Susan Fujita of Choppers has died

We were sorry to learn today from Leslie Maeda, Susan Fujita's daughter, of the death of her mother:

"Susan passed away peacefully at the age of 73 years young on November 17th, 2013 following a short, but courageous battle with lung cancer. Susan was born to Ichiro and Nobuko Hayashida on Bainbridge Island and graduated from Bainbridge Island High School in 1958. She then went on to pursue a lifelong passion of cosmetology. As co-owner of Choppers hair salon in Madison Park for over 30 years, she met many interesting people and made many friends. Even when she was very ill, she didn’t want to stop working because she enjoyed her clients so much.

She met the love of her life, Melvin Fujita, on a blind date and they were married November 15, 1964. Susan was an avid tennis player and was very close with her group of tennis friends; enjoying many lunches, laughs and travels with them. She loved sports and played volleyball on the JBC team for over 30 years and was a longtime season ticket holder for the Seahawks, Mariners and the Sonics. Susan loved to travel and her adventurous spirit led to many trips with family and friends to over 17 countries and every continent except Antarctica. Susan also enjoyed gardening, cooking, theatre, and entertaining at the Hansville beach house. True to her generous spirit, Susan annually volunteered for the Forgotten Children’s Fund around the holidays.

Susan is survived by her husband Melvin Fujita, and her siblings Tomiko (Hank) Egashira, Hisako (James) Matsudaira, Yasuko Mito, Hiroshi (Loretta) Hayashida, and Judy Hayashida.  Susan also leaves behind her two daughters, Tiffanie Fujita and Lezlie (Dean) Maeda, and her grandson, Oliver Maeda. She was predeceased by her parents Ichiro and Nobuko Hayashida, brother in law Henry Mito, and granddaughter Abigail Maeda. Susan’s warm and caring spirit will be deeply missed by all who were blessed enough to have their hearts touched by her. There are no words to describe the enormous void that will be felt by her family and her extensive circle of friends.

Remembrances can be made to the American Cancer Society."

Neighborhood hit with extensive tagging

As we've reported in the past, tagging is an ongoing problem in the neighborhood, but the scale of last night's vandalism is perhaps unprecedented.  Community Council member Bob Edmiston reported in an email this morning that he counted 40 separate graffiti incidents in the "flat" area of Madison Park, principally in alleys between E. Lee Street to the south and the Edgewater Apartments (E. McGilvra Street) to the north. Garage doors were the principal targets.

Those who have experienced vandalism of their property are urged to report the incident to the police, which is easily on on-line here: Seattle Police CORP.

Happening in November

Our newly renovated neighborhood fire station, located at 633 32nd Avenue E., will be holding a re-dedication and open house on Saturday, November 16, from 11 am until 1 pm.  Two years worth of rehabilitation work has, presumably, rectified the seismically-unsound nature of the structure. Fire Station #34 has been in its present location (just behind the Arboretum Court building on the South side of E. Madison Street) since the early 1900's.

As part of the Extraordinary Neighbors Series sponsored by the Madison Park Community Council, lifelong Madison Park resident Jane Powell Thomas will be on deck this Wednesday evening, November 13, to lead a discussion of the history of the neighborhood.  

She brings a wealth of knowledge to the task, having directly participated in much of that history. She is the author of Madison Park Remembered, an affectionate look at some of the houses and families that have graced the neighborhood over the years.  The event begins at 7:30 pm at Park Shore (1630 43rd Avenue E.).

The Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption on Capitol Hill is again taking holiday orders for baklava, spanakopita, kourambiedes and other Greek delicacies for early-December pickup at the Church (1804 13th Avenue).  Details here. There will also be a Bite of Greece event at the Church on December 6 and 7 (free admission).

FInally, this just in: "Cafe Flora is celebrating its 22nd annual Vegetarian Thanksgiving and has created a special four-course menu influenced by the local fall bounty. All courses offer vegan and gluten-free options and a four-course kids menu is available.

Cafe Flora will be open Thanksgiving Day from 1:30-6:45 p.m. Four-courses are $50 for adults and $25 for children, excluding tax and gratuity. Reservations are required and can be made at 206.325.9100. Cafe Flora is located in Madison Valley at 2901 E. Madison St. Seattle, WA 98112."

Mary Henry: 90 years and going strong

This is a shout out to Madison Park resident Mary Henry, who today, we are reliably informed, is celebrating her 90th birthday.  Her friends tell us that she is far too modest to make a big deal about it, but that doesn't stop us from taking note.

Mary wears her nine decades well. She's a spry and intrepid walker (you can see her ambling around the 'hood many days), and if we hadn't been told, we wouldn't have believed her life began during the Roaring '20s.

