Volunteer with Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park: Assist with Walk’n Wag dog walk on March 19 as a trail guide. Become a docent, helping teach environmental education to students. Training begins in March. Event planners wanted! Join the Celebrations Committee to help plan Parkadilly kids fair and a news summer campout event. Help restore habitat to its natural state. Next event is Feb. 11, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Our new Gardening Corps is just getting started. Help plant and weed flower beds to help with park beautification.

Contact director@flssp.org to learn more about volunteering with FLSSP projects.

It’s official - AVP Beach Volleyball will return to Lake Sammamish State Park from June 22-June 25, 2017.

We will soon have a wider entrance to Lake Sammamish State Park. The narrow roadway, troubling for buses, has been widened by the removal of the landscape barrier. Once bids are finalized, paving will occur. More groups are using the park and so increasing the convenience of those traveling by large bus has become a priority!

Introducing New Board Member Sean McClellanNew FLSSP trustee, Sean McLellan, is a seasoned technology professional with 18 years of experience and a published author. He is originally from Texas and moved to Washington with his family in 1999. Sean currently resides in Renton.

Sean has contributed to Friends of Lake Sammamish Park already by creating an active Twitter presence and attracting more than 3000 followers. Adding to this role as a new member of the board, Sean will be collaborating on membership strategy. In his spare time, Sean enjoys golf, fishing and horseback riding.

Future File – Save these ‘play’ dates for 2017!Here are some fun times coming your way at Lake Sammamish State Park in 2017:

March 19 – Walk ‘n Wag 5k and 3k dog walk May 12-13 – NW Paddling Festival June 10 – Outdoor Recreation Expo July 23 – Parkadilly at Lake Sammamish, Kids’ Concert, Fair & Fun! And more…stay tuned!

Wrap Up the Year with a Gift to FLSSP Thinking about a year-end charitable donation? Consider a gift to FLSSP to continue the work of bringing new amenities and beautification to the park. Click on the link below. Thank you!

lakesammamishfriends.org/donate/

Please consider giving a gift of membership to Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park AND a year-long Discover Pass which provides entry into any Washington State Park for 12 months! Follow the links below! Thank you! http://lakesammamishfriends.org/join-us/

http://discoverpass.wa.gov/

Fit4Mom Classes Continue!“Stroller Strides® is a stroller-based fitness program designed for moms with little ones. Each 60-minute, total body workout incorporates power walking, strength, toning, songs and activities. Certified fitness instructors offer a variety of fun class formats both indoors and outdoors. We also offer a free playgroup with Our Village so moms can form lasting friendships with other moms through organized playdates, moms' nights out, and activities for the whole family.”

Classes began the week of Oct. 17 and are held Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9:45 a.m. at the ‘flex’ space in the bathhouse at Sunset Beach adjacent to the new playground!

The playground is open! About 200 people came out in the rain on Oct. 15 to help recognize the donors, meet the WARM Radio bear and Woody from Toy Story, eat cookies and cut the ribbon. But mostly they came to swing and slide and jump and climb and explore the playground!

The playground will open for play after the ribbon cutting at 11 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 15 — rain or shine or wind! The first 50 kids (ages 4-10) to arrive will cut the ribbon, the donation boulder will be unveiled, Woody from Toy Story and Sponge Bob will be there, refreshments will be served and the 8-foot blue heron will be spraying its fountain of water.But the playground is what it’s all about, watching kids of all abilities — including those in wheelchairs — explore the swings, slides, rotating net, zip line, mushroom house, coal mine, musical instruments, chess board and other adventures that await their discovery. Arrive in plenty of time to get through the entrance gate as a good-sized crowd is expected. Park admission is $10/carload or use your $30 annual Discover Pass.

Ten days and counting until the playground is open for play! The donation boulder has been installed, the bouncy rubber surfacing is complete (and beautiful!), the irrigation system is in, and the top soil arrives Monday as the perimeter gets ready for the grand opening. The only thing left to do will be the landscape plantings, but that won’t keep us from cutting the ribbon.

Invitations to the grand opening have been sent to all the donors who contributed to the playground, to local dignitaries, to our local non-profit partners, to the contractors who built the park and to members of Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park.

Now we just need children to help cut the ribbon and come to play! The short program begins at 11 a.m. on October 15 and includes the unveiling of the boulder with its beautiful bronze plaque recognizing all the donors who contributed $1,000 or more. Join us as we celebrate their gifts!

If you like to garden, join our beautification team! With the arrival of the new playground, we will need help in maintaining lovely landscaping for the kids and families to enjoy. Other areas of the park could also use your green thumb and gardening eye. If this is something you would 'dig' - reach out to director@flssp.org

Thanks!

Docent Training Begins in March 2017 Would you like to help the rangers with their environmental education programs? There are many opportunities to work with students at the park during the school year and also to have fun in nature with kids and families in the summer.

Ranger Rick Oakley provides docent training. If you are interested, come see what it is all about.

Contact director@flssp.org for more information.

The playground is nearly finished! Yes, the zip line is in! This week the poured-in-place rubber surfacing is being installed. First comes an all-black base coat, then the colored top coat goes in. It should be done by early next week.

Watch for the arrival of the 8-foot blue heron, making its home in the entry plaza. Last will be top soil and the irrigation system. Planting the landscape is not likely to be in time for the grand opening at 11 a.m. Oct. 15, but that won’t stop the children from playing! Come celebrate this historic event and help us honor our many donors who have made the playground dream come true.

The first 50 children ages 4-10 who arrive will receive souvenir scissors and be invited to help cut the ribbon, so arrive early!

Lynn Rehn is drawn to her new post with the Friends of Lake Sammamish Board of Trustees because she considers the park a jewel among many in Issaquah’s treasure chest. She loves the outdoors and its critters! She has enjoyed being a parks commissioner for the city of Sammamish and has worked with other local community groups. She is looking forward to opening doors to inter-agency connectivity including increasing the ease of improvements, maintenance and operations.