Holiday and Furlough Closures

Just an FYI.. The Renton Public Library will be closed this week on Wednesday for a furlough day, to help balance the city budget, and Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday. The Library will be open regular business hours on Saturday.

So, go and stock up on those movies and books for this long weekend coming up.

Also, a group of concerned citizens have gotten together to help educate voters about the upcoming election in which citizens will decide whether or not to annex to the King County Library System and a new blog has been set up to help distribute information, you can access that blog by clicking here and please spread the word to help make sure everyone is making an educated decision about the future of our library.

Thanks for reading and Happy Thanksgiving.

 

Meet to Keep the Library Local

If you don’t know by now the Renton Public Library is facing a possible annexation to the King County Library System with a special election this February. There are a group of citizens, myself included, that are hoping to educate the voters on all the facts about what this annexation would mean.

We will be holding the first meeting this Sunday, November 22nd at 2pm at Liberty Cafe.  If you are interested in helping distribute the facts or know someone who is please come to this meeting or tell someone about it.

For those of us who take advantage of our awesome, locally ran library this is a huge decision that the voters have to make and we are hoping they make an informed decision and one that is best for the City, the library and the people that use it.

Please come out and help keep our library local, this Sunday 2pm at Liberty Cafe.

 

2009 Hassle Free Holiday Bazaar

The 2009 Renton Hassle Free Holiday Bazaar is happening this Friday and Saturday at the Renton Community Center. This must be a huge event because people have been searching it all week on the blogosphere and there are signs all over Renton.

There will be over 100 vendors on hand at the Renton Community Center showcasing all of their handmade crafts. This is a great way to get a jump on your holiday decorating needs and even your holiday shopping all while supporting some local artists.

There will be soaps, lotions, jewelry, photography, home and garden decor, wearable, glass and leather to just name a few. I am really looking forward to browsing tomorrow with Sammy in the hopes that I can get some Christmas shopping done.

The 2009 Hassle free Holiday Bazaar happens Friday, November 20th from 11am-6pm and Sunday, November 21st from 9am-5pm at the Renton community Center. For more information or directions to the Renton Community Center click here.

 

 

K9 Candy Cane 5K

It is not too late to pre-register for the K9 Candy Cane 5K Fun Run and Walk which happens on Sunday, December 6th at 9am. For those of you who pre-register by November 24th you pay only $23 to participate in the fun run and you also get a T-shirt. If you register after the 24th the price goes up to $28 and you do not get the shirt, you do the math.

This event is for everyone. Runners, walkers, kids, seniors, strollers, dogs and anyone else who wants to pays to run with a group of people. Three dollars of the registration fee goes to support Renton’s Offleash Dog Park and participants are encouraged to bring some pet food to help restock the shelves at the pet food bank.

The run/walk starts on the Cedar River Trail at the Renton Community Center and continues along the river to the Renton Senior Center where runners then loop back to the Community Center. After the run Santa will be on hand for photo-ops for all of those who make it back, just kidding it is only a 5K.

You can download the registration form here or visit the City of Renton website for additional information. Like all events that happen around Renton this one would not happen without sponsors so here is a big thank you to Fleet Feet Sports, Micheal J. Scoles DMD and Aussie Pet Mobile.

Thanks for reading and get those registrations in before November 24th to lock-in your T-shirt.

 

 

Storytime and Baby Time End This Week

That’s right, it is already time to end the Fall 2009 Storytime and Baby Times at the Renton Public Libraries. I am sure going to miss our Wednesday mornings at the library but know that Storytime will be back in about 6 weeks, after the business of the holiday season is over.

The last pajama storytime of the season happens tonight at 7pm at the Renton Public Library. The Highlands will host it’s last storytime tomorrow morning at 10am and the Main Branch will hold one more morning storytime on Wednesday at 10am. The Main Branch will also hold the last Baby Time of the Fall on Friday morning at 10 am.

The libraries will be hosting a couple of events during the month of December to help with the cabin fever your young ones will be having and I will let you know of those events as they grow closer.

Thanks for reading and keep checking back for more information about the fight to keep our library local.

 

Wisdom, Weaving, Songs and Legends at the Renton History Museum

image courtesy of the Renton History Museum

The Renton History Museum’s Fall Speaker Series continues tomorrow, November 10th at 5pm with Harvest Moon and Wisdom, Weaving, Songs and Legends.

Come and listen as Harvest Moon transports herself to the Basket World with songs and stories from the Salish tradition that are guaranteed to entertain all ages.

The Renton History Museum, with Humanities Washington, continually bring the greatest presentations to the museum and they are not nearly as popular as they should be. Perhaps that is a good thing because if they catch on it may become standing room only but as it stands now a larger crowd could definitely be accommodated. If you have always wanted to go to a presentation at the museum and just not had the chance to make it do it tomorrow, you will not be disappointed.

Wisdom, Weaving, Stories and Legends with Harvest Moon happens tomorrow Tuesday, November 10th at 5pm. The presentation is free for members and a measly $3 donation for non-members. Please go out and help support this great program that the staff at the museum has worked so hard to bring to us.

 

November Calendar is Here…

Here is the calendar of events happening in Renton for the month of November. Not as much going on as last month but definitely lots of stuff to do.

Some interesting things happening this month are: Northwest by Northwest on November 14th, Renton’s first Indie music showcase put on by the one and only Tyrannosaurus Records, Burlesque Babes Give Thanks in Renton on November 6th and 7th, the Miss Seattle Pageant at the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center also on the 14th and Get Back Farmer Mac at the Renton Public Libraries on November 12th. You can find all of these events with links to websites by clicking here.

