Northwest Girlchoir is auditioning new singers in grades 3-12 for its upcoming season. The choir is actually six progressive choir levels of more than 250 girls. The choir also has space in its non-auditioned Prep Choir for grades 1-2. Girls from all musical backgrounds are invited to schedule an audition on the website. Scholarships are available at every choir level.
Design Hovie Studios has moved from Phinney Avenue and North 65th Street to Fremont.
Balleywood Creamery, based at the nexus of Ballard/Phinney Ridge/Greenwood, is scooping ice cream most Friday nights at Flying Bike Cooperative, 8570 Greenwood Ave. N.
Phinney Ridge author Boyd Morrison has his first New York Times #1 Bestseller as co-author of “The Emperor’s Revenge” with Clive Cussler, part of the “Oregon Files” series. The book was #1 in the June 19 issue.
Seattle Police Department’s North Precinct is hosting its annual picnic from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 9, at Ballard Commons Park 5701 22 Ave NW.
Seattle Parks and Recreation will turn on field lighting at ball fields throughout the city on July 4, in an effort to prevent people setting off fireworks and damaging the fields. Lights will be turned on at 8:45 p.m. and turned off at either 10 p.m. or 11 p.m., depending on the field. Lower Woodland lights will be turned off at 11 p.m. Fields will be monitored by security from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Metro Transit is looking for feedback on the future of Access Transportation, its paratransit service. You can take an online survey, or apply to serve on a community advisory group.
Seattle Youth Climate Action Network is launching its second annual Summer Transportation Challenge, which runs from July 1 to Aug. 27 and is led by teen leaders from Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle Aquarium and Pacific Science Center. The aim is to encourage other teens to use alternative modes of transportation to reduce carbon emissions and features weekly themes, events and contests. The kickoff event is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, June 28, at the zoo. Sign up here to attend.
Woodland Park Zoo’s new Molbak’s Butterfly Garden opens on July 2. The 3,000-square-foot tent next to Zoomazium will contain about 500 free-flying butterflies representing at least 15 species native to North America.
The zoo also recently welcomed two new species: François’ langurs and white-faced saki monkeys. The all-male troop of François’ langurs was transferred from Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium and can be seen at the Trail of Vines exhibit. The male white-faced Saki came from the Jacksonville Zoo and the female from the Santa Ana Zoo. They can be seen in the Tropical Rain Forest exhibit.
Apples collected from neighbors’ yards in Phinney Ridge and elsewhere in the city that weren’t quite good enough for City Fruit to donate to food banks and other feeding programs have now been turned into cider by Seattle Cider Company to be sold at Whole Foods beginning June 29. Half of the proceeds from every bottle of cider sold will go back to City Fruit.
In 2014, 32 percent of Seattle’s urban fruit crop was composted after harvest. In 2015, thanks to the new partnership with Seattle Cider Company, that number was reduced to just eight percent. During harvest, as fruit was collected and sorted, apples unable to be used by food banks were dropped off at Seattle Cider Company and pressed. The result is a delightfully tart and tannic cider offering 6.3 percent ABV and just 1 Brix (measurement of residual sweetness), made from more than 40 apple varieties.