2016 Annual Report Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park (FLSSP) is a 501c3 non-profit whose mission is to promote and enhance park facilities and events. The funds granted from the cities of Issaquah and Sammamish in 2016 allowed the organization to continue to contract with a part-time executive director to help meet FLSSP’s mission. FLSSP Officers and Trustees John Sherwin, President Chris Kovac, Vice President Norah Carse, Secretary David Bush, Treasurer Jim Berry Debbie Berto Nancy Davidson John Forkner Kit Ledbetter Lynn Rehn
Executive Director Janet Farness Lake Sammamish State Park Colleagues Richard Benson, Regional Manager Peter Walters, Senior Program Specialist
The Executive Director focuses on communications/public relations, fundraising for capital park improvements, volunteer opportunities and development of educational and recreational programs within the park that will help increase park attendance. Issaquah has a vital interest in the sustainability of the park as it serves the recreational needs of residents, attracts out-of-town tourists and promotes economic vitality for the city. Sammamish and Bellevue are discovering similar benefits. The AVP beach volleyball tournament this year in June once again demonstrated the ability of major events at Lake Sammamish State Park to fill hotel space and restaurants and create excitement about this stunning venue. Goal Areas for 2016 •
Funding. Complete funding for and building of all-access destination $1.2M playground.
Events. Develop signature events geared to specific audiences that will create ongoing interest.
Capacity Building. Continue to build out the organization and the tools to support the mission.
Partnerships. Deepen partnerships to attract new users; create a stakeholder group to inform the roadmap to execute the comprehensive park plan created in 2007.
Restoration. Develop a visible park restoration project to be led by our AmeriCorps member, supported by community volunteers.
Marketing. Create consistent far-reaching marketing & communication including social media, web, traditional media, press releases and marketing partnerships to attract larger audiences for events.
www.LakeSammamishFriends.org
P. O. Box 605, Issaquah, WA 98027
Major Focus Areas Re-capped by Quarter January/February/March
Capacity building: Created Celebrations Committee to involve the community in planning larger park events; attracted active volunteers to create consistent Facebook and Twitter efforts Events:
Walk ‘n Wag 3K all-access and 5K dog walk Monthly restoration events
April/May/June
Playground funding: Finalized funding of playground including State Parks who came in with funds for the smooth surface and a significant boost from King County Parks; nailed down in-kind donations from local construction materials companies Marketing/Communications: Focused communications on key events: NW Paddling Festival in May, AVP in June, Parkadilly in July; involved the State Parks communication team and other local media partners including Visit Bellevue; The Seattle Times published front page story on REI’s dreams for Lake Sammamish State Park Events: • • •
NW Paddle Fest AVP Volleyball Tournament Monthly restoration events
Partnerships: Sammamish Y partnership plans for nearly 500 children to attend summer camp field trips in July/August; major sponsors are located to support Parkadilly kids’ concert and fair; Kiwanis commits to support and partner on the fair
www.LakeSammamishFriends.org
P. O. Box 605, Issaquah, WA 98027
July/August/September
Fundraising
Parkadilly nets funds from Kiwanis food sales and booth sales
FLSSP submits grant request to city of Issaquah for organizational capacity building support
Events: •
Parkadilly Kids’ Concert Fair & Fun draws 2000 people
•
FLSSP, FISH and US Fish & Wildlife host a party at Sunset Beach to thank Aubrey Tingler, AmeriCorps service person, for her great work during her 10-1/2-month term
•
Playground Assembly Work Party involves 300 volunteer hours from 50 volunteers
•
Annual FLSSP membership meeting and potluck on Tibbetts Beach features the Marie Louie paddle artist
•
Eastside legislative candidates invited for Walk in the Park
•
Salmon SEEson
•
Mini-Stakeholder meeting held to test our assumptions
Marketing/Communications: •
Twitter followers top 1600
•
Partner with WARM radio in preparation for the playground opening in October
Capacity Building: •
Coordinated work for a volunteer software engineer to customize Microsoft Dynamics CRM to capture information for FLSSP contacts and donors; integrated with MailChimp for ongoing donor outreach
•
New AmeriCorps serviceperson begins, supervised by FLSSP
Fundraising: •
Submitted grant request to City of Issaquah for 2017 operational funds supported in writing by Senator Mark Mullet and Peter Herzog, Assistant Director of Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
Partnerships: ArtEast, US Fish and Wildlife, Trout Unlimited, Lake Sammamish Urban Wildlife Refuge
www.LakeSammamishFriends.org
P. O. Box 605, Issaquah, WA 98027
October/November/December
Fundraising:
