Earth Day celebrations set

April 20, 2007

By Will Elliott

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - Community organizations across the Valley will celebrate Earth Day this weekend with a variety of events.

Two of the largest will be held Sunday at Valley Community for Recycling Solutions' recycling center, just off the Palmer-Wasilla Highway near the Mat-Su Borough landfill, and Saturday at the Upper Susitna Senior Center near Talkeetna.

In the Matanuska Valley, VCRS has joined with local musicians and radio station KMBQ, 99.7 FM, for its annual festivities from 2 to 4 p.m. Attractions include artwork made from recyclable materials, face-painting, games, a poetry slam, food and live music from the Mountain Waxwings and Carhartt Brothers.

KMBQ will broadcast live from the event. Refreshments include salmon and halibut fish and chips.

April is also the time of VCRS's membership drive. Nonprofit VCRS uses the money from memberships to support its Mat-Su recycling operations and educational programs on relationships between recycling and waste management, air and water quality and responsible stewardship of natural resources.

&#8220This is our third year hosting an Earth Day celebration at the recycling center,” said Mollie Boyer, VCRS executive director. &#8220The folks tend to come ready to celebrate and express hope and joy for this place we call home. It is spring, and after a long Alaskan winter, everyone is looking for family-oriented ways to get out and enjoy doing things together outside.”

Boyer suggested that those who want to help could bring a poem to share, related to recycling and resource recovery. They could also bring a work of art made from recycled materials, or help with kids' games.

In the Susitna Valley, a number of community groups have collaborated with the National Park Service and other agencies to host a similar celebration.

This year's theme is &#8220Healthy People, Healthy Planet.” The locally sponsored and staffed event will feature a variety of workshops and presentations suitable for all ages. Local, state and federal agencies will contribute. Topics include invasive weed species, forest health, climate change and disaster preparedness.

There will be a bike maintenance workshop, followed by a bike rally. The National Park Service will sponsor National Junior Ranger Day activities for children.

The celebration will showcase a presentation by the Bird Treatment and Learning Center of Anchorage, featuring live owls. Videos of speakers and sessions from a recent environmental stewardship conference will be shown. Food and gifts will be sold to benefit several local nonprofits.

The festivities will be held 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Upper Susitna Senior Center on Mile 98.5 of the Parks Highway, just south of the Talkeetna Spur Road. For more information, contact Jenni Burr, National Park Service education specialist, at 733-9110 or jenni_burr@nps.gov.

Burr emphasized the importance of Earth Day for everyone, even those for whom conservation is not a high priority.

&#8220No matter who we are or how we live or recreate, we all rely on the Earth for our survival,” Burr said. &#8220We need a healthy planet in order to be healthy people.”

Michael Janecek, VCRS vice president, agreed. Janecek cited recycling as an example of environmentalism that benefits the entire community.

&#8220We save our landfill money by keeping tons of trash out of the landfill. The borough landfill is funded by local taxes and it drains into our water supply. Keeping the landfill as clean as possible is a good thing for everyone.

&#8220When I was a young man in the early 70s, I learned about Earth Day and it changed my life,” Janecek said. &#8220I'm 58 now, and to this day it's important that I try to do my part to take care of where I live and love.”

Contact Will Elliott at 352-2250 or will.elliott@frontiersman.com