Karuna Arts Yoga and The Tag Zone celebrated their grand-opening at their new Des Moines location with a ribbon-cutting this past weekend.

Formerly located in Olde Burien, these side-by-side businesses run by Anne and Johnny Basco are now settled into a freshly remodeled building at 605 South 223rd Street in Des Moines.

Read the full story and see photos from the event on The Waterland Blog

Of the walkers, one person was visiting from Salt Lake City, a family came from Phinney Ridge and others routinely come from Kent, Renton, Bellevue and Lacey – here’s a pic:

Click image to see larger version.

“It still astounds me to see how well the idea has taken hold,” said Organizer Maureen Hoffmann. “Some people have only missed one or two walks! Again, we had a beautiful, sunny, mid-fifties day as we walked west from Town Square, circled around Lake Burien, and then back to the center of town. It was an easy time of conversation and walking.”

The next Walk-n-Talk will be Sunday, March 4th meeting at Burien Town Square at 2 p.m. with the walk starting at 2:15 p.m.

Helpers assist the Bascos in moving out of the Karuna Arts Yoga location Friday, Feb. 3. Photo by Scott Schaefer.

Karuna Arts Yoga has occupied the building on the corner of Ambaum Blvd. and SW 152nd in Olde Burien for 7 years and Anne Basco the owner has successfully taught a wide range of students from the novice to advanced. She has also conducted in-depth programs that have produced many new teachers who now teach at the studio and who have carried the skills taught by Anne to studios around the area and beyond.

Johnny Basco opened The Tag Zone 2 years ago and has built a thriving business that has attracted children and their parents to Old Burien.

The studio is now moving to a new location in Des Moines, on the corner of 6th Ave SW and S. 223rd (605 South 223rd Street). The building has been extensively remodeled, turning it from a boat showroom into a 1st class yoga facility with 2 studios and reception area, bathrooms and changing rooms. The Tag Zone is in the same building but in its own separate and private space.

This weekend Feb 4-5th, the Bascos are hosting an Open House, with tours of The Tag Zone as well as free yoga classes. Saturday at Noon the Mayor of Des Moines will be cutting a ribbon to celebrate the opening of two new businesses in Des Moines. Definitely a celebration in these lean times.

I hope this may be of interest to you and your Readers as the moving of the studio will leave a big hole at the entrance to Olde Burien but will be filling a hole in the business core of Des Moines.

Thanks for your kind attention,
Avril Steele
Yoga teacher at Karuna Arts

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It’s time for another walk around the lake this Sunday, and they’re forecasting a sunny day! For those that don’t want to be stuck inside, sitting in front of a glowing box, watching men in lycra head-butting while carrying a point-ended ball, come out and walk with neighbors!

February’s Walk-n-Talk will take place this Sunday, February 5th. Walkers and Talkers will meet up at 2 p.m.at Burien Town Square, and start walking at 2:15.

This time they will repeat the 2.25 mile, mostly-flat route that we took last August, circling Lake Burien.

Here are the details

WHAT: February’s Walk-n-Talk.

WHO: Walkers of every level and ability.

WHERE: Start at Burien Town Square, at SW 152nd and 5th Place SW.

WHEN: February 5th, 2012; Meet at 2:00 p.m. Start walking at 2:15 p.m.

ROUTE: A 2.25 mile loop from Burien Town Square, around Lake Burien, and back to Town Square:

• Begin at Burien Town Square.
• Go west on SW 152nd Street.
• Turn south on 21st Ave. SW.
• Go east on SW 156th, 16th and 158th.
• Zig-zag north on 12th, 156th, 11th,
• 154th and 10th, and back to 152nd.
• Turn east on 152nd back to Town Square.

Click image to see larger version.

Intentions for Burien’s Walk-n-Talk:

• (Part of Burien’s new “Vision”.)
• our center and gathering place.
• “Encourage active living to support physical and mental health.”
• Initiate conversation between friends and neighbors, new and old.
• Nurture the idea of our Town Square as the “living room” of Burien,
• Create our own little “volksmarch“, in the European tradition.
• Support our local cafés and restaurants on Sunday afternoons.

