New player takes the ice for T-Birds

The Seattle Thunderbirds have a new player in their corner, and he doesn’t wear a mask or pads.

Heck, he doesn’t even use a puck.

Allied Waste Services has come on board as a new sponsor of the team, and they’ll be making that clear with one of the most visual elements of a Thunderbirds game – the Zamboni machine.

This season’s ice-smoothing machines are decked out to look like two of Allied Waste Service’s mascots, Garbage Gus and Recycling Rosie. Complete with eyeballs, paint jobs and the Allied Waste logo, they’ll be making the rounds on ShoWare ice this season. Garbage Gus is decked out to look like an Allied Waste garbage truck, while Rosie is supposed to look like an AW recycling truck.

According to Allied Waste’s Chris Guimond, the general manager of operations in south King County, the move to become a major sponsor of the Western Hockey League Franchise just made sense all around.

The company already is the exclusive garbage hauler for the ShoWare Center, as well as a T-Birds season ticket holder.

So this season, company officials opted to take their first step into sponsorship of a sports franchise in this region, and the T-Birds offered them that chance.

In addition to the eye-catching Zambonis, Allied Waste has signage at the rink and will be offering young game attendees all kinds of promotional materials as the season progresses.

This also goes hand in hand with the waste hauler’s educational activities throughout the region, including Kent schools. According to Guimond, it’s important to make youngsters aware of just what those big hauling trucks are about, especially when it comes to being safe around them. It’s also part of the company’s commitment to the community at large.

“For us it means closing the loop on protecting the community and serving the community,” he said.

To learn more about Allied Waste, log on to www.rabanco.com.