You’ve known for a long time about the “ramps to nowhere” in the Washington Park Arboretum. Now the ramps, and the Freeway Revolt behind them, are getting attention from a documentary filmmaker.

Photo by Minda Martin.

Minda Martin, a University of Washington professor and experimental filmmaker, discovered the ramps on a walk in 2013. She is making the ramps, and the activists behind them, the subject of a new film. Montlake Community Club board members had the opportunity earlier this year to view a 5-minute film clip and were riveted and moved by the piece.

Martin’s film, to be completed in 2017, coincides with efforts by Seattle ARCH (Activists Remembered, Celebrated and Honored) to preserve a piece of the ramps as a testament to those who fought against the R.H.Thomson Expressway and to civic activism in general.

On October 17, the Seattle City Council voted unanimously in favor of this proposal, moving an RH Thomson citizen monument closer to becoming reality.

The expressway would have removed swaths of Montlake and other neighborhoods (in fact, more than a dozen Montlake homes were bulldozed before the freeway was stopped). In making the film, Martin has been working closely with former activist Anna Rudd and Priscilla Arsove, daughter of the late UW Professor Maynard Arsove. Anna and Maynard, a long-time Montlake resident and MCC president in 1968, were leaders in stopping the freeway.

Read more in UW Today and in Knute Berger’s Crosscut article.

For more background, read Nathalie Gehrke’s Gates to Nowhere article.

Jim Roe, a Montlake resident who was dedicated to serving the community, passed away unexpectedly in June of 2015.  To honor Jim and share his love of reading,
 his wife Martha Cohen has built a Little Free Lending Library in front of their home. Jim was a voracious reader, 
often reading 2-3 books and 5-6 magazines at one time.

Click the image for a larger PDF invitation

On Sunday, October 30, 4 to 6 pm, please join Martha and friends for a small celebration of Jim and the Little Free Lending Library.

Address: 1924 E McGraw, Seattle, WA 98112

Take a look…leave a book…enjoy a snack! (Is there a book that reminds you of Jim?)

Parking is free in the neighborhood. Please stop by; no need to RSVP.

The Montlake Yard Sale occurred on October 1, 2016. We had 86 registered yard sale sites. Many of these sites included teams of 2 to 6 households.  Despite the weather forecast of “scattered showers,” buyers and sellers were not deterred. Our neighborhood streets started filling with car, bicycle, and foot traffic well before our 9 am start time. People sold or bought everything from a washer / dryer, outdoor furniture, rugs, lamps, CDs, clothing, toys, bicycles, power tools, and even a Mt. St. Helen’s ash jar.

The Yard Sale promotion was key to the success of this sale. A BIG THANK YOU to Kerry Clayman, as she managed this major task. She reached out to blogs, newspapers, Craigslist, social media, and the Montlake community. Ten individual yard sale sellers also advertised on Craigslist, and these ads helped drive foot traffic.

This year we tried electronic sign up and an Interactive Map in addition to our downloadable map. Another BIG THANK YOU to our Montlake neighbor, Rohit Manokaran, who led these efforts. His knowledge, creativity and skill surpassed anything I could have ever hoped to have seen on our website. Many people used smart phones, hard copies of maps, or just roamed our streets.

The business district was also active during the sale:  Pub Montlake, Montlake Bicycle Shop, Glam and Tonics AVEDA Salon, and the Montlake Blvd Market offered Yard Sale Specials.

So to the rest of the MCC board members – thank you for your hours of work. Bryan Hayworth, Bob DeLay, Juan Lopez, Carol Cordy and husband John, Darcy LaBelle and her husband Tim, and Yvonne Werner.

History – This is the 4^th year of the sale. Thank you to Nathalie Gehrke, Kathy Laughman and Connie Bain; (MCC board members in 2012). The sale is the brain child of these women. The sale has grown steadily since this time.

And finally, THANK YOU Montlake neighbors for helping make this a fun filled event. Please consider donating to the Montlake Community Club to cover the costs of the sale. It’s easy to do using the DONATE button on the side of this page.

Enjoy the slideshow below!

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Sincerely,

Lori Sabado

Montlake Community Club Trustee
Yard Sale Organizer

Studio KPG continues to work with the Montlake Community Club on the business development project (if you’ve missed what this is about, click here). Studio KPG has completed their analysis of the comments from the community meeting held at the Community Center on July 26.  There was overwhelming approval for moving forward with the changes proposed for the business district which included adopting a road diet (fewer traffic lanes), adding street parking and more signage and lighting to make the area safer for pedestrians, and making our business district a destination for visitors to the neighborhood as well as Montlakers.

The watercolor  below from Studio KPG shows how the business district would look once the changes are made.

Montlakers can look forward to another meeting in November for the community’s input on the updated plans.

The MCC  will also be forming a public arts committee to organize the addition of public art in our business district.  The committee will establish guidelines and location sites and manage the acquisition process.  Keep reading the Montlake Flyer for updates on these exciting changes for our neighborhood.