Children's Museum party to aid orphanage

Happy birthday and thank you. BabyLegs founder Nicole Donnelly is celebrating her 30th birthday by renting the Seattle Children's Museum at Seattle Center and offering free admission to the public from 6-9 p.m. Tuesday. A donation will be asked for the Sanyu Babies Home in Kampala, Uganda, from those attending the birthday event.

Donnelly, a former professional snowboarder, has visited the orphanage, an organization that cares for up to 40 babies and children. Her company, which donates to the home, produces a line of high-fashion leg and arm warmers sold in department stores and specialty boutiques in the U.S. and 45 other countries.

Those attending are asked to RSVP by calling 206-734-4000. For more information, check www.babylegs.net and www.sanyubabies.com.

Civic calendar

Dine with the animals

Nov. 22: Reservations are being accepted now for a Thanksgiving buffet at Woodland Park Zoo's Rain Forest Food Pavilion. Three seatings are scheduled Thanksgiving Day. First seating: 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (arrive by 11:30 a.m.); second seating: 1-3 p.m. (arrive by 2 p.m.); third seating: 3:30-5:30 p.m. (arrive by 4:30 p.m.); followed by a chance to walk off the calories after eating. Prices range from $12.95 to $27.95 and include zoo admission. For details and reservations, call 206-684-4825 or check www.zoo.org.

More sales tax?

Tuesday: Public hearing on proposed one-tenth of 1 cent sales tax authorized by the state Legislature to support programs outlined in King County's mental- illness and drug-dependency plan, 1:30 p.m., King County Council chambers, 10th floor, King County Courthouse, 515 Third Ave., Seattle. The funding would support programs designed to divert people with mental illness and chemical dependency away from jails and emergency rooms into proper treatment. For more information, www.kingcounty.gov/council/issues.

Living green

Tuesday: Greener (and Healthier) Household Alternatives class with scientist Philip Dickey, an expert on household chemicals and member of the Washington Toxics Coalition, 7 p.m., Carkeek Park Environmental Learning Center, 950 N.W. Carkeek Park Road, Seattle. Free. For more information, 206-684-0877 or www.seattle.gov/parks.

Here & Now is compiled by Seattle Times lead news assistant Lynne Berry. To submit an item, e-mail herenow@seattletimes.com or call 206-464-2226.

This week: On Nov. 15, 1984, a British Airways Concorde supersonic airliner paid its first visit to Seattle. The slender, delta-winged SST landed at Boeing Field with a cargo of just-bottled Beaujolais nouveau wine accompanied by Seattle restaurateur Mick McHugh and his guests. The next day, the plane carried passengers on a "Flight to Nowhere" over the Pacific Ocean as a fundraiser for the Museum of Flight.

McHugh and partner Tim Firnstahl had chartered the Concorde to fly from London to Seattle as a promotion for their restaurants and to raise money for the American Heart Association and the Museum of Flight.

Nineteen years later, the Concordes were retired. One aircraft returned to Seattle on Nov. 5, 2003, to join the permanent collection of the Museum of Flight.

Source: Historylink.org