I've received several responses from you reminding me that the best way we can show our appreciation for Windermere and Pacific Northwest Ballet's cancellation of their fireworks events is to support them with our dollars. Go to PNB's performances, take out a season subscription (their new artistic director, Peter Boal, is extraordinary!). Use Windermere when buying or selling your home. These are some of our best home grown and still local companies.

Also, it would go a long ways if you sent a thank you to Ken Bounds, Superintendent for Seattle Parks. He really came through for us this time. He was instrumental in getting the City to reevaluate their initial approval of Windermere's permit by making the initial request to the Special Events Committee that they take a second look at the situation. As a result, the Committee held a special emergency public meeting last week. It was at that meeting that Windermere was convinced to cancel the fireworks display even though the event was supposed to take place only three days later. Talk about the nick of time! Write to Mr. Bounds at ken.bounds at seattle.gov.

And finally, I want you to know that the person who has been most instrumental in this effort is Susan Marten. She is not on Tweeters. She is not a birder. But she loves birds and all other animals. And now that she has had some experience working with the Tweeters community, she has been amazed at our commitment and willingness to do what is necessary to protect the birds. Susan received a glossy postcard from Windermere March 24 (that's only two weeks and two days ago) announcing the fireworks display in Union Bay and took immediate action to get them stopped. She has never been involved in any public process before. It was through her sheer will and determination, and hours on the phone and writing letters, that both of these events were stopped in time to save our nesting birds. She does not want to take credit for this but I will tell you that she is the real hero who has worked nonstop on this. She will appreciate hearing from all of you who care about this issue. She deserves all the good words you can send her way for her enormously good work. She has been our Charles Atlas, fearless and relentless in tackling this issue. So far, she is batting 100% on this issue -- a record that just about unheard of when it comes to trying to protect even a tiny piece of the environment. Her email: s.marten at comcast.net.
Suzanne Krom
West Seattle



----- Original Message -----
From: Suzanne Krom
To: Tweeters
Cc: Russell Link ; Tricia Thompson ; Susan E. Marten ; Matt Mega
Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 10:29 AM
Subject: Seward Park fireworks cancelled!


Pacific NW Ballet cancelled their application for a fireworks display that was scheduled to take place June 17. I just spoke with their Special Events Manager. She said they did not realize that fireworks could cause harm to the birds and when they learned of our concerns, they immediately pulled their application request. It would be terrific if they received emails from all of us on Tweeters who care about this issue, thanking them for being so responsive and making the best possible decision. Send your thank you's to Linda Sahlin, Special Events Manager, Pacific Northwest Ballet, linda at pnb.org.

In addition, Windermere was the first applicant to decided to cancel their fireworks display, scheduled for last Friday, May 5. They very much deserve our gratitude and should be swamped with emails expressing our appreciation from all of us. Send your emails to Joe Gurriere, Director of Communications, Windermere Services Company, joeg at windermere.com.

And I want to thank all of you who have helped Windermere, PNB, and the City of Seattle start to understand the profound impacts that fireworks have on birds and all wildlife -- Dennis Paulson, Connie Sidles, Marc Hoffman, Ben Schroeter, Colleen O'Connor, and I'm sure there are plenty of you who were working behind the scenes whose names I do not know.

Thank you everyone!!
Suzanne Krom
West Seattle