By Jessica Keller QA & Magnolia News editor
When Morgan Brewer and Luke Sarantinos saw each other at the Magnolia Starbucks recently, it was like no time had passed at all since they were last together.
e pair became friends when they participated on the same Special Olympics Washington track team years ago, Erin Brewer, Morgan’s mom, said. When recreational opportunities for the two ended, they lost contact, even though they live in the same Seattle community.
While unfortunate, Erin Brewer said this isn’t unusual for young adults in the intellectual or developmentally disabled community.
at is something, however, that Brewer, other parents like her and advocates are changing with the creation of Summit Community Center. Brewer is the co-founder and co-board president of the SCC, an educational and recreational center and resource for members of the intellectually or developmentally disabled community or people considered neurodivergent and their families.
While some programs have already begun, the
In Latin, “velle” means “to be willing is to be able,” and that is exactly what Shenalyn Castoldi had in mind when she started her own business during the pandemic.
As a designer by trade and an
esthetician by practice, the long-time Queen Anne resident found herself with a lot of free time when the world shut down. With two little ones who had shifted to virtual schooling, however, Castoldi discovered she needed something she could do from her own home.
“ ere was so much uncertainty in the world, I felt like I just needed to keep going,” she said.
After the rst few months of the pandemic, Castoldi was becoming an accomplished sourdough baker, and she wanted to try something di erent. at’s when she discovered candle making on social media and decided to order a starter kit.
“It was kind of a fun experiment,”
Castoldi said.
Her rst batch of scented candles was really more of a test to see if she liked the hobby and would be any good at it.
“It’s similar to baking, with speci c temperatures, recipes and timing, but I also nd it to be a therapeutic and relaxing distraction,” Castoldi said.
She gifted the candles from her original kit to friends and received a lot of good feedback. And at that point, she started to consider making it an o cial business – Velle Candles.
Castoldi discovered her creativity and design skills could shine when she started developing her own recipes.
SEE CANDLES , PAGE 8
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center will open Jan. 30.
It will initially serve young adults ages 18 to 29, in their transitional years, but Brewer said the age range will likely expand as membership numbers grow and members age out.
“It’s meant to be a lifelong center,” Brewer added.
Filling in the gaps
Brewer said one of the reasons behind creating the center is to ll a critical need, stating that young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities are “a chronically marginalized population.”
She said existing programs mostly serve children in kindergarten through 12th grade, but after that, services drop o and all but disappear when they turn 21 and must leave the K-12 educational system.
“ ere’s no one to help you navigate the system,” she said.
For Morgan and Luke, Summit Community Center will provide a place to renew old friendships and make new ones while taking classes and participating in recreational activities.
Summit Community Center (1830 Broadway in the Capitol Hill neighborhood) will open Jan 30 and provide educational, recreational and social opportunities for people ages 18-29 with all ranges of ability in the neurodivergent and intellectually and developmentally disabled communities.
For more information, visit summitcommmunitycenter.org.
o ering di erent educational and recreational classes and clubs geared toward skills and interests such as music, art and technology, but they would like for it to eventually include revenue- and job-generating opportunities, such as businesses.
“What’s beautiful is from growing it from the ground up, we’re going to evolve and grow,” Brewer said.
Nathan named director
To ensure the center’s success in its launch, the SCC board hired Alisha Nathan, formerly the head of the high school and transition services at the Academy for Precision Learning in Seattle, to serve as the SCC’s executive director. Brewer said Nathan is a licensed social worker and “a passionate advocate for the IDD community.”
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“ e community feels like it’s coming back together,” Brewer said.
Sarantinos said having a place such as Summit Community Center to visit is important for her son because he no longer has siblings in the house to interact with on a daily basis or anyone his age whom he sees regularly.
“ is is a social outlet,” Brewer agreed. “ ey need peer-to-peer interaction.”
As well, Sarantinos points out that some parents don’t have the resources and the connections to provide that interaction or stimulation for their children when they reach a certain age, which is disappointing.
“When Erin told me about Summit, I was just so grateful to have found out about this because it can be an isolative life,” Sarantinos said.
Advocacy is central to the center’s purpose because many families with members who are neurodivergent are not able to advocate for themselves, especially when their children transition out of high school.
“ e information isn’t out there for people to capture,” Brewer said. “ ere’s a large part of the community who don’t have anyone to advocate for them.”
