Burien Parks sent out the following Tweet Friday morning, Jan. 20, which included the photo above of a downed tree blocking the road to Seahurst Park:

Seahurst Park in #Burien is closed to the public today due to road conditions and downed trees.

“If Eagle Landing Park could speak, what kind of visitor would she like?” reads a post on the new website. “How can I be a contributing member of her ecosystem? The premise of this Biography is that I can serve the park by being her memory, but as I walked through the park today I thought of other ways I could benefit her on a daily basis. In addition to being a brain for the park, I can also be a white blood cell. As I move through her, I can identify and remove that which does not belong. Today I collected cans, bottles, trash, and ivy.”

Branson said he became interested in native plant stewardship around 2001, then took a Stewardship Training from the Washington Native Plant Society in 2004. He then made Eagle Landing Park his pet project. Volunteers have been trying to restore the forest to health since the park opened in 2005.

“Because of what I’ve learned from the Washington Native Plant Society, I think of Eagle Landing Park as an ecosystem, a living entity, not just a place,” he added.

Branson also said:

“I started EagleLandingPark.org in 2006 in order to help people appreciate the natural beauty of the park. 365 Stones: A Biography of Eagle Landing Park, is an extension of that effort. Like a biography of a person, this daily blog will help people get to know what is beautiful, fascinating, and useful about this local park. It will also offer practical ways that local residents can help improve the health of the forest while enjoying exercise and recreation. At the end of the year, the 365 entries will be compiled into a book to be published electronically, and possibly printed, and then anyone can read it to learn more about how one little neighborhood park struggled to become healthy under the pressures of daily use and abuse.

Will Eagle Landing Park be healthier at the end of one year? I don’t know yet, but either way, we will have a better understanding of the ecosystem of the park. The more I learn about nature, the more I enjoy a simple walk through the woods. Every day is something new. I hope to be a benefit to the park while doing something I enjoy. Hopefully readers of the blog will learn to look at the park differently, and see the hidden forest that had escaped their notice.

Also, it’s an excuse to go for a walk with my dogs.”

One reason Branson may be so attached to this park is because his family once owned the land, and sold it to the City of Burien, according to its website:

In the early 1900s, the land known as Eagle Landing Park belonged to the Branson family. The Branson property was part of a 200-acre parcel owned by the Seahurst Land Company, which supplied water to local residents from springs on the property. The original Branson estate was a 9-acre wooded waterfront residential lot. In 1915, a relative of the owner built a residence in the northern portion of the property, which was upgraded and expanded in the 1930s. A county road through the property was platted but never built, and has been vacated since 1935. The property was logged about 90 years ago, when much of the timber in Burien, Seahurst, and Gregory Heights was felled to supply wood for America’s Liberty Ships in World War I.

The steeply sloped property sits atop two geologic units – glacial lake clay and silt below, and glacial outwash sand and gravel above – both deposited during glaciation of Puget Sound in the last Ice Age. Springs trickle from the hillside at an elevation of about 50 feet. The area has a long history of slope instability, according to oral history and the topographic features of the site.

Continue on to learn about how the City acquired this land.

Be sure to check out Jim’s new blog here!

Burien’s annual ‘Empty Bowls’ fundraiser event for local food banks will be held on Friday, Jan. 27th at the Community Center, and volunteers are needed to help out.

Volunteers are needed to help wash bowls beforehand, as well as set up and serve at the event itself.

Here are the details courtesy Gina Kallman, Cultural Arts Supervisor for the City of Burien:

Hello!

I am starting to fill slots for volunteers for Empty Bowls 2012! The event will be Friday, January 27th, 11-2 and 4-8pm. Please let me know if you can help!

I am looking for people to fill these slots:

Bowl washing at Moshier Art Center:

• Monday, January 16, 10-noon
• Wednesday, January 25, 6-8pm

Set up at Burien Community Center:

• Thursday, Jan 26, 3-6pm

Friday, Jan 27—Main Event! Please let me know if you would like to help for lunch or dinner…we have the following shifts:

• 10:30-12:30
• 12:30-2:30
• 3:30-6:00
• 6:00-8:30pm

Thank you and Happy New Year!!

Gina Kallman
Cultural Arts Supervisor
City of Burien
Tel: (206) 391-6605
ginak@burienwa.gov
www.BurienParks.net

To volunteer, email Gina at ginak@burienwa.gov or call (206) 391-6605.

