This last weekend was a real potpourri for the Westenders! It was jam-packed with events including a parade, a statue unveiling, and a chili cookoff!
On Saturday, many of the Westenders participated in the Rainier Valley Heritage Festival Parade! We attended as guests of Tutta Bella pizzeria, who gave us the royal treatment just like last year! When we arrived Saturday morning, the good people at Tutta Bella had set out a wonderful spread of pastries and espresso beverages. Soon it was time to form up for the parade, and we joined other VCOS members and formed a group of two dozen scooterists to comprise Tutta Bella's entry in the Parade. The scooters covered the whole spectrum, from Beall's beautifully restored Lambretta to Smiley's new GTS250, and everything in between. While waiting for the parade to start, we a chance to visit with our favorite City Councilperson (and honorary Westender) Sally Clark. She brought us up to date on what's been going on at City Hall regarding making the City more 'scoot-friendly'.
Before long, it was time to move out. The parade route was either level or a slight downgrade, so many of us were able to avoid overheat problems by doing a 'Fred Flinstone' (walking the scoots along), and others circled the group and put on a great show for the spectators.
All too soon, we had run the parade course, and returned to Tutta Bella for a wonderful feast of salads, pizza, desserts and all the beer, wine, and soft drinks we could handle. Just like last year, they also gave each participant a card good for a free pizza at a later visit. The also want everyone to know that if you visit any Tutta Bella location and park your scoot on the sidewalk outside the restaurant, dessert is on them!
Sunday, a large group of Westenders traveled to Fremont to witness the unveiling "Late for the Interurban", the stature of Northwest icons JP Patches and Gertrude (see picture). We had to search quite a bit for the paving brick which the Westenders purchased, but fortunately, Bodhi's sharp eye picked it out in a jiffy. It was a real treat to see the actors who portrayed JP and Gertrude (Chris Wedes and Bob Newman) honored, as they're both in rather poor health. They were clearly touched by the outpouring of love from the crowd that overflowed the plaza.
From Fremont, it was on to Gasworks park for the Westenders Chili Tasting. Next weekend, the Sirens Moto Club is hosting a chili cookoff where each of the Seattle area scooter clubs has been invited to submit a chili for the competition. Since we have so many accomplished chefs in the Westenders who wanted to represent us, we decided the only fair way to choose was to have a cookoff, sort of like the Louis Vuitton races to determine the challenger for the America's Cup. The competion was keen, as four chilis were submitted by the Westenders, and a commercial chili was also thrown in as a 'ringer'. In the end, the results were as follows:
Bronze Medal: Stubbie & Disco, with their delicious Texas Cowpoke chili
Silver Medal: Hairy LaPinch, with his yummy speciality chili
and the Gold Medal was won by Grumpy Gus. Since he will represent us at the Sirens cookoff, nothing more will be said about the chili now, except all agreed it was awesome. Be sure to come to Georgetown next weekend to try it for yourself! Each chef received a 'Westenders Chili Team' apron to wear next week.
Anyway, that was our weekend! If you didn't have a chance to join us, we hope you had lots of fun too!
