January is a fairly quiet time in the neighborhood, but there are still a few events that might interest you.
Chuck’s 85th St. Market at 656 NW 85th St. is hosting a beer tasting by Ninkasi Brewing at 5 p.m. Friday.
Couth Buzzard Books Espresso Buono Café, 8310 Greenwood Ave. N., hosts Jazz First Fridays with Kenny Mandell and Don Berman at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Free; food and drink available.
Empty Sea Studios at 6300 Phinney Ave. N. has its first taping for a new radio show, Rain City Tales & Tunes, from 8-10 p.m. Friday. “Rain City Tales & Tunes is a brand-new radio show which brings the Northwest’s best storytellers and musicians together onstage. Taped in front of a live audience at Empty Sea, the show features acoustic music and tale-telling. Each episode features a unique theme, and audience members are invited to volunteer for the storytelling spotlight. Produced jointly by Empty Sea Studios and KBCS storyteller Auntmama (Mary Anne Moorman), Rain City will be available to public radio stations this fall.”
GAIN (Greenwood Aurora Involved Neighbors) is celebrating the new year with a breakfast and neighborhood cleanup on Saturday morning. Greenwood Christian Church at 8018 Fremont Ave. N. is hosting a free breakfast from 9:30-10 a.m. The cleanup is from 10-11:30 a.m. Volunteers will pick up litter as well as clean leaves and debris from storm drains.
Montessori Garden, 6615 Dayton Ave. N., is holding an open house for prospective families at 10 a.m. Saturday. Kids are welcome and can participate in activities in the Kids Club.
Ridge Romp presents Caspar Babypants for a kids’ concert at the Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Ave. N., in the brick building, at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Cost is $3 per person (babies in arms are free). Doors open at 10 a.m. A pre-show starts at 10:10 a.m., and Caspar Babypants (a.k.a. Chris Ballew of the Presidents of the United States of America) takes the stage at 10:30 a.m.
The Olive and Grape restaurant at 8516 Greenwood Ave. N. presents Spanish guitar music by Andre Feriante at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Woodland Park United Methodist Church, 302 N. 78th St., hosts shapenote singing at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. “Community singing — beginners welcome. No admission charge, no choir director, no rehearsal, no performance – just 4-part a cappella singing in the old American hymn tradition.”