120 March In Cherry Valley

To Focus On Climate Change

CHERRY VALLEY – More than 120 people, from babies to senior citizens, turned out Saturday for the Peoples’ Climate March in Cherry Valley.

Marchers and walkers headed through the village bearing colorful banners, signs, and giant, handmade puppets (including Gaia, a butterfly, and a colorful banner of the sun).

Local attendees included educators, veterans, healthcare workers, business owners, engineers, artists, trades people, and children.

Cherry Valley resident and science and technology educator Kat Chiba said, “It gives me hope for the future to see my neighbors on the streets reminding us of what really matters.”

Army veteran David Bosma, who brought his nearly 2-year-old daughter Hazel to the march, said, “Climate change is the greatest challenge we face. It is up to us to protect our children’s future.”

Sharon Springs resident (also a military veteran) Elliott Adams said, “As a local logger, it is hard for me to drive down any road in Schoharie or Otsego and not recall logging at least part of the visible hills. I know that we, the human species, will not survive if we do not protect our environment and stop global warming.”

Shya Scanlon, a writer who traveled from Manhattan to Cherry Valley for the march, commented, “I felt like my protest had a three times bigger impact there than it would have in New York City.”

Younger folks participated in a ‘color your hope or wish and hang it on the tree’ activity at the Cherry Valley Memorial Library. Other events included an ‘Ask a Gardener’ session and a bicycle maintenance workshop. Organizers also shared posters featuring facts about climate change.

Organized by Positive Action Cherry Valley as a sister event to the Peoples Climate March in Washington D.C., this was one of 200 local marches which took place around the country on Saturday.

Organizers say they were inspired by the Peoples Climate Movement, which calls itself a “people-powered movement” and which organized two hundred thousand Americans to gather in Washington D.C. to advocate for climate, social, and economic justice.

Positive Action Cherry Valley is one of several community groups to have recently organized in order to improve local, state, and national communities. Other groups to have joined the decades-old Peacemakers of Schoharie County include Positive Action Cooperstown and Positive Action Mohawk Valley.