Ballard’s Joel featured on Eric’s Heroes

Geeky Swedes Ballard

You may have seen Joel Abel around town, helping out at Bop Street Records (above), hanging out at Hattie’s Hat or tasting cupcakes at Cupcake Royale.

“Joel is a part of Ballard, Ballard is Joel. He’s just synonymous with Ballard,” says Emily Scully, who works at Cupcake Royale.

KOMO TV’s Eric Johnson followed Joel around Ballard for his weekly “Eric’s Heroes” segment, and it’s a good one. Without further ado, here’s the clip:

(Top photo from KOMO News)

Geeky Swedes

The founders of My Ballard

21 thoughts to “Ballard’s Joel featured on Eric’s Heroes”

  1. What exactly do you mean, Brenda? I suggest you rewatch the video or talk to anyone who has lived in Ballard longer than a few years about Joel. Right now you sound like a monster.

  3. Joel is an asset to this community. I sincerely hope one of our new influx of deadbeat druggers, bicycle thieves and crap heads tolerated at the Commons does not hurt this innocent soul.

  4. This was such a beautiful piece. Kudos to Komo! I often encounter Joel on my Sunday walks through Ballard. Often I have my parrot on my shoulder, which Joel particularly likes. The parrot has taken a particular liking to Joel.

  10. I’ve lived in Ballard for 15 years and Joel is a fixture. The local businesses deserve enormous credit for ensuring he is taken care of in their establishment. I share the concern regarding the “homeless” element and how they might treat Joel. Really these guys are junkies and have no morals or ethics.

  11. @John and Uff Da: Has there been any indication of a homeless person threatening Joel or are you both riding the same irrelevant elephant?

  12. Hey Truth, you are aware that many of the “homeless” are amoral thieving junkies, right?

    I mean, politics aside, you are aware that junkies WILL DO ANYTHING to get their fix, right?

    You can weave your yes/no response in with your typically teenage level, faux intellectual leftist prattle, but just tell us if you are aware of this fact. Thanks.

  13. @Sockpuppet: This is an article, on a neighborhood blog, about a beloved Ballard regular and you are trying to start an argument about homeless junkies? You’ve stopped taking your crazy pills, haven’t you?

    How’s that for “typically teenage level, faux intellectual leftist prattle”?

  14. I’ve run into Joel many times, usually at Sonic Boom, where he’ll pop in and kind of check stuff out, but also elsewhere around town. He’s a great guy and I am gratified that so many old regulars have rallied around him!

  15. Ackshually, Truth, I was trying to get at the fact that people like Joel ARE at risk (along with the rest of us) by the presence of psychotic tweakers and junkies roaming around Ballard. But once again you avoid answering a simple question. Joel is at bit of a (sadly very rare) success story for helping those in need.

    Unfortunately, the O’Brien Brigade mostly shovels hard earned taxpayer money into a bottomless revenue pit that people like you helped him dig.

  16. A cynic (or someone with a functioning brain) might say the virtue signalers are using Joel as a “poverty mascot”, but we all know those folks are way too pure of heart to use people to justify the $16,000 (that we know) spent each year for every homeless person.

        1. So Joel has received actual harm from a right wing prattle spewer (Capt. James Olsen) who did specifically use Joel as a “poverty mascot.”

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