Calling all local historians, both amateur and professional! Preservation 4Culture is embarking on a new project in partnership with the White Center Community Development Association to document the history of the Southgate Roller Rink and we are asking YOU to share your memories…

The Southgate Roller Rink served as a community gathering place - weekend hangout, family activity center, and sports arena - for over 70 years. It is a neighborhood fixture that helped put White Center on the map. Popular sports figures like boxers Al Hostak and Harry “The Kid” Matthews, wrestler Robin Reed, and most recently, the Rat City Roller Girls drew large crowds to White Center. The rink is probably best remembered by locals, however, for the hours they spent showing off their skating skills circling around the hardwood floor with their family members and/or sweethearts. We want to hear about those experiences!

Contact Flo Lentz at flo.lentz@4Culture.org or (206) 296-8682.

Image: © 1948, Courtesy of Washington State Archives, Puget Sound Regional Branch.

Source: 4Culture

Non-members are also invited! If you are a member, bring a friend and learn more about the benefits of becoming a member. Thanks!

Best representing White Center’s vibrant and ethnically diverse business district, “Growing a Global Village” is the culmination of an exciting process led by the White Center Community Development Association and a Marketing Taskforce comprised of business owners and members of the White Center community. To preview the new brand and logo, please visit the White Center CDA Office at 1615 SW Cambridge Street starting July 6 through August 31, 2010.

The new brand thoughtfully incorporates both the uniqueness of White Center and the aspiration of more improvement still to come. “To me, the authenticity of the brand is what’s most important. In particular, the word ‘growing’ means there is an important and solid foundation from which to grow, expand and bloom,” said Aileen Balahadia, Executive Director of the White Center CDA.

“Growing a Global Village” portrays a picture of people from all corners of the world living and working side by side.  White Center embodies the aspirations and hard work of people, living the American Dream and creating a future for their families. “Just like a real global village, our business district has something for everyone and serves our diverse community very well” says Nicky Nguyen, owner of Banh 88 Restaurant in White Center.

A beautiful vibrant logo was created for the brand. “The colorful, organic rings represent the diverse community of White Center as it comes together to form unity. Different yet the same, the continuum of people and place…a moving-forward and in-motion neighborhood with vitality and conviction. The baskets, which are found in the center of our business district at 16^th & Roxbury are symbolic of something we all have and share in our various cultures,” wrote Kathi Wheeler, a White Center resident and brand graphic designer.

The White Center CDA would like to thank the White Center community, marketing consultants PRR and graphic design firm Noise without Sound, for their invaluable contribution to make this project possible. We’d like to acknowledge the White Center Chamber of Commerce for re-painting the five “Welcome to White Center” signs using our new brand color palette. The White Center CDA is looking forward to work with partners to promote and integrate our community brand and will soon make the brand available for web download by the community.

King County Executive Dow Constantine brought together leaders from all over the community today to bring hope to the South Park Bridge Replacement Project. At the base of the South Park Bridge this afternoon, elected leaders from the state to neighborhood came to announce their support for the South Park Bridge Replacement. Governor Chris Gregoire announced $20 million from the State, Constantine, King County Council Chair Bob Ferguson and County Council Member Julia Patterson announced $30 million from King County, City of Seattle Council President Richard Conlin announced $15 million from Seattle, and Port Commissioner Gael Tarleton announced $5 million to support the bridge replacement. The crowd could feel the support for this regional link that connects families and industries. Photo by Virgil Domaoan.

Sokha Lam Danh, a 2008 graduate of Aviation High School, was named a recipient of a 2010 Institute for International Public Policy Fellowship (IIPP). Dahn is currently a sophomore at the University of Washington majoring Business and American Ethnic Studies.

The IIPP selects outstanding young women and men from across the United States who are interested in pursuing careers in international affairs and foreign service. Danh is one of 15 national applicants selected.

Each IIPP Fellow receives scholarships and services totaling nearly $100,000 over a five-year period. This includes two summer institutes, study abroad opportunities, language institutes, international internships, and two-year matching funds for graduate school.

Source: Burien KOMO

Blog editor’s note: Sokha is the brother of Sopha Danh, who works in the CDA’s Family Development department. Congrats Sokha!

The West Seattle Herald kindly covered this event yesterday for Key Bank’s visit to White Center:

“Key Bank brought a crew of corporate employees out to White Center on Tuesday, May 25 to clean windows, pick up litter and do general clean up in association with the White Center Community Development Association (WCCDA). This year marks the 20th anniversary of this project. Senior management, managers and staff come together in groups to go work as community servants.”

Check out the article and photo over at the West Seattle Herald!

We were hard at work today preparing 16th and Roxbury for our signature project for tomorrow’s White Center Spring Clean. Check out the photos! What makes it our signature project? Find out tomorrow, when we’ll post the “after” photos. Go White Center!

