The first meeting of 2011 for the Madrona Community Council kicks off tonight at 7:15 in the Madrona playfield shelterhouse, with some intriguing topics up for discussion. As usual, all community members are welcome.

Here’s the agenda, courtesy of co-vice president Paige Smith:

• Green Plate Special – New Urban Farm at MLK Jr Way and Union for K-12 students to learn farming
• Reader Board for the front of Madrona K8
• MCC Coffee Social
• Update on Shelterhouse Activities
• Neighborhood Appreciation Day and Mayfair

The proposal for a reader board in front of Madrona K8 – which could potentially be used to promote community events as well – is something we’re particularly interested in hearing more details about.

With the new year comes new flair to the lamp posts on the main retail stretch in Madrona – the neighborhood banners we first mentioned way back in June 2010.

BOOM (Business Owners of Madrona) applied for a grant from the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development earlier this year and were one of just a few communities to receive funding.

The banners read either “Dine Delight Discover – Madrona” or “Stroll Shop Savor – Madrona” with the image of a Madrona tree. The design was created by Penny Laine Design in close collaboration with Soni Dave of Bottlehouse, Nikola Davidson of EarthSystemsNW and John Platt of St. Clouds.

BOOM originally hoped to get the banners up by fall, but sorting out the design and budget ended up taking until the last week in December. Since the grant money needed to be used in 2010, it went down to the wire.

What do you think of the new banners?

UPDATE: Owners Julie and Carlos confirmed that the economy was the main factor in closing Dulces. They have been behind on the rent for over a year, and came close to losing their home.

In an email, they wrote that they were “forced to move in order to survive” but hope the new venture will give the opportunity for a new start.

During the last five days of business, they will offer a 20% discount to neighbors to thank them for their support over the years.

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Big news on the restaurant front in Madrona – Dulces Latin Bistro will close at the end of January, 2011, after 17 years of business at 34th and Pike.

Changing neighborhood demographics and the economic climate contributed to owners Julie Guerrero and Carlos Kainz deciding to close the restaurant and move to a to-be-determined location on Capitol Hill.

A pizza restaurant will be moving into the space – which will make two new pizza places on 34th, with Zaw coming in the spring as well.

Readers will recall that Dulces opened a wine outlet and revamped their menu this past summer to bring a diversified clientele to the location.

Through the end of January, you can still visit the Wednesday free wine tastings (5-7pm with complimentary hors d’oeuvres) and the New Year’s Eve $40 prix fixe dinner from 5-9pm).

We have a call into Julie and Carlos for more details and will update this post accordingly. 

Ice cream lovers have three more days this week to put their money where their mouths are and convince Molly Moon to bring a shop to Madrona.

The big blue truck “Leo” will be parked on 34th Ave Wednesday from 5-10pm, Thursday from 7-10pm and Friday, Christmas Eve, from 12-5pm. Then they’ll head to Queen Anne for January and Ballard for February before deciding which neighborhood has earned a brick-and-mortar store. 

From our vantage point (our apartment window directly faces the truck) it seems like there’s been a steady stream of customers throughout December, even despite the weather. One of the truck’s employees reported seeing repeat visitors day after day, as well as support from local business owners.

But it sounds like the final determination will be made this spring after looking at the numbers for each location (it can’t hurt to join the Facebook page, too.) And Molly Moon’s PR rep, Jennifer Carroll, tells us no potential storefronts in Madrona are confirmed at this time, though they’ll continue to evaluate options. 

Do you think Madrona can support an ice cream store – especially when put up against larger ‘hoods like Queen Anne and Ballard?

The $50,000 CleanScapes award money will go toward a new playground in Washington Park, per an announcement by CleanScapes last week.

Those who’ve been following the process here will recall that Madrona was one of the neighborhoods in the Thursday collection area (along with portions of Montlake, Madison Park, Madison Valley, Capitol Hill, First Hill and Yesler Terrace) that could submit proposals for a community project based on waste reduction from 2009-2010. The Business Owners of Madrona (BOOM) submitted an idea for sidewalk art that would tell the history of the neighborhood.

