Ballard

Loyal Heights Elementary School First Grade Teacher Patricia Magnuson was one of 24 Puget Sound-area teachers who were recognized as Symetra Heroes in the Classroom during the 2012 NFL season.

A Symetra Hero is nominated by a principal, staff, students or students' parents. The winners are selected based on their ability to make a real difference in students' lives; to go above and beyond in their day-to-day responsibilities; and to help students build life skills.

The heroes receive a $350 Office Max gift card for classroom supplies and tickets to a Seahawks home game, where they are acknowledged during on-field presentations at CenturyLink Field. In addition, Symetra makes a $1,000 donation to each teacher Hero’s school.

On Friday afternoon, May 24, 2013, Symetra and the Seattle Seahawks honored the 24 Puget Sound-area teachers at a special celebration at CenturyLink Field.

By Christopher Duclos

Ballard High School ended their season with great success following the Washington state track meet, where BHS had nine participating student athletes. While they all fiercely competed with the top track talents in the state, some brought home bragging rights.

It was a day to be had for the girls 4 by 400 relay. The girls squad that consisted of Nicole Godbout, Cat Banobi, Mia Wrey, Carolyn Birkenfeld, and Jamie Smith-Emma Onstad-Hawes was the first girls relay to take first place at the state meet since 1999.

This year’s female competition at the state 4 by 400 relay was no easy task, according to coach Mirenzi. By the end of the season, there were four teams that finished this race with a sub 3:56 time. The teams facing the lady beavers were capable and hungry.

The letters went out in January. Seventy-two letters from the Ballard Historical Society informing homeowners their house had been nominated to be part of the 2013 Ballard Historical Society Classic Homes Tour. After that preparations really escalated for the June 23 event, but work on tour actually began within hours of the 2010 tour.

Since February I’ve been tracking the work of those BHS members most involved in preparing for this event, which is the society’s largest fundraising source. Our house got one of those letters in January and I was impressed at the potential rewards; BHS researching the house, a photograph of the house from the Puget Sound Archives, a reception for homeowners. I was ready to commit based on the line item: complimentary floral display.

After the original 72 letters, another 25 were sent out. Some of the nominations date back to the 2010 tour; there are always attendees who are inspired to suggest a home they know or one that intrigues them from the outside. Since 2010 all of the lessons learned, suggested homes, etc. have been part of the planning process that never stops. It just intensifies.

In a way, the folks at Dirt Exchange by the Ballard Bridge represent the American Dream. They are the quintessential family-owned small business.

The father, Gary Ard, grew up on a farm and went on to be an architect. The daughter, Brittani Ard, was a land use consultant. But both dropped their respective careers to do what they love: Play in the dirt, and allow others the opportunity to play in the dirt, too.

“It’s a lot less stress and a lot more fun,” Brittani Ard said of switching careers.

Or, at least, Gary Ard says it’s a different kind of stress. Whereas before they could spend all day working full bore and not necessarily feel like they got anything done at the end of the day, at Dirt Exchange they can go to bed every night knowing they helped someone with something.

“It turns out there’s something really enjoyable providing a service, a product,” Gary Ard said. “It’s a fun place to work because everyone is trying to improve their property.”

Gary Ard jokes that while the do all the fun stuff, his wife Rowena Ard has to do all of the hard, boring work -- accounting and paper work.

By Marjorie Young

I recently returned from Switzerland to visit my ‘second family.’ It was a memorable trip many reasons…including an unforgettable sojourn to a reputedly ‘haunted’ manor. My friend’s friend, ‘Alain’ and his relatives have resided on the postcard-perfect property for several generations, but its history goes back well over two centuries. Alain knew of unsettling disturbances dating from his great-grandmother’s time, and had personally undergone a distressing encounter some years before. Hearing of my psychic abilities, Alain requested I visit his home.

Though I’ve done numerous psychic readings and healings, I’ve only attempted one previous ‘ghost investigation’ in my own neighborhood. Therefore, I was more than eager to explore a far older site with an intriguing past. My friends and I gathered at Alain’s residence; a sprawling domicile in a pastoral setting. As always with any consultation, I had received no information whatever concerning the house or its history.

