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.

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

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.

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.

If you need a little practice carving your pumpkin for the big event next weekend then you may want to head over to The Met tomorrow for their pumpkin carving contest. Take your pumpkin design for a test spin and you could win a $20 gift certificate for The Met, ah that could buy some great beers or a nice bottle of wine.

If you get hungry or thirsty while carving your pumpkin The Met has you covered. They will be serving slices of homemade apple and pumpkin pie, caramel apples, pumpkin ale and hard cider to help get you in the spirit. If the seasonal treats and the pumpkin carving is not enough to get you in the Halloween spirit the Met will also be screening classic scary movies throughout the night.

The Met will have a limited number of pumpkins on hand that you can purchase or you can just bring your own. The event happens tomorrow, Saturday, October 24th from 4-7p.m. at the Met which is located at 232 Burnett Ave S in Renton of course.

Salmon on top of the weir at Cedar River Park, don't worry the SPU guy saved his life

That’s right, the salmon have returned to the Cedar River to make their annual migration to their spawning sites. Watching the salmon can be captivating, the struggle to push inches through the rushing water only to be pushed back four feet. You would think after millions of years they would find a different way to ensure the survival of their species but whatever works, right?

While watching the salmon is utterly amazing the facts about their long journey from salt water to fresh water are just as amazing. This weekend you can learn just about everything you ever wanted to know about the salmon that visit our awesome Cedar River. Volunteers from the Friends of the Cedar River Watershed will be on hand at five spots along the Cedar River to answer questions and tell about the long journey the salmon make to their breeding grounds.

Volunteers will be around from 11am-4pm Saturdays and Sundays till

Salmon weir at Cedar River Park

 November 1st to inform visitors about the salmon. The bridge of the Renton Public Library, Cedar River Park, Riverview Park, Cavanaugh Pond and Landsburg Park will all be hosting volunteers. This is your chance to not only see the salmon but to ask questions or better yet have your kids ask questions about the salmon that you may not have the answers too.

Visit the Friends of the Cedar River Watershed website to get additional information about this event or information about upcoming volunteer opportunities or you could check out this flyer for any details that I may have missed.

Thanks for reading and happy salmon watching…

The Renton Community Center will be hosting it’s annual Boo Carnival this Saturday, October 24th from 10am-12pm.

This event, for kids ages 2-8 with parent/guardian, promises a spirited good-time complete with inflatables, crafts and games. You know all of the things that kids love to do and they can do everything for a measly $6, can’t beat the price for 2 hours of fun. Kids are also encouraged to wear their costumes.

This event is sponsored by the fabulous City of Renton and it is co-sponsored by Stoneway Concrete. A big thanks in advance to the sponsors, we all know that without you this event would not be possible. Thanks for giving our little ones fun stuff to do and for supporting our community, you rock!

*image courtesy of photobucket and cmcvicker*

The Boo Carnival happens this Saturday, October 24th from 10am-12pm at the Renton Community Center. Call 425-430-6700 for additional information or visit the City’s website for directions to the Community Center.

Amy Hicks as Snow White and Faith Russell as The Queen (circa 2002)

Storybook Theater

is bringing their production of Snow White to Carco Theater this week and this weekend. That’s right, Storybook Theater is opening 2 weekday shows to the general public this time.

Storybook Theater is a great little theater company based out of Kirkland and they strive to bring the magic of theater to younger audiences. Their 55-minute productions of children’s classics incorporate original music, dancing and amazing story-telling that are also pleasing to adults.

I spoke to Ms. Shannon Harney of Storybook Theater and she informed me that because of budget cuts to the school, most are unable to offer field trips for their students. These field trips were a way for kids to get introduced to the theater and now that opportunity has been taken away. That means it is up to the parents, grandparents and other grown-ups to take kids to the theater and get them interested in this art form at a young age.

Tickets are affordable at around $10 each, when all is said and done, and the venue, Carco Theatre can not be beat. Sammy and I saw Three Little Pigs about a year and a half ago and it was so much fun, I think I sang the songs for at least a week after the show. Please don’t miss this chance to introduce the little ones in your life to Snow White and the joy of musical theatre, you won’t be disappointed.

Just got word that there is a big pre-holiday sale at Uptown Glassworks through Sunday, October 25th. I don’t know if you have ever been to a sale at Uptown before but when they say “sale” they mean it. This is a great chance to get a jump on your holiday shopping and save money while doing it.

The sale includes one of a kind sculpture work, vases, bowls, platters and even glass pumpkins, my own personal favorite. Be sure to stock-up on the ornaments while you are there are as well. Nothing looks better on a decorated Christmas tree then a hand-blown ornament. They also make good gifts and they are the best to bring to an ornament exchange. I can not believe I am already typing Christmas, just shows how quickly time goes by.

Anyways, the sale is everyday through Sunday, October 25th. Uptown Glassworks is located at 230 Main Avenue South, check out their website here for directions and store hours and they are even on Facebook here.

Thanks for reading…

Initiative 1033, spearheaded by the one and only Tim Eyman, has been all over the news the last couple of weeks. I am asking all voters to really research and consider the ramifications of this initiative before they cast their vote.

While at first glance the prospect of paying less property taxes is appealing the long term ramifications of this initiative could be detrimental to our state, just ask Colorado, Mississippi and California. If I-1033 passes the States general fund, which helps fund education, health and environmental services, infrastructure, and public safety services would be cut by billions of dollars over the next 5 years. 

The timing of this initiative could not be any worse. I-1033 purposes that a cap be placed on the amount of revenue a city can earn, any revenue above that number is given back to the tax-payers the next year by lessening the amount of property taxes that they pay. That sounds great but the problem is that the cap is based on the revenue, or lack there of, that has been generated during the worst recession year that the state has had in 29 years. This means that when we finally find ourselves out of this recession there is no money to go into the rainy day fund or improve education, social services and infrastructure. If I am reading the initiative right, and oh boy is it some light reading, once in place voters would have to vote on any increase in spending into our school systems, protective services and so on.

There are many resources out there for voters to find more information about I-1033. Joel Connelly wrote this piece in the Seattle Times back in July, the Association of Washington Libraries prepared this little piece to inform voters. There was also a great piece in the Olympian back in July as well. If you would like to see how other initiatives have helped tax payers in other states read this article about Proposition 13 in California, I also found this 19-pages of light reading from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities which discusses the problems with property tax caps. 

Look, I am all for a reduction in government spending but let’s cut the spending at the administrative level not the level where it helps the people like education. Please take the time to do some research before filling out your ballot and by that I don’t mean just listening to T.V. ads.

Thanks for reading and happy voting….