This will be the seventh monthly Walk-n-Talk; they each take place on the first Sunday of the month.

Here are posts about some of the previous walks: http://www.kunstdame.com/category/community/buriens-walk-n-talk/

For more information, email: design@RedRedCircle.com

If you’re not already familiar with it, C2C’s Angel Program allows people to sponsor as many students or non-profit organization members as they wish for a discounted rate of $25 each. Each sponsorship is a full registration with timing chip, bib and shirt.

According to the C2C website:

Free and reduced lunch students are encouraged to ask their school counselors for about a sponsorship. The counselor then simply emails angels@covetoclover.com requesting an Angel code (expires after one use) for the student. The student can use code to register online for no fee by entering it into the “Angel Code” field. Students are awarded sponsorships on a first-come/first served basis, so qualified and interested students should apply ASAP.

“To qualify for the Angel Program, each school or non-profit organization needs to have an official Angel Program facilitator,” said Organizer John Nelson. ”The facilitator can be a counselor, teacher, staff person of PTSA parent.”

To become a facilitator, simply attend the short (60-minutes) training session to be held on Monday, Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. at:

Normandy Park Athletic Club
19901 1st Avenue South, Suite 401
Normandy Park, WA 98148

You’ll learn:

1. How to sign-up need based kids for the race for no fee.
2. How to fit students for new Brooks running shoes (expert fitter will be on hand from Brooks Running).
3. Ideas of how to manage students attending the race.
4. How to promote the race at your school, to better compete in the School Registration Contest.

If you can’t attend the meeting, it may be possible (if time allows) to have a C2C representative do an individual training. Email angels@covetoclover.com to arrange a special training session.

Click image to print Coupon.

The Tag Zone has moved to a huge new warehouse-sized location at 605 South 223rd Street in Des Moines, just west of the downtown district at 6th and 223rd (map below), and will be holding its Grand Opening celebration beginning at 6 p.m. this Friday night, Jan. 27th!

Open Fridays and Saturdays, this new warehouse-sized arena erupts into a safe, Nerf-filled fun zone for kids of all ages with two battlefields:

• A 2,300 square foot inflatable bunker zone
• A 1,900 s.f. “Army Field”

The Tag Zone was created by Johnny Basco, former U.S. Army 2d Ranger at Ft. Lewis, who says:

“This is my calling – to host a safe, entertaining, affordable and FUN place for your little or big ones to play, and always wanting to come back for more.”

Former Army Ranger Johnny Basco is ready for you.

At The Tag Zone, participants play an assortment of organized games with safety always on the minds of the supervisors, who oversee every game with rules constantly being reinforced.

“We strongly encourage team work in order to play as many games as possible,” Basco adds. “This is also an exciting way to develop tricks and tactics, as well as controlling emotions and stress.”

Cost is just $7 per hour (the same price as last year), and according to Basco one of their more popular functions is to allow for a ‘Parent’s Night Out’:

“Fridays and Saturdays between the hours of 6-10pm we offer you the opportunity to drop your kids off and you have the option to stay or have a few hours to yourselves while we keep them busy playing a wide variety of controlled and refereed games. While they are here we divide teams equally as participants arrive and depart. We make every attempt to keep your kids and possibly their friends together on the same team however on occasion adjustments have to be made in order to keep the teams competitively equal. Score is not kept but the competition level can still be pretty intense. We do not allow participants to argue with each other and definitely towards any of our referees or loss of one game will occur.”

The Tag Zone's arms cache awaits.

Here’s more from their website about the kinds of games played:

Open Play Sessions at The Tag Zone: Friday and Saturday nights, 6:00-10:00 pm

Squad vs squad
Objective:

• Eliminate opposing squad.

Game:

• Each team begins from its home base. At the signal, the players must find and tag the entire opposing team before being itself eliminated.

