The Monadnock Earth Festival Committee is proud to announce that the 8th Annual Monadnock Earth Festival will be held on Saturday April 19th from 10am to 4pm at Railroad Square on Main Street in Keene. This year’s festival will kick-off the following six days of Earth Week, which will be filled with fun activities and educational events. The theme of this year’s Earth Celebration is “Building Sustainable Communities”. There will be an array of local speakers, workshops and demonstrations highlighting sustainability issues all day at the festival. In addition, there will be a plethora of local farmers, businesses, organizations and vendors selling products, giving information and showcasing local sustainable initiatives. Children’s activities will be ongoing throughout the festival in the Children’s Tent. Musical and Spoken Word performances will be at the Commercial Street Parking Lot. The entire festival will be tented and is open and free to the public. So come one and come all, rain or shine, and make this year’s Earth Day Celebration truly memorable.
For more information about the April 19th Festival or any of the Earth Week events, please contact:
Christina Oliva at 603-847-9639 or at christina_oliva@antiochne.edu.
Sponsored by:
Antioch University New England Student Alliance, Antioch New England Institute’s Student Task Force, City of Keene, Rymes Heating & Oil & Ted’s Shoes
EARTH FESTIVAL EVENTS
*Saturday April 19th*
Ecology Walk
Saturday April 19h
Meet at Railroad Square @ 8am for carpool or at the Airport @ 8:10am
Join naturalists Phil Brown & Julie Tilden in welcoming spring and the return of life to the Keene area! We will explore the various habitats surrounding the Keene Airport, including wetlands, woodlands, and grassland fields. There should be a good diversity of migrant songbirds, emerging amphibians and reptiles, insects (perhaps the first black flies of the year?), and more. Be prepared for some mud, and bring binoculars if you have them. All ages and levels of experience and interest are welcome.
Workshops/Demonstrations
• SEED STARTING WORKSHOP w/ Farmer Tracie Smith
Saturday April 19th
8 am @ Tracie's Community Farm
Jaffrey Rd, Fitzwilliam, NH 03447
www.traciesfarm.com or (603) 209-1851
Participants will get to take a six pack of seeds home.
Workshop limit: 20 people.
Material cost: $10
For registration and more information please visit: http://www.hannahgrimes.com/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=35
Co-sponsored by: Hannah Grimes
• REFASHION WORKSHOP AND DEMO.
12:30pm @ Railroad Square (Speakers Tent)
Join Award-winning "reprised goods" designer in learning how to transform old clothes into unique new fashions. It's creative & ecological, and requires very little sewing know-how.
www.lyriccouture.com
603-835-6783
• SPINNING, KNITTING & FELTING
1pm @ Railroad Square (Children’s Tent)
Julie Tilden, Emma Hallowell and Emily Kingsley are local fiber lovers.
They will demonstrate and have you participate in fun fiber activities.
Live Angora bunnies will be donating their fur for this special occasion.
• PRIMITIVE SKILLS WORSHOP AND DEMO.
2pm @ Railroad Square (Speakers Tent)
Local and expert craftsman Chris Wood will be sharing his bow making and primitive fire starting skills. He will demonstrate the making of an archery bow from a white ash log. He will have different stages of bows to present and he will demonstrate parts of each stage. He will be using metal handtools similar to what would have been used in the colonial era. In addition, Chris will briefly discuss the bowdrill components and go over some general rules to follow when practicing primitive fire making.
Bows and bow drill sets will be for sale.
• BICYCLE REPAIR & RECYCLE
11am @ Railroad Square (Children’s Tent)
Local Anna Scalera will be sharing her love and knowledge for biking, bike repair & recycling bike parts. Anna has worked with bicycle safety education and Safe Routes to School in Portland, Oregon. Safe Routes to School is a growing international movement to encourage kids to walk and bike to school.
Stop by the Walk and Bike table to get crafty with recycled bike parts and to learn how to fix a flat tire. Make a pledge to walk and bike more often to get places- like to school, your friend's house, the library or the store. Walk and Bike to Help the Earth!