Mary, a former Seattle Public Schools librarian, is actively involved in the community, most recently being the instigator of the Madison Park Tree Walk. Her civic efforts include archivist of the Epiphany Church, contributor to website HistoryLink, and board member of both the Seattle Education Foundation and the Association of King County Historical Organizations. In her role as a historian, Mary for many years edited the Black Heritage Society Newsletter and was author of the book, Tribute: Seattle Public Places Named for Black People.

Mary also plays a central role in the the book, Pearl's Secret: A Black Man's Search for His White Family," written by her son, Neil Henry, Dean Emeritus of the University of California-Berkeley School of Journalism. The book tells the compelling story of Mary's family, which traces its descent from the post-Civil War union of a white former plantation overseer, Arthur Beaumont, and a freed slave, Laura Brumley. The "Pearl" of the book's title was their daughter and Mary Henry's grandmother.

"My family's experiences, like those of most black people in America, have mirrored the stresses and strains of our nation's racial history, from slavery to Jim Crow to the integration of the 1960s and on into the complex world of multiculturalism that seems to define the present," Neil Henry writes.  

When Mary moved to Seattle there were only 40,000 blacks living in the town, few of whom were in professional roles. Mary and her doctor husband, John Robert Henry, Jr., would see their share of discrimination here but also be part of a sweeping post-war generational change. As their son Neil notes in discussing his family's experience, "Our lives reflect the kind of unusual but significant progress made by advantaged black Americans over the generations since slavery, despite the hazards of racism and discrimination." Mary and her husband raised four children, one becoming a lawyer and two following their mother into education.  Their story is a big part of Pearl's Secret.

In doing our research on Mary we came across a Seattle Times article where the writer, Jerry Large, noted that Mary came from "that generation of black people for which dignity was paramount," adding "her bearing and her language are gracious and graceful."  To that we can attest.

Happy Birthday, Mary!

Wrong turn in Broadmoor

This was the scene in Broadmoor around midnight on Monday after a man who claimed to be driving to Everett crashed his car into two parked cars at high speed, flipping his car in the process.  A witness estimated that the man was traveling at about 50 miles per hour when the accident happened. The photo shows the man's upside-down vehicle, with a fire crew poised in the background. The incident occurred on the 1400 block of Broadmoor Drive E.

Police officers investigating the accident reported that the suspect appeared both drunk and "high on narcotics."  He was Mirandized and later taken to Harborview Medical Center, though he was not seriously injured.  No one else was hurt in the accident.

According to the SPD, the suspect told officers that he had left the "Buffalo Club" earlier in the evening and was driving to Everett when he must have taken a wrong turn and got lost in Broadmoor. The police report notes that the suspect was "several miles from the freeway" when he flipped his car.  A Broadmoor resident we spoke with told us he felt the suspect was probably trying to protect the person in Broadmoor whose home the suspect had been at before the accident.

The suspect was also concerned about protecting himself from his parole officer, telling an investigating SPD officer that he hoped the police wouldn't mention the incident and get him into trouble.   No such luck, however.  Although the suspect was released from Harborview, the case has been referred to the prosecutor.

September Police Blotter

Another hazing incident, but it was pretty quite otherwise

It was at about this time last year that police were called to the area near Madison Park's "Beaver Lodge Sanctuary" (at 37th Avenue E. and E. McGilvra) to investigate a hazing incident involving Garfield students. Although there were post-event admonishments and disciplinary actions by the school's principal after that incident, it became apparent this fall that those earlier attempts to change behavior did not have long-lasting impact on many students at Garfield. This year's incident, which occurred on the evening of September 27 near and on Foster Island, was bigger and more extreme.  We'll let the the principal, Ted Howard, do the story telling:

"I spent the afternoon with [SPD] Officer Radford and many other officers walking through the Arboretum.  One hundred or more Garfield students were participating in hazing incidents, drinking hard alcohol and beer.  Students were being paddled, had on diapers, eggs were being thrown at students and shoe polish was all over their body.  As students ran and scattered from the scene they caused  at least one,  maybe more car accidents due to running in front of cars.  I was also called a “Nigger” by a student and many other derogatory names."

This is front the principal's email to Garfield parents asking, "Do you know where your son or daughter is?"  He continues,

"I ask that question because I want you to know that we all have a responsibility to keep our kids safe.  We all work hard to make sure they learn life lessons and make better decisions. Tonight some of our students didn’t make good decisions.  If students were there to watch,  cause harm to another student or behave inappropriately this impacts the entire GHS community and puts the GHS community in a negative light."

Howard did more than just ask parents to get involved.  He suspended eleven students for up to 20 days for their behavior.  Nine of these have appealed their suspensions and two others were exonerated and their suspensions lifted.  The school district, according to one report, is developing "new strategies" to eliminate hazing at Garfield.  The existing ones, quite clearly, haven't quite worked.

