Here’s an interesting old dance form that is getting new life: Morris dancing. If you’ve been to the PNA Farmers Market or Winter Festival, you may have seen a demonstration.

Here’s more info from Morris dancer Judith Wood:

Have you ever wondered about those crazy dancers at Folklife, the PNA Winter Festival, and elsewhere… wielding big sticks, flashing white handkerchiefs, and bedecked in bells and ribbons? Morris dancing is an ancient English tradition associated with the changing seasons. It’s a vigorous, fun dance form, most often including six dancers, with many variations. Want to give it a try? Misty City Morris Dancers will be offering a 6-week introductory class on Wednesday nights at the Phinney Neighborhood Center, beginning April 1 (no fooling!). After getting a taste of “the Morris”, we hope you’ll join the women of Misty City and three other local morris groups or “sides” as we dance in the dawn on May Day at Gas Works Park. Students age 14 and up are welcome. Class fee is $45 for the session. Contact misty.city@comcast.net for more info or to register. http://seattledance.org/misc/morris.misty.city/

Everyone around here has questions about how the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement – a deep bored tunnel – will affect access to downtown. A community forum to answer questions is Monday from 7-9 p.m. in the Ballard High School Auditorium. Among the questions to be addressed:

• How will residents in Queen Anne/Magnolia, Ballard, Wallingford and Fremont access points to the south and downtown?
• What kind of access will we have to the north end of the tunnel?
• Will trucks be able to use the tunnel or will they use surface streets?
• How will travel times through the corridor be affected?
• Why is an economic impact study so important to our decisions affecting the Viaduct?

The audience will be able to ask questions of the panelists, which include representatives from WSDOT, City of Seattle, King County, and noted experts in the field of tunnel construction, economics, and traffic engineering.

On the far east side of Phinney Ridge, just a block up from Aurora, the corner of 73rd and Linden has seen a succession of businesses come and go. But three new businesses – a salon, home furnishings shop, and T-shirt and gift boutique – are trying to breathe new life into the area.

Sugarcomb, a full-service hair salon at 780 N. 73rd St., opened on Feb. 23 after several months of remodeling. It takes the place of a series of coffeeshops. Stylists Patience McGhan and Sean Bates live in Phinney with their 3-year-old daughter and were looking around for a space they could call their own. “We were actually on the way home from The Little Gym and I just stopped and peered in the window and had a really great feeling,” Bates says.

He says 80 percent of his downtown salon clients followed him to Sugarcomb, and that the salon gets a lot of neighborhood walk-by traffic, especially on weekends. They plan to landscape their sidewalk strip into a little seating area, so people can pop into the salon and grab a cup of coffee and sit outside on a nice day while waiting to get their hair cut.

The salon uses Kevin.Murphy products from Australia. They plan to eventually offer skin care as well. Sugarcomb is currently open Tues. 10-8, Wed.-Fri. 10-6, Sat. 9:30-6 and Sun. 11-6.

Right next door to Sugarcomb is a tiny storefront called Flock, which opened Dec. 18. Owned by Jody Dyer, the store at 7305 Linden Ave. N. offers her own line of hand-screened T-shirts, Blackbird Tees, plus crafts from a number of local artists.

Dyer lives in Greenwood and also has a Blackbird Tees space at the Fremont Farmer’s Market. With a master’s in film studies and screen writing, some of her pop-culture shirts feature images of classic screen sirens such as Brigitte Bardot and Louise Brooks. “They’re cheeky little flirtatious shirts, mostly,” she says with a smile.

She made a name for herself last year with her line of Resume tees – custom designed shirts with the wearer’s resume on the back and a pithy saying on the front. She says that exposure led a number of small businesses to offer her business advice as she prepared to open Flock. “I’m finally getting an opportunity with the shop to support other artists, so everything I carry is by local artists.”

That includes soaps and lip balms by My Birch, bobby pin sets by Sophie Marie, and leather wallets and business card holders by Crafty Devils. She also carries crocheted baby booties, and unique jewelry that uses guitar picks and shrinky dinks.

Dyer hopes that Flock and the other new stores on the corner will offer something the neighborhood has been missing. “Collectively we all are trying to offer reasonable prices for our respective clientele. Nothing in my shop is over 40 bucks.”

Flock is open Wed.-Sat. 12-6 p.m.

