Special to The SunBreak by Matt Mason.

Photo courtesy of Matt Mason

Yesterday was the last Sunday Pancake Breakfast at the Wallingford Senior Center. Located inside the Good Shepherd Center, the senior center will be closing its doors this Friday, after thirty years of service to local seniors and to the greater community of Wallingford and North Seattle.

The monthly Sunday Pancake Breakfast has been a staple of the senior center programming along with the Spaghetti Dinner and Friendship Luncheon. On a regular Sunday, they serve anywhere from 85 to 100 meals. A volunteer army of more than 15 people crank out pancakes, french toast, ham, sausage, coffee, tea, and juice served restaurant style, with a host and servers making sure everyone is taken care of.

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Jim Stillman, the president of the Board, greets and seats people as they arrive. Board member Angela Larsen jumps in on dish duty as the rush hit, filling the entire basement to capacity, with a wait for seating. Sara, the head of the kitchen, has been volunteering at the pancake breakfast for 23 years. She keeps the breakfast plates flying quickly out to the hungry customers.

Senior centers across the nation have been hit hard in recent years. Kathleen Cromp, the executive director of the center, sees it as a social commentary, a sector of society often overlooked, adding, “We won’t be the last [center to close].”

While some centers are programs of the city or state, some, like the one in Wallingford, are totally independent organizations receiving only limited municipal support. It is a difficult business model to maintain, points out Jim Stillman. The low fees for the services provided don’t come close to covering the expenses of the center. It is also the only center in Seattle that pays rent. This stand-alone organization has been struggling for many years and the recent economic downturn has made fundraising especially challenging.

The closure of the center is also a step back in the larger goal of a full-blown community center. A long-range plan for this included providing services not just for seniors but for the entire community. The Department of Neighborhoods has voiced their support of the idea, but most of the momentum is lost with this closing.

However, this Friday doesn’t have to be the end. The Board is going to continue working to formulate a restart plan. Jim Stillman has met with Frank Chopp, Speaker of the House, and has a meeting scheduled with City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen on Tuesday. Jim is hoping a new approach, such as building a coalition of organizations, can produce a more sustainable business model.

So please contact the City Council and Mayor’s office and show your support for the senior center. Help bring this important community organization back to life. If you would like to donate to the center please contact Kathleen Cromp, Executive Director, at 206-461-7825. Also, updates can be found here.

*Ahem* The world of blogging is full of tiny little accomplishments. QUIET IN THE BACK! Thank you.

When, following what I am now realizing must have been an undiagnosed stroke, I decided to launch a Seattle news and culture blog, I was thinking primarily of beer money. When I gathered this hardy band of ex-Seattlest-ers, I looked them each in the eye and said, “We will make enough money for a monthly happy hour.”

As God is my witness.

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Not only did I want us to be writing about local news and people and events, but I wanted to give local businesses and arts groups and politicos a way to reach Seattle readers for what amounts to beer money. Now, I won’t lie, we’re not talking PBR. I have a fondness for Old Seattle Lager. For the German imports.

But it’s working. On our second day, Central Cinema ads showed up. I didn’t think it was possible to love a place more that brings me pizza and beer while I watch a movie, but it was. And then Scarecrow Video asked about rates. They’re both an advertiser and a source–when I was doing a post about SIFF’s Spanish film fest, Scarecrow gave me a list of even more new Spanish films for you to watch. And now Richard Conlin–there he is, in the sidebar, elect him–from the City Council has piled on. Endorsed by The Stranger and the Seattle Times. He’s got my vote for that accomplishment alone.

I know, it’s only three advertisers. But they couldn’t be more local. I–excuse me, a bit choked up…I wrote at Seattlest for four years and all we got was a Chris Gregoire ad. So this is a real moment for me. Big hug, Seattle. Big hug.

I just got an email about Taylor 28, the new apartments on Taylor at Denny Way. They have a move-in special of two months free (with a 12-month lease), and even offer month-to-month. The building opened its well-appointed doors in July, boasting a fitness center, a “clubhouse” with kitchen, and community WiFi. Stainless steel appliances? You bet. They made the Luxe List top ten for Seattle, even.

There’s only one slight hitch: you have to pay for it. A 538-sq.-ft. studio requires a deposit of just $200, but goes from $1,180-$1,385 per month. For context, that’s about what I paid for my studio across the street from the San Francisco Opera House during the dotcom boom. (And Denny, I am sorry, but you are no Market Street. You’re not even a Gough.)

Everything about the email suggests barely concealed desperation: the 2-months-free, the month-to-month “leasing,” the $200 deposit…but it’s all undone by that deluxe price point. If someone can afford $1,200 per month for a studio, would putting down a full deposit really bother bother them? These are strange times in real estate.

The big news today for Seattle bus commuters and iPhone owners is that One Bus Away has gone public with its native iPhone application. It opens with a check of your location, and then automatically displays nearby bus stops, with real-time bus info. You can also bookmark your regular stops, view a route’s stops, and sort by a stop’s routes and departure times. Seattle Transit Blog gives it a beta tester’s thumbs up.

It’s never too early to begin fake datamining our stats to get to know you a little better, readers. The first thing that jumps out at me is that there are 2.9 times more Comcast customers than Qwest DSL customers. (Really, who bothers with DSL anymore, unless you have to? I just got a Qwest “upgrade” to 3 Mbps. It’s broadband Kafka.) You use Firefox, IE, and Safari in about equal measure. A good portion of you spend 1-3 minutes on the site, and 53 percent of you are local. Only one of you will something in a contest we’re about to run, so stay tuned.

As the sign says, we’re a Seattle news and culture blog. You can subscribe to our home page RSS, or if you want all the sports Seth is capable of (that’s a lot, we kid you not), click the sports tab and subscribe to that page. And so on, with each tab. Not everything ends up on the home page. We’re coy like that. You can (and probably should) also follow us on our amusing Twitter feed: @thesunbreak. We’ve also got a fan page on Facebook. Thanks for reading!

Advertisers, you won’t even believe how cool our self-service ad platform is. Sometimes I just stare at it. Update your artwork on the fly? Yes, you can! Our ad rates range from $8 CPM for a text ad, to $18 CPM for a mid-page rectangle, to $30 CPM for a top banner or RSS feed banner. We’re worth every penny, know why? We’re about real, repeat Seattle readership, not fly-by search engine traffic. Non-profits, talk to us. We understand. And, by the way, if you want to sponsor a section or a contest, we can do that, too. Email us ideas: advertise (at) sunbreakmagazine.com.