According to CleanScapes, 13 total projects were submitted by neighborhood representatives, with members of their respective community councils serving on the project selection committee. To be eligible, projects had to meet four basic criteria: the project had to be a capital improvement, located in the winning neighborhood collection area, easily accessible by the public and the total cost of the project could not exceed $50,000.

The public meeting for the project will be in January, and when the playground is installed CleanScapes plans to invite volunteers from the community to help.

What do you think of the winning project? For those who’d like to see their own neighborhood get a project, remember that CleanScapes is currently running another waste reduction competition from 2010-2011.

In more neighborhood holiday news, Bottlehouse has revamped their menu, added more gifts to their shoppe and scheduled seasonal events in the week leading up to the Christmas holidays.

The new menu includes “wintry cocktail-concoctions,” and spiced mulled wine for those cold winter days. They’re also now serving Beecher’s Mac n’ Cheese to go along with the cheese curds already on the menu.

On the gift front are books, Cocktail Kits,Wine Packages and a selection of wine accessories, as well as a 10% discount on any 6+ bottle purchase And this Saturday December 18, co-owner Henri will hand-pick a batch of wines for the second weekend of free Holiday Tasting, from 4-6pm. 

Bottlehouse will be closed Dec. 25, Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, with Dec. 24 hours TBD.

Yes, there’s two weeks left in December, but if you’ve ever tried to book a last-minute dinner out on New Year’s Eve, you know it’s important to grab that reservation early.

Here’s the scoop on the NYE party at St. Clouds Restaurant:

Join us for St. Clouds New Year’s Eve Party on December 31, beginning at 9:30 and going until they won’t let us order a drink anymore (2 a.m.).We are turning the main dining room into a dance hall and bringing in a fantastic band – Danny Wheetman (of John Denver’s band and Marleys Ghost), Trevor Wheetman (headliner for J-Minus), and special guests, playing music that will MAKE you dance.  The bar is open – all drinks covered in your admission price.  Light snacks followed by a midnight buffet.

Price = $125 per person, includes tax and suggested gratuity.  You don’t even need to bring your wallet, just your dancing shoes and your imbibing arm; a smile might look nice as well.   

Space is limited, so sign up now.  Payment required when you sign up, by credit card or check.

St. Clouds will also be open for early New Year’s Eve dinner, with the last seating at 7:30pm.

Any other Madrona businesses doing something special for New Year’s that demands an early reservation?

The students at Madrona K-8 will be presenting their winter program this Thursday, December 16, at 7pm, titled: “An Emerald City Winter Wonderland.”

From the Madrona Panther Partners PTSA:

The program is free to all and takes place on the school lunchroom stage. Come support the students in this terrific production being led by teacher Ms. Letta Steward with the support of Mr. Freedom and several staff members.

It’s a close by (and cheap!) family-friendly activity with a Wizard of Oz theme. Anyone planning to attend?

The sidewalk maintenance along Union St. from MLK up to 34th has been making steady progress despite the wintry weather of the last month. Some of the repaving is already complete along the south sidewalk, and last week a large tree on the 3100 block was removed to begin sidewalk restoration.

According to Liz Ellis, the Program Coordinator for SDOT Bridging the Gap Sidewalk Safety Repair, her crew is also working on a problem spot at 29th and Cherry (shown in the photo here) where a tree has been identified for removal due to decay in the trunk. That removal is expected to happen this week in the hopes of repairing the Cherry St. stretch in time for the Christmas holiday.

There are a few other trees that may need to come out along Union as the sidewalk restoration process continues – we’ll keep you up to date on that news as we hear about it.

We just stopped by Cupcake Royale (a CDN sponsor) for the 7th Anniversary Party at the original store in Madrona. The party’s still going until 6pm so there’s plenty of time to swing by for a cupcake and music for the kids, snacks for the adults and deals on merchandise. Don’t forget to check out the limited edition shirt with an image of the Madrona storefront.

Here’s some photos from the event. CR owner Jody Hall, serving spiked eggnog and meat and cheese supplied by Bottlehouse:

Cupcakes of the Month:

The Not-Its getting ready for their free show:

New t-shirt designs, 20% off today. From now until Dec. 16, you get a $5 Cupcake Royale giftcard with purchase of a shirt.