We had a nice long winter nap here at the Chamber but now we're raring to get back in the business of cheerleading Capitol Hill. We hope that all of your holidays were warm and bright, filled to the brim with peace and prosperity!

A quick update on some of our Fall and Holiday events before we close the books on 2011:

• We had over 300 kids at our 2nd annual Halloween parade, sending them all out onto Broadway for some fabulous trick or treating. Fran's Chocolates started them off with starter candy (lucky kids!) and Pagliacci Pizza hosted a pizza party to round off the festivities (all kids in costume ate pizza for free!).
• Our Monsters on Broadway art installation on the Seattle Central Community College campus looked great and garnered some great press. The two Halloween flash mobs on Broadway added to the fun. All in all, Halloween is shaping up to be a Capitol Hill signature event and we couldn't be happier about it...
• The Stars on Broadway continue to shine! This year's honorees included Entre Hermanos, Friends of the Volunteer Park Conservatory, Ingersoll Gender Center, ReelGrrls, and YouthWorks. Local artists again created beautiful Stars honoring the work of our neighborhood non-profits and the Stars were one again blessed by local heroes the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Abbey of St. Joan, in a ceremony on December 3rd. I love this program for shining a little light on the good works done by these groups in our neighborhood.
• The first Capitol Hill Ice rink was a big success and the beginning of a new tradition on the Hill. Participants also enjoyed coffee and hot chocolate from Caffe Vita and hot dogs from Dante's Inferno Dogs. Merry and Bright...
• You know what you did on New Year's Eve... Don't make me repeat that story to everyone....naughty...

And that's the events side of our work. Next month I'll talk a little bit about the advocacy and public policy side. Safety and streetcars and trains, oh my!

A very happy 2012 to all. May this year prove to be full of peace and prosperity, comfort and joy.

Why did you choose to locate your business in Capitol Hill?        I have a home-based business and Capitol Hill is home. I've a lofted apartment with plenty of light and space, and it allows me to work when and for however long I chose and then commute across the room, back home!

Capitol Hill is at the exact geographic center of our City and region and so it's a great location from which to run a service business such as my own. We are within walking distance of Downtown; we are a family neighborhood, but also fun and funky and filled with shops and restaurants for any and all tastes and desires.

Tell us one thing about your business that most people don't know. Literary agenting is a small professional service business within the larger business of publishing. It's sort of like owning an art gallery where you sponsor artists and if all goes well, you make a living off o the sales of your artists' work. It's a gambler's job: whether commercial, journalistic or aspiring to art, the marketplace for writing is uncertain -- it's a risky business, the business of writing.

Do you have a favorite neighbor business on Capitol Hill? 

Favorites--Bistro: Café Press; pizza: Pagliacci's; other favorites: Olivar's. Vio's, Glo's, Aoki...

Pacific Hardware, North Capitol Hill Bakery, Central Coop - ya know, with the sometimes grouchy and slightly loopy checkers; and, naturally, Elliott Bay Book Company!

Do you have a Capitol Hill secret?

On a sunny day take yourself to the top of the Volunteer Park water tower - it's a lovely view of old Seattle and Capitol Hill; the Volunteer Park Conservatory is also a must see and a relief during the winter rainy blahs; in north Capitol Hill find the G.A.R. Municipal civil war cemetery just north of Lakewood --it may be the only Municipal Civil War Cemetery in the Nation? The Arboretum and Fox Island Park or Walkway are heaven almost any time, though at times unwalkable with shoe eating mud.

Seattle University's 2012 Executive Speaker Series starts on Tuesday, January 24, at 5:30 p.m. in Pigott Auditorium. The featured speaker will be John Stanton, Chairman and CEO of Clearwire, former founder and CEO of Western Wireless, and former Chairman and CEO of VoiceStream Wireless. He will be talking about "Navigating Unintended Consequences." This should be a great event, so please join us!

Old School Frozen Custard is now open for breakfast at 7:00 a.m.!

• Warm up with a hot cup of superior-roast Zoka Coffee or finely-blended ZokaTea,
• Satisfy your hunger with:
  • a Savory slice of Shoofly Piequiche, or
  • toasted Seattle Bagel Bakery bagel, or
  • pastry from Pink's Bakery, or
  • a cup of Umpqua Oatmeal!

And if you're a late riser, stick around or drop in for Seattle's best frozen dessert -- frozen custard fresh out of the stainless steel churn starting at noon every day. And for you coffee lovers -- get a Ryan's Drizzle: a scoop of vanilla or chocolate frozen custard in a cup, drizzled with a shot (or two!) of Zoka espresso. It's heaven in the morning.

For more details, contact Rick Drouet, at 253-606-8884! Better yet, come by for a sample, or breakfast!

Old School Frozen Custard

1316 E. Pike St., Seattle, WA  98122