Festival Speakers
• Earth Day Opening Address by Mayor Dale Pregent
10am @ Railroad Square (Speakers Tent)
• Sustainable Keene
10:30am @ Railroad Square (Speakers Tent)
w/ City Officials James Duffy, Mikaela Engert & Steve Russell
James Duffy is a Keene City Councilor and Chairperson of the Keene Cities for Climate Protection Committee. He will provide a brief overview of Cities for Climate Protection, its past efforts, its current efforts, and what the group is focusing on in the future. Mikaela will focus on providing an overview of Keene’s participation in the climate resilient communities program and adapting to climate change. Steve will give a brief overview of greening our city fleets – biodiesel, purchase of hybrids, and the Green Fleets Policy.
• What’s Going Green in NH?: Q&A With State Representatives
11:15am @ Railroad Square (Speakers Tent)
Come join Jay Phinizy and Tara Sad from the Environment and Agriculture Committee in a lively discussion about what is happening in the state legislature in regards to the environment.
• “10,000 Years of Organic Agriculture and How it Relates to the Web of Life”
1:15pm @ Railroad Square (Speakers Tent)
w/ W.S. Badger Company CEO Bill Whyte
Bill Whyte will be focusing his talk on consciousness and the web of life.
• Organic Beekeeping
2:45pm@ Railroad Square (Speakers Tent)
w/ Black Cat Honey Owner Richard Waite
Beekeeper Richard Waite of Black Cat Honey will discuss the highlights of organic beekeeping. In addition, he will touch upon the issues of bee genetics, breeding, Collapsed Colony Disorder (CCD), and herbal remedies for New England bee issues.
www.blackcathoney.com
• “The seven components to creating sustainable buildings”
3:30pm @ Railroad Square (Speakers Tent)
w/ Ecologic Homes Co-owner John Nielson
Join John Nielson to learn about the necessities of a sustainable building: Integrated Site Preparation and Building Design, Resource Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, Water Usage/Conservation, Indoor Air Quality, Home and Business Owners System Education, & Renewable Energy.
Children’s Activities
• RECYCLED ART
10-4pm @ Railroad Square (Children’s Tent)
Come and visit the recycled art table and make treasure out of trash all day long.
• BIRDING & BINOC EXPLORATION w/ The Harris Center
10am @ Railroad Square (Children’s Tent)
People won’t be the only one’s checking out Earth Day in Keene. Join Polly Pattison, Harris Center Teacher Naturalist to find out which birds are back in town. After a mini lesson with binoculars at the children’s tent, we’ll set out for a stroll around the vicinity to see what we can see. We will return to Railroad Square at 11am. Children please bring a parent.
• BICYCLE REPAIR & RECYCLE
11am @ Railroad Square (Children’s Tent)
Stop by the Walk and Bike table to get crafty with recycled bike parts and to learn how to fix a flat tire. Make a pledge to walk and bike more often to get places- like to school, your friend's house, the library or the store. Walk and Bike to Help the Earth!
• PUPPET PARADE
12pm @ Start at Railroad Square
Bring puppets, costumes, instruments, bikes, skateboards and a smile!
• SPINNING, KNITTING & FELTING, Oh My!
1pm @ Railroad Square (Children’s Tent)
Come explore the world of natural fibers with local fiber enthusiasts’ Emma, Julie and Emily. Experiment with wool, silk, angora and alpaca fibers. Sit and knit a few stitches or try your hand at spinning a yarn. Kids will enjoy making colorful felt balls and everyone will love Emma's friendly rabbits.
• BUTTER MAKING w/ Stonewall Farm
2pm @ Railroad Square (Children’s Tent)
Stonewall Farm will be demonstrating and teaching children how to make butter with a butter churn. They will provide Tupperware for the kids to try their own homemade butter with saltine crackers.
