Editorial: HTFC spirit still alive

Healthy Times Fun Club, AKA Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory for Indie Kids, has finally met its demise. Secretly, we all knew this day would come. The space has been flying under the radar longer than memory can recall. How loudest-bands-on-earth Lightning Bolt and Andrew Jackson Jihad managed to shake the foundations of Seattle without authorities hearing, we may never know. While it was a fire marshal that finally did Healthy Times in, HTFC will never truly die. Its DIY, all-ages soul will live on in the clandestine basements and back doors of the city. It will live on because it has to.

Because it's important.

Healthy Times Fun Club wasn't only a space, it was a community. It was a living, breathing thing that brought together anyone and everyone curious enough to find out where it was. The only admission required (besides a suggested donation) was a real passion for art and music. Healthy Times was the embodiment of everything Capitol Hill prides itself on being.

We need spaces like this. We need spaces that allow strange art to flourish, that allow musicians to experiment, and that invite in anyone who wants to jump on board. Healthy Times was great because you could go to any show they hosted and regardless of whether or not you knew who was playing, you knew it would at least be interesting. We need spaces that

take risks.

So while our beloved Healthy Times Fun Club is going away, it is now our job to make sure that its spirit lives on. It is our job to forge on in the forgotten spaces of the city, in our basements, and in our minds, and open them all up to the art around us. Make sure there is plenty of free vegan stew there too, that's important.