Along with Nathan, the center will have a social worker/case manager, a program and volunteer coordinator fundraiser, a director of philanthropy and billing administrator. e sta to member ratio will be approximately four to one, with many of the sta members working part time and in the same age range as the members.
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Brewer said she is excited for construction to conclude at the center (at 1830 Broadway), which is in the Capitol Hill neighborhood next to Cal Anderson Park. Not only does the building provide ample space for center activities, it is in a centralized location and close to light rail and bus services, Brewer said.
e building is 6,800 square feet, with a 2,400-squarefoot outdoor area. Once complete, it will include a recreation area, an art/creative room, community/lounge area, gaming room, professional kitchen, technology room, study/sensory room, lockers and administrative o ces. Programming will be built around four areas: education, recreation, community and growth.
“We want to create a place where [members] create community and they are well-integrated into the broader community, that they’re seen in the community,” Brewer said, adding the center will serve people with all abilities and focuses on strength and growth.
Initially, organizers envision the community center
A lot of work has gone into opening SCC, Brewer said, and it would not have been possible without help and funding through partners such as the Special Olympics Washington, the University of Washington, Seattle eatre Group, Outdoors for All and private donors. e SCC was recently awarded a $151,500 grant from Pitch Your Peers Seattle, an organization founded to engage women in local philanthropy and to collectively fund grants to nonpro t initiatives that serve King County, according to a news release.
Partnerships and fundraising will continue to be a critical component to SCC’s success and sustainability, along with membership fees and private donations. Currently, SCC has 55 members, and Brewer expects that to grow to 100 by the end of 2023.
“To me, this is all about home and growth and success,” Brewer said. “It’s all strength-based.”
To learn more about Summit Community Center or to donate, visit summitcommunitycenter.org.
e Seattle Public Library’s author programs and community events in January 2023 include a Lunar New Year celebration, the Seattle Times’ annual Pictures of the Year event and author events highlighting Lynda Mapes’ award-winning book about orcas and a picture book about Paci c Science Center architect Minoru Yamasaki.
Many of these events require registration. Find information and registration through the event links below or at spl.org/Calendar. All library events are free and open to the public.
EVENTS SCHEDULE
• Ladies’ Musical Club Concert.
From 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 8, West Seattle Branch. Join us for the monthly Ladies Musical Club Concert featuring Trios by Piazzola, de Falla and Turina.
• Ladies’ Musical Club Concert.
From noon to 1 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 11, Central Library, Level 1 Microsoft Auditorium. Join us for the monthly Ladies Musical Club Concert featuring “ e Human Voice,” a one-act opera by Poulenc.
• Lynda V. Mapes Discusses
“Orca: Shared Waters, Shared Home.” 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., ursday, Jan. 12. Central Library,
Level 1 Microsoft Auditorium.
Lynda Mapes, Seattle Times reporter and author of the 2022 Washington State Book Awardwinning book “Orca,” will share the history and future of southern resident orcas in Puget Sound. is event is part of a series celebrating the winners of the 2022 Washington State Book Awards.
e book awards are presented by e Seattle Public Library in partnership with the Washington Center for the Book.
• Lunar New Year Celebration Show. 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 17, Central Library. Celebrate the Year of the Rabbit with Chinese dance, music, and a variety of performing arts, including a costume showcase, an accordion duet, martial arts demonstration and ensemble choir presentation. Co-presented by Seattle Sunshine Performing Arts Group and Huayin Performing Arts Group, registration is not required for this event.
• Gabrielle Bates discusses “Judas Goat.” 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 21.
e Royal Room, Seattle. is evening will showcase an abundant range of Seattle-area poets and culminating with a reading by Bates, award-winning author of the debut collection “Judas Goat.” Co-sponsored with Open Books: A Poem Emporium and Tin House Books. Registration is
required and tickets are available for $0 to $15.
• e Seattle Times Presents: Pictures of the Year 2022. 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., ursday, Jan. 26, online. In an annual event presented by e Seattle Public Library Foundation, the award-winning sta from e Seattle Times will present photographs and videos from 2022 and discuss the stories and techniques behind them. anks to the Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation and e Seattle Times for supporting the Library’s Authors and Events series.
• Katie Yamasaki Discusses “Shapes, Lines and Light: My Grandfather’s American Journey.” 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 28, Central Library, Level 1 Microsoft Audotorium.
