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FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014
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Lake Washington Symphony Orchestra resurrects garden tour BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
The Kirkland-based Lake Washington Symphony Orchestra (LWSO) plans to resurrect an Eastside tradition featuring private gardens throughout the Eastside, including two in Kirkland. The LWSO seeks to fill the
musical gap left on this side of Lake Washington after the Bellevue Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) folded in 2011. Though it is a new orchestra, the members are hardly new to the scene. Around 85 percent of them, such as violinist Sue Perry, formerly played for the BPO. Perry
said the inaugural concert sent a strong message that although the BPO had disappeared, the demand on the Eastside for music had not. “It was very well attended,” she said. “It was a function that everyone involved had to work very hard to make sure it was successful.” Now, the LWSO is looking
to raise money for concerts next year and they are resuming a fundraising event allowing listeners to take a self-tour through numerous private gardens in Clyde Hill, Medina, Hunts Point and Kirkland. The tour fundraiser was held by the BPO for around eleven years. The funds from the tour
will enable the LWSO to host another concert. “That’s one of our biggest hopes, to keep raising funds to put on our concerts,” Perry said. “Our second hope is to generate some excitement around the orchestra. We want people to have experiences together that are because of the orchestra.
We’d like to be a vital part of the community.” Beth McCaslin, the former president of the Bellevue Philharmonic League, is cochairing the tours with her husband. She says they got involved after the symphony began to start back up again and were asked whether they [ more TOUR page 2 ]
Residents upset over losing Kirkland addresses
nexation area of Finn Hill, North Juanita and Kingsgate in Kirkland that were change in zip changed to Bothell July 1, codes by the postal 2011. The annexation line service has residents for residents in this neighfighting to maintain their borhood is 145th Street. Kirkland addresses. The neighbors got Angie Kollenborn lives together and signed a petiin a neighborhood that tion, asking city officials in was annexed by the city of Bothell not to change their Bothell in 2011. Last week address despite the annexashe opened her mailbox tion. and discovered an unex“The city of Bothell pected letter from the postal promised us that our adservice informing dresses would stay “Now we have to Kirkland and not her that her zip code was changed inform everyone change to Bothfrom 98034 to and every company ell,” said Helen 98011. we deal with that Aaron, a resident. Kollenborn and our address has “However, this her neighbors been changed which past week we were say they will do creates a great deal informed by the whatever it takes of aggravation on post office that as to keep their Kirk- our behalf to ensure of July 1, 2014 our land addresses. that everyone in address would be “I have been a our sphere has been changed from a resident of the unKirkland adnotified.” incorporated area dress to a Bothell Helen Aaron of Kirkland for address and I, the past 18 years along with many and have always of my neighbors, used Kirkland as our mailare incensed over the fact ing address,” Kollenborn that we were lied to by the said. “We were informed powers that be in the city of last year that the city of Bothell.” Bothell was annexing our Aaron said it is not neighborhood to become the annex into Bothell part of Bothell, but they told that bothers her and her us that we need have no neighbors, but the address fears that our address would change. be changed and we took “Now we have to inform great comfort in that fact.” everyone and every comThere were more than pany we deal with that our 12,700 addresses in the an[ more ADDRESS page 2 ] BY SARAH KEHOE
skehoe@bothell-reporter.com
A
Local musician Geoffrey Castle performs at the Wilde Rover, as he has done most every Monday during the past six years. TJ MARTINELL, Kirkland Reporter
Castle, providing Wilde nights at the Rover since 2008 BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
If electric violinist Geoffrey Castle has his way, he will always play the Wilde Rover. Since 2008, Castle has entertained patrons at the Irish restaurant in downtown Kirkland with his unorthodox approach to Celtic music with his sixstring electric violin and an assortment of veteran and rookie musicians. Throughout the years, the crowds have been big and small and fellow musicians
on stage have come and gone, but Castle has played nearly every Monday night for the last six years and has no plans on stopping. Castle is unabashed in describing Monday evenings as “the best party in the universe.” “I can’t think of anything better that is going on a Monday, certainly in the Seattle area,” he said. Castle said he first started playing at the Wild Rover when the restaurant’s owner at the time arranged for Castle and a fellow musician, Dan Connolly, to play
on Mondays. Originally, it was intended to last a month. As time went on, however, Castle said he and Connolly, a songwriter and guitarist, discovered they struck a chord with the patrons. A combination of elements helped make those nights a success, Castle said, one of which is the lineup of musicians who have played alongside him over the years. The other element is the unconventional approach to playing Celtic music, which Castle said is a middle ground between
Irish folk reels and modern, Celtic punk rock bands like Dropkick Murphy. “We do our own spin on things,” he said. “It’s like what if the Beatles played Irish music? We basically take the idea of ‘Celtic music’ to mean anything that ever happened in an Irish bar anywhere.” Castle also has a six-string violin, which enables him to play Irish tunes more like an electric guitar. A New York native, Castle aspired to be a rock star, but also loved playing the violin. However, [ more ROVER page 3 ]