Contributed by Megan Hilfer for Farrington Court

Farrington Court is hosting a Community Christmas Dinner with Elohim Ministries at Kent Lutheran Church this Saturday, Dec. 17^th.  They will feed over 200 homeless and low-income families in the Kent area.

The dinner starts at 6pm, and the menu features ham and all the trimmings.  They have received many donations from the community but are still in need of some hams, as well as more volunteers to help serve.  If you can donate or volunteer, please contact Farrington Court for more information at (253) 852-2737.

This is the first year Farrington Court has hosted the Community Christmas Celebration.

Join Kiwanis Club of Kent for Dinner, Jazz and Comedy.

Sat., Dec. 17, 2011
6:30 p.m.

Honorary Emcee Susannah Frame, KING5 TV

Kent Events Center
10120 SE 260th St.
Kent, WA  98030

*Live Jazz
*Local Comedy
*Kids Corner
*Silent Auction
*Live Auction

Dinner and Entertainment, $30 for adults, $20 for children

Buy tickets online:  http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/210921

Contact Bailey Stober with questions at 253-306-4445 or by email.

Kent Station will expand its shopping hours from Nov. 25 through Dec. 24: Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 9 pm; Sunday, 11 am to 7 pm; and Christmas Eve, 10 am to 5 pm. Many merchants will be open extended hours on Friday, November 25. Check http://www.KentStation.com for details.

Kent Station is full of holiday cheer and activities:  Santa arrives on Saturday, November 26 at 11 am; the annual Winterfest parade through Kent Station is on Saturday, Dec. 3 (approximately 4:30 pm) which is immediately followed by the Kent Lions’ tree lighting at Town Square Plaza (approximately 5:30 pm); and on Saturday, December 10 the WOLF 100.7 will have a remote broadcast featuring Microsoft’s Kinect and its newest games.

Want to give back this season? Kent Station supports local families in need by accepting donations at Santa’s House for food, clothing or cash – all donations go to the Kent Food Bank.  Next to the Santa House in front of AMC is Kent Station’s Giving Tree benefiting children and their siblings who receive services from Children’s Therapy Center. From November 25 through December 19, the tree will be decorated with hosting “mittens.”  Each mitten is dedicated to a child and lists the child’s age, clothing and shoe sizes, along with a wish (a basketball, baby doll) and a need (a warm jacket, blankets, socks).

Kent Station encourages shoppers to take a mitten or two to brighten a child’s Christmas.  Simply bring back the gifts unwrapped, attach the mitten, and drop in the Big Red Box, located inside AMC Theatres’ lobby.

As always, hop by our hip Santa House for holiday wishes and photos. A photo CD is available for $20. Prints can also be purchased in varying sizes, ranging in price from $15 to $40. Santa’s hours are:

Nov. 26 – 27:               11 am – 8 pm
Nov. 30 – Dec. 2:        4 – 8 pm
Dec. 3 – 4:                   11 am – 8 pm
Dec 7 – 9:                    4 – 8 pm
Dec. 10 – 23:               11 am – 8 pm

“The holiday season is our favorite time of the year, with our additional decorations, lights and, of course, Santa. We invite our customers to join us in celebrating the season.” says Sommer Ueda, marketing and property manager for Kent Station. “It’s a special time to share with family and friends. We enjoy making it fun, while also giving back to the community with our giving tree and food drive.”

For additional details about Kent Station’s Holiday Countdown or holiday events, call the Kent Station management office at 253-856-2301 or visit Kent Station’s website at http://www.KentStation.com or Facebook page at http://Facebook.com/KentStation.

About Kent Station

Located on 18 acres in the heart of downtown Kent, Kent Station is an urban shopping village developed by Tarragon a Seattle based company. The 470,000 sq. ft., mixed-use development features locally-owned and national retail stores, professional office space, and dining and entertainment, including a 14-screen AMC Theatres Cineplex and a branch campus of Green River Community College.

In addition to Kent Station merchants and dining and entertainment venues, the popular outdoor shopping center hosts free, family-friendly events throughout the year as well as nonprofit fundraisers to support the community. For more information, visit the Kent Station website at http://www.KentStation.com or call the management office at 253-856-2301.