Protect the leader
Objective:

• To seek and tag the opposing team’s leader.

Game:

• Each team must protect its leader from getting tagged.
• Volunteer players will attempt to eliminate the opposing team’s leader.

Capture the Flag
Objective:

• To end the game with both team’s flag in its possession, in its home base.

Game:

• Each team begins with their own flag, located at their home base.
• The players must retrieve the opposing team’s flag.

The Prison
Objective:

• The players are to be tagged and placed in the opposing team’s prison.

Game:

• The teams begin in their own home base. When a player is tagged, he must head for the other team’s prison. The prisoner (s) are to be rescued by a teammate so that he (they) may continue the game. The prisoner is rescued from prison when his own teammate hand tags him out. The game is terminated when an entire team is imprisoned.

Look closely and you'll see Johnny's face in the middle of this bunker.

Here’s one more quote from Basco, posted on their Facebook Page (“Like” them here):

“What an amazing journey this has been and one I continue to look forward to. It’s still hard to believe I was doing hair two years ago! This would have never happened had it not been for my wife Anne and Karuna Arts Yoga. I love you Anne, especially for putting up with me during the build out. Thank you to all the kids who have supported The Tag Zone and to the future ones. This is one of the happiest and proudest days of my life. Dreams really do come true guys!”

The Tag Zone
605 South 223rd Street
Des Moines WA 98198

For questions regarding pricing and availability please e-mail thetagzone@gmail.com, text or call 206-719-4632.

View Larger Map

If you’re not already familiar with it, Cove to Clover is a local, homegrown fundraiser that will benefit numerous local charities, with a weekend that will include a 5k, 10k, talent show, Pub Crawl and much more between March 9 – 11. The organization is very lean and is run by passionate, local volunteers.

“Be assured, your participation will be making a positive impact on your community,” the website adds.

Tickets can be purchased for just $25 each at Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub – just ask to buy some from the bartender.

Buy early, buy often and increase your odds of escaping the crazy winter weather we’ve been having. Think of how easy it’ll be to forget the snow, ice, slush, gusty wind, downed trees and power outages when you’re sitting on a nice beach sipping a cocktail…

And did we mention how the odds are 1 in 200 that YOU could win AND help raise money for a great local cause?

Here are some details:

• Winner will be drawn at the finish line of Cove to Clover on March 11 (need not be present to win).
• Single prize is 2 airline tickets for anywhere Alaska Airlines flies.
• Chance is 1 in 200!
• Buy tickets for just $25 each at Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub!

For more information on this great fundraising event, or to register for the race, go to http://covetoclover.com.

*EDITOR’S NOTE: According to a website about 4-leaf clovers, the odds of finding one are 10,000 to 1.

BTB Advertiser Highline Athletic Club will be presenting “It’s Time – Let’s Move!” this Saturday, Jan. 21st, and would like to invite all B-Town Blog Readers to attend this Open House event for FREE.

This is a group fitness event featuring motivating music, supportive instructors and achievable results in an inspiring group environment. Featured classes will include:

• Group Centergy:
• 8:00am-9:00am
• Group Ride:
• 8:00am-9:00am
• Total Body Conditioning:
• 8:00am – 9:00am
• Group Power
• 9:00am – 10:00am

Group Centergy is an experience a fusion of yoga and Pilates movements in Group Centergy:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Group Power uses simple, athletic movements such as squats, lunges, presses and curls to strengthen all major muscles:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Indoor cycling keeps you ahead of the pack as you climb hills, spin and race over varied terrain during Group Ride:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Total Body Conditioning uses muscular endurance exercises, sport specific training and drills to develop and increase your fitness.

This is your invitation to join us Jan. 21st and sample all the fantastic benefits of exercising with a group. Recent studies done on group exercise find individuals are more inclined to stick with a program and put forth a better effort because of the group dynamic. The supervision and support offered in a class is a huge motivator. This is true not only for a person new to exercise but for seasoned veterans of the weight room and cardio equipment.

