A Class Act Restaurant, A Real Hidden Gem

Tucked away near the end of SR-509 and just off So. 188th street is a little known diner called the Class Act Restaurant. This establishment features a unique dining experience due to the fact that it is operated by high school students who are enrolled in culinary training at the Puget Sound Skills Center. The enrollees attend from neighboring school districts from all around South King County including Highline, Tukwila, Federal Way and Tahoma.

It is these students who are learning the details of restaurant and kitchen operations and practice their skills by operating the 72 seat dining room three days a week, Wednesday – Friday.  On these days they serve breakfast from 7-9AM and lunch from Noon-1PM. Since the restaurant is actually a ‘classroom’ they operate on full school days following the Highline School District Calendar.

Although this is a training facility, the quality entrees served up are anything but amateurish. Judge for yourself from the photo examples presented on the 2014/2015 Gallery page. The dishes certainly rival anything you can find at one of the finer hotels in the area or even downtown Seattle but at half the price and without the drive! Refer to the Breakfast or Lunch pages for the specific days that they are open and to view what is currently being offered from the menu rotation. Advanced reservations are not required.

If your organization or event is looking for meeting space, please note that the Class Act also operates three banquet rooms: The Albrecht Room and The Green Room have seating for groups up to 25 people, and the Yormark Room can support groups up to 70. The rooms can be configured as you wish, food service and audio/visual equipment is provided on request. They are available on any day that the restaurant is in operation. You can inquire about them by calling the office at the Puget Sound Skills Center at (206) 631-7300.

They're Back... Last Gasp of Summer!

Swimmers numbering in the hundreds will gather once again on the shores of Angle Lake Saturday, September 19th eager to participate in the ‘last’ 1 and 2 mile open water competition swim of the season. 

The 2015 Last Gasp of Summer is an open water swimming event hosted by Blue Wave Aquatics and Valley Aquatics Swim Team and sanctioned by the Pacific Northwest Association of Master Swimmers, Inc for USMS (Sanction No. 362-W002). For those like me who may not be all that familiar with the sport of open water swimming, this all translates to mean that it’s going to be a pretty big darn deal!

Angle Lake has become a favorite location for this event. The course will run nearly the entire length of the east-west leg and will be marked with large buoys. Motor boats, kayaks and lifeguards will be strategically located around the course to monitor race operations and lend assistance if necessary. Nearly 150 Master Swimmers are expected to compete in one of four events, while Youth will have their own separate events to compete in. 

Events

USMS Master Swimming	USA Youth Swimming
§  1 Mile wetsuit	§  500 Meter non-wetsuit [9-12 yrs]
§  1 Mile non-wetsuit	§  1 Mile non-wetsuit
§  2 Mile wetsuit	§  2 Mile non-wetsuit
§  2 Mile non-wetsuit

Day of Race registration is $80 and requires a One Day USMS registration fee of an additional $22. Entry includes one event, swim cap, participation gift and hosted lunch. Maximum number of athletes participating for the Last Gasp of Summer is 300. Visit the Last Gasp of Summer Website for more race event information. Family members are welcome to cheer on their swimmers and enjoy lunch after, donations will be accepted.

Schedule

RACE DAY	Saturday, September 19th
8:30 – 9:30 AM	Pre-race check-in for both races
8:45 AM	Briefing – Officials, Kayaks, Lifeguards
9:30 AM	Mandatory Meeting for ALL swimmers
10:00 AM	Start of 2 Mile Race
10:15 AM	Start of 1 Mile Race
10:45 AM	Start of 500 Meter Race (USA Swimming)
12:00 Noon	Awards, Picnic Lunch

The course will be cleared by noon and the event is expected to conclude no later than 1:00 PM.

Volunteer

As you can imagine, it takes a lot of volunteer effort to pull off an event of this magnitude and the organizers could always use additional help. If interested lending a hand, simply show up no later than 8:30 AM and ask Wendy Neely for assignment otherwise ask for Jennifer Mesler if you’d like to help patrol the course from your kayak. All volunteers will be welcome to join the athletes enjoying a free picnic lunch.

A history page has been added to The Last Gasp of Summer website to capture all the fun facts from previous years!

