People of Pioneer Square

Pete

pple_sodarncute

“I’m just getting back from seeing my wife in the nursing home.

We’ve been together since 1952.

She’s been there 8 years but I tell her two days. She says it feels longer.”

“Can I take your picture?”

“If I wasn’t so good lookn I might not let you.

I coached Jo Hipp in the 1995 wrestling competition against Mike Tyson.

Tell them that. Would have been great, the next fight was for $10 million.

But you gotta win.”

And he did coach Joe Hipp. Hipp began his professional career in 1987, at age 25.

He went on to become the first boxer of Native-American ancestry

to compete for a version of the heavyweight championship.

Dosen’t say anything about Pete, though. Maybe he was assistant coach.

The Beauty Of It

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“The beauty of it.

I walk by the art studios and the glass shops, and it’s all so beautiful to look at.

You might see one piece of trash that catches your eye

but when it’s broken up in little pieces, it’s confetti

…and it’s beautiful.

…Thank you for asking me.”

Robert Surless

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“Pioneer Square is friendly.

I throw (football) passes at folks that I know ;

I’ve been through about 6 footballs on this corner.

One car stopped in the middle of the intersection

and just drove off with one of them.

Someone else brought me a new one two days later.

Jon Young gave me his NFL ball; he has 6 NFL passer rating titles.

He said he gave the ball to me because he thought I would appreciate it

and I could always sell it if I needed to.

I haven’t sold it.”

Robert Surles is sort of a local celebrity.

This Is My Personal Starbucks

pple_kent

“I just moved here from Denver because I always wanted to check out Seattle…

I kept hearing about it.

I was a mobility instructor for the blind and the ended up blind in one eye (not related).

This is my personal Starbucks. I like to hang here in the morning and get my caffeine.”

Emerge

ppl_emerge

“Emerge” was created by Seattle-based artist Jeff Jacobson, aka #Weirdo.

He received two grants from the Alliance of Pioneer Square

and Kickstarter.com to fund the aerosol project.

Standing at approximately 17 feet tall and 120 feet wide,

this piece of art took four weeks to complete.

Take a walk downtown. You can’t miss it.”

Need more brunch places

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“I grew up here and there used to be places you could come on the weekends and hang out during the day–like the Elliott Bay Bookstore.

Now, there are like ten rug places.

We need some places to come hang on the weekends in the afternoon, more brunch places.”