When Seattle-area resident and Ballard-frequenter Julia Anderson set off to research her family’s history, she had no idea it would result in a near-400-page self-published book entitled “Through Christina’s Eyes.” It was a project she didn’t even think about until just a year before she wrote it. (And in case you were wondering, Ballard gets a few mentions in the book, too.)

The subject she pursued was her great grandmother, Christina Nilsson, who journeyed from Sweden in the late 1800s to settle in the Chicago, Illinois area. In order to learn more, Anderson made the reverse trip, visiting her great grandmother’s home in Sweden.

“The area where her family home was is no longer there, none of our family has ever visited there, it was a really special moment for me and I was just interested in finding out what her life would’ve been like. And that was a real connection for me to go there and know what it was like to live there when she was a child,” Anderson said.

While a good season of Ballard High School baseball wound down to an end at the beginning of the month, the Ballard News-Tribune wanted to take a glance at baseball in the yesteryear.

In this photo, nine boys play baseball out in front of Adams Elementary circa 1910. The expressions on the children in the background are priceless. While some are waiting intently for the pitcher to hurl the ball, others look simply bored, waiting for their turn to take a crack at the bat.

Meanwhile, this year, Ballard High School’s baseball team was full of promise as a core group of talented seniors attempted to claw their way through to the championship. Unfortunately, they fell short, making it to the playoffs but losing early on against Skyline in a May 7 game that resulted in a 2-3 loss. A single tweet sent out by Ballard High School at the end of the game sums up the emotional moment: “Man! That stings. Great comeback Beavers! Heart you.”

Nonetheless, it’s clear that Ballard has a long tradition of playing baseball, and though the Beavers lost this year, they contributed their own moments and stories to that tradition.

Who doesn't love a good spray of water at the local park on a warm summer day?

Ballard residents can get just that starting this weekend, when the spray park at Ballard Commons starts back up. Except, well, this weekend will be bringing temperatures hovering around 60 degrees with a chance of showers.

Still, for the recent warm weather Seattle has been getting (dismissing the more recent rainy weather), reintroducing the spray park may come as a welcome relief.

Water parks throughout the city will be operating from Memorial Weekend, starting on Saturday, May 25, all the way to Labor Day Weekend. Granted the heat stays around, Parks will continue operating the spray parks until Sept. 15.

Wading pools, which unfortunately Ballard Commons does not have (there's one at Soundview Playfield in Crown Hill)), will open on June 22 and will operate on sunny days that reach over 70 degrees.

Follow Ballard News-Tribune on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ballardnewstrib

And Twitter at http://twitter.com/ballardnewstrib

When Ballard High School student Celia Major conceived of the Stylin' and Sharing fashion show and clothing drive, which takes place on May 31 and which will benefit Treehouse, she saw an opportunity to throw on a fun event and help people at the same time.

"I’ve always liked fashion, my mother had a fashion show in college, but she didn’t have a fundraiser. So I thought maybe I could do the same, but maybe help others at the same time," Major said.

Treehouse is a Washington-based nonprofit that serves youth in fostercare, providing education support and childhood experiences, among other services. Clothes brought in by guests to the fashion show will go to a Treehouse warehouse, which will be sorted and in turn donated to foster youth who are in need of new clothes. Major has five bags of clothes waiting to be donated back at her house.

"You don’t realize how important clothes are for those who can’t afford them," Major said. "We take clothes for granted, but there are those who can’t afford clothes, can’t get new clothes, and getting them is just an amazing gift."

Robyn Emery, currently serving as the Queen of the Ballard-based Leif Erikson Lodge 2-001, Sons of Norway, has been selected to be a Seafair Princess.

The Seattle Leif Erikson Lodge is the largest of over 390 international Sons of Norway lodges, with more than 1,500 members. Celebrating its 110th anniversary this year, it has been active in promoting the heritage and culture of Norway since 1903.

This year, Emery will be graduating with honors from the Ocean Research College Academy at Everett Community College, and from Kamiak High School in Mukilteo. This fall she will be attending Northwest University in Kirkland to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology/Pre-med. Her goal is to become a medical doctor, possibly specializing in oncology. Her platform for Seafair will be for Seattle Children’s Hospital, where her 7-year-old brother successfully underwent treatment for pediatric cancer. She will be investing 10 hours of community service at Children's.