The Japan Volunteers-in-Parks Association will be celebrating their 15th anniversary in the park this year with a visit from August 23 to September 13. A total of ten student volunteers and interns will stay with host families during their visit, while working on projects in the areas of trail maintenance, revegetation, interpretation, and education. This group has contributed more than 17,000 hours of volunteer service to Mount Rainier over the past 15 years and we look forward to welcoming them back!
One of the most fun traditions we've maintained over the years with the Japan Volunteers-in-Parks Association is to attend, as a group, a game of the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field in Seattle. This tradition is open to park staff and volunteers as well as JVIPA members and their host families, so we'd like to give you the opportunity to join us! We need to order tickets right away, so if you're a current Mount Rainier volunteer and would like to attend, please confirm with me no later than Monday, August 18. Based on the number of people who confirm, the total cost for tickets and transportation will be either $36.00 per person (if we have less than 40 people) or $28.50 per person (if we have 40 or more). No government funds are used to support this outing. The cost breakdown is as follows:
$27.50/$20.00 Ticket price
$8.50 Round-trip transportation
This year's game is Sunday, September 7, beginning at 1:10 p.m. We will travel together to the game on the Sounder Commuter Rail, which has a special train from Tacoma/Puyallup for afternoon games. We will plan to meet at the train station in Puyallup in time to board at 11:12 a.m. (Please let me know when you confirm your attendance if you will make alternative transportation plans. For instance, the train leaves the Tacoma station at 11:00 a.m.) The train arrives in Seattle at 12:00 noon, and will leave Seattle on the return trip 35 minutes after the final out.
Once I know how many people are attending, I will contact you with information about how to reimburse me for the tickets. I'll order either group tickets or a batch of individual tickets, and will pre-order rail passes. I will also contact each of you with the full list of people who are attending so that you may organize carpooling.
Again, please confirm your plans and number of people with me by Monday, August 18. I will order tickets on Tuesday and confirm arrangements with you shortly thereafter.
Go Mariners! We'll see you at the game!
For anyone who's interested, here's the full schedule for our Japan Volunteers-in-Parks Association volunteers:
Saturday August 23: Seven JVIPA students and two interns arrive. A welcome party, with host families, will be at the Education Center at 4:00 p.m.
Sunday August 24: Rest day.
Monday August 25: Orientation day for the interns, including a park tour and review of previous JVIPA projects.
Tuesday August 26-Friday August 29: JVIPA will work on a trail project under the direction of the SCA Conservation Corps.
Saturday August 30-Sunday August 31: Rest/host family days. Two JVIPA members will leave, and one new member will arrive.
Monday September 1: Labor Day (Rest day).
Tuesday September 2-Friday September 5: JVIPA will work on a planting/revegetation project at Paradise, under the direction of our planting crew leader. At present, it looks most likely that the schedule will actually be three 10-hour days, Tuesday through Thursday, with Friday off.
Saturday September 6-Sunday September 7: Free weekend with host families.
Sunday September 7: Optional trip to the afternoon Seattle Mariners game against the Yankees!
Monday September 8: JVIPA will probably work shifts all day at the NPS booth at the Puyallup Fair. (We'll be posting a recruitment notice shortly for additional volunteers, so watch for that in a future post.)
Tuesday September 9-Thursday September 11: JVIPA will continue working on planting/revegetation, but under the leadership of the SCA Conservation Corps.
Friday September 12: Rest day, and a farewell potluck.
Saturday September 13: Depart for the airport and fly home.
1 comment:
I'll be there
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