Wallingford, Seattle

Neighborhood Market Struggling, Needs Community Backing

In the coming weeks, Meridian Market—located in Tangletown, across from Zoka and Mighty-O’s—will distribute a notice with customer purchases: Customer headcount has plummeted 40 percent since last year, and the market’s looking for all the help they can get. Store owner, Wallace “Wally” Wright [Ed note: no relation to the blog] says he’s had no choice but to shorten store hours, cut staff and hold back on products they once carried, leaving some shelves bare. An eccentric, independent neighborhood market, Meridian’s…

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Meet the Writers

For the better part of Wallyhood's existence there was just one writer, Jordan. In the past few months, though, you may have noticed a blooming of new authors appearing on these pages, which we think is just fantastic because a) it brings more perspectives to the blog and b) it means less work for that one writer. So, we wanted to take a moment to introduce you to them. After all, you're neighbors. If you're reading this on the web site,…

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Watch Out: free-range kids with recording equipment

A dozen kids and a pile of electronics took over the Great Hall at the Fremont Abby this past Saturday for a Field Recording Workshop. The workshop was hosted by the Fremont Abby and run by Wallingford's Hollow Earth Radio. Five staff members from Hollow Earth started by helping the kids, ages 8-13, to discover and understand what field recording is and why it is important. For those of you over the age of 13 who don't know what field recording…

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Wallymom

I've been writing the series "Notes from the Playground" about Wallingford Playfield, but since it's winter and our park excursions have reduced considerably, I thought I'd broaden my scope a bit with a new series about parenting called Wallymom. There are all these sayings about parenthood. How being a parent is the best job in the world, the hardest job, the most rewarding, the most enriching, that it’s a gift, etc. Four years and two kids into this journey, I’m finding that it’s all…

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Wait Your Turn, Even If You’re Dave Matthews

This is not fast-food hair. It’s not exactly “your grandfather’s barbershop,” either. Spin’s Barber Shop (4501 Interlake Ave N) primarily works on an appointment basis; men, women and youth make up its customer base; cuts last 30 minutes; and, 90 percent of storeowner Spin’s customers are regulars—some for the past 20 years. And, Spin’s in his late 30s—a far cry from the 60-something-year-old you might expect to see running this type of operation.  It makes sense though, if you know his…

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Take the Wallyhood School Poll

Attendance area boundary changes, new school openings, building remodels, open houses, school tours, levy ballots--it's dizzying to think of all the changes taking place within Seattle Public Schools--and Wallingford seems to have hit the mother lode. So while you've still got school on the brain, I'm curious to know which schools your children will attend in Fall 2010.  This question goes beyond those entering Kindergarten, so, for example, if your third grader attends B.F. Day or John Stanford this year, and…

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