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Starbucks Loves Trails

Starbucks Coffee Company chairman Howard Schultz announced a grant of $250,000 to support King County Parks' regional trail system - the largest single-year corporate investment King County Parks has received, and the largest donation the Starbucks Parks Fund has made.

King County Parks will work with Starbucks in the coming months to highlight 17 of the best spots along our trail system to hike, bike or walk - all within a short distance from Seattle. Trail kiosks funded by this gift will include maps and information about amenities, wildlife and additional recreational opportunities available to King County trail users. King County's regional parks system includes more than 25,000 acres of parks and open space and more than 170 miles of regional trails. Gateways are intended to provide a starting point into the system but are also positioned to allow trail users to more quickly access local points of interest and scenic corridors.

In addition to the kiosk project this gift will also offset dollars to support trail maintenance and operations.

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"Support Parks!" Postage Stamps Available In Time for the Holidays

Imagine supporting your favorite parks every time you mail a holiday greeting card or send in your electric bill. Now you can with King County Parks' latest innovative business partnership. Postage stamps depicting the King County Parks system' s unique settings and popular activities can now be purchased online, with a portion of the proceeds going to preserve and improve one of the nation' s best parks systems.

King County Parks and the Northwest Parks Foundation were recently approved by dot-com, Zazzle, to be included in its "Community Giving Program," which will return up to 27 percent of net sales to parks maintenance and operations.

Visit www.metrokc.gov/parks and click the stamp icon to buy "Support Parks!" stamps. Parks earns an additional 7 percent on sales from those who buy stamps via the Parks home page porthole.

Let us know if you have an image we may include in our "Support Parks!" stamp collection by emailing us: tellkingcountyparks@kingcounty.gov.

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Cirque Du Soleil coming to King County's Marymoor Park

The King County Parks Division has reached agreement with Cirque Du Soleil to bring the renowned theatrical circus show to King County's Marymoor Park near Redmond in spring 2006.The Cirque De Soleil shows, set to begin May 4, 2006, are the first events scheduled for a new recreation event and activity area now under construction at Marymoor. King County Parks Director Kevin Brown said the activity area is intended to boost the entertainment and recreational possibilities at Marymoor and the Cirque Du Soleil booking is a "great start."

The new activity area is will turn grass fields into a multi-sport event area that can accommodate world-class shows and competitions, provide a staging area for community and cultural events, and accomidate sports such as basketball, roller hockey, in-line skating and even ice skating. Converting the soccer fields will not displace soccer players at Marymoor Park. In fact, Parks expects a net gain in usability and quality thanks to capital improvements, including the conversion of four existing sand all-weather fields to new synthetic turf fields that will be completed in the fall of 2006.

Pre-sale tickets available at www.cirquedusoleil.com

Click here for more information about Cirque du Soleil show, Varekai, which will be at Marymoor in May of 2006.