Polar Plunge – Freezin’ for a Reason & Fabulous Prizes, New Year's Day 2016

Get Ready, Get Set, GO! Jump in the lake!         

That is how we start off the New Year at Angle Lake. Not only does it clear your head from New Year’s Eve revelry, it starts the year off right with a great show of the generosity and spirit of our neighborhood.

The Angle Lake Shore Club hosts the annual Polar Plunge where neighbors gather to share treats and cheer the brave and crazy few who jump in the frigid waters.  

Why would anyone jump in the lake on New Year’s day? You may have to ask each plunger for their personal reason, but our official reason for freezin’ is to start the year off with the good deed of replenishing the Highline Food Bank depleted by holiday demand. We request that all spectators and jumpers bring a donation of money or non-perishable food.

Our neighbors in need will benefit from your generous donations and you attendees will benefit by being eligible to win fabulous prizes!  All you have to do is bring a donation, enjoy a brunch buffet with coffee and cocoa, and cheer or plunge at noon. For a heightened experience wear a costume and bring kids.

Jan 1, 2016 at 11 AM  at  Angle Lake Manor Beach, 3419 S. 194^th St

You will receive 1 raffle ticket each for:

• Simply showing up at the Manor Club Beach between 11:00 and Noon
• Showing up in costume (if you plan to plunge or not)
• Bringing a non-perishable food item (1 ticket for each item)
• Donating $10 cash or check made out to the Highline Area Food Bank
• Taking the plunge!

Benefit our local emergency food bank; win fabulous prizes; enjoy the company of neighbors and have FUN! There are no better reasons for freezin’!

Consult your physician prior to participating in the Polar Plunge to verify your fitness or sanity. Firemen will be on hand to resuscitate you, if needed. (No faking allowed.)

Check the Blog at www.anglelakesc.blogspot.com as we near the date for further event details. Contact Tani Rae for questions or to volunteer at 206-300-5740.

Fabulous Prizes:

• Overnight at Cedarbrook Lodge
• Fifty minutes Cedarbrook spa treatment (2 gift certificates)
• Dinner for 2 at Copperleaf Restaurant (2 gift certificates)
• Hair cut at the Ultimate Solution Hair Salon, 3215 S.188^th
• Gift from Wild Birds Unlimited, 15858 1^st Ave S.
• ALSC t-shirts : sm, med, lg and xl

Our Gift to You: A Pile of Holiday Pictures!

Our goal this winter, is the same as every winter— to create enduring memories of time shared with our lakeside community during the Christmas season. Your Shore Club Board and many volunteers are pretty enamored with the concept of building community through family friendly, fun filled events and nothing is more fun during the Christmas Season than a chance to visit with jolly ol’ Saint Nicholas himself! 

This year we had not one but two visits by Santa Claus to the Angle Lake Neighborhood! In addition to the special appearance he made to lead the community in the countdown to the lighting of the Christmas trees at the May family residence, Santa returned for his annual visit aboard the Christmas barge to greet children dockside around the lake.

And because we value and appreciate your participation in these events, please accept these lovely holiday photos as our gift to you. Feel free to download and share them with your family and friends and continue to spread the holiday cheer. 

• Christmas Tree Lighting Photos
• Members Only Christmas Party
• Christmas Boat and Santa Cruise

Santa, the Shore Club Board and our numerous volunteers all wish you and your loved ones a
Very Merry Christmas!

Why Should Visitors Love Your Town?

The Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority (SSRTA) is looking for people willing to participate in a phone survey to offer individual preferences and opinions to help guide future advertising campaign efforts. 

The objective is to get gather personal perspectives on ways our community could attract more tourism dollars. To that end, SSRTA would like to ask for your participation in a short (20 minute) phone interview with someone from our strategic planning partner, GreenRubino. The call can be schedule for a time that is convenient to you, and your input would be completely confidential.  

If you are interested in voicing your opinions, please email Ashley Comar, Marketing and Communications Manager at Ashley@SeattleSouthside.com

What is Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority?

The Seattle Southside Visitor Services was reformed into a new organization in 2014 to become the Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority. SSRTA is the official destination marketing organization (DMO) for the cities of SeaTac, Tukwila and Des Moines. DMOs market "places" for visitor-related economic development.

