Make Your Escape ... to the Puyallup Fair!

It's almost time to do the Puyallup Fair. This year's theme is "Make Your Escape!"

Last year park staff and volunteers talked to over 10,700 people. That averages out to 1 new contact every minute of our 17 days at the fair. In addition thousands more took time to look at our exhibits. We hope to do even better this year.

The Northwest Outdoors Alliance is working hard to make our building space more open and inviting. It will have hundreds of native plants throughout the building to make it an outdoor experience. The park is teaming with the Pierce County Stream Team to put in a small water feature between our two spaces.

The park will occupy a prominent place. Our 10’ x 30’ space will have two exhibits, one will try to answer the question "What can you see at Mount Rainier when you can't see Mount Rainier," and another one features the 93 miles of the Wonderland Trail. We’ll have our traditional "paws and poop" display and kids will be able to make bookmarks. But the most important part is a real live person representing the park service, talking with all those enthusiastic fairgoers.

This is where you come in! The fair runs from September 9th through September 25th. We would like to have park volunteers for each of the three 3 1/2-hour shifts a day (10:00 AM – 1:30 PM, 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM, 5:00 PM – 8:30 PM). You will receive a ticket for admission to the fair and a parking pass (together worth $21-23). You can experience the fair before and/or after your shift.

Ready to make your escape? Contact Jim Ross at 360-569-6568 or Jim_Ross@nps.gov for more information or to sign up as a volunteer!

Serve America, Olympic newsletter, Family Fun, and Earth Hour

Here are several items that may be of current interest to our readers:

• I've been tracking the House of Representatives' GIVE Act, which passed last week. The Senate has now overwhelmingly passed its version of the bill, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. The two bills will now go to a conference committee for reconciliation. Given how strongly both bills passed, the final bill will likely end up at the White House soon for the President's signature.
• The March edition of the Olympic National Park Newsletter is now online at http://www.nps.gov/olym/parknews/park-newsletter-march-2009.htm. Check it out for news and photos, including updates on Elwha construction projects, park visitation and more; recent honor awards for two Olympic NP rangers; and upcoming events, including National Park Week celebrations and more.
• A month ago, I mentioned an article in the recent issue of Family Fun magazine, talking about volunteer opportunities with family. Author Melissa Gaskill has now posted a copy of the article on her blog, which you can read here.
• And finally, a "volunteer" opportunity you can carry out at home, sent to me by Acting Deputy Superintendent Roger Andrascik, who says:
  
  Earth Hour: Join an effort that recognizes the importance of one of Mount Rainier’s special resources—the dark night sky. Flick off your light switches during a worldwide event, Earth Hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. March 28. More than 500 cities in approximately 75 countries have pledged to participate in the World Wildlife Fund’s one hour of solidarity to combat global warming. Earth Hour, which began in Sydney, Australia, in 2007, is being presented as an election in which you can "Vote Earth" by switching off non-essential power; election results will be presented at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen later this year. Mount Rainier National Park votes every day for dark night skies—undisturbed by light and air pollution—because those skies have natural, cultural, and scenic importance. If current light pollution trends continue, there will be almost no dark skies left in the contiguous United States by 2025. So, register for Earth Hour at www.earthhour.org. For more on night skies and the NPS Natural Lightscape program, see the http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/lightscapes/index.cfm.

Family Getaways: Volunteer at National Parks

This month's Family Fun magazine has a nice article, beginning on page 45, about "Volunteer Outings," by Melissa Gaskill, subtitled "A mom and veteran volunteer shares four easy ways for familys to make a difference on vacation." The ideas include: 1. Count Wildlife (see frogwatch.org); 2. Beautify Our Beaches (see surfrider.org, and, I might add, coastsavers.org); 3. Protect Native Plants (see togethergreen.org); and 4. Volunteer at National Parks (see nps.gov and, I would add, volunteer.gov/gov). In the final section, your own Mount Rainier Volunteer Manager is quoted!

"Our volunteer programs have benefits beyond physical work getting done," says Kevin Bacher, volunteer program manager at Mount Rainier. "They engage people in the parks. Families who come back in the future can say, 'That's my work. I did that.'"

The quote is based on my own experience. Here's a photo of my son Daniel working on Longmire Campground restoration on National Public Lands Day 2007. He's very excited, now that the campground is available for volunteers to use, to return this summer and camp in "his" campsite!