership, training women to speak up and lead on issues. A few years ago they organized “Sisters Organize for Survival” sought to keep Basic Health Plan for low income workers, before the Affordable Care Act came in. They were successful. They also support the farmworkers in the Skagit Valley in their effort to realize better working conditions. I still remember an extraordinary meeting in which the farmworkers, some of them only teenagers, spoke of the grueling work they did in order to realize huge quotas. All their riveting monthly meetings, accompanied by a delicious meal, educate us about issues barely covered in other sources. And they always pair culture with politics. Visual art, poetry, music and writing are a central part of their work as a direct result of their roots in Trotskyism. Trotsky believed “the opposition of writers and artists is one of the forces which can usefully contribute to the discrediting and overthrow of regimes which are destroying every sentiment of nobility and even human dignity.” (“Towards A Free Revolutionary Art,” 1939) They even have their own press, The Red Letter Press and a great bookstore “Clara’s Books ” based in their headquarters, New Freeway Hall on Rainier Avenue. They also run Study Groups, such as the one that began on March 26 about “The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State” by Frederick Engels. Over the years, I have learned a lot from these study groups. They work in partnership with their sister organization, the Freedom Socialist Party, which includes both men and women, publishing an excellent newspaper, The Freedom Socialist, which has news you cannot find anywhere else. The Freedom Socialists (known as FSP) are even running Steve Hoffman against Maria Cantwell for US Senate! They will get the Socialist perspective into the conversation. Recently Radical Women celebrated International Women’s Day (the only celebration in Seattle, which is huge all over the world except in the US). The program called “Working Women Rise Up: Many Fronts, One Struggle,” included Anna Bean from the Puyallup Tribe who described tribal resistance to the Liquid Natural Gas Plant in Tacoma, and Anita Brito of the Firs Homeowners Association who spoke eloquently of resisting the landlord trying to evict them from their mobile home park in order to build a high dollar development. Ramona Bennett, Puyallup Tribal elder described how she led a walk out as a teenager against AT and T. And the event concluded with inspiring Kurdish poetry and the famous labor song “Bread and Roses.” Gina Petry, the organizer of Radical Women introduced the program with some history: “International Women’s day all started with women militants. Women textile workers in New York City organized a massive demonstration on March 8, 1908 against workplace exploitation and for union representation. Then in 1910, Clara Zetkin, a German socialist was inspired by this struggle & proposed an international day of solidarity, March 8, be designated to honor struggles by and for women worldwide. On March 8, 1917, Russian women took to the streets and demanded bread, land & peace. Their leadership was critical to the fall of capitalism in Russia.” Perhaps that is why IWD is so little celebrated in the US! Radical Women just celebrated their 50th Anniversary last summer! Hats off to these dedicated women who work every single day to confront the evils of the world, all rooted, as they are quick to tell us, in capitalism. Stop by sometime and be inspired to change the world also. ~Susan Noyes Platt www.artandpoliticsnow.com