Volunteers Needed For Upcoming Salmon Bake, Now Called Laurelhurst Backyard BBQ

The 53rd annual Laurelhurst Backyard BBQ (formerly the Salmon Bake) is coming up on Thursday, September 6th from 5:30-8pm at the Laurelhurst Park.

The choices for dinner are: grilled chicken ($12), caramelized veggie burgers ($8), hot dogs ($8) and grilled wild salmon ($20 and limited availability). Served with every meal will be: potato salad, coleslaw, watermelon, lemonade and brownie.

Cara, with the Community Center, is looking for volunteers to help during set up time from 1-6pm, during the event, and clean up time from 7:30-9:30pm.

She told the Laurelhurst Blog:

The success of this event greatly relies on the many volunteers who graciously give their time and support.  Whether it’s all day or just a few hours, we can use your help.  This is a great opportunity for community groups and high school students needing to fulfill service learning hours,  We could not do this event without the help of our wonderful volunteers.  

All volunteers are invited to enjoy a free dinner as a thank you for your time and effort, but must be signed up in advance.  This is also a great opportunity for students to receive community service hours for high school.

Some of the tasks include:

·        Food service
·        Ticket sales
·        Clearing tables
·        Compost/garbage directing (telling people where to put things where)
·        Facilitating carnival games

All proceeds support community center programs, events and scholarship funds.

Call 206-684-7529 with a preferable time and job.  

Salmon Bake A Success Thanks To The Community

Salmon on the grill

 

Last week's Salmon Bake at the park had a great turnout, good food, adults and kids enjoying and dancing to the band and fun kids games and prizes.

Cara Brown,  Recreation Coordinator at the Laurelhurst Community Center, sent us this email:

The Laurelhurst Community Center staff would like to extend a warm thank you to the Laurelhurst neighborhood, local businesses, and various advisory councils for their support with this year’s Salmon Bake.  

At a time when funds and resources are low, the community, its businesses and neighbors stepped up to help make this year’s Salmon Bake a fun community gathering for hundreds of people.  

Thank you to all who came and supported an essential fundraising event for the Laurelhurst Community Center. 

A special thank you also  to our partners and sponsors, including the Laurelhurst Community Center Advisory Council, the Laurelhurst Community Club and all the community volunteers.
 

Community enjoying the food and the band

 

 Kids and adults dancing to the the Hans Brehmer Quartet

(photos courtesy of Cara Brown)

Don't Miss The Salmon Bake Thursday Evening, Great Band and Kids Carnival Games

This Thursday from 5:30-8:30 is the popular annual Salmon Bake held at the Laurelhurst Park.

Delicious wood smoked salmon dinners will be served for $12 each including coleslaw, watermelon
and a roll, and maybe a few surprises, we are told. Child salmon dinners will be $8 each, and hot dog or garden burger dinners will sell for $5 each.

Kids will have a great time playing the fun carnival style games for kids, as well as jumping in a bouncy house and stoping by the face painting booth.

There will also be live music by Jacqueline Tabor, winner of the 2011 Kobe Jazz Vocalist Competition.  

Last year, several hundred people showed up to enjoy the Salmon Bake.  Here are some photos.

Cheryl, with Seattle Parks and Recreation, is still seeking volunteers to set up, help serve and clean up. Call Cheryl at 386-9106 if you can help.

Salmon Bake Tickets Now On Sale, Buy Now And Save $2 Per Dinner Ticket

Families enjoying the Salmon Bake last year

Cheryl with Seattle Parks, sent us email with the good news that the popular annual Salmon Bake will be happening this year at the Park on September 8th from 5:30-8:30pm.

And tickets are on sale now.  Purchase your tickets by September 1st at the Laurelhurst Community Center (4554 NE 41st Street).and you will save $2 on adult meals.

"As usual the Salmon Bake will feature live music, a kids carnival and a wonderful salmon dinner," Cheryl said.

The Laurelhurst Community Center is open Monday through Friday 9:30 – 12:30 pm and 2:30-6pm Monday through Thursday.

Volunteers are needed for this year's Salmon Bake which will be completely volunteer driven, as there is no longer a dedicated Laurelhurst Community Center Staff putting on so many of the fun events the neighborhood enjoyed in the past due to budget cuts.

Cheryl is seeking volunteers to serve as organizers as well as to work at the event,  to ensure that this fun event for all ages is as successful as all the previous years.

Call 386-9106 for more information and to sign up to volunteer.

