A memorial will be held Wednesday night, Jan. 27th at Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub for Cherisse Luxa, 62, founder of Burien’s “Drinking Liberally” group and community activist, who passed away from stomach cancer in December (read our report here).

The memorial begins at 7pm on Jan. 27th, and attendees are invited to bring photos and/or stories to share about her.

Known as one of the area’s most spirited Democrats, Cherisse was a well-respected organizer who had a hand in many local causes, including the attempted 2007 save of Burien’s Lora Lake Apartments.

Also, if you know of a home for Cherisse’s much-loved cats Howard and Harris (who are four years old and prefer to be adopted together), please contact Liz Giba at 206-605-3824 as soon as possible.

Here’s a flier with more info:

Story & Photos by Scott Schaefer

On the busy 12400 block of Ambaum Blvd., a quiet, makeshift memorial stands as a tribute to Mikarah Nasabreo Sanders, the 15-year old girl who was shot and killed by her 16-year old boyfriend on New Year’s Eve, who later shot himself.

Sadly, Sanders died from her wounds and the male suspect is still being treated (and guarded) at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle (read our previous coverage here). King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg has said that the suspect will likely be charged as an adult with murder in connection with Sanders’ death.

The most recent reports we’ve heard are that the suspect was upset with something he read on Sanders’ MySpace page. Other reports say that the couple argued frequently.

Like most temporary memorials, this one’s got photos protected by plastic sleeves, melted candles and notes, as well as some odd and ironic items like a mysterious, open, black umbrella (we’re not sure of its significance – anyone know? UPDATE: Occam’s Razor called and told us that it was probably placed there to protect the shrine from rain), and an empty peach vodka bottle lying next to stuffed animals – all as a tribute to a life lost way too early.

Scott Schaefer stopped by Thursday morning (Jan. 7th) and shot this Photo Slideshow:

Click to View Scott Schaefer’s Photo Slideshow

On a personal note, we’re getting kinda tired of seeing these memorials all around the Burien area. Let’s get along peeps!

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Virginia Pearce, 96, passed away last week. She owned Burien Books and ran it for 50 years, and was a lifelong resident of Three Tree Point.]

Story and Photos by Jim Branson

Virginia always liked to see my dogs when I visited her at Burien Books or when I helped her around her home on Three Tree Point.

One day, when I brought my dogs over, she said, “I wish I had a picture of them just like that.”

She was amazed when I pulled out my cell phone and snapped the picture. Later that day, I had one printed at Bartell’s and brought the print to her store. Although she greatly enjoyed the picture, she was incredulous of technology and avoided it if at all possible. On her kitchen table, an old radio was her link to the outside world. She kept her rotary phone until it would no longer work with her supplier’s phone system. She never owned a TV.

At the bookstore, she didn’t have a cash register or a calculator, let alone any sort of computer. She would total up your order on a scrap of paper, using a pencil, never a pen. The cash drawer is a work of art (see photo), made of wood, with dished-out coin compartments worn smooth by 50 years of use. The funny old microfiche machine was as high-tech as she would ever get, and when they stopped making new films for it, a couple years back, she did the best she could ordering books by phone.

When I worked at her home, I sometimes borrowed a wonderful old screwdriver with a wooden handle, still in perfect condition and perfectly useful. The screwdriver was probably older than me. Virginia never bought anything new. She loved her garden, as did I. From the street, you can’t even tell there is a house because the rhododendrons and snowberry have grown so thick. The path to her house was overgrown, creating a tunnel Virginia’s height, so I had to bend in half to walk up and down her path, which was just as it should be. Visiting her house or the bookstore seemed like a trip back in time. I’m not sure if the wisteria on her deck was holding the house up or pulling it down. I would ask for explicit instructions on how to prune her holly bushes because I knew she had a particular idea of how they should turn out. I accidentally broke a clematis vine she had trained to climb her Douglas-fir, but I quickly patched it up with some scotch tape, and the next year it was as healthy as ever, the wound no longer visible.

I asked her, just last year, if she would like a hand rail for the uneven brick steps leading up to her front door.

“Oh no. No, no, no,” she said.

The idea of using materials to build a handrail seemed way too extravagant to her. She had an Oregon grape bush that she held onto on the way up the stairs, and a cedar tree to steady herself on the way down the stairs, at 96 years old.

