April, 2025

April Newsletter

April is a wonderful time of year to celebrate the beginnings of spring at the park. It is a time of awakening with new plants, new opportunities and new starts. Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park is so excited to welcome in this time of growth and new beginnings at our new restoration site Bat Box Meadow and to kick off the season with Spring into Adventure! We hope you join us at the park this Spring and celebrate this beautiful time of year outside.

With warmth,

Paige Basinger

FLSSP Board President

Our work is volunteer driven and community supported. Please join our community of supporters by volunteering with us at the park or donating to support our community events and restoration efforts for an even better, more vibrant Lake Sammamish State Park.

Thank you from Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park!

Featured Partner: Michael's Subaru of Bellevue

FLSSP would like to thank Micheal’s Subaru of Bellevue for their long-time partnership for our spring event. Michaels of Subaru is our 2025 presenting sponsor for Spring into Adventure and will be showcasing a Subaru at the event so make sure you come on down to Spring into Adventure event and check out their booth. If you are in the market for a car, please consider Michael’s of Subaru in Bellevue and thank them for their generous community support of Lake Sammamish State Park!

New Partner Highlight

Thank you to Kutting Edge Fitness for partnering with FLSSP to help support our work to make Lake Sammamish State Park a community gem for all!

In addition to the Charity Boot Camp hosted at Kutting Edge Fitness on April 5, Kutting Edge will be hosting a series of workouts at the park this September- stay tuned!

Upcoming Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park Events

Spring into Adventure, May 3rd, 10am - 2pm

Register to Attend Spring into Adventure opening April 1st

Join the park as we Spring into Adventure with Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park at our Lake Sammamish Outdoor Festival this May 3rd from 10am – 2pm. Spring into Adventure presented by Michaels of Subaru will showcase over 30 vendors and non-profits to help you with how to get outdoors and celebrate our space with your furry friends, in your gardens, or with your friends and family. Take a 3K walk with your furry and human friends and learn from vendors on the demonstration stage about new opportunities in our community. We can’t wait to celebrate the outdoors with you at Spring into Adventure. Register today to attend here.

Last Call for Vendors

Spring into Adventure is a expansion of our former Walk n Wag event to introduce our community to ways they can experience the great outdoors as we move into the spring/summer season. Come share your wares, business, and ideas with our community by signing up to be a vendor at our event. Vendor sign up ends April 1st so please register today here. If you have any questions, please contact Operations Manager Sarah Polster Tribble at operations@flssp.org.

Volunteers Needed!

Want to contribute to the success of Spring into Adventure and help community members discover new ways to get outside?

We need your help for a successful event and you can help in many ways! Learn more and signup here

April Community Programming

Join us at the Restoration Open House (Lakeside Lecture Series) April 3rd, 5pm to Learn More About the Issaquah Creek Project – Register to Attend Today!

Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park, Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership, and Mountain to

Sound Greenway is hosting a Restoration Open House to introduce our community to the amazing restoration work and partners restoring Lake Sammamish State Park. The Restoration Open House will take place at the Meadows Shelter at Lake Sammamish State Park starting at 5 pm with an opportunity to meet and greet the various partners doing work at the park. The highlight of the evening is a presentation at 6pm by Mountain to Sound Greenway Trust about the Issaquah Creek Restoration Project to begin this summer of 2025 that has been ten+ years in the making followed by tours of the site. Register to attend today! Light food and drinks will be

provided.

Come Sweat your Support for FLSSP April 5th 9 – 10am at Kutting Edge Fitness

FLSSP is partnering with Kutting Edge Fitness in Issaquah this year! They will have some workout sessions at the park in September and they are hosting a free boot camp class at

their gym to raise funds for FLSSP. Come sweat for Lake Samm! All proceeds from this session will go to support our work to make Lake Sammamish State Park a community gem for all.

Northwest Trees Fabric Collage Workshop Sunday, April 6, 1-2pm

Learn about the distinctive features of local native trees and how to translate them into your own artistic fabric collage! Led by fiber artist Janice King, this one-hour workshop offers a fun and easy learning activity for adults and children ages 5 and older. All materials provided; no sewing involved. You’ll gain a new appreciation for local trees and new ideas for making nature-themed art. Register to attend here.

Restoring Lake Sammamish One Acre at a Time!

Please join us April 19th from 10am-12pm for our Spring Restoration Series

Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park has begun work on our new restoration site Bat Box Meadow. We are excited to be working in this new location and we have a lot to do to get us ready for a fall planting session. This spring we will be working hard to remove blackberries and other non-natives and we will be putting in the last of our live stakes to help us start the shading out of invasive reed grasses. Join us on this new adventure into Bat Box Meadow! Register to attend here.

How You Can Help!

Help Us Reach our 20K Goal to Install Water Bottle Refill Stations at the Park – Donate Today!

Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park is seeking to install two water bottle filling stations to help our community become more sustainable by refilling those personal water containers and cutting down on the need for plastic water bottles at the park. We are seeking to raise $20,000 to help us install a water filling station at Sunset Beach and Tibbetts Beach this summer. If you would like to help us meet our goal please consider donating here to our GiveBig Campaign

Water Filling station campaign. We need your help to reach our goal of 20 K. We are so grateful for your support to date – Just add water!

See you at the park!

operations@flssp.org