Here’s our weekly round-up of events from October 15 – 21 on Mercer Island:
Talk Time
Monday, October 15, 1 – 2:30 pm
Mercer Island Library, 4400 88th Ave SE
Improve your speaking and listening skills in this conversation group for English language learners. Learn more about American culture and meet people from around the world. Walk-ins welcome.
Free Alzheimers Film & Speaker: His Neighbor Phil
Monday, October 15, 4 – 6 pm
SJCC, 3801 East Mercer Way
Join Aegis Living, SYNERGY HomeCare of Bellevue, and the Stroum Jewish Community Center for the premiere of “His Neighbor Phil,” a film showing the effects of Alzheimer’s disease not only on the patient, but also the entire family and their community. After the film, hear from acclaimed speaker Lori La Bey, who was honored by “O Magazine” as a 2018 Health Hero and dubbed an “Architect of Change” by Maria Shriver.
Sing into Reading
Monday, October 15, 7 – 8 pm
Mercer Island Library, 4400 88th Ave SE
Parents, grandparents, and caregivers of children ages birth to five, come and learn how singing with your children helps them build the skills they will need to be ready to read. Nancy Stewart will give great ideas for songs to sing and books to read and sing, as well as lots of fun ideas for related activities- all for free!
Story Times at the Library
Mercer Island Library, 4400 88th Ave SE
Join the Mercer Island Children’s Librarian for stories, songs, rhymes, and fun in these programs designed especially for you and your young child.
Tuesday, October 16
Young Toddlers (12 – 24 months) – 10:30 – 11 am
Toddlers (2 – 3 years) – 11:30 am – Noon
Wednesday, October 17
Play & Learn (ages 5 and younger) – 10:30 am – Noon
Thursday, October 18
Infants (0 – 12 months) – 10:30 – 11 am
Preschoolers (3 – 6 years) – 1 – 1:30 pm
Community Coffee Hour
Wednesday, October 17, & Friday, October 19, 9 – 10 am
Mercer Island Community & Event Center, 8236 SE 24th St
Join Mercer Island Parks & Recreation for Community Coffee Hour every Wednesday and Friday! This is a free program for kids, teens, adults, seniors, and families. Enjoy a hot cup of coffee or tea while catching up with old acquaintances or meeting new friends.
For more information, call MICEC at 206-275-7909 or email at [email protected].
Storybook Corner
Wednesday, October 17, 10:30 – 11 am
Island Books, 3014 78th Ave SE
Bring your little ones to enjoy popular picture books read by Island Books’ staff or special guests.
Impressionist Gardens with Art Historian Rebecca Albiani
Wednesday, October 17, 7 – 8 pm
Mercer Island Community & Event Center, 8236 SE 24th St
Explore the Impressionist garden, an important motif featured prominently in the works of Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Berthe Morisot, and Mary Cassatt, with well-known art lecturer Rebecca Albiani. A frequent speaker at the Frye Museum of Art, Albiani received her MA from Stanford University and BA from the University of California, Berkeley. This program is presented in partnership with the Mercer Island Sister City Association. Enjoy refreshments provided by MISCA following the talk.
Resilience & Compassion – Building Strength for the Road Ahead
Wednesday, October 17, 7 – 9 pm
Islander Middle School, 7447 84th Ave SE
Do you want to develop skills to cope with the stress in your life? Join Dr. Anne Browning, the founding Director of the UW’s Resilience Lab, to discover how our brains, mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and compassion operate to build strength for the long haul. This presentation will be aimed at a supporting all members of our community with a special focus on parents, teachers, and high school students dealing with the stressors of the transition to higher education.
Wine Wednesdays at Caruccio’s
Wednesday, October 17, 5 – 9 pm
Caruccio’s, 2441 76th Ave SE, Suite 100
Purchase your wine by the glass from a rotating selection of wines. Each glass includes delicious appetizers served buffet-style. No need to purchase tickets for Wine Wednesday.
Toy Swap Donation Dropoff
Wednesday, October 17, 7 – 9 pm
Storage Court, 8501 SE 68th Street
Help support Mercer Island Preschool Association’s largest fundraiser by donating to Toy Swap! Clean out your closets and consign or donate gently used children’s toys, clothing, books, and equipment including larger items like bikes and scooters. We will also be accepting maternity clothing, baby clothing, toys and items like cribs, pack n’ plays, strollers and diaper bags. We will NOT be accepting stuffed animals or carseats.
Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill
Thursday, October 18, 10:18 – 10:45 am
At 10:18 a.m. on October 18, 2018 thousands of Washingtonians, the City of Mercer island Staff, and the Mercer Island School District will “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” in The Great Washington ShakeOut, our largest earthquake drill ever. Major earthquakes can happen anywhere you work, live, or travel in Washington. The ShakeOut is your chance to practice how to protect yourselves when an earthquake strikes. The goal is to prevent a major earthquake from becoming a catastrophe for you, your family, and our community by planning, preparing and practicing what to do when an earthquake strikes.
Tabletop Thursdays
Thursday, October 18, 4 – 7 pm
Mercer Island Community & Event Center, 8236 SE 24th St
Drop by for an afternoon of board games, video games, playing pool or ping-pong, and hanging out. There’s a huge selection of games, and the staff is always up to taking on a new competitor. Games include: Codenames, Mission Red Planet, Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Connect 4, Monopoly, and more. Free for ages 7 – 14.