Katie Yamasaki, muralist and picture book author, wrote “Shapes, Lines and Light” to celebrate the life of her grandfather, the acclaimed Japanese American architect Minoru Yamasaki, who designed Paci c Science Center. e event is presented in partnership with Densho and Elliott Bay Book Company, and is supported by e Seattle Public Library Foundation and author series sponsors the Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation.
Courtesy Seattle Opera
For the first time since 1965, Seattle Opera presents Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Samson and Delilah” in two performances, Jan. 20 and Jan. 22, at McCaw Hall (321 Mercer St).
This is presented in a new concert format with on-stage orchestra and chorus and features some of classical music’s most iconic melodies, from the “Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix” to the Act III Bacchanale.
Headlining the performances are two worldrenowned singers making their Seattle Opera debuts. Appearing as Delilah is Grammy Award-winning Tacoma native J’Nai Bridges.
Playing opposite Bridges is Yonghoon Lee, widely regarded as one of the world’s best lyric tenors, making his role debut as Samson.
At the helm is Seattle Symphony Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot, who has championed French music for Seattle audiences since his arrival in the city
in 2011. Rounding out the cast are Seattle favorite Greer Grimsley as the High Priest of Dagon, Andrew Potter as Abimelech, John Marzano as the Philistine Messenger, and Daniel Sumegi as the Old Hebrew.
Also featured is the 52-member Seattle Opera chorus, prepared by Chorus Master Michaella Calzaretta.
Visit seattleopera.org for more information.
Finally, audiences will have the chance to deepen their knowledge of this fascinating work with an “Opera Talk” by Seattle Opera scholar-in-residence Dr. Naomi André, who will present Opera and Imperialism: Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delilah and the Representation of the ‘Other’ at 7 p.m. Jan. 19 at Tagney Jones Hall.
Opera Talk explores issues of orientalism, cultural representation and musical exoticism in opera. Info and RSVP at seattleopera.org/ operaimperialism.
The late-night revelry of New Year’s Eve has made New Year’s Day brunch a go-to tradition for millions of people. Staying up until the calendar officially turns from one year to the next at the stroke of midnight can make it harder to get out of bed on the morning of Jan. 1, so there may be no better day to plan a brunch than the first day
Mushroom Sautee
1 ¼ ounces mixed dried mushrooms
1 ½ cups boiling water
3 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces sliced brown mushrooms
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary (see tip)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
els and reserve the soaking liquid. Coarsely chop the mushrooms.
2. Heat the olive oil in a medium, heavy frying pan set over medium heat. When hot, add the brown mushrooms and sautee, stirring often, for 6 minutes. Add the reserved mushrooms, garlic, rosemary, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; stir for 1 minute. Add the mushroom liquid and cook, stirring, until it has evaporated, 4 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and several grinds of pepper. Remove the frying pan from the heat and cover with foil to keep warm. (The mushrooms can be prepared 1 day ahead; cool, cover and refrigerate. Reheat, stirring, over medium heat.)
3. For the toast and eggs: Brush both sides of the bread slices generously with olive oil. Set a 10- to 11-inch nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat, and, when hot, add the bread and cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes per side. Remove the toast and cover loosely with foil. When pan is cool enough to handle, wipe it out with clean paper towels.
4. Add the butter to the frying pan and set it over medium heat. When the butter starts to foam, break an egg into a saucer, being careful to remove any shell fragments., and gently slide it into the frying pan. Repeat with the remaining eggs. Immediately reduce the heat to low and cook, basting the eggs with some of the butter in the pan frequently, until the whites are firm and the yolks are still soft and runny, 3 minutes.
of the calendar year.
Many restaurants offer brunch specials on New Year’s Day, but people need not leave home to ensure their first meal of the new year is delicious. This recipe for “PanFried Eggs and Mixed Mushroom Sautee on Toasted Sourdough Slices” from “Sunday Brunch” (Chronicle Books) by Betty Rosbottom can be just the dish to begin a new year.
Pan-Fried Eggs and Mixed Mushroom
Sautee on Toasted Sourdough Slices
Serves 4
Toast and Eggs
4 1/2-inch thick sourdough slices
Olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 eggs
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Rosemary sprigs for garnish (optional)
1. For the Mushroom Sautee: Place the dried mushrooms in a medium bowl and cover with the boiling water. Let stand until softened, 20 minutes. Strain in a sieve lined with a double thickness of paper tow-
5. While the eggs are cooking, arrange a toasted bread slice on each of four plates. Mound the mushrooms evenly over the toast.
