The BECU ATM was removed in August 2010

Thanks to the the CO-OP ATM Network,  Green Lake residents who use credit unions have access to several other surcharge-free ATMs, including nearby ATMs in the west Green Lake 7-Eleven (7314 Aurora Ave N), the Wallingford 7-Eleven (101 NE 50th) and the Roosevelt Safeway (7300 Roosevelt Way NE).

However, the loss of the Green Lake BECU ATM was frustrating for many in the east Green Lake area who relied on its convenient location.

Caroline Sherman, a BECU customer and Green Lake resident, is launching a “Call to Phones” campaign in the neighborhood:

I’d like to encourage all BECU members living or working in the Green Lake area to let their voice be heard to bring a BECU (or other credit union) ATM machine to Green Lake.

People can call the BECU Message Center at (800) 233-2328 during its business hours of Monday – Friday 7:00am – 7:00pm PST and Saturday 9:00am – 1:00pm PST, and leave a message requesting a credit union ATM machine be installed at Green Lake.

These messages are collected once a month. If we all do this in October, it will send a bigger message.

With the Big Dig at the old Vitamilk Dairy location (between NE 71st & 72nd and Woodlawn and 5th Ave NE) starting up soon, now is the time for BECU to start negotiations with the developer to get a BECU ATM machine installed there.

If any and all credit union members call the BECU message center asking for a replacement ATM machine to be installed somewhere around the east end of Green Lake, our voices just might be heard, and they might actually do it.

With recent Big Banks raising their fees, more people than ever are abandoning banks and moving to credit unions.

Green Lake needs a credit union ATM. My bias is for BECU, but I’d be happy with any credit union presence.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: activism

The event is taking place at the southwest corner of Green Lake (5900 West Green Lake Way N), near the Aqua Theater and the Green Lake Small Craft Center.

The group’s website states that the vigil is a “demonstration is to join in solidarity to protest against Chinese government due to recent disturbing self-immolation trends inside Tibet.”

For more information about the vigil, email the Seattle Tibetan Youth Congress at seattletyc1959 [at] gmail.com or phone (260) 693-7892.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: activism

Occupy Seattle, October 8 2011 at Westlake Center. Photo credit: bikejuju.com

Earlier today (Monday, October 10, 2011), John Madziarczyk wrote a short piece on Lost Highway Times, a political and philosophical blog, comparing the Occupy Seattle movement to “Greenlake social activism.”

Occupy Seattle is, according to the movement’s website, “a non-violent, extended public occupation of downtown Seattle.” The occupation is part of a national resistance movement of “the 99%” that started with Occupy Wall Street in New York City and has spread to more than 1,200 cities.

The Occupy Seattle movement, Madziarczyk suggests on Lost Highway Times, is an alternative to “Greenlake social activism,” which he defines as “privileged yuppies doing things like eating organic and supporting local boutique businesses.”

“There are quite a few folks in Seattle who, while leading lives that are excessive in their privilege, think that they’re great supporters of social change because they’ve done a few token gestures with their money,” Madziarczyk writes. “These actions help them feel better about themselves, think that they’re great people because of it, despite the fact that at the end of the day when it comes to their actions’ impact on real social change, especially social change having to do with inequality and social justice, their actions have almost no impact.”

What are your thoughts on this? Please leave your comments below.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Check-in begins at 10:15 a.m. at the Green Lake Community Center (7201 E Green Lake Dr N) and the walk starts at 11 a.m.

Registration is $20.

More about Pigs Peace Sanctuary:

For more information email pigspc [at] gmail.com or call the Pigs Peace Sanctuary at (360) 629-6433.

Thanks for the tip, Anika.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: activism, animals, fundraiser, vegetarian and vegan, walking

Photo courtesy Kristin Lockwood

Farm Sanctuary’s Walk for Farm Animals is being held at Green Lake Park on Sunday, October 23, 2011, 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

The walk around the lake begins near the Green Lake Community Center (7201 E Green Lake Dr N).

According to walk coordinator Kristin Lockwood, the event “celebrates and promotes compassion for farm animals and raises vital funds for Farm Sanctuary’s lifesaving rescue, education and advocacy work.”

In addition to the walk, the event includes food, a raffle, face painting, and temporary tattoos for kids. Singer Songwriter Aaron English will perform.

