Football-linked food drive a "souper" idea

St. Vincent de Paul has come up with what it considers a super project tied to Super Bowl weekend. The charitable organization's outlets in Seattle and King County are participating in a nationwide effort against hunger. It's being called the "Souper Bowl of Caring."

The organization is asking people to drop off donations of canned food this week to the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Seattle, at 5972 Fourth Ave. S., or to outlets in Renton, Burien and Kenmore. The effort culminates on Super Bowl Sunday.

Civic calendar

Good for a smile

Feb. 9: Seattle's Rainier Community Center will highlight National Children's Dental Health Month (which is during February) with "Smile Day," free dental screenings for youngsters on one day only at the center, 4600 38th Ave. S. Screenings will be offered by community health partners and members of the Seattle-King County Dental Society between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Health professionals also may be able to help with arranging follow-up dental care and financial assistance. For information, call the center at 206-386-1919.

Artifact road show

Feb. 9: Burke Museum staff members and curators will again be on hand for the next Artifact Identification Day. Anybody can bring what they consider unidentified treasures to the museum from 1 — 4 p.m. to learn more about where they came from and the stories behind them. But no appraisals will be given.

Experts will be there to help identify cultural artifacts from the Northwest, Pacific Islands or Asia, as well as objects from the natural world, such as bones, fossils, rocks, minerals and animal teeth.

In years past, owners have brought in such items as baskets handed down from generation to generation, or unearthed fossils. Because of the past popularity of the event, there is a limit this time of two items per visitor. Museum admission will be charged. The museum is at Northeast 45th Street and 17th Avenue Northeast (www.burkemuseum.org, 206-543-5590).

Booster shirts

Want to show your support for Seattle's new streetcar line? You can now go online to www.seattlestreetcar.org and click on "shop" to purchase the official T-shirt for the new South Lake Union Streetcar, which runs between downtown and South Lake Union.

To submit an item,

e-mail herenow@seattletimes.com

or call 206-464-2226.

Jan. 28, 1954: It may be hard for some locals to imagine Seattle without a Dick's Drive-in. Truth is, the first Dick's Drive-In, in the 100 block of Northeast 45th Street in the Wallingford neighborhood, didn't open until this date, serving hamburgers, French fries and milkshakes. Dick's quickly came to represent the quintessential 1950s cross between fast food and the automobile. A year later, Dick's opened another drive-in on Broadway on Capitol Hill, then later spread to Crown Hill, Lake City and Queen Anne Hill.

Source: Historylink.org