6. Remove each egg with a spatula and arrange on top of the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and, if desired, garnish each serving with a rosemary sprig. Serve immediately.
Tip: If you can’t find dried crushed rosemary, crush regular dried rosemary in an electric spice mill, or place it in a selfsealing plastic bag and roll over it with a rolling pin.
Washington’s o cial sport of pickleball is becoming popular throughout the United States, and also driving more injuries.
Pickleball has been the fastestgrowing sport in the U.S. over the last two years, with participation seeing over 40 percent growth, according to the Sport & Fitness Industry Association.
e game’s roots began in 1965 when former Washington Lt. Gov. Joel Pritchard and a friend of his were looking to play badminton. e two were not able to nd rackets so they improvised with wooden ping-pong paddles
and a plastic perforated ball and eventually developed a permanent set of rules.
Since then the number of pickleball courts across the U.S. has passed 38,000, according to USAPickleball.org.
As with any physically straining sport, it might be a good idea to stretch rst. e Center Square reached out to University of Washington Medicine to see if caregivers have seen a number of pickleball-related injuries. However, the hospital said it does not track pickleball carnage speci cally.
e National Library of Medicine published a report in 2019 on injury considerations in
pickleball. e organization found published research on injuries associated with other racket sports, including tennis, rather than pickleball speci cally.
“ e most common injuries are sprains/strains of the lower extremity, followed by sprains/ strains of the upper extremity and injuries of the trunk and low back,” e National Library of Medicine stated in its report.
“Given the underhand nature of the game play of pickleball, one would expect a lower occurrence of shoulder injuries than in tennis where overhand serving is a major component of the sport. However, there is still a risk for a variety of other upper extremity injuries in
Pickleball.”
Despite the risk, many in Washington still have discovered the game and are itching to play more.
Seattle Resident Maddy Bowen told e Center Square that since she rst played it recently, she “loved it so much, I want to buy a set and start a league.”
Bowen added that she does not recall witnessing any injuries but can see how people could get ahead of themselves.
“It feels like [an easy version of] tennis so it’s easy to get going really fast before you’re in shape for that kind of exercise,” Bowen said.
I’m all about efficiency, which is a kinder way of saying I like to avoid extra work, from my hairstyle and clothes to the garden. I adore coming home to a colorful entryway filled with seasonal color but am less excited about overhauling thickly planted containers every four months.
Here are some of my favorite workarounds for sprucing up containers and the landscape this time of year. That’s a funny word, “workarounds”; shouldn’t it be “workskips”? Either way, it’s about editing away unnecessary effort, which, as the winter holidays approach, is something many can appreciate.
In the garden, if you have already incorporated plants with winter interest liberally in your plantings, you are 90 percent there.
Conifers, plants with lovely bark or winter flowers or berries, or perennials like heuchera that retain their color and leaves, all contribute to the winter landscape. If you have not, you can still create a lush look without digging into frosty ground. A previous column (“Early bloomers and evergreens hasten spring” at queenannenews.com) suggests plants to add excitement in winter and early spring.
Probably the easiest one is to find colorful twigs such as yellow- and red-twig dogwood (shrubby cornus species C. alba and C. sericea), often sold at nurseries and florists this time of year. These are the easiest hack of all — without any care they will look as great in February as they do right now.
It might feel a little silly, but stick them into the ground as they would grow, in a vase shape, wherever you need color or height. In the yard it may take a couple of armfuls to make a real impact. In a container, a handful of three to five should do. Remember to clean these up next spring because in the right conditions they just might root if they were freshly cut.
Another cheat is to lay conifer branches as a blanket or skirt underneath if your garden is lacking evergreen presence. As a bonus, these will act as an insulating mulch if we get an extra dose of frosts. These can also be bought, or you may find fallen branches along wooded trails in places like Discovery, Woodland or Golden Gardens parks. Birch logs and twigs are another popular décor accessory in winter for containers, the landscape or indoors in the fireplace or a vase. Please do not trim trees in the park or your neighbors’ yard (as a certain uncle of mine used to do).