Kitty corner from Flock and Sugarcomb is Furnishments, at 7216 Linden Ave. N. Furnishments offers a variety of antique and modern furniture, consignment, and staging and decorative services.

Owner Katrina Puetz has filled her store with inventory from her home staging business, as well as consignments. You can buy an antique couch, china, silverware, vases, candles, new chairs from Pottery Barn, quilts and sheets, plus pillows in a myriad of fabrics. And, if you’re really a collector, for just $1,499.99 you can take home one of the original 1924 Hotpoint electric stoves discovered behind a wall when the Camlin Hotel was remodeled in 2003 (it’s in the far background of the photo above).

“There is something in here for almost every person,” says employee Michaela. “You could probably find something to fit your style.”

Furnishments is open Wed.-Mon. 12-5 p.m. or by appointment.

The Wing Dome at 7818 Greenwood Ave. N. will be sporting Husky and Gonzaga colors, banners and signs starting Saturday, in honor of their winning ways at the Big Dance. And they’re opening early – at 9:30 a.m. – both Saturday and Sunday for morning games.

During the Husky and Gonzaga games (as long as they last in the tourney) if people wear their team colors to show their pride we’ll take 15% off their tab. The best part -if fans are wearing their team colors and eat a #7 HOT wing (our hottest available) they get a free rubber chicken (with prizes inside). If people come in and order before 11 a.m. they get the access to the following specials: 5 wings and a beer for $5, FREE Top Pot Donuts (while they last!), and an offer of buy 20 wings get 20 free.

Due to the volume of feedback about plans to cut down four cherry trees along Phinney Avenue just south of 59th Street, Woodland Park Zoo Horticulturist David Selk asked for the opportunity to better describe why they need to go – and to say they’re postponing cutting the trees until after they bloom one more time.

A couple weeks ago Woodland Park Zoo attached a sign to each of four cherry trees along the east side of Phinney Avenue just south of 59th Street (West Woodland Playfield). The signs briefly explained the decision to remove these four trees due to declining health. Here is a bit more detail on the tree problems, the decision- making process, and the result of a number of phone calls received from our neighbors.

Cherry trees are susceptible to a number of fungal and insect problems. This has as much to do with our Western Washington climate (cool, wet winters and springs) as anything. By August the trees can be seen dropping their leaves, which have been infected by a fungus. Another issue is an insect called cherry bark tortrix. This is a moth that lays its eggs in natural openings in the tree and, when the eggs hatch, the larvae attack the vascular system. The adults start flying and laying in April, which is why we planned to remove the trees in March.

By removing these four particularly infected trees we hope to give the remaining five trees a better chance. A number of years ago we worked with WSU on an experimental parasite to the tortrix that gave us good results on some of our other cherries but these trees didn’t respond as well. We assume too much damage has been done to the trees and they have been weakened to a point that they are now susceptible to a wide range of pests and diseases.

We forecasted this problem and in anticipation of having to remove the trees we planted red maples right behind the cherry trees. The maples are now large enough and the cherries health compromised enough that it is time. We contacted Seattle Parks and Recreation Department arborist who concurred that their removal was warranted.

After posting the trees I received a number of phone calls. If there was one overriding message it was that people generally understood the need to remove the trees but requested we wait until they bloom one last time. As stated above there is a good reason for removing them now. However, the remaining five trees have lived with this problem these past years and one more season of bloom will probably not have a major impact on them.

So, fellow Phinney Ridgers, we have heard your request and have decided to postpone the tree removal until the bloom has finished. Tree removal is an emotional issue for all of us. The zoo has dedicated horticulture staff who nurtures our landscape as our life’s work. Believe me that we do not take tree removal lightly and do so only after completely exploring the alternatives. These trees really do need to come out for the betterment of the entire landscape. Thanks to all who have commented on this issue.

David Selk
Zoo Horticulturist

Here’s your chance to make your mark on the 2009 Farmers Market, as the Phinney Neighborhood Association is looking for new art for this year’s market T‐shirt and tote bag. Pictured at right is the 2008 design.

