Here’s my weekly round-up of events for the week of May 16 – 22 on Mercer Island:
Mercer Island Historical Society Meeting
Speaker: Chenoa Philabaum, New Seasons Market
Monday, May 16, 1 pm
Mercer Island Community & Events Center, 8236 SE 24th St
Ms. Philabaum will be speaking about the new grocery market coming to Mercer Island this fall in the former Albertson’s location on SE 29th, in the central business district. New Seasons Market supports local farming and is based in Portland, Oregon. The Mercer Island store will be the first one in Washington, followed by another in Ballard and the grocer is bidding for another location on Seattle’s Capitol Hill. She will introduce the market and its business philosophy and community action and share product samples.
Learn more >>
Story Times at the Library
Mercer Island Library, 8501 SE 40th St (Temporary location)
Join the Mercer Island Children’s Librarian for stories, songs, rhymes and fun in these 30 to 45-minute programs designed especially for you and your young child.
Tuesday, May 17
Young Toddlers (12 – 24 months) – 10:30 – 11:15 am
Toddlers (2 – 3 years) – 11:30 am – Noon
Robbie Bach, Author of Xbox Revisited
Tuesday, May 17, 7 pm
Island Books, 3014 78th Ave SE
From Microsoft’s former Chief Xbox Officer, Robbie Bach, comes a unique book that provides a simple yet robust framework that can be used to tackle almost any problem. In Xbox Revisited: A Game Plan for Corporate and Civic Renewal, Bach takes business, non-profit, and community-engaged readers on the Xbox journey. Bach is turning his strategic and leadership skills to a new opportunity: helping individuals and organizations drive transformational change in business and civic institutions. The book is packed with common sense thinking and a strategic framework that can set change in motion at every level of community life. Xbox Revisited is a wake-up call, a challenge to every citizen to become a “civic engineer” addressing the issues we face in our communities and across our country. Join Bach at Island Books for a book reading and discussion.
Learn more >>
Mercer Island Visual Arts – Art Explorers
Wednesday, May 18, 10:15 am
Ellis Pond Park located 90th Ave SE between SE 47th and SE 45th St
MIVAL Art Explorers (bring your camera, easels, sketch books, paint) will engage in a morning of “art in the park” at Ellis Pond, a Mercer Island treasure. It is located mid-island near the library. There are a few trails on this four-acre park, including a wooden boardwalk through the wetlands for bird and animal watching, or you can sit on the park bench while sketching, painting, or photographing the ducks and birds that call this place their home.
If you have a “traveling” chair, please bring it, as the ground is still a little too cold for sitting. Feel free to meet us at the park bench by the “Ellis Pond” sign on the North side at 10:15, or if you would enjoy gathering as a group, we will carpool from the MIVAL gallery, leaving at 10:00. If it is rainy, we will stay at the gallery.
Learn more >>
Storybook Corner at Island Books
Wednesday, May 18, 10:30 to 11 am
Island Books, 3014 78th Ave SE
Bring your little ones in to enjoy popular picture books read by our staff or special guests.
Learn more >>
Play and Learn at the Library
Wednesday, May 18, 10:30 am – Noon
Mercer Island Library, 8501 SE 40th St (Temporary location)
Have fun singing songs, telling stories, reading books, creating art and playing. Play & Learn is in English. Sponsored by the Mercer Island Friends of the Library.
Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age
Wednesday, May 18, 7 pm
Stroum Jewish Community Center, 3801 East Mercer Way
The Stroum Jewish Community Center and IndieFlix are proud to present a public film screening and panel discussion of SCREENAGERS, a documentary that sheds light on the impact screen time is having on families, and explores how learning, playing and socializing online affects teens’ developing attention span, fragile self-esteem and moral instincts. Post-film panel discussion featuring experts in teen technology, education, healthcare, and brain science moderated by Scilla Andreen, the film’s producer/executive producer and CEO of IndieFlix.
Learn more >>
Island Books Cookbook Book Club
Wednesday, May 18, 7 pm
Island Books, 3014 78th Ave SE
You’re on our website, so you must like books, right? We bet you also like food, too, because hey, who doesn’t? Our cookbook book club features a different cookbook or theme, and near the end of the month we get together to taste the dishes we’ve made from it. A festive potluck meal, in other words, and we’ll supply the drinks. Since we’re talking recipes, here are the step-by-step instructions for participating:
- Come into Island Books ahead of time to buy a copy of the featured cookbook.