*****

Meanwhile, crime in Madison Park was in it typical post-summer lull, though the victims probably didn't appreciate that fact.  There was one house break-in, which occurred on the 1200 block of 39th Avenue E. on the afternoon of September 16.  In that incident the victims called police to report that one of them had been in the kitchen of their house when he heard a noise in the living room.  He went to investigate and discovered a black male suspect who had opened an outside door and was about to enter the residence.  The suspect claiming to be looking for a friend but promptly fled the scene though the victim's backyard and ran down the alley to his vehicle, a maroon-colored Chevy Impala, which was parked at E.Lee St. Although the police arrived on the scene quickly, they were unable to track the vehicle, which had fled westbound "at a high rate of speed."  Both victims, one of whom had engaged in a chase of the suspect, said they got a good look at him and would be able to identify him if they saw him again. Interestingly, one of the victims of this break-in had previously had her purse stolen in a car prowl and was advised by police (after the home break-in) that a suspect had been arrested who was in possession of her stolen credit cards.  The suspect in that case, however, had been booked and released before officers could question him about the break-in at the victim's house.  The SPD was, presumably, planning to follow up.

There were also three car prowls reported in the neighborhood during September: one on the 3300 block of E. Shore Drive in Broadmoor on September 7, one on the 3800 block of E. Highland Drive on September 28, and one of the 500 block of Hillside Drive E. on September 17.  Car thefts took place, surprisingly, on the 2300 block of Broadmoor Drive E. on September 1, and on the 2400 block of 38th Avenue E. on September 5. There were also several incidents of credit card fraud (the dollar-sign icons on the map above) and thefts from buildings (the dollar-bill icons).

It didn't happen here (a monthly feature):

"Bizarre-acting male" in "excited delirium" arrest

By Detective Rene Witt (from SPD Blog)

Two officers were transported to [Harborview Medical Center] for minor injuries, following an assault. On 9/6/13, just shortly after 11:00 p.m., officers were on routine patrol when an unidentified citizen flagged them down in the 1100 block of E. Union St.  He pointed out a white male and told the officers that the man was “acting crazy”. At that time the “crazy acting” man approached two people on the street and confronted them. The officers saw the suspect throw a punch at the people. The officers intervened and the suspect took a fighting stance. The officers attempted to arrest the man and he began to fight and throw punches at the officers.  The officers were able to arrest him.  All three went to HMC for treatment. One officer suffered a sore right knee and a cut on his right hand.  The second officer suffered a bruised right hand.

Here's what the incident report had to say about the 31-year-old suspect:

"Based on [the suspect's] behavior, i.e. bizarre, violent, paranoia/hallucination, profuse sweating, disturbance in breathing pattern, superhuman strength, shouting, screaming, keening (animal noises), officers believed he was possibly showing symptoms of excited delirium and having a medical emergency."  According to the Capitol Hill blog, the suspect, after a stint at Harborview, was arraigned, shown to have an extensive criminal record, was wanted on an escape warrant, and was held on $50,000 bail.

MAD Pizza to close shop

"Committed" to Madison Park no more, exits Sunday

Long a mainstay on the neighborhood quick-cuisine scene, MAD Pizza this morning announced in an email to its Madison Park fans that it will cease being a pizza-purveyor in Madison Park at 8 pm on Sunday, October 20, though the Seattle-based company said it will still deliver pizzas to the Park from its Capitol Hill location.

MAD Pizza has been under increasing competitive pressure in Madison Park since the introduction of The Independent Pizzeria in 2010 and the arrival at this time last year of Pagliacci Pizza in Madison Valley.  Although The Independent Pizzeria, with its craft-style Neapolitan pizzas, may have appealed primarily to a more up-scale audience than MAD Pizza's, Pagliacci (and, in particular, it's home-delivery option) was more directly in competition for MAD Pizza's clientele. Although MAD Pizza attempted to meet the challenge  with some new offerings, it appears that the tide could not be turned.

This, however, is simply speculation, since Mad Pizza didn't provide any explanation in its email for its decision to abandon the sit-down/take-out portion of its operation in Madison Park, and our attempts on Saturday to get a response from the company's management were unsuccessful.

After 18 years in the Park, Mad Pizza will by its many fans (including numerous nannies and their charges) be sincerely missed.

[Thanks to loyal reader Glenn Ader for alerting us to this story!]

Madison Park: in print and online

Turn-of-the-century "Amusement Center" here

That great website, Vintage Seattle, has unearthed the historic photograph above, which it dates as circa 1907, showing an "amusement center" located in Madison Park. Vintage Seattle was unable to identify the context, but it is almost certainly a photo taken of the "White City" amusement park which briefly flourished in Madison Park during the Alaska-Yukon Exhibition of 1909.

On the 100th anniversary of the incident, we ran a posting on this blog about an elephant that had escaped from "White City" and "rampaged" through Madison Park before being recaptured ("Elephant causes pandemonium in the Park").  For that story we utilized the archives of another great site, HistoryLink.org.  In the photo above (click to enlarge), notice the "Skiddoo House" to the left.  We wonder, what exactly happened there?