Live Music this Weekend

If you hadn’t already had your fill for live music at Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival last Labor Day weekend, here’s your chance for a second helping of weekend filled with musical performances!

The annual SeaTac International Festival date has moved but the location remains the same.  The festival will be held at Angle Lake Park this Saturday from 10 am until 8 pm and again on Sunday from 10 am until 5 pm.  In addition to a jam packed two day entertainment schedule, vendors will be onsite offering arts and craft merchandise, prepared food and refreshments available for purchase.  

Live Entertainment 

Listen to some of the hottest popular performers in the Pacific Northwest. Different types of ethnic and cultural music will be performed, as well as entertainment for kids. Entertainment begins at noon on Saturday and runs through Sunday afternoon.

Saturday
Noon   Anzanga Marimba (Traditional, Contemporary Marimba)
1:00 p.m.   Bernie Prussing (Celtic soloist)
2:00 p.m.   Show Brazil (Brazilian Music)
3:00 p.m.   Oasis Dancers (Middle Eastern Dance)
4:00 p.m.   Correo Aereo (Traditional Latin Music)
5:00 p.m.   Duo Finelli (Vaudevillians Music Comedy)
6:00 p.m.   Geoffrey Castle (Electric Six string Violinist)

Sunday
Noon         It's a Zumba Party! (Free Zumba session)
1:00 p.m.   Ben Hunter/Joe Seamons (Acoustic Blues, Folk, Ragtime)
2:00 p.m.   Kelley Bradley (Americana/Folk)
3:00 p.m.   Jesse Noll (Delta Blues)
4:00 p.m.   Ventura Highway Revisited (Music of the band "America")

UPDATE: Time is Running Out

The Angle Lake Shore Club Firework Barge Capital Call is nearing a conclusion. This is a critical time for us if we wish to ensure the continuation of our fireworks here on the lake. This requires all of us to come together so that we don't find ourselves without any show. 

The effort is to raise funds necessary to build six barges that can be joined together to form a single platform from which to perform the annual 4th of July community fireworks show at the center of the lake. As of Friday, September 4th a total of $13,255.00 had been collected toward the target goal of $24,000. If you intend to contribute to the effort but have not yet done so, please do so now. 

Please include the following DONATION FORM with your contribution amount clearly noted and indicate if you’re available to help with the construction of the barges. 

The Board will meet on Wednesday, September 16th to discuss the achieved result and determine appropriate next steps. 

One Doggone Windy Day!

The windstorm on Saturday, August 29th will surely go into the record books for some of the strongest winds, if not strongest ever recorded in August. 

Local meteorologists are still a bit in awe over the power of the storm Saturday that has become the earliest windstorm on record in the Pacific Northwest -- by several weeks!   The prior date on the calendar for a major windstorm to strike? October 2 -- more than four weeks later than our most recent storm. According to the tracking on the peak gusts, some of the gusts experienced Saturday were stronger in some spots than some of our greatest wind storms on record.

Now granted, wind storm damage depends a lot on not only the intensity of the storm, but the track and whether the peak wind field is over populated areas or not. The storms compared to the Saturday storms -- the Hanukkah Eve storm of Dec. 14, 2006, the Inauguration Day Storm on Jan. 20, 1993 and the Oct. 12, 1962 Columbus Day Storm all did far greater damage than the storm this weekend -- one reason was the Seattle metro area took the brunt of the storm, and second, the storms were considerably stronger. But there were indeed some spots that of the 4 storms had their windiest day Saturday.

Missing Items:

Several neighbors in our area have written the blog to report paddles, boats and large inflatable structures washed up onto beaches on the north end of the lake.  If you are missing something, please take a tour of the north end to recover your item.  If you have something to report (lost or found) it’s recommended that you post the item in the Angle Lake Neighborhood Site of Nextdoor.com (requires a valid user login). Help for creating a Nextdoor.com account is linked HERE.

Clearly marking your post number or phone number on the item in indelible ink would make for a much more efficient means of recovery, else someone could misinterpret the item as being abandoned and may use or dispose of the item as they see fit. 

Fun Fact:  Did you know that Clyde 'Fuzz' Hill is recognized as the individual to name the Hanukkah Eve Storm?