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BLT’s Playwrights Festival To Benefit Hospitality House
Support the arts and our community! 8 Brand New Plays 
by Washington State Playwrights 
to Benefit Hospitality House Burien Little Theatre presents the
 Winners of the Bill &... [Read more]
The City Of Burien Wants Your “Vision” Of The Future
From city-subsidized jet packs to 3-D telepathic beaming of The B-Town Blog into everyone’s brains to dispensing free “art candy” in the shape of city councilmembers’ heads on every street corner, everyone seems to have a “vision” for the future of Burien.
Now, the City of Burien Business and Economic Development Partnership (BEDP) is actually inviting residents and businesses to submit their vision of Burien’s business community in 20 years. Ideas will be considered by the BEDP, the Burien Planning Commission and Burien City Council in updating the Economic Development portion of the City’s Comprehensive Plan.
Here are the details, straight from the city’s mouth…
Earth Day Fair At Saltwater State Park Is This Friday
The King County Housing Authority and Federal Way Public Schools Americorps teams, in conjunction with Washington State Parks, are hosting an Earth Day Fair at Saltwater State Park in Des Moines (map below) this Friday, April 24th from 10am to 2pm.
“Be Water Wise” is the theme, and elementary and middle school students will have the opportunity to do interactive activities and visit information booths.
Here are the details:
WHAT: Earth Day “Be Water Wise” event at Saltwater State Park
WHEN: Friday, April 24th from 10am to 2pm…
Three Tree Point Fireworks Fund Seeking Donations
Photo by ericagirlwonder
It’s one of the highlights of the Burien area on the 4th of July – the Three Tree Point Fireworks celebration, which is supported entirely by donations from residents in area communities, not just the citizens who live down there.
From personal experience, I can say that these fireworks celebrations are amazing all-day Americana affairs, starting with a community breakfast, a flag-raising ceremony, a children’s parade (with the incentive being a prize of a popsicle at the end) then an evening of outstanding, professional fireworks launched from a barge anchored right off the point.
It’s a crazy block party, with live music, beach parties, insanely huge bonfires and more, and the 10pm display can be seen for miles.
Neighbors have already set up a website for this year’s blast, and they’re seeking donations to help offset the $20k+ cost. For those who donate more than $150, you get invited to a fun neighborhood dinner party.
Here’s some info from the Three Tree Point Fireworks Fund website:
The Three Tree Point Fireworks celebration is supported entirely by donations from the communities of Three Tree Point, Seahurst, Normandy Park, Seola Beach, Arroyo Beach and Arbor Heights.
Our barge based, high-altitude fireworks show has gotten better every year thanks to countless people of have donated time and money.
In 2009, our goal is to keep the fireworks and community celebrations at the same great level that they have been at. This is the first year we are seeking corporate sponsors for our event.
We raise funds in May to ensure we have time to get all the permits, insurance and the best vendors.
Originally started by the Miller family as a gift to The Three Tree Point Community, the firewoks tradition was continued by neighbors when the Millers moved away.
In addition to the fireworks, the neighborhood traditions of pancake breakfast , kids games, flag raising with awards, bike parade and more have been ushering in summer at our great communitnity. What a great place to live!
Donate today on this site, or contact us!
For more information, e-mail us.
To donate online, click here.
If you prefer to snailmail your donation, make a check out to “3TPFF” and mail to:
3TPFF
c/o Murray and Julie Dow
9 Three Tree Point Lane
Burien WA, 98166
Burien’s Red Light Camera Citations Are “In The Mail”
By Jack Mayne
Any day now, cameras mounted high over three First Avenue intersections will record motorists running red lights and after local review of each photo, citations will be mailed to the owners of the offending vehicles.
The violation fine set by the Burien City Council is $101 now, but state law allows it to go up to a maximum of $124.
There are two cameras at First and SW 148th, focusing both east and west on 148th. The camera at First and SW 152nd tracks westbound vehicles and the one at SW 160th tracks eastbound traffic.
“Those intersections have a lot of accidents and this is really about safety to us,†said Mike Martin, Burien city manager. “It is not about the revenue. What we expect to see is a lot of tickets the first few months and then we expect it to decline. We thought about doing similar things in schools zones, we thought about doing it on Ambaum Boulevard it terms of speeding.â€
But not now…
$12k “Cove To Clover” Check Given To Highline Food Bank
Photo and Story by Scott Schaefer
On Sunday afternoon (4/19) an oversized check for $12,000 was presented to (from left), Mike Werle, Executive Director of the Highline Area Food Bank, along with Normandy Park Mayor Shawn McEvoy, from Mick Purdy, co-owner of Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub, and John Nelson, Organizer of the event.