And while we're on the subject of historic Madison Park photos, here's another recent entry from Vintage Seattle.  This one shows Washington Pioneer Hall, probably sometime in the early 1950s:

At the time this photo was taken, Madison Park apparently still had at least one water-related commercial business in operation:  on the left side of the building is a sign for "Olympic Boat."

More photos of Broadmoor eaglet

Photographer/bird watcher Larry Hubbell has added some more photos to his website of the offspring of the Broadmoor eagles, which he has named Si'ahl.  The above shot shows the eaglet surveying the territory.  Here's one showing Si'ahl with his father, Albert:

Larry does not limit his photo work to eagle coverage, however.  There are a lot of great shots of other birds and wildlife on his site, Union Bay Watch, as well as a fabulous new shot of Albert.  Check it out.

Washington Park home featured in The Times

The personal residence of architect Roy Lundgren and his wife Laura received high-profile treatment in an article last month in The Seattle Times' Pacific Northwest Magazine.  Lundgren designed the home around the couple's large collection of art and artifacts, some of which they have accumulated from their many world-travel adventures.

One of the interesting aspects of the house is that it is designed for "unassisted living," making it user-friendly, though the residence is situated on a small lot and incorporates three floors of living space.  The full article, with many photos, can be found here.

Interestingly (or not), this is the fourth house on this particular Washington Park block to be featured in a local or national publication during the last two years.

[Architectural photos by BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER, Seattle Times.]

500,000 pageviews and counting

New milestones for Madison Park Blogger

Blogger.com, which hosts this site, reported today that Madison Park Blogger has surpassed 500,000 pageviews, after just four and a half years of posting:

Quantcast, an independent third-party evaluator of site statistics, meanwhile, shows that Madison Park Blogger currently receives over 1,500 unique visitors per month on average (down from over 2,000 for the month ending September 15).  MPB now has 606 subscribers, according to Google Feedburner, which provides our email and reader platform, and there are an additional 248 fans of our new Facebook page.

Thanks for the support!

Events in October

Tour the neighborhood's trees with an expert

Madison Park (the neighborhood) is aptly named, not only for the City park that is our primary attraction, but also for the park-like nature of much of the community that surrounds our park.  Residents of Madison Park live within the warm, green embrace of the many lovely trees that dot the neighborhood, though many of us probably don't take the time or don't have the right sensibility to notice.

Those who do have an appreciation of our natural surroundings, however, will get an opportunity this month to learn more about Madison Park's trees while on a walking tour with someone who does take the time to look and is willing to share his arboreal knowledge.  On Saturday, October 19, Steve Lorton, former Pacific Northwest Editor of Sunset Magazine, will lead the initiated and uninitiated alike on a one-mile educational hike around the neighborhood.

Described by one of his friends as "a poet, story teller and full of information about our local flora," Lorton is longtime resident of the Park; and, from our personal experience, we can add: a friendly and engaging raconteur.  Expect this to be a fun hour-and-a-half walk amongst the trees.

It all begins at the Park Shore Retirement Community (1630 43rd Avenue E.) at 10 am. The tour is free, but donations to the Madison Park Community Council are encouraged.

Halloween treats at neighborhood shops

The annual Halloween treating of neighborhood kids by participating Madison Park businesses will happen from 4 until 6 pm on Halloween, October 31.  (Kids: The tricking part is probably best reserved for use on family and friends, who will perhaps be more appreciative of pranks than shop owners will).  This year there will be a photo booth in the triangle park in front of Bing's for those who wish to preserve the memory of the big day.

Also on the spooky horizon, Madison Park's IndieFlix will be hosting a pre-Halloween screening of "Shorts That Scare Your Pants Off" at Starbucks on October 29, with small bites at 6:30, followed by movies at 7:00.  Free and "super spooky."

New book traces history of male muscularity

Madison Park author David Chapman will launch his newest book, Universal Hunks, with a soirée of a different sort at Capitol Hill's Elliott Bay Books (1521 10th Avenue) on Saturday, October 19 (7 pm).  By different we mean different: In addition to the traditional light snacks and beverages there will be a choreographed bodybuilding presentation as part of the book launch. The author will also give a brief, illustrated talk on the modern history of bodybuilding in various cultures.

Restaurant Week begins today 

Six Madison Park/Madison Valley restaurants are participating in the annual Restaurant Week this year: Cafe Parco, Cafe Flora, CRUSH, Luc, The Harvest Vine, and Viola! Bistrot.  The event actually occurs over two weeks, with special $28 three-course dinners available October 13 through October 17 and October 20 through October 24. More details here.

[Lowest photo of Burratta Salad from CRUSH.]