I would clean out her gutters, the only wooden gutters I have ever seen, and then oil them, trying to get one more year of use out of them.

When I would clean her windows on the north side of the house, she would give me a squeegee, a cup of water, and one paper towel. I would have approached the job with a bucket of hot water and an entire roll of paper towels, but she was right. I could get the job done with the supplies she gave me.

She had a yellow rose bush at the corner of her house, and she liked to take roses cut from it to have in her house or at the bookstore. She often took cuttings from her garden and arranged them artfully at the bookstore.

I didn’t know Virginia as well as some other people did, but in my impression of her, I would have to say that “Frugal” doesn’t exactly capture her character. It’s true that she didn’t like to spend money, and she didn’t even like for me to spend money. If I came to the bookstore looking to purchase a particular book, before she would order it for me, she would ask, “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather check it out from the library?” Her parsimony was not motivated by greed at all. I have zero knowledge of her finances, or how she magically kept that bookstore open for 50 years when Amazon and Barnes & Noble put most other bookstores out of business, but I feel certain that her thriftiness was not based on the desire for the accumulation of wealth.

Rather, she felt that she and others could enjoy a simple thing, like a yellow rose, a finely crafted old screwdriver, a crooked little old house, or a bookstore with no computers.

Who needs a TV when you can get lost in a book? She savored the simple things, like a visit from my dogs.

I certainly cherished my visits with Virginia, and I will miss her.

Here’s a Photo Slideshow in Virginia’s honor:

Click to View Jim Branson’s Photo Slideshow

Jim also adds:

“Her memorial service is Saturday at 11:00 at Parker’s on 146th, I have been told.”

Sad scene outside Burien’s Goodtime Ernie’s this weekend, as a makeshift memorial has been built for the young man who was the victim of an early morning stabbing death last Thursday, Nov. 12th.

There is still no word from police on the suspect, and while the victim’s identity was revealed in Comments made on this website, we have chosen to withhold those until his name is officially released.

We’ll post updates as more information comes in, but for now, we encourage everyone to show respect for the victim’s family and friends, and to try and value life just a little bit more.

Publisher/Editor Scott Schaefer stopped by not only to take these photos, but to pay his respects as well:

Click to View Scott Schaefer’s Photo Slideshow

Story & Photos by Scott Schaefer

Welcome to Dia de las Muertes de Burien – The B-Town Blog’s “Day of the Dead” tribute to Burien’s earliest, and sadly, mostly forgotten settlers, who are buried in a place most residents don’t even know exists.

This is the story of the area’s oldest graveyard, a private, historic and rundown place on South 200th called Hillgrove Cemetery.

You won’t find Hillgrove on many maps, because, like its 360 residents, it’s no longer living. It’s private, it’s fenced off, yet once you look at the chain link barrier and barbed wire, it’s obvious that people find ways to get in to do whatever living people do in graveyards full of dead strangers.

We too found our way into Hillgrove recently (how could we not this time of year?), and despite forgetting to wear boots (our Chuck Taylors got soaked but oddly, we didn’t care) yet managing to be very careful and respectful, we took numerous photographs, which we built into a “Sound Slideshow” to a public domain song from 1910, the era when this site was in its heyday.

But before we present our photographic and audio tribute, we’d like to share our personal observations of Hillgrove:

It was a sad place, and not just because it was full of dead bodies – it’s in disrepair, with missing, crooked and broken tombstones, years of neglect and evidence of vandalism.

Historic, old graves with unique stone markers ranging from the earliest burial (at least that we saw) in 1890 to the most recent in 2005. Some tombstones have been restored, while many are clearly without any markings (several we discovered only by stepping into indentations in the grass).

Here’s some info on it courtesy Highline Historical Society Executive Director Cyndi Upthegrove:

Hillgrove Cemetery is owned by the Hillgrove Cemetery Association, comprised of the remaining families that own the property.  I don’t believe anyone famous is buried there, but a large number of local pioneer families are.  It is in disrepair because the people that remain of those families are quite elderly and cannot physically maintain it themselves, and the city of SeaTac and the Port won’t maintain it because it isn’t theirs. SeaTac has occasionally mowed for them and helped to build a retaining wall at the left entrance when the bank slumped one time and remains started spilling out.

From what I understand, there are about 360 souls there. They consist of veterans from both the North and the South from the Civil War, the Spanish American War, both WWI and WWII, Korea and the first Iraq War.  Their extended families are also buried there.