The submission deadline is March 31. Here is what they’re looking for:

We are seeking bold, original artwork that reflects the spirit of this local farmer’s market and which contains imagery related to farming and/or the items available at the market. Media that will be considered includes: drawing/illustration, painting, printmaking, and collage/mixed media free of copyrighted materials. Artwork chosen for the t-shirt and tote bags will be reproduced via a heat transfer method, enabling the use of a wide range of colors in the final reproduction. Past examples of artwork used on t‐shirts and tote bags are available at: http://www.phinneycenter.org/programs/market.shtml

More art submission info here.

For the rest of us who aren’t so artistically inclined, our chance to participate will come when the third market season starts May 29.

…unfortunately it’s not good news though. MonkeyPilot posted this in the forum:

This morning I found a shoebox at the end of my driveway at 90th St and 3rd Ave NW containing a deceased orange tabby cat. A note attached to the top of the box read, “We have no idea what happened. We are so sorry.”
Since we don’t own a cat, I can only assume it died nearby and someone assumed it was ours. My wife called animal control who was going to pick it up today. I didn’t notice any tags on it, but hopefully it is microchipped and the owner can be notified. I just thought I’d post here in case anyone knows about a missing orange tabby.

It’s been a rite of spring for a number of years, but the popular Greenwood Garage Sale Day has moved this year from the third weekend in April to September 12.

Chardell Paine, special events and membership director for the Phinney Neighborhood Association, which sponsors and advertises the event, says the weather has been awful on Garage Sale Day the last few years (remember the high winds and sleet last year?) So they decided to move it, but the PNA had too many other special events scheduled in other months, so they settled on September instead.

But a group of regular garage-salers have decided to go ahead and have their own garage sales on the traditional date – April 18 – and they invite everyone in the neighborhood to join them.

Diane Duthweiler and at least four of her neighbors near the zoo plan to sell their unwanted stuff. Here she is with neighbor John Davis with a few things they’ve already accumulated for the sale:

I would love to spread the word and get others in the neighborhood holding sales. The more households involved, the more the crowds come, so we can get rid of more stuff. One of the reasons we decided to go ahead is that we always joke that garage sale day is “the beginning of our summer social season” as often you see neighbors you haven’t seen all winter because we are all hiding in our houses. So as much as getting rid of our stuff, we like to walk around and chat with each other and catch up.

If you plan to also hold a garage sale that day, email Diane and she’ll include your address in her craigslist ad.

Patrick tells us that both his home and his neighbor’s house on 83rd St. east of Greenwood were burglarized on Wednesday. He says the thieves mostly took electronics that were in plain sight, and had ransacked the basement after prying open a bathroom window. His fiance discovered the theft at about 2:30 p.m., so it happened in broad daylight.

His advice:

People in this area may wish to make sure everything is locked up and that all window locks are working. And if you see something that looks out of place, report it to the police.

Construction workers have been at it for about a week inside and behind Ken’s Market, but now there’s a more visible sign of the work – the removal of signs for the other storefronts.

The removed awnings carried the names for the Couth Buzzard, Allusia and Greenwood Bakery. We’ve been meaning to write up an update on the store, so we hope to bring you more later.

It’s a yearly ritual – the Phinney Neighborhood Preschool Coop’s Spring Kids Sale. It’s happening from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday in the PNA’s brick building in the Community Hall.

This is the sale you’ve been waiting for! You’ll find a huge selection of gently used clothing from 0-10 years, maternity clothes, toys, games, books, strollers and tons of general baby/kid gear. For easy shopping all clothes will be hung by sizes. There is plenty of parking in the PNA lower and upper parking lots, so grab a tote and line up early for the best bargains! We’re also accepting tax deductible donations of gently used baby/kids clothes and gear. All proceeds will go to the PNPC.

If you have any questions or need more info, just email the preschool folks.

The Seattle Summer Streets party in Greenwood/Phinney on April 10 needs volunteers to act as Intersection Guardians from 6-9 p.m.

Organizers need about 30 volunteers to monitor intersections, provide information on the event and detours, and help the community celebrate their streets. Shifts are three hours long, but they’ll try to work with you if your schedule requires a shorter time commitment. RSVP by emailing Summer Streets.

The Summer Streets Party is in conjunction with the monthly Greenwood/Phinney Art Up/Open Up art walk, from 6-9 p.m. on Friday, April 10. Phinney/Greenwood Avenue North will be closed from North 65th to North 87th streets, with major intersections open for through traffic. Read our previous post with information from Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce President Steve Giliberto here.