Memorial Service details including seating arrangements

A lot of employees, including volunteers, have had questions about seating at Margaret Anderson's Memorial Service tomorrow. Here's the scoop:

Due to limited seating capacity, Olson Auditorium will be reserved for those directly related to Margaret's family or work. This includes the following groups:

• Margaret and Eric's family
• Dignitaries
• Mount Rainier National Park employees (including volunteers) and their families
• Other National Park Service employees (including off-duty seasonal employees)
• Affected park visitors (e.g. those involved in the lockdown at Paradise)
• Pierce County police and fire
• Law enforcement and fire personnel
• Representatives from state parks and other federal agencies

Members of the general public will be directed to three overflow areas, two of them on the PLU campus, the third being Rainier View Christian Church, 12305 Spanaway Loop Rd S, Tacoma.

Mount Rainier National Park employees (including volunteers) and family will be seated in the first tier of seats next to the stage, with other National Park Service employees in the second set of seats on risers behind them. Only about 300 seats are available specifically for Mount Rainier National Park staff in the first tier of seats. Numbers in excess of that will be seated at the front of the general NPS contingent in the second tier.

Because space is so limited, we are asking all employees to make sure that those who knew Margaret and her family, or those who were directly involved in the events of last week, have priority in the first tier of seats. Thank you for your cooperation.

Mount Rainier National Park staff should meet at 11:00 a.m. in the Memorial Gymnasium, just east of Olson Auditorium, for a briefing prior to the Memorial Service. We will then be seated as a group just before the service begins. The service is expected to last about an hour and a half, and will be followed by an additional 15-20 minutes of Last Honors which will take place outside the auditorium but which we expect to stream on live video to screens inside the auditorium. Audience members will be dismissed following the Last Honors.

NPS employees are invited to a reception after the ceremony at the Norwegian Heritage Center, a short walk from Olson Auditorium.

For those who are unable to attend, the Memorial Service will be broadcast live on the Internet by Northwest Cable News (NWCN) at http://www.nwcn.com/and KING 5 at http://www.king5.com/. NWCN will be broadcasting live to areas of Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Alaska.