Music
ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY OPEN MIC
11am- 12pm @ Commercial Street Parking Lot (Music Tent)
BORN BACKWARDS
12:30- 2pm @ Commercial Street Parking Lot (Music Tent)
BROAD BAND
2pm- 3:30pm @ Commercial Street Parking Lot (Music Tent)
EARTH WEEK EVENTS
*April 20th- April 25th*
Earth Day 5k Run/Walk
Sunday April 20th
Race starts @ 10am (Registration 8:30 – 9:30am)
Meet @ The Center of Keene shopping area
located at 149 Emerald Street in Keene
Ages 15 and up welcome
Pick-up a registration form @ Ted’s Shoes on Main Street in Keene
Entrance Fee: $15
Free t-shirts to the first 50 entrants
Race Timed by : Tri-State Racing Services
Co-sponsored by: Ted’s Shoes
Birding
Sunday April 20th
w/ Ken Klapper
Meet at Ashuelot Park @ 8:45am
Join Researcher and Naturalist Ken Klapper on an exploration for spring birds in the beautiful Ashuelot Park on West St. in Keene. Bring binoculars and bird guides if you have them.
Earth Day Stewardship Weekend
Saturday April 19th & Sunday April 20th
Meet @ Willard Pond Wildlife Sanctuary in Hancock @ 8am-noon or 1pm-5pm
Co-sponsored by: New Hampshire Audubon
Support New Hampshire Audubon’s mission through service at its largest wildlife sanctuary in the state. This sanctuary, at 1500+ acres, lies at the heart of many thousands of acres of conservation land. Its 7 miles of trails over varied terrain are some of the Monadnock region’s best for hiking, observing wildlife, and celebrating the region's natural beauty. Management efforts are only as strong as the volunteers who have worked so hard to protect the important natural resources and surrounding landscape. Lend your hand at trail restoration, apple tree pruning, and more. Call Sanctuary Stewards Char Russell or Rachael Johnson at 525-4096 for more details. Come for either a morning or afternoon work shift, or both!
Library Lecture Series
1. Monday April 21st @ 7pm in the auditorium
Plastics in the Food Chain
Presented by Tamara Adkins, MPH & Environmental Studies Doctoral Candidate
Learn why bisphenol-A (Nalgene and baby bottles), phthalates and PVC are making headlines, and how to get plastic out of your diet. Tamara will also talk about where plastics end up when they are thrown "away" and how to find and budget for plastic-free alternatives.
2. Tuesday April 22nd @ 7pm in the auditorium
Food and Climate Change: How Buying Local Food Can Make a Difference
Presented by Masters Candidate Katie Stoner
Discover why eating local is really beneficial for reducing carbon outputs. Katie will share her research collected from Tracie Smith’s Farm in Sullivan, NH and how when compared to the Earthbound organic agri-business CO2 outputs, the difference is clear- buying local can make a difference.
3. Thursday April 24th @ 7pm
'To Restory America'
Presented by Author and Antioch University Professor Tom Wessels
Tom will be addressing the need for cultural change in order to move toward serious decreases in global environmental degradation. He will focus on the current cultural story of the individual and consumerism. He will then contrast this current story to the story under which this country was founded – community and frugality. Just as restore means to bring back, we don't need a new cultural story, we just need to bring back the original story of “We the People” and thus ‘Restory America’.
Sustainable Living Workshop: Solar Energy, Energy Conservation and You
Wednesday April 23rd from 4pm-6pm
@ Green Energy Options
79 Emerald Street in Keene
Valerie Piedmont and Pablo Fleischmann, owners of Green Energy Options/GEO Solar Store and founders of The Sustainability Project, will offer practical ideas for the home and hearth. Come to this free discussion to hear about: energy conservation, solar electric and solar hot water systems, heating alternatives, rainwater collection, composting and edible forest gardening.
For more information contact: Pablo or Valerie at 603-358-3444 geo@usasolarstore.com
Sustainability Talk @ Antioch
Friday April 25th @ 6pm
The talk will take place in the Community Room on the Antioch Campus
@ 40 Avon Street in Keene
Chris Uhl, professor of ecology at Penn State University will be giving a talk titled
"REVERENTIAL ECOLOGY: A JOURNEY TOWARD WHOLENESS."
Chris is internationally known for his research and activism protecting tropical rain forests in Brazil. As part of that work he took a seven year leave of absence from Penn State to develop a not-for-profit dedicated to forest protection. On his return to the States, Chris shifted his focus toward sustainability and was the leader in moving Penn State University and its board to campus greening.
*Following Chris’s talk will be a community potluck. Please bring a dish or beverage to share.
