Plenty of fun things to do in the neighborhood this weekend. Here are a few highlights; check our Events calendar any time for more.

Friday Contra Dance at the Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Ave. N., at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Taproot Theatre opens its month-long run of “Bach at Leipzig,” at 204 N. 85th St., this weekend.

Casey Neill performs at Empty Sea Studios, 6300 Phinney Ave. N., at 8 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $18 in advance, $22 at the door.

Karaoke with Katybelle at Tim’s Tavern, 602 N. 105th St., at 8 p.m. Friday.

PlaySpace at Emmanuel, 510 N. 49th St. (use Kapka entrance) is open from 8:30-11:30 a.m. Saturday.

Saturday is the big Garage Sale Day in Greenwood and Phinney Ridge. More than 100 garage and yard sales throughout the neighborhood, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., plus a flea market and tool sale in the Phinney Neighborhood Association’s parking lot, 6532 Phinney Ave. N.

Seattle Folklore Society presents Magpie in concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the PNA, in the Brick Building. Cost is $16, $14 SFS/PNA members and seniors; kids half price. Reserve seats online, or call 206-528-8523.

Couth Buzzard Books co-owner Theo Dzielak celebrates the release of “Stardust Gem — Ruby Lhianna Smith Tribute CD,” in honor of his daughter, Ruby, who died of cancer last year, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, at 8310 Greenwood Ave. N.

Open Jazz Jam with Kenny Mandell and Don Berman at 2 p.m. Sunday at Couth Buzzard Books.

Food Truck Roundup to benefit the University District Food Bank is from 3-7 p.m. Sunday at the PNA. Ages 21 and over only (distillery trucks will be on site too.) Tickets are $25 (eight food and four drink tickets) and available online.

Happy Hour Bingo at 4 p.m. Sunday at Tim’s Tavern, 602 N. 105th St.

Over in Ballard tonight is the annual Syttende Mai (May 17th) Parade, starting at 6 p.m. It starts at 24th Avenue NW and NW 62nd Street, heads south to Market, east to 22nd Avenue NW, then south on 22nd to Ballard Avenue NW. Lots of streets will be closed in that area, and parking will be a nightmare, so plan accordingly.

And over in Queen Anne, the Quick Styx girls lacrosse jamboree is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Queen Anne Bowl.

The Phinney Neighborhood Association is hosting a Bike to Work Day station from 7-9 a.m. Friday at the Heart of Phinney Park, next to Francine Seders Gallery at the corner of Phinney Avenue North and North 67th Street. They’ll provide bike check-ups, baked treats, water, Cascade Bicycle swag and Seattle Bike Maps.

Here’s a roundup of all kinds of news in Phinney Ridge and Greenwood:

The big annual Garage Sale Day in Greenwood and Phinney Ridge is this Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. More than 100 yards sales have registered. Plus there’s a flea market and tool sale at the Phinney Neighborhood Association, 6532 Phinney Ave. N. An online map will be available after 3 p.m. Friday. Printed maps will be available at the Phinney Center, Greenwood Senior Center (525 N. 85th St.) and the Greenwood Library (8016 Greenwood Ave. N.) after 3 pm Friday.

School of Rock will celebrate its move from Lake City to Greenwood with its Grand Opening Celebration on Saturday, June 29.

Greenwood resident Naomi Bishop (a.k.a. “The Gastro Gnome”) has launched a new app that highlights 45 unusual and exceptional restaurants in the Northwest, from Salem, Oregon up to Whistler, B.C. The idea is to let people know where to eat besides McDonald’s when they’re on the road. “Unique Eats of the Northwest” costs $1.99 in the iPhone App Store (Android version coming soon).

Sonny Newman, owner of Sonny Newman’s Dance Hall on North 85th Street was recently profiled in The Seattle Times. The dance hall will close at the end of May when Sonny retires, because the building was recently sold.

Seattle Knife Sharpening and Supply is moving into the space formerly occupied by Cowboys & Angels hair salon, at 7421 Greenwood Ave. N.

UW Professor Woody Sullivan, who lives in Phinney Ridge, was the focus of a Seattle Times article yesterday on his unique garage ceiling sundial.

