Earth Festival Draws Sizeable Crowds, Teaches Powerful Lessons
By BILL BELLENMILFORD
Earth Day being this past Tuesday, April 22, messages of planetary preservation and ecological education have been at the forefront of public discussion. With these sentiments in mind, numerous environmental awareness events were held throughout the state, with Otsego County having its own stake in these celebrations in the form of Earth Festival on Saturday, April 26. The event was organized by the Otsego County Conservation Association from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with a stall-based component located in the Anton Remy Gymnasium at Milford Central School and a recycling drop-off at nearby Wilber Park.
In the lead-up to the event’s kick off, Shelby MacLeish, OCCA assistant director, said, “Truthfully, I’m just looking forward to realizing the whole day. It’s been a long time organizing it, so I like to see how all of the different aspects come together. Seeing all of the environmental organizations in one place, seeing people from all over the county, talking to them, enjoying the day … It’s nice to see. It’s like a big thing come together.”
The day started out rather grim, with cloudy skies and pouring rain, but the foul weather did not stop the initial crowds from gathering—the school’s parking lot was overflowing by 10:30 a.m. Attendance fluctuated throughout the day, with both the event on school grounds and the recycling drop-off seeing solid foot traffic and vehicular traffic, respectively.