About 12 years ago a teacher at Highline HS teaching at-risk students taught a local history class and they really responded to it.  These were very bright students “at risk” of dropping out.  So she took them over to the cemetery to show it to them and they told her, “We know about this place. We come over here to drink.” Together with her, the Society acquired a grant to pay for her project. So she got them to clean it up as a class project.  They dug up buried headstones, mowed, learned about the people buried there, mapped it and  tended it for a couple of years.  After they had invested so much time and care into it, they wouldn’t let anyone else go in there and mess with it.

The most recent, from 2005.

Then they graduated and moved on, and she quit teaching that class and things kind of reverted to how they were.  We have retained some of the records and the Association has the rest.

Recently a paranormal investigation group contacted me to see if they could go in and look for ghosts.  I referred them to the Association and I think they did some kind of investigation there, but we weren’t given their results. Occasionally a Boy Scout will work there building benches, or mowing and grooming the place as an Eagle Scout project.

We did several bus tours of “The historic sites of Highline” a few years ago and Hillgrove was a stop on the tour.  People found it very interesting. I have always wished that we could engage the various cities and veterans groups to hold their Memorial and Veteran’s Day commemorations there rather than in schools and community centers, but other heads prevail.

I have always wished I had the funding for the Society to take care of the place for the community, but I don’t.

Walking around a decaying graveyard isn’t really creepy, or new to us – in college we used to visit one that was near our house, and this Reporter has always been fascinated with the dead and how the living treat them. Especially Hispanic culture and their “Day of the Dead” festivities, which involve spending the night in graveyards, setting up elaborate altars, offering food, wearing bizarre (and to me, really cool) costumes, and believing that, for one night on Nov. 2nd, their dearly departed dead relatives and loved ones come back and visit with them.

With those sentiments in mind, here’s our “SoundSlideshow” tribute to Hillgrove Cemetery and the historic people who are buried there, may they Rest In Peace:

Click to Play Scott Schaefer’s SoundSlideshow

Jim Hughes, longtime Burien businessman, is having an organizational meeting at Sal’s Deli on Tuesday, July 7th at 4pm regarding erecting a statue in honor of Dick “Mr. Burien” Dahlgard, who passed away in November 2008.

Hughes is looking for volunteers to help with this project (which we first reported on June 7th), and below is a photo of a prototype sculpture, designed by local artist Phillip Levine, which depicts Dahlgard as a whimsical 35mm camera with three human legs as a tripod. A large unraveling roll of film with be place at the lower region of the piece and may include the long list of civic involvements he selflessly dedicated so much of his time towards.

The sculpture will stand over six feet high and will be crafted from brass; the location for installation is still being discussed but is proposed for the new town square development:

“I’ve never done anything like this before so I’m hoping some kind-hearted Burienites will volunteer to help,” said Hughes. “I would invite anyone who would like to help to come on Tuesday.”

The meeting will be this Tuesday, July 7th at Sal’s Deli, which is located at 15212 6th Ave SW in downtown Burien. For more information, please call Jim Hughes at (206) 246-7181.

This whimsical statue, designed by artist Phillip Levine, would depict the late
Dick Dahlgard as a camera on a tripod with three human legs.

by Gina Bourdage

Burien lost one of its most notable citizens in November 2008, when “Mr. Burien,” Richard “Dick” Dahlgard, passed away.

Formerly the owner of Dick’s Camera and pillar of the community through many charity involvements, Dick is a man that will not soon be forgotten and Jim Hughes, owner of Sal’s Deli, is organizing efforts to have a public art piece erected in memorial of Mr. Dahlgard.

“We tend to forget our heroes fairly quickly and Dick was definitely one of mine,” said Hughes.

Working more than 90 hours a week at Sal’s Deli has not detoured Hughes from taking on the large fundraising and planning task of the proposed art piece. A designed by nationally renowned local artist Phillip Levine will depict a whimsical 35mm camera with three human legs as a tripod. A large unraveling roll of film with be place at the lower region of the piece and may include the long list of civic involvements Mr. Dahlgard selflessly dedicated so much of his time towards. The sculpture will stand over six feet high and will be crafted from brass; the location for installation is still being discussed but is proposed for the new town square development.