To see our previous coverage of past Empty Bowls, including great photos, click here.

These signs are being posted throughout Burien Parks, proclaiming them as 'Tobacco Free' zones.

On the 36th national Great American Smoke-Out (Thursday, Nov. 17), the City of Burien joined five local communities as having tobacco- or smoke-free parks.

“The city of Burien today declared its parks, beaches, playgrounds and playfields to be tobacco- and smoke-free, joining Auburn, Covington, Seattle, Snoqualmie and the Vashon Parks District, which have similar policies,” reads a press release.

“We’re proud to be joining other cities in King County in declaring our parks smoke-free,” said Burien Mayor Joan McGilton. “This benefits the entire community and is in line with the City’s vision of promoting a healthy environment for people of all ages.”

“When folks come to a public park, they expect to breathe fresh air – not someone else’s cigarettes,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine, who said he will work with the County Council to develop a no-smoking policy for King County parks.

Here’s a Video courtesy our friends at Burien Parks:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s the rest of the press release:

Tobacco-free parks reduce exposure to second-hand smoke for children and families, and reduce pollution from cigarette butts, the main source of litter in public places.

Tobacco-free parks are part of a broad movement to create healthy and smoke-free areas, especially for kids and the most vulnerable. In recent months many hospitals, housing providers, and mental health and chemical dependency centers have also gone smoke-free.

“People want and deserve healthy, smoke-free places. Today we continue to deliver this for our region,” said King County Councilmember and King County Board of Health chair Joe McDermott, whose council district includes Burien and who today helped unveil Burien’s first tobacco-free signage in a ceremony at Lake Burien School Memorial Park.

In a recent survey of King County residents, 70 percent said they support smoke-free public places, including parks.

In King County alone, tobacco causes almost 2,000 premature deaths and costs over $340 million in medical expenses each year. In addition to the health effects, cigarette butts can account for up to 70 percent of litter items in public places. Cigarette butts can take up to 15 years to decompose, leaching chemicals into the soil and posing harm to small children and pets if ingested.

“The U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that there is no safe level of exposure to second hand smoke, and tobacco use is still the leading cause of death and illness in King County,” said Carrie Nyssen, Regional Director of Advocacy for the American Lung Association of the Mountain Pacific. “Even brief exposure to second-hand smoke can cause an asthma attack in a child, or increase risk of blot clots in healthy adults.”

Nationally, almost 600 jurisdictions have enacted laws that prohibit tobacco use in parks and on beaches, including New York and Los Angeles. In Washington state, about 30 cities in 15 counties have smoke-free parks policies, including Tacoma Metro Parks in Pierce County and Marysville and Lake Stevens in Snohomish County.

Tobacco policies are enforced mostly by residents themselves, much like with dog leash and alcohol policies. This is how similar laws have worked in other places, including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. People can also contact the parks departments.

A universal tobacco-free parks sign has been created for jurisdictions to post in their parks. Each jurisdiction that has adopted or plans to adopt a tobacco- or smoke-free policy will have the opportunity to post this sign as part of the regional partnership for tobacco-free parks.

Other cities within King County are also considering tobacco-free policies. These activities by local cities and King County are supported by Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW), a federally-funded grant to address obesity and tobacco use, two of the leading causes of death in King County.

More officials and directors comment on the benefits of tobacco and smoke-free parks:

• City of Auburn Mayor Pete Lewis: “The City of Auburn is committed to creating a healthy community. The Tobacco-Free Park Policy is intended to assist recreational organizations and parents in their efforts to recreate in a tobacco-free environment. It is important that we recognize the effects of first and second-hand smoke and discourage tobacco usage at places where youth are gathered and healthy lifestyle activities are available.”
• City of Covington Mayor Margaret Harto: “Covington established its tobacco free park ordinance in 2002 because we knew that choosing to be tobacco free in our parks meant choosing to provide a better quality of life for our citizens. We are proud to join King County’s initiative to bring light to the harmful effects of second-hand smoke in our public places.”?
• City of Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson: “We believe parks should remain spaces that are focused on health. Having places where kids can go and exercise and enjoy the fresh air is what parks are all about.”
• City of SeaTac Mayor Terry Anderson: “The City of SeaTac is concerned about tobacco use and the health of our citizens. SeaTac City Council is currently working with our citizens both young and old to see if they would like to have tobacco-free parks.”
• Vashon Park District Director Jan Milligan: “The community of Vashon Island is very committed to health and wellness, so tobacco-free parks and other public areas are just part of the big picture of a healthy community.”