Exciting Changes in Salmon Tank at Laurelhurst Elementary

Some exciting updates from the Mrs. Dublin's 5th Graders in Room 12 at Laurelhurst Elementary School. These updates are written by her students. Very interesting!

This entry from last week:

Did you know that when salmon loose their yolk sacs they are called fry? Right now our little alevins are nearly there! They have grown to a dark gray color and have spots for camouflage. Already their yolk sacs are barely noticeable. They spend most of the time huddled in groups, hiding under shells and rocks in the tank because the sac still weighs them down, but some alevin are already swimming! They usually dart along the bottom from rock to rock, but occasionally, you can see them swimming halfway up the aquarium! Come and check out the little guys at Laurelhurst Elementary School this week!

And this entry sent to us yesterday:

Right now, our growing salmon are thriving. They are actively swimming; many of them even to the top of the aquarium and have already become fry! Their yolk sacs are gone and they have “buttoned up.” They are now being fed fish food on a daily basis to teach them how to forage for food when they are released into the wild. Their spots are fully developed and they have grown into a dark gray color. Come and check out the developing fry before it’s too late!

Thanks for the updates Room 12!

Salmon Eggs Have Hatched! Another Update From Room 12

Here is the this weeks update sent to us by the The Students of Room 12.

"The eggs have hatched! The eggs have become alevin, the next stage in the salmon life cycle. Alevin are tiny fish that are about an inch long. The alevin can’t swim yet because they are bottom heavy because of their yoke sacks. The alevin feed off their yoke sack until it is all gone. They wriggle around on the bottom of the tank because the yolk sac makes them heavy on the bottom.

All of the alevin are clumped together because it is a natural instinct in the wild to stay safe.There are about ten different clumps of fish in the tank.

Everyone loves to go and see the little fish in the tank.

Next the alevin will become fry, but we will let you know when that is about to happen.

Make sure you come into Laurelhurst and check out the tank, there are big changes this week."

Teacher Grace Dublin said pictures would not be good this week. "The salmon are all bunched together in clumps and hard to distinguish. Bad camera, bad lighting, and plexiglass tank make it difficult to get a good picture this week."

Mrs. Dublin did send us the attached stock photo. Very interesting!

Fascinating Salmon Hatching Project at Laurelhurst Elementary

One of our staffers read about an interesting salmon egghatching project in the latest Laurelhurst Elementary School Bear Essentials Weekly Bulletin and checked in with the 5th Grade teacher, Grace Dublin, running this project to find out more.

For the past two winters Laurelhurst students have watched salmon eggs hatch in a fish tank as part of Seattle Public Schools Salmon in the Classroom program.

This program, started in 1991, "was created as an educational project to encourage respect for water resources and promote responsible behavior towards the environment according to the Seattle Public Utilities Salmon Program website.

The program entails students raising salmon in their classrooms, learning about water quality and habitat issues, as well as discovering how the salmon live with other species and the conditions needed within a given watershed by going on field trips and having hands-on experience.

One of Grace Dublin's students from Room 12 wrote this great summary of the project and looks like we'll have the pleasure of receiving regular updates about this interesting salmon project throughout the whole hatching cycle.

Thanks Room 12!

From: The Students of Room 12

Did you know that the first stage of the salmon life cycle is called incubation? That is just what you will see when you look in the salmon tank in the main hallway of Laurelhurst Elementary.

Our school has participated in the “Salmon in the Classroom” program for many years.

The eggs come from the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery and it is a big responsibility to take care of them until they hatch and grow big enough to be released into a stream.

This exciting program allows kids to see the development of the salmon life cycle.

During the incubation stage the eggs are a beautiful pink color. You can see a black eye in each egg and when they get ready to hatch they will begin to wiggle. In the wild only about 20 out of 100 eggs survive to become fry.

Stay tuned for our weekly salmon update.

Volunteer Salmon Watchers Needed

One of our blog readers sent us this information about becoming a "Salmon Watcher."

The last training class to become a Salmon Watcher is tonight at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford, from 7-9 p.m.

Seattle needs volunteer Salmon Watchers to count salmon returning to the city’s creeks and shorelines.

You don’t need experience to become a Salmon Watcher, but you do need to attend the classroom training to learn about salmon identification.

Salmon Watchers spend 15 minutes twice a week during the fall observing a stream or lake shore in the greater Lake Washington Watershed, counting the returning salmon. The data collected are used by agencies and groups working to help restore endangered salmon runs and improve habitat for all salmon.

For more information about the Salmon Watcher Program, contact Ecologist Jennifer Vanderhoof at 206-263-6533.