Blake Beavan, Mike Blowers and Tom Wilhelmsen signed autographs for a young fan at the Yakima SunDome during the 2012 Mariners Caravan.

The annual rite of Winter, the Seattle Mariners Caravan, gets underway on January 9 with stops in South King County, Tacoma and Lacey.

Over a three week period (January 9-25), the Caravan will make stops in 26 Northwest communities from Portland to Vancouver, B.C., Longview to Coeur d’Alene Idaho and points in between.

Along the way, there will be assemblies for elementary school students (seven of them), free public autograph sessions (eight of them), visits to Boys & Girls Clubs (three of time), and visits to hospitals (three of them).

Scheduled to appear on Week 1 are infielder/outfielder Mike Carp and catcher John Jaso, former Mariners catcher and broadcaster Dan Wilson, broadcaster Dave Sims, and the Mariner Moose.

Other Mariners scheduled to appear at Caravan stops include Casper Wells, Charlie Furbush, Lucas Luetge, Michael Saunders, Tom Wilhelmsen, Mike Blowers and Rick Rizzs.

A schedule of public appearances for the Caravan is available at www.mariners.com/caravan. It will be updated regularly with events and activities.

The offices at Safeco Field are closed today due to the snow in the Puget Sound region. While we are not at our desks, we are still monitoring things from the “home office” and wanted to pass along the following information about today’s scheduled caravan stop in the South Puget Sound region.

Today’s Seattle Mariners Caravan stops in Tacoma and Lacey have been canceled due to the snow. The autograph signing session at Saint Martin’s University this evening will not be rescheduled. We’ll have updates on tomorrow’s planned caravan stops in Centralia and Portland, OR when they become available.