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Gary Shigenaka

98 Articles

Gary recently retired from a long career as a marine biologist with NOAA, where he responded to oil & chemical spills and provided scientific support following hurricanes. He has been a Wallingford resident for over 30 years, his son attending John Stanford International School and Hamilton Middle School.

Traditional English Wassail at Meridian Park on January 11

Gary Shigenaka January 3, 2025 Comments are off

Come Wassail on January 11!

Sound and Fury Morris Dancers invite you to a traditional English orchard wassail which will include singing, dancing and poetry. Meet us, rain or shine, at Meridian Playfield on Saturday, January 11th. We have hosted this free and family-friendly event 16 years running! There will be opportunities to communally wish good health to the trees and scare away evil spirits that threaten their health.

When: 1:00pm-2:00pm Saturday, January 11th Location: Northwest corner of Meridian Park, near the apple trees that grow along Meridian Avenue What to bring: Weather-appropriate clothing and…

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A Partially Crowdsourced Guide to What’s Open on Christmas

Gary Shigenaka December 24, 2024 1 Comment

Like all good community blogs, we at Wallyhood like to keep our readers informed about critical infrastructure…like what’s open/closed in the neighborhood on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. In the past, we’ve tried to make the rounds to actually ask businesses what their plans are.

Unfortunately, we are but four highly unpaid volunteer editors and a rotating stable of equally highly unpaid writers, and we’ve been unable to completely canvass Wallingford establishments. Writer Ro did begin the task for this year, and I called a few places and prowled around the web. We would like to invite you, the readers, …

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Nickelsville Secret Santa Request

Gary Shigenaka December 15, 2024 Comments are off

Nickelsville is the name given to a network of homeless villages across the city of Seattle. Its name is taken from that of Greg Nickels, who was Seattle mayor from 2002 to 2009. Nickels initiated sweeps of homeless encampments in Seattle, and in 2008, the first of the so-called tiny home villages “commemorated” the activity by bestowing the community with his name. Lower Wallingford has hosted the Northlake Nickelsville community for a long time, and it has existed mostly quietly north of the Ivar’s parking lot. There have been internal feuds and conflicts, mostly related to the testy relationship between…

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Crime in the City, and in the ‘Hood

Gary Shigenaka November 23, 2024 24 Comments

From the Wallyhood Crime Desk…

The recent report on apparently random gun violence here in Wallingford (and I consider neighborhood discharges to be gun violence whether they hit anything or not) led me to consider crime in our area. The editors here at Wallyhood suggested a story idea to our stable of writers on crime near Gasworks Park, as we’ve noted an infrequent, but fairly steady, reporting of primarily property crime (break-ins and thefts) around that location. But what about for the neighborhood as a whole? How do we compare to the rest of the city?

First of all: comparing …

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Wallyhood Non-Endorsements for 2024

Gary Shigenaka November 3, 2024 2 Comments

We at Wallyhood understand that many of you depend on this blog to guide you through the complexities of life: where to eat, what to wear, what to laugh at, what to believe, etc. I decided to channel my inner spirit animal, Jeff Bezos, who is also a frequent visitor to my Wallingford residence— judging by the plethora of empty and repurposed Amazon boxes that litter the place—to explain why, in this most consequential election season, Wallyhood has opted to make no political endorsements. Our joint editorial statement is included in its entirety below; we encourage our readers to reference…

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Get in the Spirit of Halloween at a Neighborhood Haunted House!

Gary Shigenaka October 24, 2024 Comments are off

North Wallingford neighbor Kathy Bowie, whom we wrote about earlier this year in a feature about Food Not Bombs, also hosts a Halloween haunted house and is seeking assistance for that venture: either staffing as a ghoul or goblin, or less scarily, for batteries of all sorts to power the various attractions. Please consider supporting a good-humored neighbor as she provides some much-needed diversion right before a truly frightening election! You can call or text Kathy directly at 206-940-9973. And, you can visit the haunted house (311 N.E. 51st) on the weekend before Halloween (Friday 10/25 and Saturday 10/26, 6-8…

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10th Annual Citywide Seattle Public Safety Survey Seeks Your Input

Gary Shigenaka October 23, 2024 Comments are off

Wallyhood heard from Talia, who is a research analyst at Seattle University and works with the Micro-Community Policing Plans (MCPP) team for SPD. The goal of that research is to review the annual Seattle Public Safety Survey results and provide opportunity for those who live and/or work in Seattle to discuss real time community safety concerns and build relationships with police at the precinct and micro- community (neighborhood) level. Talia asked that we share information about the survey with the Wallingford community.  Here’s the scoop:

Seattle University is administering the 10th annual citywide Seattle Public Safety Survey, which is accessible …

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This community blog is all volunteer run, and we welcome articles from everyone in the Wallingford community. Something on your mind? Have a story to share? Please contact us at [email protected] today!

Editorial Board:

  • Larry Bush
  • Elizabeth Connolly
  • Jack McLaughlin
  • Megan Dulgar Okabayashi
  • Gary Shigenaka

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