For more information on CPPW, please visit www.kingcounty.gov/health/cppw and the new campaign, Let’s Do This, that encourages residents to get involved in improving the health of their communities.

Today, November 17, is also the 36th Great American Smoke-Out nationwide, and people are encouraged to use the date to make a plan to quit smoking.

Our friends at Burien Parks, Recreation and Cultural Service want our Readers to know that they’re seeking artists to showcase in 2012 at the Burien Community Center, located at 14700 6th Ave SW.

The deadline is 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011.

Here’s more from an announcement:

Artists working in 2 dimensional media are invited to apply for the 2012 schedule of gallery exhibitions at the Burien Community Center, 14700 6th Ave SW. The exhibit space is four –40” wide by 70” tall connected panels for hanging 2D art work. Artists are encouraged to view space before applying to see if suitable. The Community Center is open Monday-Thursday, 8:30 AM-8 PM, Friday 8:30 am-5pm. The lobby is monitored by staff, but there is no insurance for objects submitted for exhibition, however, every precaution is taken for the safety of the artwork.

This is not a sales space, but artists are able to have contact information with their artwork.

For each exhibition, artists and their work will be publicized by the City of Burien through press releases and staff will be available to assist with hanging work and creation of wall tags.

Please e-mail the following application materials to ginak@burienwa.gov:

• 5 digital images (work completed within the last two years) representing the type of work proposed for the exhibition. Please do not send photographs, original artwork, or slides.
• A list of the images submitted with medium and sizes.
• Resume detailing exhibition history and/or personal statement.(Please include name, address, phone number, and e-mail address.)

Questions? Please contact Gina Kallman at 206-391-6605 or e-mail: ginak@burienwa.gov

Although we didn’t get a firm number, a conversation with Parks director Michael Lafreniere and supervisor Casey Stanley suggested that this was clearly a record-setting crowd for this event, now in it’s second year at the new Community Center.

The throngs of ghouls and goblins (and maybe one or two prince and princesses) even had staffers scrambling to do an emergency candy run as stocks dwindled.

BTB photog Michael Brunk was on the scene with his assistant Lindsey, snapping photos and even wrangling live tarantulas and snakes in the interest of providing coverage of local happenings.

He assembled the following gallery. You can click individual thumbnails for view full-sized photos.

This virtual bowling sport, which uses the Nintendo Wii game system, is a “fall prevention program funded by King County Emergency Services, with the intention to reduce and prevent falls for seniors ages 50 and up.”

This is the 5th ShapeUp Bowling Tournament so far, and everyone at The B-Town Blog tips our virtual bowling pins in their general direction.

The team consisted of:

• Rosalie Farula
• Charlene Carlson
• Rosie Stapleton (who also placed 2nd for highest overall score.)
• Mary Jurisich 

Here are some pics of the bowlers in action courtesy Burien Parks:

If you’re a senior interested in Wii bowling or other sports, our friends at Burien Parks are offering $10 off for every NEW movement class that you try out. This includes all exercise, dance and Matter of Balance classes.

They also have a Sitting Fit class that started at Burien Park Apartments that meets MWF from 3:30-4:30pm, running 10 weeks for $5.

More information available at www.burienparks.net.

They also held a public meeting as well as consulted with the citizen advisory board and many others.

This information is being used to update the City’s Parks, Recreation & Open Space Comprehensive Plan, or as they call it, the PROS Plan, and they’ll be hosting an Open House at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 29 at the Burien Community Center.

“We will share what we’ve learned so far and ask for your feedback,” reads an email sent out Thursday, Sept. 22nd.

Some of the questions asked include:

• What will the City’s parks and recreation facilities consist of in the future?
• What are the greatest needs?
• Where should they be?

Based on resident input, Parks is starting to have some answers to those questions. Please stop by Sept. 29th to find out more about the condition of Burien’s parks system, and to see what ideas are emerging about its future.

For all the latest on these planning efforts, check out www.burienwa.gov/ParksPlan.