Upcoming dates for your calendar!

Looking forward, here are some important dates for you and your Blockwatch groups!  More details to come as the dates draw closer.

• 4/17 (3rd Tuesdays):  West Seattle Crime Prevention Council (WSCPC) Community Safety meeting, 7 – 8:30 PM, SW Precinct, 2300 SW Webster Street. Special guest, acting Parks Superintendent Christopher Williams, will talk about safety in city parks.
• 4/21 (Saturday):  Gathering of Neighbors  We’ll have an informational table at the Resource Fair from 11 to 1; that’s followed by music and entertainment until 3 PM.
• 4/24 (4th Tuesdays):  West Seattle Blockwatch Captains’ Network (WSBWCN) monthly meeting, 6:30 – 8 PM, SW Precinct, 2300 SW Webster Street. Agenda details to come.
• 5/20 (Sunday): Alki Summer Streets event – starting around 11 AM – we’ll have a booth near the beach!
• 6/12 (Tuesday): Free SNAP emergency preparedness class at the High Point library, 6:30 PM; SNAP stands for “Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Prepare”. More details on the Office of Emergency Management’s event calendar.
• 6/22 (Friday): BLOCKWATCH CAPTAINS’ APPRECIATION DAY! Festivities begin at 6 PM; more details to come, meanwhile, save the date!

Later in the summer:

• 8/7:  Seattle Night Out (annually, each first Tuesday in August). These local events held throughout the city provide an excellent opportunity to meet your neighbors and build/strengthen your neighborhood Block Watch group.
• 8/11:  SW Precinct Picnic. Always a fun event with free food and entertainment; plus opportunities to meet the officers, learn about local community groups such as ours, and more!

Living Room Conversation with Seattle Police

Block Watch Captain, JoDean Edelheit recently hosted a Living Room Conversation meeting with SPD. She emailed us the following note:

Hi Deb and Karen,

Attached is a link to the West Seattle Blog coverage this morning of our neighborhood’s Living Room Conversation meeting with the police.  This was the result of me following up on information from your January meeting.  I would highly recommend that other Block Watch Captains pursue having this type of meeting with their neighbors.

JoDean Edelheit

JoDean says she plans to attend our March 27th monthly meeting and will be happy to answer any questions or provide more details about this experience.

Bring your opinions and ideas to our monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 27th!

How would you like to see us celebrate Block Watch Captains’ Appreciation Day? We’ve opted to use most of this month’s meeting to plan a great event! Whether you can help, have ideas, or just want a sneak preview as this takes shape; please join the discussion and planning! 

Potential ways to contribute:

• Pre-event: Can you help with online registration, setup, or decorations? Do you want to help plan the food or entertainment, solicit gifts and/or donations? Do you have ideas or advice that will help maximize our budget? We’ll also need help getting the word out!
• Day of event:  Would you like to greet or register people? Take photographs? Perform? Serve food? Can you help with cleanup?

What would make the event fun, memorable and meaningful for you? We do have a budget for this event, but we need to offset that with volunteer hours from our group. You can help by participating at this meeting!

Meeting details & agenda

Tuesday, March 27, 2011,  6:30-8 PM.
SW Police Precinct, (2300 SW Webster Street – near Home Depot at Delridge/Webster).

6:00-6:30
Arrive early for light snacks, socializing and networking with other Captains while we set up the room!

6:30-6:45
Introductions, updates, announcements, neighborhood concerns, issues.

6:45-8:00
Planning for Appreciation Day (tentatively suggested for Friday evening, May 4th, but to be discussed).

8:00-8:30
Feel free to stay after the meeting to continue your discussions.

Everyone is welcome (even if you aren’t a Blockwatch Captain, yet)! RSVP is appreciated, but not necessary to attend.

Hope to see you there!
Deborah Greer

On behalf of the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains’ Network (WSBWCN)

Email:  wsblockwatchnet@gmail.com
Phone: 206-424-0040
Website: http://wsblockwatchnet.wordpress.com|
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=337488370959
Twitter: http://twitter.com/wsblockwatchnet

Monthly Meeting:  4^th Tuesdays, 6:30-8 PM, SW Police Precinct meeting room, 2300 SW Webster Street (no meetings in July, August, November & December).

