Where I'm at they make earth day into a two day event starting Friday and ending on Saturday. I attended Friday's workshops and seminars and learned a lot. There's real big interest in wind turbines in my area. Below is the newspaper article describing the event.
Embracing Our Earth returning for fourth year
TRACI L. WEISENBACH and STACY LANGLEY
PIGEON — This year for Earth Day, don’t just give a hand in helping protect our environment — embrace the opportunity to spend a day or two learning more about “green” living, alternative energy, and the environment. This all can be done at Embracing Our Earth, an educational green festival for the whole family.
Embracing Our Earth is returning for its fourth year, last year bringing in about 6,000 people to attend the event.
For the first time, Embracing Our Earth will be a two-day event this year, sponsored by the Huron Intermediate School District as well as some energy and environment-related organizations, such as the DTE Energy Foundation, Noble Environmental Power, LLC and Thumb Electric Cooperative, among other businesses. Friday will be professional workshops and seminars, focusing on sustainable, alternative and green energy and products, as well as environmental issues. The workshops will be at the Huron Area Technical Center in Bad Axe.
According to Scott Whipple, Huron Intermediate School District outreach teacher, organizers thought dedicating one day to workshops and seminars would allow more people to be able to hear experts speak on various environmental and energy-related topics.
“It was hard to keep a captive audience,” Whipple said. “We decided to take (the workshop) element out of the Saturday family events.”
He said he didn’t want these presenters — some of whom are traveling a good distance — to donate their time to do workshops and seminars when only a few people would be attending.
The workshops and seminars on Friday are geared toward agribusiness professionals, farmers, science/agriculture/social studies teachers in middle and high school, business professionals, local/state/federal workers in related fields, “green” enthusiasts, and anyone interested in becoming more informed about energy, environmental, and economic issues.
There will be several speakers, one of which is Dr. Bruce Dale of Michigan State University, and his presentation will be called “Beyond Oil: Thinking Clearly about Petroleum Alternatives.” Dale will speak from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Friday. Another keynote speaker, Joe Scrimger, will talk on “The Environment, Economy, and Local Foods” from 4:10 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
Throughout the day, there will be eight sessions during four time slots. From 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Dale will speak again, this time on “Grassoline in Your Tank: Creating the Biofuels Future,” and Larry Kaufman of DTE will speak on “Energy Conservation and Cost-Saving Tips.”
From 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., a DTE representative will do an electricity and safety demonstration, and Dave Armbruster of Farm Bureau will speak about “The Changing Face of Agriculture.”
From 12:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m., Dr. Chris Schilling of Saginaw Valley State University will speak on “Alternative Fuels from Polysacchariede Biomass.” James Fitzgerald of NASA Aerospace Educational Services will be doing a discussion on “International Polar Year.”
Brion Dickens of Woodland Wind LLC and the State of Michigan Wind Outreach Team will be talking about “Wind Energy: The How, What, Where and Why” at 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., and Scrimger will be talking on “Local Foods and Their Effect on Health and Market Forces.”
After the workshops and seminars have concluded, an appreciation dinner for all Embracing Our Earth speakers, presenters and vendors will take place Friday, as well, and will feature foods from the Thumb.
Saturday’s festival will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port school complex at 6136 Pigeon Road.
Saturday will be a family-friendly event with a wide variety of vendors, children’s activities and games, presentations and demonstrations, live animal shows, entertainment, and a pig roast.
A number of returning exhibits and activities are back by popular demand, including the Michigan United Conservation Club birds of prey, the Living Science Foundation Tidepool Touch Tank, and the StarLab Planetarium.
Some new musical acts this year will be a Celtic music performance, African drum and dancing, Native American music and dance, a steel drum band, and folk music. Also at Laker’s Saturday Bad Axe High School will have a fossil display as well as an exhibit on the high school’s Water Sentinels Project with the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.
North Huron students will give a rocket presentation.
And the Laker High School Science Club will have its Energy Carnival once again Other highlights include the Detroit Science Center three-hole miniature golf course made of recyclable materials, archery lessons and demonstrations, a clay display and hands-on sessions from the Midland Center for the Arts, historic photos and video display gallery by Al and David Eicher, a kayak tank, a butterfly tent, a “Magic of Electricity” exhibit, a rock-climbing wall, tethered hot air balloon rides, and much more.
“Each year, we try to expand into new areas,” Whipple said. “Each year, there are always new attractions.”
There will be exhibits from a number of local businesses on Saturday, as well. And schools will be involved in various student competitions and presentations, including building a shoebox-sized model of the environmentally-friendly home of the future; a “trashion” show; parade of flags/floats; a photo/television commercial contest; and writing contests.
Area schools that have achieved “Michigan Green School” status will be honored at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
These are schools that met certain criteria set in the Michigan Green School Act, signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in May 2006. A school that achieves 10 of the 25 Points of Energy and Environmental Savings Activities, as stated in the act, will be designated as a Green School.
Some of these points include recycling paper, adopting an endangered species animal from an organization, doing energy audits in classrooms and making improvements, doing a birdhouse habitat project, and planting a native Michigan plant garden.
So far, the following schools have achieved this status: George E. Greene Elementary and Bad Axe Intermediate and grades K-12 at Lakers, North Huron, Ubly, and Caseville.
State Rep. Terry Brown, D-Pigeon, will be at the Saturday event, as well.
“There will be something for everyone,” Whipple said. “If people want to learn about alternative energy, environmental issues, and green living/healthy living, this is a great venue for that, and people can have a fun time together with their family.”
He said even if someone has attended all of the previous Embracing Our Earth festivals, it’s always worth the time to come back to the educational, entertaining event because one will always discover something new and learn important lessons about how to be earth-friendly.
“We have to become better stewards of our environment, and this is a showcase of ways to do that,” Whipple said.