Due to budget conservations the City of Burien is unable to fund the project and organizers are reaching out to the community for private donations. To make a contribution please stop by Sterling Bank or by mail to:

“Dick Dahlgard Memorial Fund”
c/o Sterling Bank
224 SW 152nd Street
Burien, WA 98166

All checks can be made out to the “Dick Dahlgard Memorial Fund.”

Each donor will receive a special invitation to the unveiling presentation and the piece of mind knowing they are helping to honor the memory of a man who did so much for so many for so long.

The Seattle Weekly has an interesting story on how Normandy Park resident Eddie Rodriguez and his band, Los Volcanes, ended up recording the song “Red, Red Wine” for pop legend Neil Diamond.

And this Friday (Feb. 6th), Eddie and his band will be playing it at a tribute to Diamond in LA. Other bands on the bill include Coldplay, Foo Fighters, and Tim McGraw, among others

Read the full story here.

Here’s a video we found of Los Volcanes on MySpace:

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=41547935

Just over two years ago, a torrential storm hit, causing the Cowlitz River near Mt. Rainier to overflow and sweep Highline High ‘05 graduate Andy MacDonald away to a tragic death at age 19.

Andy was hunting elk with his family, and the truck he was in fell into the raging river after the bank gave way underneath it.

He was a popular high-school athlete with a great sense of humor, as well as an aspiring firefighter and a friend with “the best hug in the world.” He played soccer, wrestled, was president of his junior class as well as homecoming king. He was known at Highline as a kid who was kind to all, friends said.

His family established a scholarship fund for Occupational Skill Center’s Firefighting program in Andy’s name, and they’re holding a special soccer match between Andy’s ‘pink shirt boys’ rec team and alumni of Highline’s girls’ soccer team on Saturday Nov. 29th at Highline’s Memorial Field, from 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm.

Admission is by donation, and all proceeds will go to Andy’s scholarship fund.

So come down to Memorial Field and join Andy’s friends in this high-energy tribute to his memory.

For more information on Andy MacDonald, here’s a link to a Facebook tribute page, chock full of great photos that will soon make those who didn’t know him feel like they actually did.

View Larger Map

Just a reminder that the memorial service for Dick “Mr. Burien” Dahlgard will be held Saturday, Nov. 15th at 3pm at John Knox Presbyterian Church, 109 SW Normandy Rd, Seattle, WA 98166 (map below).

In lieu of flowers, donations in Dick’s name can be made to:

Highline Medical Center Foundation
16259 Sylvester Rd SW Suite 101
Burien, WA 98166

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a video of tributes and memories of Dick from some of his peers:

View Larger Map

Story and Video by Janet Grella

With the passing of Dick Dahlgard on Wednesday, Nov. 5th, Burien has lost one of its most passionate supporters. So passionate in fact, that he was often referred to as “Mr. Burien.”

While working in sales at the Highline Times, I passed many informative hours sitting in Dick’s very cluttered office at Dick’s Camera and Video on First Avenue in Burien. He’d share Burien’s history and historical artifacts with me and tell me endless stories about the old days. Like most people in Burien, I bought my first camera from Dick (I was over 50, and it was a digital!).

And like most people in Burien, I considered Dick Dahlgard a friend.

As a 1954 graduate of Highline High School, Dick was a treasure-trove of information about the school and area.  When we last spoke, he was busy planning the 55th Reunion of the class of ‘54 which will take place next summer. The only time he was away from Burien was while he was in the service after high school.  He was proud of his kids and their service to our country. Daughter Paige served in the Washington Army National Guard in Baghdad, Iraq, while son Nels is a Marine currently stationed in California.

Among many venues of community service, Dick was the official photographer and promoter of The Hi-Liners from its very beginning; a board member of Discover Burien and past president of Merchants of Burien; and a board member and volunteer of The Highline Historical Society.

He was always proud of his 46-year association with Rotary International, especially the Burien/White Center chapter that meets every Thursday at 12 noon at Angelo’s of Burien. He was so devoted that he never missed a meeting in his entire 46 years.

Wanting to pay tribute to Dick, I caught up with a few local Rotarians Thursday prior to this week’s meeting, tragically the first missed by Dick in 46 years.  Many members were just hearing about his passing when they entered the weekly gathering.

We at the BTB cannot put into words what Dick Dahlgard meant to this community. Here’s what some of his fellow Rotarians and a few community leaders had to say about Dick:

If you’d like to share your thoughts on Dick, please do so in our Comments section below.

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