We are in the proverbial dog days of summer.  All of the other editors are away. They left me with the keys to the shop, thinking that it will be slow, and what harm could he possibly do?  Well, it is slow here in the post-Seafair void.  And it’s feeling like many of you are away on vacation too, maybe with the rest of the Wallyhood editors. So now I’m wondering: Gee, why didn’t I get invited?

But there does seem to be some simmering controversy related to the old Kids on 45^th location, which we recently noted was …

One of the area’s bigger summer benefit events, the Fred Hutch Obliteride, is taking place this coming weekend—Friday & Saturday, August 12^th-13^th—and will affect parts of Wallingford.  The fundraiser for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center includes just about all of Seattle’s favorite participatory activities:  walking/running, biking, and partying.  In the ten years of its existence, Obliteride has funded an impressive $36 million of research over ten years at Fred Hutch—so definitely a worthwhile and worthy activity to post on the calendar.

That’s all well and good, you might be thinking. Hooray for them.  But what about …

For over 100 years, Seattle elected its nine councilmembers “at-large,” meaning each position on the council was voted on by the entire city. Then, in November 2013, voters in Seattle approved City Charter Amendment 19, creating seven city council districts, altering the way we elect our city councilmembers and how they represent us. Prior to Amendment 19, each person in the city was represented by all nine councilmembers, but beginning in 2015, each person in Seattle is now represented by only three members of the council—one for the district in which they live and two voted in at-large.

The city …

(Editor’s note:  Here’s another post by our resident wine maven, Jenn Shernoff)

What happened to The Bounty? It seems like just yesterday (a mere couple of months ago) we were promoting a launch and community event at the Bounty, and just like that it closed down and reopened. At the intersection of Stone Way and 45th, the reopened establishment is now Kdessert. The sudden shift in ownership took many locals by surprise, and the recent reopening is a welcome relief to the Wallingford community.

The new owner, Gina, said Kdessert will serve a variety of Asian style drinks and food. …

Historic Wallingford has published an illustrated, self-guided tour guide to exploring Wallingford. It is a brochure that highlights 20 natural, historical, and artistic points of interest along and north of the 45th Street business district.

The brochure focuses on north Wallingford since that is where Historic Wallingford has recently filed an application to designate an Historic District. The brochure has a map, pictures, either historic or current, and descriptions of the sights you are seeking out. A QR code in the brochure links to an interactive map with more information about each feature. Explore these neighborhood highlights in …

NOW is your chance to get a tree or trees for your yard. A City of Seattle lottery, closing August 8, is offering up to four trees per property, To apply go to the Trees for Neighborhoods website to fill out the application and then wait to see if you are a lucky winner.

You can request up to four different trees or four of one kind. The pictures show four of the 13 trees that are available.

You can read all about them and see more pictures from a link at the webpage (2022 tree options). Be careful …

You are invited to join Play Reading at Wallingford Community Senior Center on Mondays from 2:30 – 4:00 PM. Play Reading is open to the greater community and free. It’s a fun and stimulating chance to interact with others as the group encounters a play together.

Why play reading?  Molly B, a play reader, answers:

“When you read a play out loud, you have the chance to enter into a character’s perspective. You can behave as they do without feeling responsible for the character’s actions.” 

“Plays are generally written for a mature audience, so they are rich with life experience …