If you know of any other events that should be included please use the form below to contact me or just leave a comment. Thanks for reading and hopefully you will find something great to do. As always thanks so much for reading.

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Renton’s Got Halloween

When it comes to Halloween Day, DTR has got you covered.

Start off the day with Whispers In The Graveyard: A Celebration of Halloween presented by witch Naomi Baltuck and her apprentice Bea at the Renton History Museum. Naomi and Bea will be presenting some ghoulish tales and sure-fire ways to survive the day that some believe is the link between the living and the dead. Come dressed in your Halloween best and be warned that this event is not for the little ones, it is recommended for kids 6 and above. Admission is free for members and only a small $3 donation for non-members.

After you have the pants scared off of you go home and pick up the kids for some trick-or-treating and the “Olde” Fashion Halloween Party in DTR. The kids can trick-or-treat at the downtown businesses and then come to the Main Street Square for some games, food and fun. Or you can stop by the Main Street Square first and let the kids make a costume and then go trick-or-treating.

Whispers In The Graveyard starts at 11am at the Renton History museum and the “Olde” Fashion Halloween Party and Trick-or-Treat starts at 1pm and ends at 4pm in Downtown Renton.

After the kids have had their fun and filled their bags with candy go and get yourself a treat. Like a pumpkin ale at the Met or a cheese plate and pomme frites at the Red House.

Hope everyone has a great and safe Halloween, thanks for reading

 

Holy Pumpkin Patch, Batman..

For the last couple of weeks while driving home, to Fairwood that is, I noticed signs for a pumpkin patch and knew that Sammy and I had to check it out. So, we took advantage of the break in the clouds and headed east on Petrovitsky Road following the signs to the pumpkin patch.

I had a suspicion that the pumpkin patch would be the same place that we purchased our Christmas tree last year and it was! Enciso Family Farms is a locally owned by Dahvee Enciso but as the name implies the whole family helps out to run the farm that is located off of Petrovitsky Road and 196th

pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere

 Avenue SE. A bit of a drive for some Rentonians, but well worth it for a great selection of pumpkins and to support a local business. There are pumpkins of every size and shape and they are $.49/lb for orange pumpkins. Enciso also has sugar pumpkins for those of you who want to bake a pumpkin pie from scratch, hay stacks, gourds and tiny pumpkins for sale as well.

In addition to the pumpkin patch there are animals, lots of animals. We arrived just as Eva, Dahvee’s Mom, was feeding the chickens and she asked if

resident kitty who helped us pick out our pumpkin

Sammy would like to help and of course he agreed. After feeding the chickens and checking out the pigs, the goats, the peacocks and the geese Eva told us to help ourselves to a wheelbarrow and  any pumpkin we wanted. We of course searched through both patches before settling on a great oblong pumpkin that was just the one I wanted. The resident cat whose name I did not ask followed right along and helped us make our selection, she is lucky she didn’t make it back to our house because she was really sweet and cute.

We took our 16-pound pumpkin back to the little farm store where we also picked out a sugar pumpkin, for our homemade pumpkin pie, and we were out the door for under $10. I was hoping to get some farm fresh eggs that Dahvee usually has on hand for $3 a dozen but they were fresh out from the busy weekend. I told Eva that we would definitely be back for some eggs in the future.

The Pumpkin Patch at Enciso Family Farms runs through Friday, October 30th and they are open from 9am-9pm, be advised that they only take

sugar pumpkins

 cash or checks. If you are interested in picking up some of those farm fresh eggs just call ahead to make sure that they have some because they seem to be in pretty high demand 206-909-8753. The farm is located at 19417 196th Ave SE Renton, WA  (for all of you MapQuesters out there).

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to get just the right pumpkin for Halloween and to support another awesome local Renton business. If carving pumpkins is not your thing don’t worry the Christmas trees will be there the day after Thanksgiving.

 

And The Curvee Goes To…..

This is the moment that everyone has been waiting for, the awarding of the coveted Curvee Award. For those filmmakers who braved the weather a few weeks ago in the name of art everything boils down to this night. O.k. so that may be a little exaggerated and as far as I know the film festival winners already know who they are, but for the rest of us the award ceremony happens tonight.

The top 10 films of the epic 50-hour film making competition will be screened tonight at the Curvee Awards Gala at the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center starting at 7pm. Come and find out who won the $500 prize for Best Picture, the $250 prize for the best picture in the student and open divisions. There will also be a Best Actor Curvee, Best Woman Filmmaker, Best Use of Renton and Judges Choice. It will be a night of surprises for sure.

If you are unable to make it to the Curvee Awards Gala tonight because you will not be red carpet ready, do not fret you will have a chance to catch all of the movies as they air at various locations in Downtown Renton during the FilmWalk which happens from 7-8:30pm on Wednesday, October 28th and Thursday, October 29th. Whistle Stop Ale House, Blossom Asian Bistro and Armondo’s are the venues for Wednesday night of the FilmWalk. Liberty Cafe, Renton History Museum and DC’s Bar and Grill will be screening films on Thursday of the FilmWalk. Click here for a complete schedule of the FilmWalk.

The Curvee Awards Gala happens Tuesday, October 27th at the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center starting at 7pm. The Downtown Renton FilmWalk happens Tuesday, October 28th and Wednesday, October 29th from 7-8:30pm.

 The Film Frenzy   is just another event that makes Renton “Ahead of the Curve”, let’s get out and show our support for our awesome city and our local filmmakers.