Community Street Clean-up

Spring is here, or that's what they tell us anyway. So it's time to clean up this little 'hood.  Time to beautify it for all those lovely evening walks we'll enjoy this summer.  Time to remove the trash in hopes that taggers will move on to other locales.  Time for the neighborhood to reconvene and catch up with one another. Whatever your incentive is, it's time to clean up. Wallingford Chamber of Commerce Vice President Greg Martin of Oom Yung Doe sent us…

Continue ReadingCommunity Street Clean-up

Mighty-O on the Food Network

Spoiler Alert!  I'm going to tell you who won the Food Network donut challenge.  So beware if you haven't seen it yet! Helen told us last week that Mighty-O and Top Pot donuts would compete in the first ever Food Network donut challenge.  Well, they have.  And Wallingford has yet another winning Food Network chef.  That's right!  Sara Beth Russert is the nation's first donut champ!  Congratulations, Sara Beth! Actually, I don't know if Sara Beth calls herself a chef.  She's…

Continue ReadingMighty-O on the Food Network

Redeeming Soles

Back in January, we told you about the "Day On" day at John Stanford, where students and their families spent Martin Luther King, Jr. day cleaning up their school and such.  On that day, the students also hosted a shoe drive, in partnership with Redeeming Soles, a nonprofit organization that provides footwear to the underprivileged and homeless living in Seattle. The shoe drive at John Stanford continues, and if you have a decent pair of shoes (no holes, clean laces, etc.)…

Continue ReadingRedeeming Soles

Happy Birthday, Smash

Smash Wine Bar and Bistro is celebrating their 5th anniversary today! Dana says she'll have the patio open and the heaters out, so you can enjoy some early Spring outdoor happy hour (and a fine happy hour they have). Weatherman says sunny with a high in the upper 50's, which, by Seattle standards, is prime outdoor seating weather. Only five years? Doesn't it seem longer? For the life of us, we can't even remember what was there before it was Smash.…

Continue ReadingHappy Birthday, Smash

New Neighborhood Preschool: Exploration Academy

(Wallyhood welcomes Rachel Feldstein to our writing corps! She'll be covering kids-related issues and whatever strikes her fancy.) Have you ever noticed a gaggle of little kids tethered together, exploring the neighborhood?  If so, you’ve likely seen the students from Exploration Academy, a new Wallingford preschool. I had the opportunity to tour the school last week and chat with the director, longtime Wallingford resident Michelle Warren.  She opened Exploration Academy in Wallingford Center last fall because it “seemed like the perfect…

Continue ReadingNew Neighborhood Preschool: Exploration Academy

Wallingford Weekend

In order to ensure a sunny weekend, we must - each and every one of us - plan on spending our weekend indoors.  You understand, yes?  This week's Wallingford Weekend will feature a few indoor performances for you to consider.  And hey, if you see a good play or a fantastic opera, AND we get sunshine, well, drop me a thank you note: Friday night, Stone Soup Theater kicks off their (XX) Fest, a festival of plays written exclusively by women.  …

Continue ReadingWallingford Weekend

The Mighty-O Winner

The winner of the Mighty-O contest is Abby Klingbeil!  Abby and her husband will be attending Mighty-O's private screening of The Food Network Challenge this Sunday, at 8pm. When we asked readers what they liked best about Mighty-O, Abby wrote: Oh, where to start? I love that all the employees at Mighty O’s staff, especially Julie, always have been so sweet and attentive to my little toddler, who made her first trip there when she was just days old. Now 21…

Continue ReadingThe Mighty-O Winner