“It’s Time – Let’s Move!” sends an all-important message. It’s time to improve, empower and inspire! Highline Athletic Club and our team of dedicated fitness instructors are here for you. Our goal is to assist and encourage you as you reach toward your fitness goals.

Check out a trailer links that are included in this invitation of each class format, then come try a class for yourself. There is no time like the present. “It’s Time – Let’s Move!” Saturday, January 21st classes begin at 8:00am.

It’s a great time to join Highline Athletic Club who is currently offering zero enrollment fees through January 31st 2012. Month to month memberships available! Group classes are included in membership lots of fun.

If you want additional membership information please email: membershipservices@highlineathleticclub.com.

Highline Athletic Club is located at:

125 South 156th Street
Burien WA

Phone: 206-246-9000

Web: www.highlineathleticclub.com

If you register now to run in the 4th annual Cove to Clover fundraiser (coming up March 9-11), you’ll save some serious ¢lover, ‘cuz registration rates are at their lowest right now!

We’ll be a Sponsor for the fourth consecutive year (learn more about becoming a Sponsor here), and we encourage all our Readers to find a way to participate – even if you’re not a runner – as this is a great, fun, local fundraiser. Last year over $37,000 was raised and distributed to these local charities:

• Highline Area Food Bank: $16,000
• Highline Schools Foundation/Schools: $12,500
• Hospitality House: $3,000
• Para Los Ninos: $2,250
• YETI Club: $1,550
• Emergency Family Relief: $500
• Hi-Liners: $500
• Girl Scouts: $350
• Boy Scouts: $350

There are several new elements this year, including a 10K run and a Talent Show, along with the usual 5k race and Pub Crawl.

The race starts near the cove in Normandy Park, then winds its way up ‘Snake Hill’ through Burien before ending up in front of Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub. The 10k will start at the Normandy Park Towne Center and catch up to the 5k route (click here to see a map of the race course).

“Cover to Clover is unlike any other 5K or 10K,” reads a note on the C2C website. “For one thing, it is very hard. So hard in fact that it is fast becoming a test piece for NW runners. For starters, “Snake Hill” rises nearly 1000′ in the first mile of the course. Around mile 2 you’ll encounter ‘The Uprising,’ a runner obstacle that has been constructed in the middle of a live Celtic battlefield. For your suffering, you will be rewarded with on-course Celtic pipers and a finish line festival that delivers the goods (2 beer gardens, 2 stages with live entertainment, free root beer garden and free hot dogs for children).”

The Cove to Clover is a 501(c)(3) umbrella charity which distributes all proceeds to local charities. The organization is very lean and run by passionate volunteers.

“Be assured, your participation will be making a positive impact on your community,” the website adds.

This year there will also be a ‘Corporate Team Challenge,’ where companies can participate by registering their employees; here’s more info:

“It’s easy to do; just have each member of your team use a ‘Registration Code’ representing your company’s name. Also, be sure to email us at

“'The Uprising' will be at least double in size and absolutely impossible to scale. I suggest organizers begin working with City officials on a solution to help the estimated 2000 runners that will likely be stranded. This year you are mine…ha, Ha, HAAA!"

corporate_teams@covetoclover.com to let us know the code you are using so we can insure you get proper credit for each registration. We’d also like to have a team captain’s name and email address, so that we can pass on the information of who joined your team. Then all you have to do is promote the race at your company and encourage your co-workers to register online using your ‘Registration Code.’

The team with the most team members (registered with your unique code) will be recognized with a special award at the finish line. Cove to Clover will throw an extra special catered party for the winning team at a later date. We don’t want to be pinned down to a location, since the size of the winning team may require a bigger venue.”

Also, the sponsorship window will be closing relatively soon, so if you’re with a business that wants to do good and get great local exposure, contact sponsorship@covetoclover.com ASAP to let them know of their interest.

Click image to see larger version.

If you’ve taken a cool photo around the B-Town area, please email it to us!