Earlier this week, I was just getting ready to write the organization, Monarch Joint Venture, when my box of handouts arrived. If you have ever wondered what 500 bookmarks look like, check out the photo below!
Spring is approaching fast and April, especially, will be busy with three different school-wide presentations. As I am a planner, I ordered my handouts a few weeks ago, hoping to get them prior to a presentation I had earlier this month. They did not arrive in time for that presentation, but I had some of my own and the church staff where I spoke was kind enough to print extras for me. Alas, we had a snowstorm that dumped about a foot of snow the night before. Everything – including parking – was a little bit off for that engagement. Still, I think everyone who attended felt it was a success and it brightened our spirits to talk of flowers and butterflies in the dead of winter!
During this month, I’ll spend several hours a week preparing and planning for my presentations in March and April. There is a conference in March that I will attend as both a presenter and a registrant. I am very much looking forward to sharing how I’ve been involved in Citizen Science and learning more from others who have a similar passion for the environment.
In April, I will be speaking at three schools for their environmental day or Earth Day Celebrations. One of those presentations takes place right on Earth Day itself! This year is the 50th anniversary of the original Earth Day that took place on April 22, 1970. I am beyond thrilled to be able to speak to an entire school for that event, especially on that day! Even though I was born in the 1960s, I consider myself a child of the 70’s – frequently wearing peace sign appliqued shirts and jeans, with my long hair parted in the middle – listening to John Denver, The Carpenters, and other songs on an album called Bridge Over Troubled Waters.
In addition, despite being born in New York, I also now consider myself a Wisconsinite. Earth Day was founded, in 1970, by Gaylord Nelson, a senator from Wisconsin who wanted to elevate environmental consciousness in our citizens national wide. It was only questionably successful despite 20 million Americans participating that year. It is scary to listen to the special news broadcast by Walter Cronkite and his co-reporters on that historic day and realize we are still not united and still fighting some of the same battles for our earth home. The biggest difference is that our time on earth is shorter than it was thought to be 50 years ago.
Because of the significant anniversary, Earth Day 2020 promises to be even bigger this year and we certainly have more concerns than we did 50 years ago. The time to take action is now. My main focus is to engage our youth during these presentations so that they might find something relatable and local that they can do to help our mother earth. We all can and MUST do a small part to keep our earth sustainable and diverse.
It excites me to be able to have a part in promoting conservation and environmental stewardship. I look forward to getting ready for April, and beyond!
The Apples in My Orchard 