by Kirby Lindsay, posted 22 January 2014
Fremont is fertile ground. Ideas grow here. Some of them are half-cocked. Some are all-cocked. And, every once in a while, one is brilliant!
I don’t know why this happens… and I have studied it, and learned that I can’t tell a brilliant idea in the making. Up-close, they look identical to stupid ones, to me.
‘Outdoor Cinema’ Silliness
After all, once upon a time, I thought that no one – and certainly not I – would ever sit in a parking lot (outdoors!) and watch a movie. And I never would have imagined that 22 years later, I’d be anxious to hear the organizers found funding to return for another season.
Maybe you don’t consider the Fremont Outdoor Movies a brilliant idea, even though last year at least half-a-dozen other neighborhoods hosted their own version. Maybe you consider what Charles Caleb Colton said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
Last spring, along with half-a-dozen other business organizations, the Fremont Chamber of Commerce hosted a business expo, called Cheers To Chambers. Since the Chamber, and specifically their Executive Director Jessica Vets, usually has good ideas, I expected a good turnout.
Instead, I found myself surrounded by a huge crowd of absolutely delighted participants, from business owners delighted to connect with hundreds of potential new customers to attendees full and satisfied with all the free samples of food, drink, and gifts. This year, on February 19th, Cheers To Chambers returns, but this time at the Fremont Studios to give enough space for this popular, and growing, small business expo.
Not-So-Supportive Suggestions?
Our community can be supportive, but evidence suggests that isn’t key. Over the last few years, the Fremont Chamber has actually discouraged some event producers. Business owners located near Phinney Avenue North & North 35th Street have been overwhelmed by the number of times each year the streets shut down around them for another festival, or Zombie attack. The Chamber has played bad guy, in an effort to protect these businesses, and the future of other events at that location.
In January 2013, the Fremont Neighborhood Council alone stepped up to sponsor and promote the 1st Fremont MLK Day of Service, and the organizers continued onward with that – and were overwhelmed by the turnout. This year, they had many more sponsors and supporters, and the Fremont MLK Day website reported that the event continued to grow, with 163 volunteers assembling 310 disaster hygiene kits and 108 volunteers cleaning Fremont’s streets.
Last year, the Fremont Chamber helped promote Earth Day events, particularly the celebration at Nectar Lounge. Yet, the nightclub has celebrated Earth Day for a few years now, on its own, with all-day live music, kids’ activities, a pop-up market, and/or a fashion show of up-cycled clothing.
Just Anyone’s Ideas
The more I explore Fremont, the more I find people all over our neighborhood willing to try new things and bring their dreams to reality. For reasons still unknown, Fremont attracts those willing to stretch the envelope, venture outside the box, and let us all join in on their outrageous idea.
Last fall, Brian Regan put a massive Saturn sculpture on his new building. This winter, Catholic Community Services will open on Aurora Avenue the new Patrick Place Apartments, low-income housing for previously homeless people. This month, Gabriela Condrea hosted another Tango Speed Dating gathering at The Barrel Thief.
Next month, on February 8th, the Seattle Red Dress Party returns to Fremont, to benefit local non-profits, show solidarity with those with HIV/AIDS, and to give attendees a spanking good time. In March, on the 22nd, B.F. Day Elementary School parents will hold the Spring Fling Silent Auction at The Backdoor, for another great time – and to benefit our school (more info at 252-6010.)
Also in March, one of the most brilliant of all ideas – Moisture Festival – will take over Hale’s Palladium, for the 11th year.
Revolutionary Revelations
The Outdoor Cinema, the Fremont Sunday Market, the Hysterical Markers and the Walking Guide To Fremont all came from one very creative mind – that of Jon Hegeman. Granted, he had a lot of help realizing these visions, and he’s also had ideas that didn’t quite work out. I’m still a little disappointed (and a lot relieved) that the Forklift Rodeo never quite took off.
However, I think the reason Fremont has given rise to so much innovation and ingenuity is because any Fremonster can, and does, contribute. In the 1970s, a humble carpenter, Armen Napoleon Stepanian, had a revolutionary idea – home recycling – and he launched the first-ever (in the United States,) home recycling pick-up business here in Fremont.
We’ve had ideas for miniature golf, chalk art, a blue-and-orange bridge, briefcase relay, pumpkin lighting, Festivus, BBQ cook-off, bowling at t.v.s, Cirque du Flambé, an uber-green commercial building, barter exchange, etc. These ideas started here, and were realized here.
Try, Try Again
Some ideas may have been less-than-brilliant, but bring their plans to fruition at the Center of the Universe because we don’t dwell on the duds.
Sitting in a community meeting, years ago, I heard an idea I’d heard at least twice before – and seen creamed in the kisser both time. I’d wanted to tell the young, idealistic organizers that disaster lay ahead, but not in front of everyone. So I waited.
Fortunately, I spoke with another long-time Fremonster, Mike Peck, first. An artist and property owner, Peck has possibly sat through more community meetings than I ever fear to. I’d seen him cringe during the presentation, but he didn’t naysay it. So I asked him why, and he explained that he didn’t need to tell them. Either the idea wouldn’t work or, this time, they just might pull it off!
I don’t remember their idea. I do know that the Fremont First Friday Art Walk is the third effort to get an art walk going in our neighborhood. The name, ‘Top of the Universe’, for the area of Fremont above 40th Avenue N, is the fifth naming of that area in the last two decades (Upper Fremont, Fremont Highlands, Fremont Village and SO-ZOO.) And that since 1939, Fremont has twice seen attempts made to sustain a pharmacy here fail (in 1997 and 2003,) but people in our community continue to work to get another one.
‘If You Can Imagine It, You Can Achieve It.’ – William Arthur Ward
Fremont, and Fremonsters, could probably be more welcoming and accommodating, but I think we already do a good job of smiling, nodding and encouraging occasionally odd ideas. Some may not work, but some do. And some ideas have brought brilliance to the neighborhood!
Here’s to a future full of fertile minds and creative constructions. Keep dreaming, Fremont!
Related Articles
- Brian Regan’s Contributions To Fremont Public Art
- by Kirby Lindsay, September 25, 2013
- The Fremont Outdoor Movies Reaches Its Majority
- by Kirby Lindsay, July 5, 2013
- A Short History Of The Walking Guide To Fremont
- by Kirby Lindsay, October 16, 2009
- Welcome To the Top Of The Universe!
- by Kirby Lindsay, April 5, 2013
- Why No Fremont Pharmacy, So Far?
- by Kirby Lindsay, February 8, 2013
- Open Up To Possibilities With ‘Tango Speed Dating’
- by Kirby Lindsay, November 6, 2013
- ‘Letting Some Creativity Out’ – A Return To Art Roots
- by Kirby Lindsay, November 2, 2005, in the North Seattle Herald-Outlook
- Savelle Shows Off Six Shiny Hysterical Markers
- by Kirby Lindsay, July 12, 2013
- The Fremont Sunday Market Legacy
- by Kirby Lindsay, August 27, 2010
- A Bonanza Of Activity At The Barrel Thief
- by Kirby Lindsay, December 30, 2013
©2014 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.