Despite requests from passersby, there was no evidence of an oversized deposit slip, nor any visible signs of Ed McMahon.
It was all part of a celebration that was held at BTB Advertiser Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub Sunday for volunteers who helped make March 15th’s first-ever “Cove to Clover” 5k run such a huge success. Free food and beverages were provided by the popular Irish Pub, which is quickly becoming the de facto fundraising headquarters of Burien (Mick’s holds at least one major fundraiser per quarter)…
PHOTOS: That Wasn’t A Police Raid, It Was A Fundraiser!
If you were in the vicinity of Red Robin on Southcenter Blvd. in Tukwila on Saturday you may have noticed an unusually large gathering of police cars, fire trucks, and even a SWAT paddy wagon along with numerous uniformed officers.
No, it wasn’t a police raid on the burger joint – it was the annual “Tip A Cop” fundraiser for Special Olympics.
“Tip A Cop” is a major fundraiser put on at Red Robins throughout Washington as well as many other states. It ran from Noon to 8pm Saturday, and the idea is this:
- For a minimum donation of $5, you could have a friend (or family member) “arrested,” handcuffed and taken outside to a waiting SWAT paddy wagon by a real, uniformed police officer.
- All donations went to Special Olympics.
- Saturday’s goal was to raise $5,000.
- Officers from the Tukwila Police Department were there, along with members of the Washington State Patrol, Recruits from the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center in Burien, as well as area Police Explorers.
- Departments from around the US compete against each other, and this year, according to Tukwila Officer Ted Rutt, the main competition was against the state of Colorado.
- The last Special Olympics fundraiser these guys pulled off was the Polar Bear Plunge on Valentine’s Day (read the story and watch our exclusive video here)
- “Tip-A-Cop” is part of the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR) campaign, which includes a series of relay runs and other fundraisers represented by more than 85,000 law enforcement officers worldwide to help raise money and public awareness for Special Olympics.
Our own Scott Schaefer was there, and he took these photos:
White Center For The Arts Open Studio Tour Is Tonight
Tonight (Saturday, April 18th) is the next White Center for the Arts Open Studio Art Tour, from 5pm to 10pm, at 9639 16th SW in White Center, and here are the details:
Come one, come all! White Center for the Arts Open Studio Tour is on Saturday, April 18th, 2009.
Enjoy art and the usual accoutrements, and support your local, hard-working artists…
Four More Laser-Airplane Pointing Incidents Friday Night
KOMO News reports that Friday night (April 17th) brought another flurry of laser beam pointing incidents of airplanes heading into Sea-Tac Airport for landings.
Four airplanes were targeted, beginning around 8:30pm, and this time the laser was red. Previously a green laser was used.
All airplanes landed safely without incident.
Investigators say that the laser was based in an area 2-3 miles north of the airport, near Glen Acres Golf Course and east of SR-509…
REMINDER: Highline Athletic Club Promo & Testimonial
by Scott Schaefer
Publisher/EditorHere at The B-Town Blog, we’re very proud and thankful for our 35+ Advertisers.
We’re also proud of how hard we work for them – from our unique, Google-icious, keyword-rich, highly-effective “Blogvertorial” feature stories on the first day an Ad runs, to listing events in our Weekly Newsletter (the only one of its kind in the area – sign up here, it’s 100% spam free!) to posting news blurbs, consulting on internet social marketing and more, we bend over backwards for Burien-area businesses that we do business with.
With that in mind, we humbly ask for your time to showcase a recent Testimonial we received from Dona Forrester, General Manager of Highline Athletic Club, which just happens to be holding a major “No Enrollment” promotion Saturday morning, April 18th, from 7:30am to 10:40am (all enrollment fees are waived – more info here):
We became a customer of The B-Town Blog in January 2009 after I had the opportunity to meet Scott and get reacquainted with Janet at a Discover Burien Business after Hours event.
We were looking for a new means of advertising to reach the masses of people who primarily use the internet for their information and news vs. newspapers and phone books.
I was impressed with how active they are in the community promoting the B-Town Blog.
We ran our first ad in January and had a great feature article written and published the day that our ad came out. In January, we had our 2nd best new member enrollment in our 21-year history of Highline Athletic Club.
The B-Town Blog was the only advertising that we did in January that was different from our regular marketing plan.