About Children’s Therapy Center:

Since 1979, Children’s Therapy Center, a Dynamic Partner organization, has provided quality therapy services for infants, children, and adolescents ages birth to 21 with the mission to maximize the potential of children with special needs by providing individualized, family-centered therapy services.

Children are referred to CTC with a variety of developmental delays and disabilities including cerebral palsy and neurological disorders, torticollis, speech and language disorders, brachial plexus injuries, spina bifida, Down syndrome, feeding disorders, sensory processing difficulties, autism and dyspraxia. For more information about Children’s Therapy Center, visit http://www.DynamicFamilies.org.

HOPE FOR FAMILIES LUNCHEON:  Please mark your calendar for Thursday, December 8 at noon to be at the Golden Steer Restaurant, 23826 14 Ave. SE in Kent.  The Kiwanis Club of Kent would like you to join them for a $5 lunch to help and support local struggling families.   How do you get a $5 lunch deal you ask?  By bringing any new or gently used sleeping bags, jackets, hats, gloves and socks to the Golden Steer.  Cash or check donations will be cheerfully accepted as well.

Please join  your friends, neighbors and community leaders in helping struggling families in Kent.  Call Sally Goodgion at 253-852-0880 or email catalysttravel@hotmail.com with an RSVP no later than December 6.

Friendly service and tasty beer make Airways Brewing Company a favorite with locals as well as beer enthusiasts from all over.  Their tap room, which opened on March 4, 2010, is located at 6644 S. 196th Street, Ste. 100 features full pints and growlers of their five standard beers: T-Tail Blonde Ale; Jet City ESB; First Class IPA; Starliner Stout and Sky Hag IPA.  Founder and brewer Alex Dittmar has had a lifelong passion for 60′s era jetliners as the names of his beers show.  Airways Brewing Company and now Airways Brewing Beer & Bistro is a combination of his love for airplanes, good beer and a connection with people from all over the world.

Please join Airways Brewing Co. for the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on November 8 and welcome Airways Brewing Beer & Bistro to downtown Kent.

Kent, Washington, October 20, 2011 – What did the werewolf eat after he’d had his teeth cleaned?  The dentist!

One area dentist is redefining the phrase “put your money where your mouth is.” This Halloween, trick-or-treaters 12 and under can bring their excess candy to Dr. Sue Hollinsworth in Kent and receive a $1 per pound of unopened candy. For the second year in a row, Dr. Hollinsworth is leading this anti-decay movement by offering suggestions for non-candy treats and by giving cash in exchange for cavity-provoking candy.

“Ditch the candy; that’s what we are saying! Visiting your dentist twice a year and brushing daily are great preventative measures, but doing away with excess sweets altogether will really give your teeth a healthy boost,” says Dr. Hollinsworth.

“We all need to ‘think outside the candy box’ for Halloween. There are several great alternatives to candy, such as nuts, balls, seashells, polished rocks, stickers or temporary tattoos, or plastic animals. Kids can still have a lot of fun trick-or-treating, and, if they bring in their candy on November 1, their piggy banks will benefit too,” the Kent family dentist said.

Global sugar consumption for kids increases by about 2% annually and currently sits at 50 million tons per year, which means parents need to be sure their kids’ teeth are being cared for more than ever. Candy, as well as hurting children’s teeth, can lead to hyperactivity and weight gain leading to obesity and diabetes, major concerns for children.

Dr. Sue Hollinsworth’s office will collect candy the day after Halloween only – Tuesday, November 1 – from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. The candy must be unopened, so no nibbling please!

Dr. Sue Hollinsworth is located at the corner of 132^nd and 240^th in Meridian Valley Plaza at 13210 SE 240th Street, Suite B3 in Kent. Her practice emphasizes family dental care as well as cosmetic procedures. Patients of all ages are welcome. For more information, call (253) 631-8286, email smilestaff@qwestoffice.net or visit the office’s website or Facebook page.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Sue Hollinsworth, DDS
13210 SE 240th St., Ste. B3
Kent, WA  98030
253-631-8286

Email

Kent City Council designates 1^st Annual Kent Turkey Challenge
Hopes of feeding 1,500 families

Kent City Council will proclaim Oct. 24 through Nov. 17 as the 1st Annual Kent Turkey Challenge.