- Check out the recipes inside, test them at home, and find a favorite dish to share.
- On the appointed evening, bring what you’ve made to Island Books.
- Eat, drink, and be merry!
For our May meeting, we’re not recommending a particular cookbook, just asking you to share a favorite dish from a favorite cookbook. Before the evening is out, we’ll have chosen a title for our next session.
Learn more >>
Off-Leash Dog Rules Public Forum
Thursday, May 19, 6 – 8 pm
City Hall Council Chambers, 9611 SE 36th Street
The City’s Open Space Conservancy Trust board will be hosting a forum on dogs in Pioneer Park as part of its regularly scheduled meeting. This will be a chance for the public to provide input and offer constructive solutions to reduce conflicts between park users and off-leash dogs in the northwest quadrant of Pioneer Park. Each speaker will have three minutes to present their ideas and opinions.
Youth Theatre Northwest presents: Harriet the Spy
Friday, May 20, 7 pm; Saturday, May 21, 2 pm & 7 pm; Sunday, May 22, 2 pm
YTN Black Box at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 4400 86th Ave SE
Harriet M. Welch is the willful only child of well-to-do socialites. She is also a spy, who observes her friends and neighbors and writes about them in her notebook. Harriet spends much of her time with her loving nurse Ole Golly, who artfully teaches her about life. One fateful night Ole Golly announces she plans to marry and move to Canada. Soon after, Harriet’s notebook is found and read by all of her friends and classmates. Harriet’s blunt and mean observations in her notebook cause everyone at school to dislike her. Harriet is distressed and spirals out of control until she gets a visit from Ole Golly, who shares with her the helpful tip, “Sometimes you have to lie. But to yourself you must always tell the truth.”
Learn more >>
Restoration Event – Luther Burbank North Wetlands
Saturday, May 21, 9 am – 3 pm
Luther Burbank Park, 2040 84th Ave SE
Meet: Luther Burbank Park north parking lot
Each year, Mercer Island citizens donate hundreds of hours of their time to maintain the community’s parks and open spaces: picking up litter, planting trees, cutting down ivy, painting over graffiti, or repairing trails. Join us for this Saturday’s events to help contribute to this incredible community effort.
Who Are We? A panel and discussion about stereotypes
Saturday, May 21, 11 am – 1 pm
Congregational Church on Mercer Island (UCC), 4545 Island Crest Way
Join us for the final day of our series “Conversations for Strong Communities.” Maya Soetoro-Ng will introduce a diverse panel of Mercer Island adults and students talking about the impact of racial stereotypes in everyday life. Jackie De La Cruz will moderate and Naomi Moore will facilitate a discussion. Doors open at 10:30. Lunch will be provided after the discussion. The day continues at the church with the Stanley Ann Dunham Scholarship awards at 2pm. Sponsored by the Friends of the Mercer Island Library and the Stanley Ann Dunham Fund.
The Stanley Ann Dunham Scholarship Awards
Saturday, May 21, 2 – 4 pm
Congregational Church on Mercer Island (UCC), 4545 Island Crest Way
Join Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng and members of the Mercer Island community to celebrate the achievements of Mercer Island High School senior women. Established in honor of Stanley Ann Dunham – mother of Soetoro-Ng and President Barak Obama, and a Mercer Island High School graduate – the awards celebrate community service and promote community building, social justice, and intercultural understanding. This event concludes our series called “Conversations for Strong Communities.” All attendees are invited to a panel discussion in the morning at 11 and a light lunch at 1 pm, before the awards ceremony. Presenter: Maya Soetoro-Ng and the Stanley Ann Dunham Fund. Sponsored by the Friends of the Mercer Island Library and the Stanley Ann Dunham Fund.
Clare-Beckett Guild Casino Night & Silent Auction
Saturday, May 21, 6 – 11 pm
VFW Hall, 1836 72nd Ave SE
The Clare Beckett Guild is named for two beautiful children who have received care at Seattle Children’s: Clare Gaffney who spent all four days of her life at Children’s in 2006 and Beckett Shumaker, who continues to receive care today. We feel so strongly that every child who needs care should be able to receive it, and so we support uncompensated care at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
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