Celebrate Earth Day At The World Peace Wetland Prairie

ffw-kelly-4-15-10Earth Day always seems to fall on a weekday, often coming and going without much notice. Kind of sad. What could be more important than celebrating the Earth?

This year Earth Day falls on Thursday, but this Sunday, at the fifth annual World Peace Wetland Prairie Earth Day Celebration, you can pause from our busy world and celebrate nature. This little-known jewel of a park is maintained by community volunteers and performs an important role as a true wetland habitat despite the encroachment of new apartment complexes that now surround it.

The celebration is a relaxed, family oriented gathering organized by the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology and neighborhood friends of the park.

Special emphasis has been given to kids activities this year. Kids can participate in the building of a “fairy village” nestled under low-hanging branches. They can help decorate tiny fairy houses with materials gleaned from the park. Volunteers have made tiny ceramic huts as a starting place. The popular kids performers “Toucan Jam” will host a bird-watching workshop for kids and lead them on a short bird walk.

Live acoustic music will be provided by Still on the Hill and Emily Kaitz, not amplified so it won’t obscure the bird songs.

There will be bird and plant walks with local experts Paige and Mary Bess Mulhollan and Bernetta Hinterthuer, and informal workshops on personal sustainability by Nathan Wilson, co-chair of the OMNI Center’s Climate Change Task Force.

You can get your hands in the dirt by pulling weeds in the park gardens with other folks who care about the Earth. This is always a “feel good” event.

The event will be from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. To get there, go south on Hill Avenue from Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Turn right on 11th Street and bear left as it curves into Duncan Avenue. The park is on the right at 112 S. Duncan Ave. For information, call 582 2291.

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