Town Celebrates Earth Day with Diverse Style

Author: Vanessa Wong

The energy of smiling children racing across the grass and the live music lacing through the cool spring air brought a peaceful liveliness to the Middlebury Town Green during Sunday's Earth Day celebration. A diverse group of curious, active participants casually roamed from one information booth to the next with free samples of Ben & Jerry's ice cream in hand to celebrate Earth Day, marking the first countywide Earth Day Environmental Fair.

The Multi-faith Global Warming Action Coalition, Middlebury Area Clergy Association and the Middlebury College Chaplain's Office organized the event as an educational opportunity for interested residents of Addison County and the surrounding area. The 32 organizations and exhibits represented advocated sustainable practices ranging from supporting local earth-friendly food products and merchandise to joining various religious faiths. These ongoing exhibits carried on through informative speeches made by Tom Berry from U.S. Senator James Jeffords' office, Rich Wolfson, Middlebury College professor of physics and Tom Buckley from the Alliance for Climate Action.

The event also featured four musical performances by the Village Green Drum Collective, Middlebury Union High School's Tophobster, the College's Hey Zeus and a three-person group called Cross Quarters.

A hybrid and fuel-efficient vehicle demonstration also attracted much attention. According to Dane Springmeyer '02, one of the event coordinators, "The idea was to organize an environmental weekend with a celebratory atmosphere. It was put together by a multi-faith group, which is great because you get to see it [environmental perspectives] from all angles."

Carol Lee Lane, a Shoreham, Vt., resident and member of the Unitarian Universalist Society Bahá'í community, said, "People are generally shy about asking questions on religion. It's a very sensitive issue in the United States. I find that people always respond positively to our message that the oneness of humanity will solve virtually every problem that has developed in the human evolution, including environmental ones. There are no sustainable solutions without the oneness of humanity."

In addition to a number of religious views, political organizations were also represented. Connie Hansen '03.5 operated the voter registration table. "The great thing about doing this is that you can pick the venue where you register voters. Earth Day Sunday is a great way to register people who share your perspectives," she said.

Among College organizations that participated in the event were the Middlebury Initiative for Sustainable Development (MISD) and Middlebury College Environmental Quality (EQ). Bennett Konesni '04.5, a MISD coordinator, operated a table alongside a 6-foot model globe constructed by about 20 students from trash, paper, paints, recyclables and natural materials. "The globe was intended to be a community art project to celebrate the earth. We used recyclable materials to show that they can create useful things," said Konesni.

Benjamin Brouwer '04, president of EQ and founder of the Yellow Bikes Program, toddled through the crowd uniformed in a cardboard box sandwich board promoting Bike to Work Day and the Bike Parade, which will both be held on May 3.

Michael Azzara '02.5, founder and president of the Blue Mitts Bike Society, wrote in a letter to fellow bike advocates, "While the events will take place on Friday, May 3, we would obviously like to see students and employees of the College use bicycles as means of transportation year round and especially in these beautiful spring days ahead of us."

The event received a great deal of support from participants. "There was tons of good stuff at the event and lots of good people," said Azzara. "The amount of information available to you is a bit overwhelming."

Ron Schildge '03.5 said, "This was such a great idea. As an environmentalist, it was so great to come here and just connect with other people who are also active."

"We hope the event will be even bigger next year," said Springmeyer as he closed the event until the next Earth Day.