New bike racks have popped up at Sunset Beach. The one pictured is right across from the new playground at Sunset Beach – enjoy!

All-Access Playdays at the All-Access Playground - March 1 and March 30We welcome children of all abilities, ages and skill levels as well as their caregivers to learn how to use the new all-access play equipment on Wednesday March 1 and/or Thursday March 30 from 3 to 5 p.m.

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!

Many thanks to Eagle Scout candidate Mike Inman and his team for constructing 8 beautiful new all-access picnic tables for the new playground area to open October 15. Mike’s onsite partner was Ranger Tor Bjorklund. Over two days on the weekend, Mike marshaled about 30 volunteers to help in the project that provides an additional amenity to the Sunset Beach area. Thank you!

Checkers anyone? The playground’s checker/chess board has arrived and is being installed, along with street benches and seats, along the sidewalk perimeter of the new playground. Just bring your own checkers and find a partner in the park for an afternoon of challenge play with Lake Sammamish as your backdrop!

The other playground pieces including the zip line, 17-foot geodesic climbing net, rotating net, giant chimes and more are expected to be completed this week, in time for the rubber surfacing to be installed next week, weather permitting.

All we need are kids for the Oct. 15 grand opening of the playground! The first 50 kids ages 4-10 who arrive between 10:30 and 11 a.m. will get souvenir scissors to help cut the ribbon!

Playground Update - Sept. 8, 2016 The blue ropes are waiting to complete the 17-foot climbing net. But first comes the base gravel to fill around the equipment. Then the rotating net (like a merry-go-round), zip line, talking tubes, giant chimes and other pieces can be installed in the next 10 days or so.

Watch for the rubber surfacing to be poured in place over the gravel fill, the last two weeks of September, dependent on weather.

Landscaping may not be ready for the dedication and grand opening of the playground on October 15, but that’s okay. Plan to bring the kids to be the first to play on this amazing long-awaited playground!

Mission Accomplished! Playground Build!Many thanks to all the volunteers, to all our media partners for helping to publicize, to Issaquah Highlands’ Zeek’s Pizza for lunch, to Talking Rain for liquid refreshments and to Krispy Kreme for morning donuts!

Yes – building a playground is like raising a barn – it takes the entire village working, sweating and laughing together!

The playground dedication will be Oct. 15 at 11 a.m., so save the date!