Tickets are already on sale for the 2nd Annual Northwest Tequila Fest at the Phinney Neighborhood Association, 6532 Phinney Ave. N., on Aug. 24. The 21-and-over event features Tequila and Mezcal tastings, beer garden and live music. Admission starts at $40, with VIP packages featuring early entry, exclusive tastings, and more. Northwest Tequila Fest benefits The Benevolent Guild.

Registration is open for the Ballard Youth Soccer Club for the fall season for players ages 5-18.

Youth teams typically practice once or twice per week, with a game on the weekend. Practices are coached by a parent/volunteer, plus teams have a weekly academy style individual skills session with a professional trainer. Practices generally start in late August, with fall league play beginning in September and running through November.

The city recently installed new speed bumps on Third Avenue Northwest in front of Viewlands Elementary School. (Thanks to Stewart for the photo.)

The Hunger Intervention Program is hosting a screening of “A Place at the Table,” a film of personal stories of hunger’s far-reaching effects, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. tonight (Thursday) at Lake City Presbyterian Church, 3841 NE 123rd St. Suggested donation is $10. HIP provides nutritious food packages to eligible children at Viewlands Elementary School, so they have enough food to eat at home on the weekends.

Komen Puget Sound has awarded $1.6 million total to 11 local organizations to help fight breast cancer, including $247,200 to Phinney Ridge’s Cancer Lifeline, 6522 Fremont Ave. N., which provides assistance and support for low-income patients while they are in treatment for breast cancer.

Seattle Eater has a story on the new Teachers Lounge bar coming to Greenwood sometime next month.

Don’t forget that Metro Transit will stop selling ticket books at the end of June; in favor of prepaid ORCA cards and cash. (Metro will still provide tickets to human services programs.) ORCA cards can be used on all transit systems in the Puget Sound region. Tickets do not expire and will still be accepted.

Each month, the Seattle Public Library features a “Did You Know” series to help patrons become better acquainted with all the library’s services. Here’s May’s “Did You Know – Facts about your Library”:

Learning Express Library – Practice tests in English and Spanish free online from www.spl.org

Learning Express Library has interactive test prep guides for GED, SAT, ASVAB, citizenship, and lots more. We can help!
From www.spl.org, click on “Articles and Databases,” scroll to “Jobs & Education,” click on “Learning Express Library,” start learning! Requires library cards and pin number.

Language Learning from Seattle Public Library

Learn a language quickly or in depth with help from www.spl.org. Online resources cover over 100 languages. Try Mango Languages, Transparent Languages Online, or Livemocha; even kids can learn a language with Muzzy Online.

Week of May 12th:
Need reading ideas? You can find your next favorite book through NoveList, an extensive database of fiction and non-fiction for all ages that you can access with your Seattle Public Library card. Search by favorite author or book, explore new genres, and find book group discussion guides through this amazing (and addictive) readers’ resource!

Week of May 19th:
The Seattle Public Library offers Story Times for kids and their families in 4 world languages – Mandarin, Spanish, Somali and Vietnamese – at 12 libraries throughout Seattle! You do not need to know the language to attend. Pick up a Story Time brochure at any Library or find the schedule online, and join us for fun multicultural stories and songs.

Week of May 26th:
The Seattle Public Library has not one, but two blogs! Check out Shelf Talk for fascinating and fun posts on books, music, movies & more. Includes weekly columns like Crime Thursdays and Science Fiction Fridays. Push to Talk is our teen blog, written by librarians and Seattle teens. Check out Push to Talk for local teen news and reading ideas!

Seattle City Light will begin cleaning up a former substation site on May 20. The site, at 949 N. 80th St., is just west of Aurora Avenue North. City Light will bring in heavy equipment and dump trucks to remove dirt and concrete from the site.

There may be low levels of contaminants such as lead present due to past uses at the site. Any contamination that may be present is contained to the site and will be removed by City Light.

Standard precautions will be taken to contain the materials and dust, and prevent them from spreading. Clean soil will then be placed and covered with mulch.

The work is planned to occur during May 20 through June 14. The project will require up to 10 to 15 working days during that period. The hours of work will be 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Monday – Friday.

Trees and hedges on the property will need to be removed as part of the work because the root balls may contain contaminated soils or they would otherwise block access to removal of contaminated soils.

During working days, access to the alley between N. 79th Street and N. 80th Street via Aurora Ave. N. will be closed. There may be some other disruptions to local traffic, parking and sidewalks adjacent to the site; however we will do our best to keep these to a minimum.

