How Birds Cope With Cold in Winter | Audubon Magazine

Posted on December 14, 2013 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

 

American Robin with berriesReblogged from How Birds Cope with Cold in Winter, Audubon Magazine:

Each autumn as many birds begin epic journeys to warmer climates, there are always some species that stay put for the winter. These winter birds have a better chance of maintaining their territory year-round, and they avoid the hazards of migration. But in exchange they have to endure the cold.

Like us, birds are warm-blooded, which means their bodies maintain a constant temperature, often around 106 degrees Fahrenheit. To make enough heat and maintain it, they have many different strategies — some similar to our own.

Continue reading →

Posted in Nature and wildlife | Tagged | Leave a comment

December in Wedgwood

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

Homestreet Christmas treeDecember in the Wedgwood neighborhood in northeast Seattle is full of good cheer with charity drives, holiday decorations and shopping opportunities.

In businesses on 35th Ave NE clustered around the intersection of NE 85th Street you will find Giving Trees with tags for items sought by local charities. Take a tag, purchase a gift for a needy family and bring the tagged gift back to the tree. The Giving Tree outreach is through Meadowbrook Community Care (MC2) and includes help for children at Ryther.

There is also a Toys for Tots donation station in Wedgwood: bring a new, unwrapped toy to Woodlawn Optical at 8032 35th Ave NE.

Continue reading →

Posted in businesses, Events and holidays, Hunter's Tree Farm | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

School Day Memories: November 22, 1963

Posted on November 22, 2013 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

November 22, 1963 is remembered as a turning point in the lives of Baby Boomers who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. Young, vital John F. Kennedy, the first US President to be born in the twentieth century, was suddenly struck down by an assassin’s bullet and nothing ever after seemed the same.  I was eleven years old and in the sixth grade at Maple Leaf School in Seattle.

Continue reading →

Posted in Events and holidays, Meadowbrook neighborhood, School histories | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Birth of the Wedgwood Community Council

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Wedgwood in Seattle History
The Brancato newlyweds in 1955.

The Brancato newlyweds in 1955.

In 1955 newlyweds Frank and Dorothy Brancato moved to the Wedgwood neighborhood in northeast Seattle, beginning decades of service in local schools, church and community work. In the 1980s when the Brancato children were grown and Frank was retired from his employment, the couple turned their attention to Wedgwood’s development issues.  Frank and Dorothy’s organizing efforts strengthened the ability of the community to have input with city government.

In the 1950s and 1960s Wedgwood had a community club but interest and involvement waned until the club stopped meeting in the early 1970s. Neighborhood activism may have declined because of the Boeing Bust of the 1970s when there was a regional economic slump due to massive lay-offs at Boeing.

Then, too, by the 1970s the Wedgwood neighborhood was mostly filled in with houses and the business district seemed complete, so there were fewer development issues to attract attention.  Another possible reason for the death of the community club was the long-running, rancorous fight over a development called Shearwater.

Continue reading →

Posted in community council (present time) | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

In Memorium: Frank Brancato, Founder of the Wedgwood Community Council

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

Center for Urban Horticulture at 3501 NE 41st Street, Seattle

The spectacular sunshine on Sunday, April 15, 2012, added to the joy of the celebration of the life of Frank Brancato, a Wedgwood resident who died in September 2011, just after his 96th birthday.

Friends and family gathered at the Center for Urban Horticulture for Frank Brancato’s memorial service.

Continue reading →

Posted in community council (present time) | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Celebration of Life: Dorothy Brancato

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Wedgwood in Seattle History
During their retirement years Frank and Dorothy Brancato founded the Wedgwood Community Council.

During their retirement years Frank and Dorothy Brancato founded the Wedgwood Community Council.

On October 19, 2013, friends and family gathered to celebrate the life of Dorothy Brancato who resided in the Wedgwood neighborhood for more than fifty years. Dorothy gave gifts of unique investment in the lives of all those she touched.  She was an artist, seamstress, department store display specialist, gardening enthusiast, wife, mother, church member, community activist and encourager.

During their retirement years Dorothy and her husband Frank never slowed down.  They founded the Wedgwood Community Council in March 1987, one of the first community councils to be formed under the then-new Department of Neighborhoods, City of Seattle.

Continue reading →

Posted in community council (present time) | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Halloween Window-Painting in Wedgwood in the 1950s

Posted on October 27, 2013 by Wedgwood in Seattle History
The Wedgwood business district hosts trick or treat for Halloween. Cartoon by Bob Cram, September 1994 Wedgwood Community Council Newsletter.

