by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
If you’re looking for a way to introduce your young child to the concept of Earth Day, look no further than the Earth Day Jacksonville Ecology Fair, sponsored by the City of Jacksonville, Teacher’s Supply Depot, Duval County School Board, JEA, Vistakon, Anheuser Busch, Comcast, CSX, Waste Management Inc. of Florida, First Coast News and Radio Disney. The fair takes over the Landing this Saturday with fun activities and events for families all day long.
On the Entertainment Stage, The GEMZ, an all-girl pop group heard on Radio Disney, will perform throughout the day. Other entertainment includes a demonstration by Karate America and music from Radio 80. The winners of the Earth Day Jacksonville $500 mini-grants will also be presented on this stage at 11:50 am. The awards will be given to groups who are implementing environmental education programs here on the First Coast.
Over on the Children’s Stage, animal experts will teach kids all about wildlife and may just bring some of their furry, feathery and scaly friends along. Presenters include Lesley Royce from the Department of Parks, Recreation, Entertainment and Conservation, who will be on hand to talk about snakes, The Jacksonville Zoo, who will share information about birds of prey, Bob and Liz Schumaker, who will talk about Reptile Rescue and the Jacksonville Avicultural Society, which will discuss parrots and rainforest conservation. These informative and entertaining presentations will take place hourly.
To help kids further grasp the message of conservation and recycling, children can make a number of take-home crafts using recycled materials. Some of these fun craft projects include painting bookmarks, designing 3-D turtles, making friendship bracelets, decorating binders, creating rain sticks and much more. Many of these crafts use common household objects such as plastic cups, brown grocery bags, paper towel tubes and aluminum foil, so kids can go home and make more of these easy projects. They’ll be helping the environment and won’t even know it! Face painters will also be on hand to give children a fun make over and various exhibitors will be there to share important information about what your family can do to help heal the planet.
Best of all, this education-disguised-as-fun day is absolutely free of charge. Earth Day 2007 posters and t-shirts will be available for purchase to commemorate this special day. The 2007 Earth Day Jacksonville Ecology Fair is on Saturday, April 21st from 10 am to 4 pm. For more information, visit www.jea.com/earthday.
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