Tag Archives: holidays

Pikes/Pines | A Capitol Hill Christmas tree story

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I’m not going to pretend that every person who reads Pikes/Pines participates in the tradition of putting up a tree for the holidays. I generally see Christmas as wasteful, contributing to the consumer nightmare that is the contemporary United States. I’m also a solidly secular individual. However, it’s a time of year when I get to see distant friends and family, eat wonderful food, and I rather like getting thoughtful presents. The trees themselves are also a gift, of sorts, bringing a piece of forest life into Capitol Hill homes and neighborhood hangouts.

When I was in high school, I worked at a Christmas tree lot in Seattle. All our trees came from a family farm near Shelton, Washington and I got to know the different species intimately. We had Douglas fir, noble, and grand firs, the odd blue spruce, and a few pines.

According to a 2012 census by the USDA, Oregon and North Carolina produce 79% of the Christmas trees in the United States. Lewis and Mason Counties in Washington are our state’s largest producers, but are far behind counties like Ashe County, North Carolina and Clackamas County, Oregon. Only a small portion of real trees in the country are from u-cut operations, where you show up and cut your tree, or from non-agricultural sources, individually harvested on National Forest Service land. Most are grown as monocrops and shipped around the country. Fraser firs are the most-sold US tree, noble and Douglas firs second and third. Continue reading →

Happy Hilladays: Mark your calendar for Neighbours Alley celebration, Holiday in the Park

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A caroler in the snow at a Holiday in the Park past (Image: CHS)

If you’re like CHS, you probably aren’t totally feeling the holiday season yet. That’s cool. But next week, you better get ready to be festive.

Next Thursday night brings a double header of celebration to Capitol Hill including a very Pike/Pine venue — the Neighbours Alley.

Organizers from the effort to redesign the alley to enhance the neighborhood and surrounding streets are holding a party along with the monthly Capitol Hill Art Walk:

Neighbours Alley Celebration

It sounds like a good party: Continue reading →

What’s open on Capitol Hill Thanksgiving 2018

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Let us give thanks. For the baristas and the bartenders. The budtenders. The Amazon Prime delivery people. Bike shares. And your neighbor’s wi-fi. Below, we’ve compiled our annual roster of coffee joints, grocery stores, etc. where your friends and neighbors will be working to make sure you have the happiest holiday possible. As for getting a post-feast cocktail, that list is up to you. Take a chance. Make sure to tip. And be thankful.

COFFEE

    • Vivace — Brix and other locations- Closed, Walk-up open from 7am-430pm
    • Ladybug drive-thru – Busy signal, you tell us in the comments
    • Starbucks Roastery 7am -11pm, Roy Street – 630am-330pm
    • Fuel 19th – 8am – 1pm
    • Victrola 15th, 7am-3 or 4pm (the baristas weren’t sure) and Victrola Pike 630am – 2pm
    • Caffe Vita – 7am-2pm

Continue reading →

Sol Liquor to host a bit of Capitol Hill Christmas past: a Sun Liquor eggnog pop-up

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(Image: Sun Liquor)

Not everything has to change. Summit Ave’s original Sun Liquor may now be Sol Liquor — and under new ownership — but a holiday favorite is scheduled to make a return to the bar this week.

A special pop-up is slated for Friday night at Sol as Sun Liquor’s famous aged eggnog makes a temporary return to Capitol Hill. The first glasses are scheduled to be poured at 5 PM. Happy holidays.

Originally only a seasonal treat for neighbors visiting the bar before finally bottling it for sale on a small scale, Sun has grown its eggnog business into a Santa-sized annual event with retail distribution.

Continue reading →

Shop local, Shop the Hill 2018

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Talk about shopping small and shopping local this holiday season has already started this year with Thanksgiving Thursday falling a little earlier in the calendar than normal.

Through the years, CHS has been part of a small but enduring Capitol Hill holiday shopping tradition of helping spread the word about neighborhood merchants and gift ideas. For free. Some years we’ve had some big help — yup, we might never have guessed we’d ever team up with a giant soda company, either. Some years, we’ve pulled it off on our own.

It’s Shop the Hill season.

CHS is once again teaming up with the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce and the Broadway Business Improvement Area to share local gift ideas and deals from Capitol Hill area merchants at capitolhillseattle.com/shopthehill/

Shop the Hill

You can let us know about your favorite shops here via Facebook and we’ll add regular updates to share through the holidays.

To learn more visit capitolhillseattle.com/shopthehill or follow Shop the Hill on Facebook.

If you want to help spread the joy, here are donation drives, feed the hungry, and volunteer opportunities around Capitol Hill.

Thanks for reading. And thanks for being part of CHS. Happy Shop the Hill.

Hilloween 2018: Broadway carnival, Volunteer Park pet costume parade, Chophouse Courtyard of Chaos, Capitol Hill trick or treating

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Capitol Hill takes Halloween rather seriously. 2018 will once again bring multiple days of costumed fun with events for big kids, little kids, and, for the first time, furry kids across the Hill. Meanwhile, the bars and clubs of Pike/Pine and Broadway draw plenty of ghouls and boys and make the streets prime zones for creature watching. And the neighborhood’s suburban residential zones are well-stocked with candy when it’s time for trick or treating. Details on Hilloween 2018 are below.

Continue reading →

Facing move, nonprofit axes longtime Capitol Hill Christmas tree lot

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Bah humbug. A week after CHS wrote about the loss of a space for its annual tee lot, Seattle Area Support Groups announced Monday that is will bring an end to the holiday tradition and fundraiser.

Calling the search for a new Capitol Hill location to host the annual sale “fruitless,” SASG executive director Joshua Wallace announced the decision in a letter to supporters. “SASG is very sad to share with you that this tradition appears to have come to an end,” he writes. Continue reading →

Dear Santa, SASG needs a new home for its annual Capitol Hill holiday tree lot

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It’s a Seattle holiday tradition that dates back nearly 30 years but change in the neighborhood around 15th Ave E has the annual SASG Christmas tree lot searching for a new home on Capitol Hill.

“Community engagement and support for our local neighbors is integral to our mission at Kaiser Permanente and we’re proud to support organizations working to improve health on Capitol Hill and throughout Washington,” a statement from a company representative sent to CHS reads — but here’s the bad news: Continue reading →

Remembering DeCharlene Williams, Central District celebrates Juneteenth ‘freedom day’

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The Buffalo Soldiers Of Seattle, 9th-10th Cavalry (Image: Karen Toering)

With reporting and photography by Alex Garland

Seattle is marking Juneteenth, a celebration of freedom and the end of slavery in the United States, with parties and events again in 2018 though it has lost one of its driving forces behind the holiday.

The King County Council issued a proclamation this week recognizing the importance of the celebration. “Juneteenth is now the closest occasion for there being a true ‘freedom day’ to celebrate in this country for people of African descent,” said council member Larry Gossett, the sponsor of the proclamation. “Now, more than ever, people of Martin Luther King, Jr. County should understand the significance of Juneteenth.” Continue reading →