Mount Rainier will be featured at a City Club luncheon on March 19

Painting by Allan Dreyer, Mount Rainier volunteer

Washington's National Park Fund invites you to attend a luncheon program at the City Club of Tacoma, at which Randy King, Laurie Ward, and I will be the guest speakers. Tickets must be purchased in advance, and are $17 for City Club members and $23 for non-members. The luncheon will take place from 11:30 to 1:30 on March 19, 2014 at the Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Avenue in Tacoma. Here's a description of the event, from the City Club's website:

Please join us for an uplifting presentation about the current state of our national parks in Washington. Mt. Rainier Superintendent Randy King, Laurie Ward, Executive Director from WNPF, and Ranger Kevin Bacher will talk about the current challenges, recent achievements and plans in the future. RANDY KING: Randy King is the current Superintendent of Mount Rainier National Park.He has worked all over the US, and even in a World Heritage Area exchange in Australia. Randy grew up in Michigan, and remembers spending most weekends outdoors with his family. Randy describes Mount Rainier National Park as “a powerful place that encompasses all you would expect from a national park.” He likes to get outside as much as possible, and still goes out to hike with his family almost every weekend. KEVIN BACHER: Kevin Bacher is the Volunteer and Outreach Program Manager at Mount Rainier National Park. He has a Master's Degree in Natural Resource Management from Cornell University, and has been working for the National Park Service since volunteering at the Grand Canyon in 1986. LAURIE WARD: Laurie Ward is the Executive Director of Washington’s National Park Fund, where she has served since spring, 2010. She has a Master’s in Education from the University of Wisconsin. In her free time, she and her husband enjoy hiking in our national parks and forests with their yellow lab, Brady.