New Seattle Police Department community newsletter is here!

Here’s the new Seattle Police Community Newsletter from Mark Solomon, the Crime Prevention Coordinator for the SW & South Police Precincts.

SPD community newsletter, March 2012 - page 1 of 2

SPD community newsletter, March 2012 - page 2 of 2

Here’s the SPD newsletter March 2012 (in .pdf format).

FYI, if your neighborhood doesn’t yet have a Blockwatch, Mark is your contact for helping you get started! You’ll find his contact info at the end of the newsletter.

Catch us tomorrow at the Community Information Fair!

Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 13th, is the first of several 2012 community events where we’ll have a booth or informational table.  We’ll participate, along with other local organizations, in the Community Information Fair which runs from 5:30 – 6:30 at the Mayor’s Town Hall event at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.  Here are more details:

Mayor’s Town Hall
Tuesday, March 13th
Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
4408 Delridge Way SW

5:30 to 6:30 pm: Community information fair
6:30 to 6:40 pm: Performance by local artists 
6:40 to 8:00 pm: Open Q&A with Mayor McGinn and City staff

Please stop by if you want to learn more about our group, pick up printed materials, or talk with us about Blockwatch-related matters!

Need $$$? Grant application deadlines are coming up!

Good to see those of you who attended last night’s meeting!

If you missed it, one of the discussion items was the various matching fund grants that are available. If you are interested in applying for a TECHNOLOGY Matching Fund (TMF) grant (up to $20,000), the deadline for is April 3rd, but you should attend one of two workshops offered this week.  There is a workshop tomorrow in Wallingford, and another here in West Seattle:

West Seattle: Saturday, March 3
Delridge Community Center
4501 Delridge Way SW, Seattle, 98106
10:30 AM – Noon

We also discussed NEIGHBORHOOD Matching Fund (NMF) grants. They offer 3 types of NMF grants: Small Sparks (up to $1000), Small and Simple (up to $20,000), and Large Projects (up to $100,000). Small Sparks grants can be applied for at any time. The application deadline for Small and Simple grants is coming up fast; it’s on March 12th. Large Project fund grant applications are due in mid-July…with mandatory workshops during the month of April.

If you have ideas that could help your Blockwatch group or neighborhood, you should consider applying for a grant! Some neighborhoods have received funds for Night Out gatherings or other community-building events. Last year, there was a strong emphasis to promote helping neighborhoods focus on emergency preparedness.  More details are on the websites linked above.

 

New agenda for Tuesday’s meeting!

What should you always be doing to reduce the chances of being an auto theft victim?  What new technologies are available to reduce auto theft?

Meeting details & agenda

Tuesday, February 28, 2011,  6:30-8 PM
SW Police Precinct, 2300 SW Webster Street (at Delridge, next to Home Depot)

6:00-6:30
Arrive early for light snacks, socializing and networking with other Captains while we get the room set up!

6:30-7:00
Introductions, updates, announcements, neighborhood concerns, issues.

7:00-8:00
Presentation/discussion: Strategies to prevent auto theft. Available grants and grant deadlines. And, more!

8:00-8:30
Feel free to stay after the meeting to continue your discussions.

Everyone is welcome (even if you aren’t a Blockwatch Captain)!  RSVP is appreciated, but not necessary to attend.

Hope to see you there!

Deborah Greer

On behalf of the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains’ Network (WSBWCN)
Email:  wsblockwatchnet@gmail.com
Phone:  206-424-0040
Website: http://wsblockwatchnet.wordpress.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=337488370959
Twitter: http://twitter.com/wsblockwatchnet

Monthly Meeting:  4^th Tuesdays, 6:30-8 PM, SW Police Precinct Meeting Room, 2300 SW Webster Street (no meetings in July, August, November & December)

PS:  Please email us (wsblockwatchnet@gmail.com) if you are able to volunteer to help plan and/or prepare for the Blockwatch Captain Appreciation Event this Spring!