Community Lunch on Capitol Hill executive director Don Jensen, seen here with supply coordinator, River, will be honored at Friday night’s State of the Hill (Image: Community Lunch on Capitol Hill)
The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual State of the Hill event Friday night in the Loft/Bar above 11th Ave’s Queer/Bar. A big part of the night will be honoring this year’s Spirit of the Hill award winners — meal provider Community Lunch on Capitol Hill, and Laurie Kearney of Ghost Gallery and Jeanine Anderson, coordinators of the monthly Capitol Hill Art Walk.
“We look forward to this event each year, and invite chamber members, local businesses, public officials and other hill-folk to gather to hear the State of the Hill address and celebrate all things Capitol Hill over local fare and cocktails,” the chamber’s 2019 event invite reads.
Guests will enjoy food and drink from neighborhood providers, live performances by Breaks & Swells and Stacey Starstruck, and there will again be a silent auction with items donated by neighborhood merchants.
Tickets are available here or at the door.
Past Spirit of the Hill award winners include Tracy Taylor of Elliott Bay Book Company in 2018 for her work representing small businesses in the neighborhood. In 2017, Pike/Pine developer Liz Dunn and Jill Cronauer of Hunters Capital were recognized.
2019’s recognition of Community Lunch on Capitol Hill will be especially poignant as longtime director Don Jensen is reportedly preparing to retire from the organization that has provided hot meals to those in need for around 30 years.
Powered by financial support from Capitol Hill Block Party, and Starbucks, as well as support from the chamber, the Stranger, and CHS, the Capitol Hill Art Walk has provided an ongoing connection between the neighborhood and artists even as galleries and arts spaces have been priced out of the area.
Capitol Hill’s chamber group, meanwhile, continues to represent member merchants and an increasing roster of large institutions and developers. Last year, the nonprofit organization pulled back on its plan for a major expansion of the neighborhood’s Business Improvement Area and around $1.6 million in property assessments that would have come with it to power the larger organization. Representatives have said the group was reassessing and would likely move forward with a revised expansion plan.
The State of the Hill event is Friday, February 1st at Loft/Bar, upstairs at 1518 11th Ave.
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CHCC is great for mega developers but doesn’t lift a finger to help small business that are under siege on Cap Hill! OED Wells actually threw small business under the bus as leader of the CHCC to get his lucrative spot on the OED staff. Extreme greed, while pretending to give a shit about the neighborhood!