The Saturday after Thanksgiving–November 25th is Small Business Saturday, AND, at the end of the day (4 to 7 p.m.) Magnolia Village is sponsoring an Art Walk. In honor of both events, Magnolia’s Bookstore is proud to welcome Molly Hashimoto, author and illustrator of Colors of the West: An Artist’s Guide to Nature’s Palate. Recently released by Mountaineers Books, this is a beautiful and special book.

As Brian Cantwell said in his Seattle Times review of the book, Molly took her pastime and made a life of it. She teaches at environmental institutes in Oregon, the North Cascades, and Yellowstone. She has a line of cards and calendars and has exhibited her art at galleries throughout the Northwest. This is not to be missed. Join Molly Saturday, November 25th from 4 p.m. to 6 for a book discussion and signing.

To thank all of the wonderful and loyal customers on Small Business Saturday, there will be treats all day, free Eat.Sleep.Read bags to the first 30 customers spending $50 or more, and a drawing for one of Molly’s books at the end of the day.

Keeping Peace is the theme for the Magnolia Chorale’s 29th annual winter concert series to be performed on December 2 and 3 at Magnolia Lutheran Church.  Highlighting the program will be selected movements from Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace and Hope for Resolution by Paul Caldwell and Sean Ivory.  The Chorale will be joined on Saturday evening by the McClure Middle School choir, and on Sunday afternoon by Ballard High School’s Women’s Chamber Choir.

The Magnolia Chorale’s director, Dr. Jean-Marie Kent, remarked that Jenkins’ mass spoke deeply to her causing her to take a breath, to think of where we come from and where she would like us to be…people who listen first, who feel what others are suffering, and who hope for something more. The opening movement, The Armed Man, is based on a medieval tune that pervaded pubs and churches of the 15th century, “L’homme armé,” calling for each man to arm himself with a coat of armor. This theme is reprised in the final movement, Better is Peace (than always war).  The intervening and intensely beautiful movements Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, and Benedictus, taken from the Latin mass, are included in this performance.

Caldwell and Ivory’s inspirational and moving Hope for Resolution juxtaposes two musical thoughts: the 5th century chant Of the Father’s Love Begotten and the South African anti-apartheid song Thula sizwe (Nation, do not cry). Dr. Kent says that the two pieces exist together, never fully meshing, but finding a harmonic space to exist side by side.  The chant will be sung by the guest choirs, who will also be featured separately on the program, while the underlying Thula sizwe will be sung by the Chorale.

Rounding out each performance will be caroling with the audience before the program begins and a selection of both sacred and secular seasonal favorites.  Tickets for either performance, 7:30 p.m. Saturday evening, and 2:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon, are $12.00 or $10.00 for seniors in advance from either Chorale members or through brownpapertickets.com, and $15.00 general admission and $10.00 for seniors at the door.  Those 17 and under will be admitted free. Click here for more information about the Magnolia Chorale.  Magnolia Lutheran Church is located at 2414 31st Ave W. in Seattle’s Magnolia district.

Saying “thank you” to our military, Brown Bear Car Wash offers free washes to current or former members of the military on Veterans Day, Saturday, November 11. The free “Beary Clean” washes will be offered at Brown Bear’s 24 tunnel wash locations from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The offer operates on an honor system and no verification or documentation is required. Upon arrival, drivers should identify themselves as a current or former member of the military to the wash attendant. Click here for a list of Brown Bear’s 24 automated tunnel wash locations.

Brown Bear will also proudly donate $1 for every car washed on Veterans Day to Puget Sound Honor Flight. For the past three years, Brown Bear has donated more than $30,000 to support Honor Flight’s mission of transporting Western Washington war veterans to visit memorials in Washington, D.C. For more information, click here.

“The Veterans Day event is our way of saluting those who currently serve our country and have made past sacrifices on behalf of all of us,” said Brown Bear Car Wash President Vic Odermat, who is a proud US Marine veteran.

For more information about Brown Bear Car Wash locations and programs, click here.

By guest contributor Valarie Cooper

This is the text of the petition to be sent to the City of Seattle for reconsideration of the traffic changes to the Emerson Street/Gilman lane reductions. These lane changes have created huge backups entering the neighborhood without much input from Magnolia residents. Please go to the link below and sign.

By reporter Steven Smalley

“Everybody blames each other,” explains Carlos (no last name given), a neighbor next to a sink hole located in the middle of 23rd Avenue West, just off Dravus. “I drove past it in my SUV yesterday and it caved in right behind us. I parked the car and BOOM, it dropped. It was my lucky day.”

City workers from the Department of Transportation said the 10 ft. square opening was caused by runoff water from the adjacent hillside occupied by four homes. Drainage pipes are clearly seen pouring water onto the street from the properties. Green dye was used to see if the water came from other than natural sources. Workers said a broken pipe was not the cause.

“This has been an issue for years,” says Carlos. “In the winter it freezes and the street cracks. It’s been a major problem. This is going to give in one of these days. They need to replace it all. There is no drainage on the street.”

City employees tell Magnolia Voice they will fill in the hole with gravel and add a patch. A different department will cover with concrete at a later date, they said.