I like the community feel of the B-Town Blog and am impressed with the number of hits that their site gets per day – how many places can you advertise and be exposed to an average hit of 400-500 hits per day.
We have decided to continue our advertising with the B-Town Blog and I encourage other local businesses to consider giving it a try.
Dona Forrester, General Manager
Highline Athletic ClubAs always, we also thank our Readers for their loyalty, and we welcome all our new Readers who are responding to our :30-second Ad that’s running on CNN.
Please subscribe to our Free RSS Feed, or sign up for our Weekly Event Newsletter, and thanks for your support!
If you’re thinking about jumping on The B-Town BlogOLution and Advertising with us, please read this page (chock full of info and other testimonials) then call us during business hours at (206) 248-2565 or email us!
Consider us your Burien Business Evangelists, and we look forward helping you during these tough times.
LOST: “Jack” (aka “Pumpkinhead”) Has Been Stolen!
From BTB Reader Ian Gunsul comes this shocking news about a recent theft in the 15700 block of 23rd Ave SW in Burien:
Subject: Jack snatched!!!
Message: Or “Pumpkinhead” as Shawn Underwood dubbed him: Jack has resided in front of our house off and on for a couple of years, becoming a neighborhood celebrity while waving a friendly hello to all passers by…
“RIPS” Baseball Poker Fundraiser Is Saturday, April 18th
Did you know that there’s a world-class baseball training facility in Burien called “Rips Baseball Training Complex“?
There is, and they’re having a special poker tournament fundraiser this Saturday, April 18th starting at 6pm, and here are the details:
WHAT: Texas Hold’em Tournament and 14U Gold Brewers Baseball Fundraiser (ONLY WILL HAVE 100 PLAYERS)
WHEN: Saturday, April 18th, 6pm: Dinner & Registration; 7pm: First Cards Dealt Promptly…don’t be late…
NW Symphony Orchestra Season Finale Is Saturday, 4/25
Burien-based Northwest Symphony Orchestra will present its season finale “Reflections of the Northwest” concert featuring acclaimed cello soloist Joshua Roman, Saturday, April 25th at 8pm at the Highline Performing Arts Center.
Here are the details:
WHAT: Northwest Symphony Orchestra season finale “Reflections of the Northwest” concert with Joshua Roman
WHEN: Saturday, April 25th at 8pm
WHERE: Highline Performing Arts Center, located adjacent to Highline High School, at 401 South 152nd Street in Burien…
Steve Bell To Perform At Lk. Burien Presbyterian Church 4/26
Internationally-renowned Christian musician Steve Bell will be a featured guest artist on Sunday, April 26th at both the 9:30am worship as well as a 7pm concert at Lake Burien Presbyterian Church.
Here are the details:
WHAT: Christian musician Steve Bell will perform two shows
WHEN: Sunday, April 26th at 9:30am and 7pm
WHERE: Lake Burien Presbyterian Church, located at 15003 – 14th Avenue SW…
MATT’S MOVIES: “Fast & Furious” Is Both Fast & Furious
by Matt Marble
Everybody knows that the “Fast And Furious” franchise has been the main car movie since it came on the scene in 2001.
After the original was released, law enforcement agencies all over the country, maybe even the world, took notice of the illegal activity that was taking place in almost every metropolis.
Eight years later, the films are still going strong with the release of the next installment: “Fast & Furious.”
Bringing the original cast back together was a nice touch…
Learn How To Prevent Falls At El Dorado West April 27th
BTB Advertiser El Dorado West’s next “Golden Years Seminar” will be on “Fall Prevention” on Monday, April 27th at 10am. Here are the details: WHAT: “Golden Years Seminar”... [Read more]
Learn How To Raise Backyard Chickens Wed., April 22nd
Burien Parks and Recreation Department is offering another unusual, rather fowl class on Wednesday, April 22nd on “Keeping Backyard Chickens†from 6:30pm to 8pm at the Burien Community Center (the first class was held on Feb. 24th).
Here are the details…
Fire Chief Mike Marrs Speaks Up On Bond Update
A Message from Chief Mike Marrs: Bond Update
On behalf of everyone at the Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department, I want to say thank you for supporting our November bond measure. This is the first in a series of communications to keep you updated on the progress we are making on the bond to replace our two fire stations for Burien and Normandy Park.
This was the first bond in the history of the fire department, and it passed by 66% even in this tough economy. Thanks to you, our firefighters and emergency personnel will have safe and healthy stations from which to serve you and your family…