FLSSP presents to Sammamish City Council requesting ongoing funds
Received grant for 2nd Annual Parkadilly and for a Recycled Art Project from Issaquah Arts Commission
Received grants from both the city of Issaquah and Sammamish for 2017 operating costs
Capacity Building:
Washington State Parks Foundation hosts a 2-day conference for State Friends Groups; attended by FLSSP president John Sherwin and board member Lynn Rehn
FLSSP Board of Trustees Retreat
Board holiday party
Orientation for 2 new board members
Events: •
Playground grand opening October 15 – estimated 250 adults and children attended
•
First official stakeholder meeting with 16 organizations present
•
Beach Party with Bonfire, Hot Chocolate and a lone lighted Santa boat due to predicted windy/rainy weather – estimated 200 adults and children attended
•
Two Restoration events with new AmeriCorps staffer, Matt Webster
Marketing/Communications: •
KRWM 106.9 radio publicized the playground opening which pulled in about 250 people to dedicate the playground on a rainy day
•
Collaborated with REI’s #OptOutside initiative to encourage people to spend time outdoors during the Thanksgiving holiday
•
Strong publicity for the Beach Bonfire Party drove large FB response
•
Publicity for the November and December restoration events also drove strong social media traffic
•
Participated in Volunteer Fair at Eastlake High School and Eastside Catholic
•
Grew our e-newsletter list by 50% from January to December 2016
www.LakeSammamishFriends.org
P. O. Box 605, Issaquah, WA 98027
What we learned in 2016: The all-access destination playground has knocked the ball out of the park. Disappointed by its October arrival, we are now thrilled that on most days (those without rain), the playground is filled with happy children and parents. It is truly a ‘build it and they will come’ success! The density of children in this area has informed our priorities toward the playground and kids and family-oriented events and other programming. During Oct. 15-Dec. 13, year-over-year (2015-2016), Discovery Pass revenue increased 77%! State Parks now considers the playground a revenue center. Park attendance. Momentum is building when the weather is good. July weekend numbers for the Parkadilly special event were double year-over-year. After a hot weather start with AVP in town, a cooler June suppressed numbers. August, although hot, suffered from beach closures and the playground not-yet-ready for primetime. Music for kids and families in the park makes sense. Parkadilly at Lake Sammamish Kids’ Concert Fair & Fun was a hit. We honed the audience to better parallel the audience of the new playground. We expanded the reach through sponsors, vendors and more consistent media and ended up with 2000 attendees! Targeting events for special park users makes sense. We brought Walk ‘n Wag to the park in March and will bring it back in 2017. Dog owners love this park and it’s great to acknowledge them and create community among them through the walk and the visit to the Doggie Village before and after supported by local businesses. Interpretive rangers connect with children and families on weekends. Wanda Peters, park naturalist for the summer, has been a hit with her mini-ranger programs on Thursday mornings, Jr Ranger programs on the weekends along with the Nature Nook at the flex space and family hikes each Sunday. In July alone, she had 1600 people in her various programs. That is twice the number for the entire summer last year! Big events are a regional draw, fun for park-goers and bring desired economic vitality to Issaquah and cities along the I-90 corridor. FLSSP will continue to work with the local and state park staff to help make community connections for large events including finding volunteers and local merchants to supply goods and services. Our 2016 partnership with AVP improved communication channels between event coordinators and local park staff, recruited needed volunteers, and publicized the event to the local audience. Summer day camps are seeking natural history programming. By partnering with the Sammamish YMCA day camps, we are demonstrating the unique value of having ranger expertise. We had hoped to fill the weeks with summer camp field trips, but state parks does not yet have sufficient rangers and docents to handle the weekly demand. The program grew from 1 day in 2015 to 4 days in 2016, and from 120 to 480 children. Volunteers are needed. Plans are underway to train another group of docents in 2017 to further support the Park’s children and family programming. We continually are accessing local volunteers for the AmeriCorps restoration project. Fifty volunteers invested 300 hours to assemble the amazing all-access playground! We will be recruiting new volunteers to help small beautification projects blessed by park staff. Our growing event roster will expand our need for planning and ‘day-of’ volunteers. Little by little FLSSP’s community of those committed to the park’s improvement and enjoyment is growing!
www.LakeSammamishFriends.org
P. O. Box 605, Issaquah, WA 98027