The first DMO was organized more than 100 years ago in Detroit; there are now more than 1,200 around the world. SSRTA was first organized in 1999 by the Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce and in 2002 was reconstituted as a multi-city regional program administered by the City of Tukwila operating as a City Department called Seattle Southside Visitor Services (SSVS). 

However, the Cities and local hospitality industry representatives believed SSVS would benefit from another re-formed organizational structure into a local public development authority with a private sector board of directors to be renamed as the Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority (SSRTA).  

DMOs in very small towns commonly often begin as a part of the local Chamber. As communities grow, there is usually a "division of effort." Typically, DMOs are "community" organizations, while chambers are private, membership organizations. In Southwest King County, both organizations market Seattle Southside as a "place." SSRTA handles visitors, meetings, group tours, movie productions, and sports events. The Chamber assists new residents moving in and relocating or expanding businesses. The Southwest King County Chamber was instrumental in the original early founding of SSVS and supported the reforming of SSVS into SSRTA.

How is the SSRTA funded?

Visitors pay a special 1% room tax when they stay in Seattle Southside hotels, motels, campgrounds or bed and breakfasts. Approximately 50% of this tax is invested in SSRTA to attract and serve more visitors to the region. These tax revenues provide visitor services and facilities; group sales and tourism promotion through a variety of marketing and communications initiatives. 

The SSRTA will continue to contract with the Cities for additional local lodging tax dollars to market the region. Additionally, a $2.00 per room night TPA special assessment will be collected by hoteliers and those funds will be directed to the SSRTA for management. Occupancy taxes and special assessments are typically the way the visitor sector of the economy provides for destination marketing.

Could It Happen In Our Lifetime?

The other day I received a press release announcing an Open House for the SR 509 project.  The first thought that came to my mind was “Wow! Am I finally going to witness a finish to the Burien Freeway project in my lifetime????” Since 1988, various proposals have been recommended building a freeway extension of SR 509 within the city of SeaTac, connecting the Burien Freeway to I-5 and that continues to remain unbuilt today.

State Route 509 (SR 509) is a 35.17-mile-long state highway connecting Tacoma in Pierce County to Seattle in King County. The highway travels north from Interstate 705 (I-705) in Tacoma to SR 99 south of downtown Seattle. It serves cities along the Puget Sound and west of Seattle–Tacoma International Airport in south King County, including Federal Way, Des Moines, and Burien. Prior to the 1964 highway renumbering, the highway was part of Secondary State Highway 1V (SSH 1V) from Tacoma to Des Moines and SSH 1K from Des Moines to Seattle. 

Every year, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) conducts a series of surveys on its highways in the state to measure traffic volume. This is expressed in terms of annual average daily traffic (AADT), which is a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. In 2011, WSDOT calculated that the busiest section of SR 509 was the limited-access highway between Burien and its northern terminus in Seattle, serving 54,000 vehicles, while the least busy section was within Dash Point and Dash Point State Park, serving 2,600 vehicles. SR 509 between SeaTac and Seattle is designated as part of the National Highway System, which includes roadways important to the national economy, defense, and mobility. The sections of highway from Tacoma to Federal Way and from SeaTac to Seattle are designated as part of WSDOT's Highways of Statewide Significance, which includes highways that connect major communities in the state of Washington.

The present route of SR 509 from Des Moines to Seattle roughly follows a wagon road constructed in the late 1890s by King County along the Puget Sound. The highway between Federal Way and Kent was codified in 1923 as part of State Road 1 and in 1937 as Primary State Highway 1 (PSH 1). During the creation of the primary and secondary state highways in 1937, the highway between Tacoma and Federal Way was designated as SSH 1V and the highway between Des Moines and Seattle was designated as SSH 1K and traveled 12.76 miles (20.54 km) south from PSH 1 at the First Avenue South Bridge in Seattle through Burien and east through Des Moines to PSH 1 in Midway. The two highways were combined during the 1964 highway renumbering to become SR 509 and was codified into law in 1970. SR 509 was realigned onto the newly constructed north–south Burien Freeway in 1968, extending from Seattle to SeaTac. The highway was originally routed through Saltwater State Park on Marine View Drive until 1991, when SR 509 was moved to two concurrencies with SR 99 in Federal Way and SR 516 in Des Moines. 

