Earth Day is everyone's day
This is the Earth Day festival’s 19th consecutive year in downtown Columbia.
April 22, 2008
The Subterraneans perform on the music stage in Peace Park during the Earth Day Festival on Sunday. The festival included booths lining Elm Street, music and games.
MU Office of Research Programmer Aaron Wieberg and graduate student Mindy Lonkausky pass out information at the entrance to 'Eco Avenue' during the Earth Day Festival in Peace Park on Sunday. Eco Avenue was lined with booths promoting greener lifestyles and energy.
Joe Sall watches as his two-year-old daughter Lindsey plays in the creek in Peace Park on Sunday.
Columbia resident Peter Yronwode wanders through the crowd in Peace Park on Sunday to show people his boa constrictor, Isis, while educating curious observers.
The Dragonflies, a group from the Moon Belly Dance Studio, perform on the lawn of Peace Park on Sunday. Peace Park offered a space for informational booths and other activities for the Earth Day festival.
From the moment it began, Sunday’s Earth Day Festival celebration was a cornucopia of color; Peace Park and the streets surrounding it exploded with every person and trade imaginable. To the right, a man strolled with his pet parrot and sunny straw hat. To the left, the Moon Belly Dance Studio booth performed an African tribal dance to the beat of drums and bells. Echoing the Iraq peace march from weeks before, the atmosphere was charged with unity, education and desire for change.
The festival commenced at noon with music by Rutherford, a local rock-alternative band on the grassy stage. As the sun rose to its highest point, so did the park’s ambiance. Children ran back and forth through the grass, playing in the water of the tiny brook or climbing trees. Couples, families, friends, pets and owners wandered through the sun and music, while others bustled through the adjacent streets.
This year’s celebration brought more than 200 booths to downtown Columbia. Everyone from the Green Party of Central Missouri, to Mustard Seed + Fair Trade, to Pagans with Pep and Deva Dance studio came out to celebrate, educate and protest with artistic expression.
“I used to be a cast member in the Greater Saint Louis Renaissance (Faire),” actress and craftswoman Toby Homes said about her own artistic expression (an umbrella, mask and body suit made mostly of green plastic leaves). “The mask is designed off the Celtic Green Men who are supposed to portray the spring season. I just thought it would be a nice thing for people to see on Earth Day.”
The mood was a cheerful one as the Lee Expressive Arts School group took to the stage in their rendition of Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax.”
“Yes, I am the Lorax who speaks for the trees,” their voices cried out, “which you seem to be chopping as fast as you please. But I’m also in charge of the brown bar-ba-loots, who played in the shade in their bar-ba-loot suits and happily lived eating truffula fruits. Now, thanks to your hacking my trees to the ground, there’s not enough truffula fruit to go ‘round!”
While some sat and cheered the children’s production, Mid-Missouri Peaceworks’ Lily Tinker Fortel handed out quizzes challenging the average person’s knowledge of the war in Iraq. The quiz asked questions including “How much is the U.S. spending per month in direct operational costs for the Iraq war?”
Next, musician Bartholomew Jones took the stage with his guitar. A hush fell over the grass as notes from Cat Stevens’ “Where Do the Children Play?” echoed from his mouth. To the left of the stage children learned to walk on stilts and fished crawfish out of small swimming pools.
Perpendicular to the performance stage sat Earth Day Coalition member Rose Wise handing out flyers under the protection of an umbrella.
“Earth Day was started way back when,” she said. “It’s a day of celebration and education on what we can do to protect the earth, a day to call public attention to just what an important issue the environment is.”
The festival continued as the booths provided information. Local restaurants such as Main Squeeze set up shop in the April heat selling organic foods and beverages. True to this year’s theme, “Vote for the Earth,” shops and vendors displayed eco-friendly, recycled, shoes, shirts and bags.
Finally, around 2:50 p.m., The Dragonflies, a dancing group from the Moon Belly Dance Studio, prepared to perform with their students and team.
“We’ve been performing at Earth Day for three or four years now,” group instructor Christi Price said. “It’s a great combination of community, diversity, expression and art. We always love coming out here and being able to share our dance with Columbia.”
The crowd smiled collectively at the vibrant costumes and synchronized movements the girls made. After applause and much praise, The Dragonflies cleared the stage for the next performers as the D’Agostives Family Choir began its program.
“Every year one million trees are cut down for junk mail sent to your home,” one member read into the microphone.
The rest of the day included many activities for young children, including sand art, candy art, hairstyles, CD art and face-painting booths. For the older crowd there was everything from hawk demonstrations to jazz to funnel cake vendors.
“Every water bottle takes one third a bottle of oil to make,” read the bulletin board at the League of Women Voters of Columbia/Boone County.
“We want to bring thoughts of the environment to a more conscious level,” league member Sarah Wolcott-Twaddle said. “To bring awareness to wind power, solar power and the power of recycling.”
Sunday marked the 19th consecutive year people of Columbia have been meeting downtown to celebrate Earth Day and gather for entertainment as a community.
“There are people here who really were interested in what we are doing,” land commissioner Dan Goldstein said.
All music played on the Peace Park Stage will again be broadcasted live on KOPN/89.5 FM.
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