For more information, please contact Tom Meyer, Senior Environmental Analyst at (206) 386-9168 or tom.meyer@seattle.gov.

Phinney Ridge teen Kaye Gill, who’s been making quite a name for herself in music circles as a talented guitar player, will perform new, original music at the Bushwick Book Club event on Thursday at The Crocodile in Belltown.

The Bushwick Book Club event features 12 musical performances inspired by author Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “The Botany of Desire.”

The event begins at 9 p.m. Cost is $10.

The 14-year-old Gill also will perform her music at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park on Saturday at 1 p.m.

By John Madrid, Managing Broker with John L. Scott Real Estate (sponsored story)

There are no signs that the current trends of low inventory, rising prices, short sales times and multiple offers will be abating anytime soon.

For NW Seattle (including Ballard, Fremont, Green Lake, Phinney Ridge and Wallingford) there continues to be only about a one-month supply of single-family home inventory. This tight inventory can be attributed to continued low interest rates, robust Puget Sound area hiring and a generally improved economy, including significant gains in the stock market. Whether the market will become more “balanced” (defined as a three- to six-month supply of homes) will hinge on many more listings hitting the market over the coming months.

Of NW Seattle homes closed in April, the average sale price was almost 103 percent of the most recent list price. This indicates continued multiple offer situations.

Prospective buyers also should think in terms of at least a minimum of three- to five-year+ home ownership horizon and preferably maintain the option to hold onto their home through future downturns in the market. Home seller costs (excise tax, title/escrow fees, sale commissions) of approximately 9 percent of the sales price should also be factored into any decision to purchase.

More stats on other Seattle neighborhoods can be found here.

John Madrid is a Managing Broker with John L. Scott Real Estate – University Village and is a 2005-2012 Seattle Magazine “Five Star” Agent. His clients include both home buyers and sellers. He can be reached at 206-498-1880, john@live206.com or www.live206.com.

Statistics are deemed reliable but are not guaranteed. All information should be verified to the users own satisfaction.

Taproot Theatre opens its month-long run of “Bach at Leipzig” this weekend, with previews on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. There’s also a Pay What You Can performance on May 22.

Imagine, Leipzig, 1722. Germany’s most renowned music director is dead at the keyboard. As the country’s greatest organists descend to vie for the job, melodies of rivalry, trickery and blackmail compose a fugue of plots and counterplots. Rooted in history but reveling in flights of fiction, Bach at Leipzig is deliciously scored with wild and witty revelations.

Taproot Theatre is at 204 N. 85th St.

Seattle Department of Transportation crews will spend more than a week replacing damaged or worn concrete panels in the eastbound lane of North 80th Street between Greenwood Avenue North and Aurora Avenue North beginning this Thursday.

That means North 80th Street will be closed completely to eastbound traffic 24 hours a day from Tuesdays through Saturdays. Drivers will be detoured to North 85th Street.

This project is scheduled to be completed on Friday, May 24, weather permitting.

Friday night’s beautiful weather and hundreds of artists brought out the crowds to the huge annual PhinneyWood ArtWalk, organized by the Greenwood Arts Council, in collaboration with the Phinney Neighborhood Association. Sidewalks were filled with people strolling by 84 neighborhood art galleries and other venues.

Artist Tommy Vision showed off his fun art inside Avanti Art & Design at the corner of North 76th Street and Greenwood Avenue North.

Clarissa Callesen’s “Odd Birds” filled the front window of Tasty.

Musicians performed at several venues, including outside Santoro’s Books and Varnish Salon…

And inside the former Antika space, which was turned into an art gallery for the night. The band is The Fabulous Juncos.

Flamenco dancers performed inside the American Dance Institute at 80th & Greenwood.

The PhinneyWood ArtWalk continues today from 12-5 p.m. Check out the website for a list of all participating venues and artists, and a map. You can also pick up a map at ArtWalk venues.

Turabi Rug Gallery, at 7220 Greenwood Ave. N., will close on May 31. But the second Turabi location, at 113 First Ave. S. in Pioneer Square, will remain open. The Phinney Ridge store is currently having a moving sale.

Turabi sells fine rugs and tapestries, does rug restorations, appraisals and cleaning.

Doug says someone stole his “carcycle” some time between May 8 and 9. If you have any information on the whereabouts of this awesome bike with a steering wheel, call Doug at 206-783-3912.