The White Center Healthy Food Gift Certificate Program kicked off today in a big way! What we purposely didn’t mention in our press release was the creative way we planned on getting food bank clients to the markets. Sean Healy, a White Center CDA Community Building Resident Fellow, is also employed as a school bus driver and was able to donate his time to drive White Center Food Bank clients from the food bank to Samway Supermarket and Lee’s Produce, then back to the food bank. We were on hand to take photos of this great program in action:

Bus driver Sean Healy drove food bank clients safely from each location. Half of the clients shopped at Samway while the other shopped at Lee's. All the clients got an opportunity to shop at both produce markets.

White Center CDA Neighborhood Revitalization Director Patty Julio, left, speaks with White Center Food Bank Executive Director Rick Jump outside of Samway while residents shop for their food.

Samway Store Manager Billy Yin greeted each customer with flair. He was even seen giving customer free produce such as corn.

Each food bank client received this $5 gift certificate to be used for only healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables.

Mrs. Nasatka, owner of Lee's Produce, speaks with a customer. At one point, there were 20-25 customers jammed into the produce section. "I can handle 100 of them," exclaimed Nasatka.

Lee's Produce placed a couple of these nice thank you signs throughout their market. Lee's also offered food bank clients 1 free package of strawberries to go with their gift certificate. The affordable prices from both supermarkets allowed many clients to come away with much as 2 heavy bags of produce.

White Center CDA Community Building Resident Fellow Awet Ghebreyohannes helps a client with a heavy bag of produce while heading back to the bus. You'd be surprised to see what you can get out of that gift certificate!

The bus circled back around to pick up the rest of the shoppers at Samway to head back to the food bank.

White Center CDA staff briefly celebrated this great event in front of Samway. From L to R: Patty Julio, Neighborhood Revitalization Program Manager Nhan Nguyen, Awet Ghebreyohannes, and Community Building Director Virgil Domaoan.

Thank you to everyone involved, and thank you to the White Center Food Bank! For more information on how you can donate to this program, please contact the White Center Food Bank by clicking here.

Photos courtesy of Ian Dapiaoen for the White Center CDA. Photos are property of the CDA and are not to be used in any other way.

The White Center Food Bank, in partnership with the White Center Community Development Association, along with Lee’s Produce and Samway Market, is pleased to announce implementation of the White Center Healthy Food Gift Certificate Program. This unique program will provide $5.00 gift certificates to food bank customers that will allow them to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables through local produce vendors.

“Food bank customers often lack adequate access to fresh fruits and vegetables because of their high cost. As a result, low-income people frequently have higher rates of a variety of diet related health problems such as type 2-diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, heart disease and stroke,” said Rick Jump, Executive Director of the White Center Food Bank.

“We’re excited to work with the White Center Food Bank to also support our two goals with our Fresh Marketplace Initiative: to increase access to healthy food options locally for residents as well support the economic development of our small businesses in White Center,” said Aileen Balahadia, Executive Director of the White Center Community Development Association.

Samway Market and Lee’s Produce were selected to participate in this pilot program because they specialize in produce that suits immigrants’ desires for traditional fruits and vegetables which are not always readily available in local supermarkets. The White Center Food Bank currently provides food for approximately 1,500 families each month, many of them immigrants and refugees.

This pilot project is funded by the WCFB and donations to sustain it would be greatly appreciated. To make a donation online or for more information about the White Center Food Bank’s many programs visit www.whitecenterfoodbank.org or contact Rick Jump at (206) 762-2848. Donations may also be mailed to WCFB, 10829 8th Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98146.

This program will be launched on May 6, 2010 at 10:00am at Samway Market located at 9811 15th Ave SW and at 10:30am at Lee’s Produce located at 9435 Delridge Way SW.

From our community partner New Futures at Arbor Heights, taken directly from their website:

Genesis Guardado, New Futures 2010 Scholarship recipient for Arbor Heights

Genesis is a mature, responsible teenager who successfully balances an impressive number of priorities. As a high school junior, she works a part-time job to contribute to her family’s income and is involved in multiple community activities, including New Futures’ youth program, church, sports, and volunteering.

Genesis is highly self-motivated; she is determined to do whatever it takes to graduate from high school, move on to college, pursue a master’s degree, and even a PhD. She speaks openly about going to law school or studying criminal justice, is willing to work to pay her way through school, and has started attending college tours and information sessions on her own.

Genesis is a very caring and compassionate young woman. She volunteers to give youth a voice by participating in meetings with the King County sheriff and local police departments. She also went to Olympia this year to meet with legislators and advocate for greater funding for education and better learning environments for students. She enthusiastically participated in New Futures’ Youth Voices project, to share student insights on how they can best learn and succeed in school. Genesis is a leader in her community whose energy and enthusiasm is contagious to everyone around her.