The Wedgwood business district hosts trick or treat for Halloween. Cartoon by Bob Cram, September 1994 Wedgwood Community Newsletter.

When World War Two ended in 1945 the generation of young adults who had grown up during the war was eager to leave behind the deprivations and hardships of those years.  Most especially the young men who returned from war service wanted to marry and settle into civilian life.  The post-war “boom” in the number of newlyweds soon resulted in a soaring birth rate known as the Baby Boom which lasted from 1946 to 1964.

In the post-war period the Wedgwood neighborhood in northeast Seattle became very much characterized by young couples, and many of the 1950s activities of the Wedgwood Community Club were geared to families with children.

Continue reading →

Posted in businesses, community club (old), Events and holidays | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wedgwood, Center of the Pumpkin Universe

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Wedgwood in Seattle History
Hunter Tree Farm pumpkin sales are open on October weekends.

Hunter Tree Farm pumpkin sales are open on October weekends.

The Wedgwood neighborhood in northeast Seattle has several claims to fame.  It is the birthplace of the Burke-Gilman Trail and is one of the most tree-conscious neighborhoods of Seattle (see category on this blog: trees.)

A unique space in Wedgwood, called The Gathering Place, is the Hunter Tree Farm at 7744 35th Ave NE.  With permission of the Hunter family, the space is used year-round for fresh-market sales stands such as berries, and for community activities.

While we wait in anticipation for the annual Christmas-tree sales to begin at Hunter’s on the day after Thanksgiving, on weekends in October 2013 the Hunter family brought pumpkins to Wedgwood.

In years subsequent to 2013, the pumpkin sales have often been sponsored by the local Scouts troop as a fundraiser for their outdoor program of hiking and camping.

Continue reading →

Posted in Events and holidays, Hunter's Tree Farm | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Chipping Away

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

Valarie says: Photographer Joe Sweeney highlights the wonders of the bird world.  We are delighted that his chipping sparrow photo is featured in Connie Sidle’s new book about the Montlake Fill at the Union Bay Natural Area.

Joe Sweeney's avatarShort & Tweet Bird Reports

IMG_5165

This week’s photo, taken June 1, 2013 at the Union Bay Natural Area (Montlake Fill) in Seattle, WA, features a CHIPPING SPARROW.

On the first day of June of this year, I enjoy a very productive morning of birding at the Fill. I find two new species for the year: a pair of REDHEADS and a YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. I also get great looks at a RED CROSSBILL, a bird I never grow tired of seeing. Toward the end of my walk, I photograph a CHIPPING SPARROW, just before it disappears into the brush. Afterwards, I give little thought to that sparrow, because I used to see plenty of Chipping Sparrows when I lived in San Diego. So, I’m quite surprised the next day when I learn that a Chipping Sparrow hadn’t been reported at the Montlake Fill in nearly two years.

Connie Sidles has birded the Fill since 1986. She surveys the…

View original post 137 more words

Posted in Nature and wildlife | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Meadowbrook Pond Autumn 2013 Re-opening

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Wedgwood in Seattle History
The entrance to Meadowbrook Pond is on 35th Ave NE at about NE 107th Street and has stone markers.

The entrance to Meadowbrook Pond is on 35th Ave NE at about NE 107th Street, marked by these large rocks at the sidewalk.

Meadowbrook Pond is located east of 35th Ave NE at about NE 107th Street, its entrance framed by the flame ash street trees which line the arterial.  The pond is part of a low-lying flat area called the Confluence because the North and South Branches of Thornton Creek combine here.

The Thornton Creek system flows from Shoreline and northeast Seattle through eighteen miles of tributaries, in two major branches which converge at the Confluence at Meadowbrook Pond.

At the Confluence there is high groundwater and periodic flooding.  For that reason, Meadowbrook Pond was created in 1996 for flood management and for filtering sediments in the water.

Flowing out of Meadowbrook Pond, the water continues to Matthews Beach and into Lake Washington.  Sediments, if carried downstream, would silt up the outlet of the creek at Matthews Beach and then the water would back up and cause flooding.  Filtering sediments out of the water at Meadowbrook Pond helps prevent flooding downstream.

Continue reading →

Posted in Meadowbrook neighborhood, Thornton Creek | Tagged , | Leave a comment