Earth Day Celebration
<p>Tristen Adams transfers a Douglas Fir sapling to a plastic planter for Trenton Calderwood, middle. SSC brought different types of saplings for attendees to take home and plant in their yards.</p>
<p>Jayden Anderson flinches as Gel Papyk begins painting a black spot over Anderson's nose. Anderson came down to the event with his friends Sunday afternoon, hoping to find some fun activities and learn a little about their community.</p>
<p>Tori Peterson, left, and Shaniya Decker warm up their voices and fingers before the Earth Day event on Sunday afternoon. The girls prepared three songs to play for the event, Hallelujah, Home, and Colors of the Wind.</p>
<p>Kassidy Dougherty holds up her finished pinecone birdfeeder. The feeders were first covered in peanut butter then layered with bird seed, making a tasty snack for any bird.</p>
<p>Elliott Natz/Lake County Leader Rudy King, left, watches Sophia Tolbert start a coffee filter butterfly at Mission's Earth Day event Sunday afternoon. "They're super cute," Tolbert said, talking about the butterflies.</p>
Sapling planting, music, and making pine-cone-bird-feeders were just a few of the the activities available at the Earth Day celebration put on by Mission’s Students Serving Community (SSC) at Mission’s Good Old Days Park on Sunday afternoon.
This was the fourth year SSC put on an Earth Day event in which Mission high school students raised awareness about recycling, outdoor, and preservation resources available to Mission Valley residents.
This year’s event was put on by four high school students, Sophia Tolbert, Leila Marsh, Kylee Wells, and Yvonne Baty, with the help of other student volunteers and the coordination of SSC’s sponsor, Sara Keast.
Tolbert, Co-President of SSC, said she wanted to be a part of this event because she has some concerns about the valley. “Our valley is so pretty and I don’t want to grow up and have it be destroyed by pollution.”
Tolbert feels that her contribution is important because it could help bring more awareness to her community. She feels that she understands the importance of recycling and keeping her community clean, but that not everyone is as aware or connected as she is. “I want more people to be aware of pollution dangers.”
The ladies involved in the planning and execution of this year’s Earth Day event were brand new to the process and had never planned or attended it until they volunteered their time and energy to make it happen. Tolbert said she invited a few organizations such as Western Montana Growers Coop, Alternative Energy Resource Organization (AERO), Montana Wilderness Association and The Great Bear Foundation to come and have booths set up to talk about what they do. Unfortunately, only Montana Wilderness Association and The Great Bear Foundation could come, leaving the girls a little disappointed but not defeated.
There were some other road bumps that the girls had to navigate, including dealing with sickness and working around other activities. “It was rough but we did it,” Tolbert said.
Activities at the event included making critters out of recycled egg cartons, crafting coffee filter butterflies, and covering pine cones with peanut butter and seeds to hang up as a bird feeders. The girls also organized a tree planting station where people could take home and plant their own tree as well as having door and raffle prizes and music.
Keast said that she is the overall coordinator of the event, but allows the girls to do much of the work. “I just offer assistance. If they want to do a project, I just help make it happen,” Keast said. Next year, Keast plans to hand over the controls to the girls completely, feeling confident that after this year’s success the girls will be able to do it again.
Tolbert said that providing a day like this is important to the community because Earth Day is more than just picking up trash. “I really enjoy that I’m putting this on for the kids that get to come have fun… they can realize ways to save the earth and recycle.”
Keast said that events like these are important because there are so many kids that are interested in ways to improve their communities and the Earth Day activities give them an outlet and ideas to work with. She hopes that these events will keep inspiring kids in Mission.
“We have a beautiful place that we live in,” Keast said. “And moving forward, we want to make sure it stays this way.”