 The donation drive challenges Kent businesses to compete against each other to collect the most turkeys and canned goods to donate to the Kent Food Bank.

“This year we learned the Kent Food Bank would not be receiving the funding they relied on to give our families a memorable Thanksgiving meal,” explained Torklift Central Vice President Jack Kay. “They feed up to 1,500 families for the Thanksgiving holiday.”

 To help the food bank meet the need, we are challenging all businesses in Kent to collect canned goods and turkeys, he explained. On Oct. 24, we are delivering donation boxes to businesses who would like to participate.

Each business will also get paper turkeys. An employee or customer of that business can purchase a paper turkey for $10. That money will be used to buy one turkey for the food bank. The paper turkey will have the donator’s name written on it and it can be posted in the business.

Each Friday Torklift Central employees will contact participating businesses to find out how many paper turkeys they have sold. All participating businesses will be featured on www.torkliftcentral.com/turkey and the progress of the number of paper turkeys sold will also be tracked there. The Web page will go live on Oct. 17.

“We are also accepting corporate sponsorship of the program,” Kay said. “Those sponsors will be featured on our Web site too. At the end of the challenge, we will deliver the turkeys and canned goods to the food bank and announce the winner. Help us gather 1,500 turkeys for the food bank. If we come together as a community, we can ensure a happy Thanksgiving for our local families.”

For more information or to participate, call Candice Boutilier at 253-299-0076.

After attending Kent Downtown Partnership’s Downtown Breakfast Hour this morning, I know he was wrong, and I’m not the only one who thinks so. Business owners, managers, representatives from the city and community members gathered to hear about all of the growth in downtown Kent.

Here are just a few of the exciting things in the works:

- Demolition of the unfinished parking garage

- Development of Kent City Center, a mixed use property on Smith Street between 4th and 2nd Streets

- Opening of Cal’s Classic American, a new restaurant at Kent Station

- Opening of a second location for Airways Brewing Co. on Meeker Street

- Improvements to downtown buildings and streetscapes

Kent, Washington is not perfect. Like all cities, it has its brights spots as well as its blight. But it has character. It has passion. It has residents who love it and believe in its feature. I’m one of them. Are you?

1. Mayor Suzette Cooke
2. Kent City Councilwoman Deb Ranniger (sponsored by Allegro Performing Arts Academy)
3. Kent City Council President Jamie Perry (sponsored by Pacific Raceways)
4. Deputy Chief, King County Steve Strachan (sponsored by Great American Casino)
5. Representative Dave Upthegrove (sponsored by Pat’s Bar & Grill)
6. Kent Chamber President Andrea Keikkala (sponsored by Airways Brewing Company)
7. Timberwolves Receiver Jeremiah Captain (sponsored by Charley’s on Central)
8. Kiwanis Noon Club President Janet Stebbins (sponsored by Kiwanis Noon Club)
9. Kent Police Chief Ken Thomas (sponsored by Rotary Club of Kent Sunrise)
10. Kent Firefighter Marvin Oakcrum (sponsored by Gators Sports Bar and Grill)

Guest Judge:  Ken Sharp, owner of Minuteman Press of Kent

VIP Tickets are $100 and include dinner, wine, priority seating and voting rights in the People’s Choice Trophy Presentation; General admission tickets are $30 each.

Call 253-639-0124 to purchase tickets, or buy them online now –>  Click Here To Buy Tickets Now

Additional information is available on Facebook.

Donations will benefit the Kent Community Center’s music lab.

The Kent Downtown Partnership has revised the Downtown Kent Dining Guide to include some of downtown Kent’s newest restaurants including Airways Brewing Company (opening in downtown Kent later this month) and Cal’s Classic American Tavern.

Click here to download a printable map and list of downtown restaurants.