For more information, call MICEC at 206-275-7909 or email at [email protected]
Thursday Food & Film Night at Caruccio’s
Thursday, October 18, 5 – 9 pm
Caruccio’s, 2441 76th Ave SE, Suite 100
This week’s film is Eat Drink Man Woman. Watch featured movies projected on Caruccio’s big screen with subtitles and soft audio. Enjoy your wine by the glass along with complimentary appetizers inspired by the classic or foreign film of the evening.
KnitLit: A Crafter Book Group
Friday, October 19, 10:30 am – noon
Mercer Island Library, 4400 88th Ave SE
Discuss the book, Circling the Sun, and share your knitting, crocheting or crafting techniques with others.
Mercer Island Food Truck Frenzy & All Island Band Night
Friday, October 19, Food Trucks at 5:00 – 6:30 | Game at 7 pm
Mercer Island High School Stadium, 9100 SE 42nd Street
Organized by the Mercer Island Schools Band Booster Club, the MIHS Food Truck frenzy will feed hungry Islanders before the evening’s All Island Band Night and MIHS football game. The food trucks will be open for business from 5 to 6:30 pm. After getting your food-truck fare fill, head over to MIHS stadium for a performance you won’t want to miss. All Island Band Night is Mercer Island’s largest outdoor concert of the year featuring bands from all MISD schools with students from grades 5-12. Then cheer on the MIHS football team as they play the Liberty Patriots.
Around the World Dinner with Chef Shannon Smith
Friday, October 19, 6 – 9 pm
Caruccio’s, 2441 76th Ave SE, Suite 100
Come to Caruccio’s and travel around the world, through authentic cuisines and wine pairings with Chef Shannon Smith from Beadsandbasil.com.
Shannon spends her life traveling unbeaten paths in the world learning food cultures and recipes from both chefs and home cooks. Each course in this elegant dinner is from a country that she has visited and loved recently. Enjoy unique wines and appetizers before dinner, then relax and let the night unfold!
Classics on Film : Searching for Bobby Fischer
Friday, October 19, 7:30 pm
Aljoya, 2430 76th Ave SE
The Classics on Film series, sponsored by the Arts Council, celebrates the amazing variety of chess-themed cinema with the film, Searching for Bobby Fischer. Film historian Lance Rhoades will introduce and lead a Q&A following the film. All screenings are free and open to the public.
Lakeridge Elementary Pumpkin Patch
Saturday, October 20, 10 am – 2 pm
Lakeridge Elementary School, 8215 SE 78th Street
Join the fun at the Lakeridge Third Annual Pumpkin Patch! Enjoy face painting, pumpkin decorating, coffee, cider, and baked goods while you choose your pumpkins! This fun community event will also include local glass art and a food drive! Join us and help support Lakeridge PTA & Mercer Island Youth & Family Services.
Arbor Day and Tree Planting Celebration
Saturday, October 20, 9 am – 2 pm
Luther Burbank Park, 2040 84th Ave SE
Join us to plant a forest! We are partnering with Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, the Arbor Day Foundation and Carter Subaru to celebrate Arbor Day by planting 1200 trees in Luther Burbank Park. There will be food, music and planting fun for all ages! We will also be celebrating Mercer Island’s designation as a Tree City USA with a special ceremony and brief comments from Mayor Debbie Bertlin and other officials.
Sephardic Day at the SJCC
Sunday, October 21, 11 am – 2 pm
SJCC, 3801 East Mercer Way
A day for everyone to celebrate Sephardic culture, from food and jewelry, to books and kids’ art projects. Festivities include a Game Zone with prizes, Marketplace, Kosher Sephardic lunch, folk dancing, henna artist, and much more!
Elaine Weiss, Author of The Woman’s Hour
Sunday, October 21, 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Island Books, 3014 78th Ave SE
Come have a cup of coffee and join us in welcoming Elaine Weiss, author of The Woman’s Hour, to Island Books. Elaine is an award-winning journalist and writer whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Harper’s, The New York Times, and The Christian Science Monitor, as well as in reports and documentaries for National Public Radio and Voice of America. A MacDowell Colony Fellow and Pushcart Prize Editor’s Choice honoree, she is also the author of Fruits of Victory: The Woman’s Land Army in the Great War. The Woman’s Hour is an inspiring story of activists winning their own freedom in one of the last campaigns forged in the shadow of the Civil War, and the beginning of the great twentieth-century battles for civil rights.
Caspar Babypants Concert
Sunday, October 21, 1 – 3:30 pm
Mercer Island Community & Event Center, 8236 SE 24th Street
Caspar Babypants, known for making intelligent acoustic music for kids and their parents to enjoy together, is coming to the Mercer Island Community & Event Center! We have partnered with Creative Learning Center to bring you this fun, family friendly performance. Come early and enjoy the Indoor Playground from 11 am – 1 pm!
Autumn in Italy – Interactive Cooking Demo with Chef Abby Canfield
Sunday, October 21, 1 – 3:30 pm
Caruccio’s, 2441 76th Ave SE, Suite 100
Join Chef Abby Canfield with a very special interactive demonstration and light meal focusing on “Autumn in Italy”. Come to Caruccio’s to watch, learn, and chat while Abby shows you how to make three Italian fall specialties.
Jaffa Road Concert
Sunday, October 21, Happy Hour at 6:30 | Show at 7:30
SJCC, 3801 East Mercer Way
Jaffa Road is a highly acclaimed Toronto-based world music group made up of some of Canada’s most exciting and innovative interpreters of intercultural music. The two-time Juno-nominated, genre-bending, global roots band has established themselves as unique creators and interpreters of Jewish music in Ladino, Portuguese, Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, and English. Together, the quintet and lead vocalist Aviva Chernick reach higher heights, offering audiences a cornucopia of colorful poetry, emotions, textures, and danceable grooves.
