We will be creating a Whitehorse Park Collaborative composed of community members, groups engaged in using this undeveloped park and other groups that will benefit by its completion.  We will be having our first walk through field trip of the park August 26, Saturday and meeting at the Mountain Loop Books & Coffee at 10am then heading out to the park.  Members of the Town of Darrington Council and staff of Snohomish County Parks will also be attending.  Those attending need to wear closed toed shoes suitable for walking through brush.

Our Friends of North Mountain continue work restoring the North Mountain Lookout.  The goal is to have this available as a vacation rental by 2018!  Work has recently been done painting the interior and catwalk work is soon to be underway!  When the ribbon cutting happens for this project it will be great cause to celebrate!

It was amazing to see Darrington Street fill with vendors as they set up their booths then the new Darrington Street Fair opened at 10am!  People came and seemed to be having a lot of fun listening to musicians, making giant bubbles and browsing the vendors.  The ever present backdrop of Jumbo & Whitehorse Mountains on such a beautiful sunny day made it all perfect!  We'll see you next year for our second Annual Darrington Street Fair July 2018!

We have our upcoming Darrington Strong meeting this Wednesday, January 18th, 7pm at the Cascade Senior Center.  We've had an amazing 2016 and now its time to make 2017 even better!  I think we need to take some time and reflect on some of our 2016 accomplishments, pat each other on the back and get geared up for an even greater year!

Our speaker for our next meeting will be Amy Lucas with Snohomish County Parks & Recreation.  The topic will be looking into the feasibility of restoring tracts of public land as active timberlands and engaging in variable stand thinning. Two nearby locations considered for this is the Whitehorse Community Park on North Mountain & the Fortson Trailhead on the Whitehorse Trail. The goals for this project is to restore forest & understory health, address the needs of fish & wildlife habitat, trail enhancements & generate needed revenues. So why would you be interested in this topic? This could open up possibilities for improvements to these park lands and their potential trail systems. Not only can these improvements benefit our quality of life but generate more visitors to the area which generates local revenues. Please come to the meeting to learn more and be sure to ask your questions so TOGETHER we can all learn more!

Meet your fellow Darrington Businesses and learn more how all can come together and build a more thriving Darrington!  January 24th, Tuesday, 6pm at the Mountain Loop Books & Coffee on Darrington Street.

As the snow covers Darrington's parks and gardens it is of comfort knowing that all of the purchased trees were planted before winter weathers hit.  We owe it all to a dedicated people that pursued this project and the volunteers that got them in the ground.  For 2017 we will need to look at more fund raising to continue these projects.

Ted Jackson, who pursued the Washington State House Bill 1632 will be our speaker. Learn more about how this Bill is changing where ATV can ride on roads and be legal, looking at the future goals of WATV access, possible development of motorized trails.

Some background:  In July 2013, Washington enacted a law requiring license plates on All Terrain Vehicles, House Bill 1632 (HB1632). The bill creates a new class of recreational vehicle (a wheeled all-terrain vehicle, or WATV) and provides motorized access to public lands while promoting responsible riding practices.

Suggested plants for Archery Sculpture is Black-eyed Susan & Liatris as pictured