This week’s Seattle Weekly is all about booze and considering Fremont is home to quite a few places that serve, make or serve & make booze, you had to assume we’d be involved.

In the section titled Where to Drink With Your Kids, Hale’s Brewery shows up as the best spot in town.

There’s good and bad news regarding Hale’s Brewery’s kid-friendly policy. First, the good: There’s a spacious room separate from the bar where you don’t have to feel guilty being that person who brought their kid to a brewery, and where you can stuff your little one full of jo-jos and cheese pizza while you get your drink on with one of Hale’s custom brews. Bad news: Seemingly every lush of a parent knows this, so the “family room” is frequently packed with sleeping babes in car seats and ankle-biting toddlers.

In the section, What Seattle Drinks, prominent and well-known Seattlites share their favorite drinks and place to have them. Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin gives a very even-handed, pro-Fremont answer:

“I would go to the Madrona Ale House and choose from among their wide selection, which includes Fremont products. How’s that for a tactful answer?” [Sara Nelson, Conlin's legislative assistant, is married to the owner of Fremont Brewing Company.]

All of Hale’s Ales (4301 Leary Way NW) beers will be green in the near future. No, they’re not treating every day like it’s St. Patrick’s Day. They don’t mean the color green, they mean the better-for-the-environment kind of green.

Hybrid solar technology company Net Zero Impact has begun installation of a hybrid solar-thermal system at Hale’s Ales, the company’s largest and most sophisticated solar project to date. The project kicked off this week with the dramatic lowering of a 1,200-gallon storage tank through a temporary opening in the brewery’s roof.

The new solar-thermal investment is one of several sustainable initiatives Hale’s Ales has implemented. Other “green” efforts include use of high-efficiency light bulbs throughout the 17,000 square foot facility and “smart” technology to manage the building’s lights and heating/cooling systems.

The Net Zero Impact system, replacing the inefficient gas-fueled steam boiler, includes 480 solar thermal tubes, a one million British Thermal unit (MBtu) steam boiler, a one MBtu high-efficiency hot water boiler, a 1,200-gallon water storage tank, heat exchangers and programmable controllers for all pump delivery systems.

“We’ve spent 27 years serving the community with the very best hand-crafted beers possible and making our operations greener is just another way of giving back to our community,” said Mike Hale, founder and president of Hale’s Ales. “Net Zero Impact’s experience working with breweries, exceptional warranty and ability to implement an extremely complex design made it an easy choice to work with the company.”

Find our more about Net Zero Impact here.

You live in Fremont. You have free time. You like to help others. You enjoy dancing and/or watching other people dance.

Well do I have some events for you…

March 4th, 7pm - Amuma Says No @ Hale’s Ale Pub

Representing the heart and soul of Basque music, this dynamic band has played at
Seattle Folk Life Festival, Kennedy Center and other top venues. The Boise, ID band brings
together the best of traditional trikitixa – a duo of accordion and tambourine –
with a modern rhythm section and songs sung in Basque. Tickets are $15 at the door and profits benefit the Summer in the USA Basque Program.

March 12th - Seattle Dances! 2nd Annual Dinner, Auction and Dance Competition @ Fremont Studios

A night of dancing, dining and auctioning to support Plymouth Housing Group. Each dollar you donate is a “vote” — and the dancer who raises the most money online before Saturday, March 12 will win the Cyber Choice Mirror Ball Trophy at the event. All “votes” are tax-deductible. Get more information here.

April 8th, 5:30pm - New Abolitionist Movement: Dance Concert For A Slave Free World @ Fremont Abbey.

Karin Stevens Dance will present a concert of contemporary dance and live music with the Seattle band, JUBILEE, at the Fremont Abbey Arts Center. This concert will present a body of new work to two classic JUBILEE songs and five from their recently released album, To See you Well. The concert will raise awareness of the local fight against human trafficking with the help of partnering organization Seattle Against Slavery. Tickets range from $15 Student, $18 general, $23 door and some proceeds go to help SAS.

Items of interest from around the Fremont area…

• Huzzah and kudos to Kylie’s Chicago Pizza, which was named Best Pizza in Seattle by City’s Best.
• The Fremont Players are putting on a Panto (traditional, humorous British holiday plays) at Hale’s Palladium during December.
• Wondering how much rain Fremont has gotten over the last week? A lot.
• Marination Mobile, which is parked in front of Indoor Sun Shoppe (160 N. Canal St.) every Wednesday, gets a great review here.
• The ‘Hood Hunt, a series of map-based scavenger hunts, is being held in Fremont tonight at 5:30 pm . Meet at Solstice Plaza (SE of North 34th Street & Fremont Ave) to join in the fun.

It may be the closest thing Seattle has to America’s Got Talent.  If you have a circus or Vaudeville type act, here’s your chance to shine.  Hale’s Palladium (located at Hale’s Brewery) recently started hosting Circus Open Mic, where everyone from trapeze artists to comedians perform.  The next show takes place Wednesday, October 13 at 7:30pm.  The organizers are still looking for performers who need to register in advance.  For more information on taking part in the show or being a part of the audience, log on to their Facebook page.

Photo of previous Circus Open Mic night from Facebook page
 

If you like to imbibe a cold one, Seattle is your town. Our neighborhood, in particular, with the Fremont Oktoberfest and daily beer epicenters such as Brouwer’s Cafe, Dad Watson and the George & Dragon Pub, is just like heaven for those who appreciate a well-poured pint. it’s no wonder Seattle Beer Week would kick off here Thursday at 5 p.m., at Hale’s Brewery (4301 Leary Way). Those who go can witness the tapping of the inaugural cask!

Some might say *every* week is Beer Week, but there is actually an event called Seattle Beer Week, and this year it is from May 13 - 23 (so it’s actually a little more than a week).

Hale’s is one of the sponsors, as is Brouwer’s, but other locals get in on the action too. It’s a good excuse to try the brew Hale’s made specifically for Seattle Beer Week and celebrate Seattle’s thriving beer culture - with a hearty, handmade Shultzy’s Sausage, of course.

The festivities take place all over the city, but they end up back where they began, at Hale’s. On May 23, from noon to 5 p.m., beer connoisseurs can taste brews from 22 different Washington breweries, including Naked City, Scuttlebutt, Chuckanut and Fremont Brewing.