There is still time to plant spring-flowering bulbs through December; if you can find them at nurseries or online, they may be on sale. For optimum sloth, buy potted bulbs in spring —
at a higher price. For container plantings, the same rules apply. I have two main kinds of containers. In the long-standing — read “heavy” — ones, I’ll plant a majority of plants with fun, evergreen foliage and tough constitutions, with one or two seasonal accents. Heucheras, hellebores, sedges and lavender are some favorite permanent elements. This time of year, the accents are small, inexpensive annuals like pansies, violas, ornamental kale.
Let’s take a moment to appreciate violas. They may be tiny, with blooms about the size of your thumbnail, but they are strong! A snow can flatten them, and they’ll burst right back with new flowers when the sun comes out.
Many have a delightful, soft, sweet fragrance, and the cornuta types are edible to adorn salads, cakes or ice cubes. (You might want to ask the nursery if those have been grown organically).
They are easy to pop out with a flick of the wrist in four months or so when they are past their prime, when I’ll switch to primroses, fresh pansies or violas, or potted spring bulbs. This happens anywhere from two to three times a year depending on my bandwidth and tolerance for the way the containers look.
The second type of container is an outgrowth of my strong plant collector tendencies. As I fall in love over and over with plants at their seasonal gorgeousness, the number of pots of chrysanthemums, dahlias, ranunculus and more expands. These plants take up space while looking awful or disappearing in the off-season.
The way I’m handling this is to pop them stage left out of sight (literally around a corner or in the side yard between our house and the neighbors’). There will come a time of maximum density when this strategy needs to be, uh, reconsidered, but we’re not quite there yet.
Another way I abet my inner plant collector is by having themed seasonal pots. Not usually a pink person, I fell for a pink ranunculus last year, and then was gifted some potted pink tulips, and voila — the pink pot was born. In summer, I added a pink perennial geum, “Tempo Rose,” which bloomed from June through October in a partially shaded corner of my patio. Thus, I have repositories waiting when impulsive acquisitions occur.
These tips should buy you a little more ease in your winter season and more time to enjoy your friends, family or just putting your feet up under a cozy blanket.
CANDLES, FROM PAGE 1
In addition to delivering a great customer experience, Castoldi said she prioritizes sustainability, natural ingredients and sourcing from local vendors in her business. It wasn’t always easy, however.
Castoldi said she knew she wanted her candle holders to be reusable. Since most of the glass suppliers had everything on back order, she had to make alternative plans. at’s when she came up with the idea for concrete holders.
e containers are made with a ne concrete, using a sand aggregate. She said concrete has turned out to be a great material because it has a beautiful nish that doesn’t need any additional bu ng. e candle holders are also porous, so she discovered that they need some kind of additional seal or they will absorb the candle wax. She said it took a lot of work to nd a sealant that was water-based, ame retardant and nontoxic, but she was eventually successful.
Because the candles come with tted lids, as a bonus, customers have told her they use the empty holders as containers in their bathrooms or drawers.
Next, Castoldi experimented with wax. Natural and clean burning wax was a must, but she discovered many options are available. Castoldi said soy wax is one of the most popular, but it is also very temperamental and can have a lot of imperfections. She eventually settled on the more forgiving apricot and coconut waxes.
e fragrances are at the heart of Castoldi’s
candle making.
“I decided to focus on scents that remind me of happy memories,” she said.
Her blackberry candle is special because it reminds her of picking blackberries with her family: her husband, Ryan, and sons, Ethan and Aiden.
e November candle is scented with steamed milk, oats and honey and is special because it celebrates the birth month of both of her boys.
e espresso candle celebrates a bright spot of her mornings.
And the Scotch candle, with a combination of jasmine, Italian bergamot and cigar fragrance, was created for Valentine’s Day because she enjoys the occasional Scotch on the rocks and “it felt romantic and reminded me of date nights.”
She said her all-time favorite is the garden candle with a fresh green scent of lemon, basil and tomato leaf. It should return when the weather is warmer. Her current favorite is either the spruce and r or the lingonberry, standouts from the winter fragrances.
Castoldi said the nal hurdle was getting her candles placed in the retail stores. At this time last year, Castoldi debuted Velle Candles at a boutique showing in Belltown. Now they can be found on the shelves at Queen Anne Frame & Gift, 1621 Queen Anne Ave. N., at the top of the hill, and on the rst ursday of every month at AXIS Pioneer Square, 308 First Ave. S. during the Pioneer Square Art Walk. ey can also be shipped directly through Castoldi’s website, vellecandle.com.
