Last night, a few of our General Managers put down their pizza peels and volunteered to help prepare the daily meal at St. James’s’ Cathedral Kitchen.  Jeff Maneval from the Miller Delivery Kitchen, Jim Tanguay from the 85^th Street Delivery Kitchen and Paul Williams from the Crossroads Delivery Kitchen were joined by Paul’s daughter Winter, our Food Cost Accountant Eric Holstad, owner Matt Galvin, his wife Michelle and daughter Grace to help the Cathedral Kitchen staff and volunteers cook up a delicious southern-style dinner. They planned and prepared a menu of pork ribs, potato salad, cornbread, watermelon and cookies donated from our friends at Macrina Bakery for 150 homeless men and women.

Michelle Galvin was inspired to organize the effort after reading an article about how a restaurateur in New York City helped save a struggling soup kitchen.  She thought about how it was our business to feed people and saw an opportunity to give back to the community. Michelle said that the day was very moving and she’s immensely proud that the crew enjoyed it so much.

According to Director Jill McAuliffe, anyone is welcome to come in and get a hot meal as long as they are respectful of the other people there. Sack lunches are available for people who may not be able to stay. Jill is proud to point out that there is always fresh fruit, fresh salad and a vegetarian option available. She enjoys the challenge of organizing the meals and the volunteers, but derives the most satisfaction from knowing that she is helping to feed someone who is hungry, a feeling that was echoed by Jim Tanguay. He remarked he was reminded of how lucky he is and how heartening it was to see how people were willing to give so much of their time to help others.

About 80% of the food is either gleaned from area stores or directly donated The Cathedral helps provide staples such as salt, sugar, flour and canned or frozen vegetables, but the need is great, and Jill says that they can always use help.

If you would like information on how you can contribute or volunteer, contact Jill McAuliffe at 206-264-2091.

Bellevue's 40 Foot Outdoor Screen

During their heyday in the late 1950’s and early 60’s, there were about 4000 drive- ins in the United States. Rising land prices and the economic challenges presented by running a seasonal theater reduced that number to a mere 300 drive-ins in operation today and there is only one left near Seattle.

While drive-ins have been disappearing, outdoor movies are on the rise. There are a few organizations running outdoor movie series around the area this summer. Marymoor and Magnuson Parks both have series that charge a $5 admission fee and Fremont has its own “Almost Free”  $5 outdoor cinema as well. Of course, it being Fremont, the audience participation is a show in itself!

We are proud to be sponsoring two series this summer, the West Seattle Outdoor Movies and the Summer Outdoor Movies in the Park in Bellevue.  Both are free, feature pre-show activities and the proceeds from the sales of concessions and raffle tickets go to charities and non-profits.

There’s no need to stuff your friends into the trunk of your car to sneak them in or worry about whether or not the radio is actually going to pick up the sound from the movie. Bring the family, a blanket and maybe a sweater for after the sun goes down and have a great time!

On the 4th of July we hold it to be self evident that people don’t eat pizza. So we give our staff and our pizza ovens the day off in order to picnic, play and eat lots (and LOTS) of tasty grillables at our annual employee picnic. Chicken, burgers, brats, hot dogs, veggie burgers, sausages…just about anything except pizza! After people had a chance to eat and let things settle, we held our annual Pizzalympics.

Our pizzathletes train rigorously year round following a grueling schedule of tossing pizza dough, folding boxes while blindfolded, and strategizing about how they can score a ringer for the ultimate event at the Pizzalympics, that supreme arbiter of store superiority, the event which the winning store lords over everyone else until the next picnic…The Tug of War.

This year’s parade of pizza prowess was no different. Queen Anne’s Mark Bell became a blur of hands as he took the prize for fastest box folding.  Hugo Uitzel-Tun from Bridle Trails, who placed second in our 2012 March Madness Cook competition, easily took the prize for fastest toss.  Queen Anne’s ribbon count increased to two when Warren Murphy showed that size does indeed matter as he threw out a massive dough for the biggest dough contest. Not all of the challenges were individual events, however.  The punishing test of wits, reflexes and true grit known as the Pizzalympics Relay Race takes a toll every year. Teams work to fold boxes while blindfolded, toss out a dough with 2 people (each using one hand) and deliver it to the finish line after spinning around a baseball bat 10 times. University Pizzeria prevailed. Then one event remained. Would the Queen Anne Pizzeria be a three-ribbon winner? The crowd held its breath as they struggled to find glory. In the end, Kenmore Delivery Kitchen pulled their way to victory. Congratulations to the winners. You can bet that the competition will be just as fierce next year!

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