The walk is an annual event. In the past, more than 100 people have participated; this year, Kristin is hoping to triple attendance.

Attendees can pre-register as an individual or team at walkforfarmanimals.org. The cost to register is $15 for adults and $12 for youth. Children under 12 can walk for free. Day-of-event registration is $35 and begins at 10 a.m.

For more information, contact seattle [at] walkforfarmanimals.org or check the event’s Facebook page.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: activism, animals, vegetarian and vegan, walking

The visit is reportedly being planned in the wake of a controversial police response to a “person with a gun” dispatch to the park last Sunday.

From the Seattle Gun Rights Examiner:

Alarmed by an encounter involving a longtime open carry activist and Seattle police at Green Lake last weekend, some open carry activists are planning to visit Green Lake Saturday around noon, and others tell this column they may walk around Green Lake on Sunday.

Why? After a week of discussion on the Open Carry forum, one might think this controversy had run its course and that it is time to move on. It’s caused a good discussion on the Defensive Carry forum.

The incident has taken on something of a life of its own.

More information is available on the Seattle Gun Rights Examiner.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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The pub is celebrating Earth Week by avoiding the use of delivery vans: they are hauling beer by foot to Green Lake from various breweries all over town.

“I worry that people don’t think about what it takes to get ingredients to your kitchen or beer to your bar,” Elliot Ryan, the Manager of the Latona Pub, told KING 5:

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: activism, bars, earth day, local businesses, restaurants

Green Lake Library

A Seattle Amnesty International group is presenting a free reading titled Poets and Writers Demand Accountability for Victims of Gaza and Israel at the Green Lake Library (7364 E Green Lake Dr N) on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011, 4:00 – 5:30 p.m.

While the event is not an open mic reading, the Facebook event page says that “all voices [are] invited to attend, to listen and to care about the topics.”

For more information, contact Washington State’s AIUSA Area Coordinator Larry Ebersole at wordheath [at] gmail.com.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: activism, library, literary

Sen. Murray represents the 43rd District, which includes the southern and eastern parts of the Green Lake neighborhood (you can find a map of the 43rd District here).

Sen. Murray will receive the award for his social justice work and his life-long commitment to building a just and peaceful society.  “Few local citizens have done as much to improve the lives of LGBT families as Senator Murray,” said First Church pastor Rev. Dr. Sanford Brown in a press release. “His work has moved Washington State towards a more just future for all Washington families.”

For 15 years Sen. Murray worked in the Washington legislature to pass landmark LGBT civil rights and domestic partnership legislation. Sen. Murray led the 2007 effort to pass Senate Bill 5336, Washington’s historic domestic partnership law. In 2008, he co-sponsored a second bill that vastly expanded the rights, responsibilities, and protections of that law, and in 2009, his final bill in the domestic partnership effort was signed into law. Known as the “Everything but Marriage” act, the law grants all state rights and responsibilities associated with marriage to registered domestic partners.

The award will be presented at First United Methodist Church’s 11 a.m. service on Sunday.  First Church is located at 180 Denny Way.

Sen. Ed Murray at a November 15, 2008 anti-Proposition 8 protest

photo credit: joeszilagyi

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2010.

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Post tags: activism, LGBT, local politics

City parks and recreation facilities, public libraries, and community center programs are all potentially vulnerable to budget cuts.

Mayor Mike McGinn will give his 2011 City of Seattle Budget Address at 12 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 27, 2010 at the Rainier Beach Community Center (8825 Rainier Ave S).  The Budget Address is open to the public (RSVP online) and the speech will be livestreamed online by the Seattle Channel.

Following his Budget Address, at 2 p.m. McGinn will formally transmit his proposed budget to Seattle City Council in their chambers at City Hall.

On Monday afternoon, My Green Lake will post highlights from the Mayor’s proposed budget which may impact Green Lake residents.

Note that final decisions about the 2011 city budget will be made by City Council.  There are several ways that you can provide feedback to City Council regarding the city’s 2011-2012 budget, including a public hearing on Wednesday, Sept. 29 at the Northgate Community Center Gym (10510 5th Ave NE).  Sign-in begins at 5 p.m. and the public hearing starts at 5:30 p.m.

From the Seattle Channel, Budget 101:

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2010.

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Post tags: activism, library, local politics, parks and rec