Today, we here at King County Parks took a moment and gathered our staff from all corners of the county to celebrate a few of our own. We honored 34 staff members who have given 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 10 and 5 years of service to King County. You know where this is going.

These are dedicated, hard working people that clearly enjoy their jobs. They are the ones that line the ballfields, clean the restrooms, mow the grass, build and maintain trails, fix and paint the picnic shelters and other structures, supervise after school programs, plan and set policy directions for the division, and create partnerships with community organizations, sports leagues, companies, and the like. In other words, these are the folks that are at work so you can play.

The service awards today were just a reminder that without their efforts, none of our amazing parks or trails would be here, safe, open and accessible. So here is a shout out across our 200 parks, 175 miles of trails, 130 backcountry trails and 26,000 acres of open space – THANK YOU!