The freeway was planned to be extended south to SR 516 in the 1970s after a 4-mile (6.4 km) right-of-way was acquired by WSDOT before the project was canceled. The King County Department of Public Works recommended extending SR 509 southeast from South 188th Street to I-5 in 1988, with construction planned to begin in 1999 at an estimated cost of $252 million in 1996, raised to $1.4 billion a decade later. A freeway bypass of the Port of Tacoma was opened in 1997 and the highway was truncated to its current southern terminus, a single-point urban interchange with I-705 in downtown Tacoma near the 21st Street Bridge. No major revisions to the route of SR 509 have occurred since 1997, however, WSDOT is proposing a freeway extension to SR 509 to I-5 along with interchange improvements and new arterial streets.  The project has finally received the necessary funding to implement the plan, unfortunately it is not scheduled to complete until 2031 at the earliest – no less than 43 years after the original proposal was made.  

The open house is scheduled for Thursday, December 17th from 5:00 until 7:00 pm.

Highline College, Building 2

2400 South 240th Street

Des Moines, WA 98198

No formal presentation will be provided. Attendees are welcome to come and go during the two hour

event.

Santa's Christmas Boats Cruise

Great News Kids!  Santa will be making a special stop at Angle Lake this Sunday, December 13th to join the holiday parade of pontoon boats decked out with Christmas lights circling the lake spreading festive music and Christmas cheer.

The flotilla will pause at predetermined spots around the lake so that Santa can meet with the kids, collect their wish list and gift ideas, provide photo opportunities for families and to present a small gift to the all the good children present.

• Sunday, December 13th 
• 4:15pm - Angle Lake Mobile Home Park
• 4:45pm - Curtis Steinke - post #3
• 5:15pm - Maria Rice - post #42 
• 5:45pm - Dave Gutierrez - post #54 
• 6:15pm - Phyllis Pickett - post #77 
• 6:45pm - Jean McGarah - pst #4/30 

We encourage anyone who is interested meeting with Santa to gather at the locations above. 

Times listed above are approximate. Please check our Facebook Page for any schedule changes and for the latest list of locations and status. In the case of inclement weather, the event may be rescheduled or canceled. This event is free and open to all neighbors, extended families and their guests.

On One Foggy Sunday Eve...

The evening air was so thick with fog one might need a knife to cut through it, however the enthusiastic crowd with their harmonious chorus paired with the bright lights of the May family display shone brilliantly to illuminate the north end of Angle Lake. 

Video Courtesy of Mario Coluccio

A new community tradition was launched this year with the First Annual Tree Lighting and Christmas Caroling Ceremony sponsored by the Angle Lake Shore Club and hosted by Rodger and Lisa May. Neighbors from areas all areas around the lake gathered in the early evening on Sunday, November 29th to meet with new and familiar neighbors and enjoy refreshments while the children eagerly waited in anticipation for Santa’s arrival. 

The exuberant crowd let out a boisterous collective cheer when the flashing lights were spotted and the rumble of the Fire Truck engine was heard knowing that Santa Claus was on board.  Once the engine was safely parked the children rushed to meet and speak with Santa who in turn presented the kids with a candy cane as a reward for being good throughout the year.  

After everyone was provided an opportunity to get their photos taken with the guest of honor, Santa guided the crowd to the front of the property and led the countdown to the lighting of the Christmas Trees and neighbor Fran Reid took over in leading the group carols.

Special note of recognition for the following folks to express our appreciation and gratitude:

Thank you to:

• Rodger and Lisa May for inviting people to their home to enjoy their lights 
• Mario and Jason for their hard work in stringing all the lights and ensuring there was enough power available to illuminate them
• Mackenzie; Lexi; Tammy and friends for their effort to coordinate the synchronized lighting
• Lonnie and Annie for serving up the hot refreshments
• Debbie, Julie, Marge, Judy for purchasing and assembling the snacks
• Fran Reid and her performers for leading the Christmas Carols
• Photos by Mario and Tani Rae; Videos by Mario and Val
• …and of course, thank you to the Kent Regional Fire Department for their assistance in getting Santa safely to our event!

It is through these and many more volunteers and their efforts that helped to make this such a great success! Things like this could not be accomplished without your volunteer assistance and community participation! We can’t thank you enough for being an important part of all we do!

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas from the Angle Lake Shore Club Board!

Photos of the event are available for viewing via our Online Photo Album

Additional Video by Valerie Vavrik