Earth Day

As we celebrated Earth Day on Sunday, I was reminded of this Native American proverb: “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” Salem students celebrate Earth Day Students at Salem Avenue Elementary School in Hagerstown celebrated Earth Day April 20 by cleaning up the school grounds. Teachers in each grade level discussed how important it is to keep the Earth clean and what each of us can do each day to keep it that way. Then, during recess time, all Salem students walked around the school grounds with their teachers picking up litter.

Earth Day will be celebrated at Discovery Station on Sunday at 3 p.m.  The science program with student activities is based on the book “A River Ran Wild” by Lynn Cherry. The book encourages children to be aware of and how to care for their environment. The book is the true story of changes in New England's Nashua River over the centuries, and how man has destroyed and later reclaimed the river and the land around it. The children will document these changes on a map. To help children remember the importance of caring for their environment, they will create a 3-D model using trash in a constructive way instead of using it to pollute the environment.  All children participating in the class will receive their own tree to plant to beautify the environment.

Kasandra Green, a third-grader at Winter Street Elementary School in Hagerstown, did not mince words when talking about the importance of Earth Day and protecting the environment. “If we don’t help the Earth it will become a big dump,” she said. “I want it to be pretty and not so ugly.” Green, along with other students and faculty members, took part in Winter Street’s celebration of Earth Day Wednesday by planting flowers, weeding, and mulching around the school. The school only had a half day, and students from each grade except prekindergarten went outside at one point to help work on the lawn.

By the time you read this column, the Washington County Envirothon will be complete as it was held Friday at Claud E. Kitchens Outdoor School at Fairview and Earth Day will be observed Thursday. The reason I point that out is one of the topics for the Envirothon was groundwater, and if you live in Washington County, there is a great possibility you rely on groundwater for your home's water supply. Even if you live in some of the smaller municipalities around the county, several of them rely on groundwater for their public service water supply.

The Oak Hill neighborhood got another oak tree and Earth Day had an international flavor Wednesday as a group of high school students from Hagerstown’s sister city of Wesel, Germany, watched the tree-planting ceremony Wednesday morning in Oswald Park. “We’re a Tree City USA, and it’s important for us to keep that heritage alive,” Hagerstown Mayor Robert E. Bruchey II said after the ceremony, in which he also read the city’s Earth Week proclamation. “For a small town, I think we’re more conscientious than larger cities” about environmental issues, he said.

Tina's Toddlers Day Care of Cascade helped celebrate Earth Day by picking up trash and learning about recycling. They wore their Earth Day hats for the occasion. Taking part were Christopher Black, Ben Warner, Bradey Harbaugh and Xavier Matta.

By LISA GRAYBEAL Staff Writer, Waynesboro WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Spread out on blankets, flying kites in the meadow or walking the trails at Renfrew Park, hundreds of people celebrated Earth Day on Sunday simply by enjoying their natural surroundings. For the seventh year, organizers at Renfrew Institute for Cultural and Environmental Studies invited the public to renew their appreciation for the planet through activities, entertainment, educational exhibits, and programs.

Oh boy, Earth Day and the NFL draft all in the same weekend. Life doesn't get any sweeter than that. All Earth Day NFL team: Barrett Green, Ryan Leaf, Cliff Branch, Warren Sapp, Bert Berry, Todd "Compost" Heap, Alge Crumpler, Josh Mallard, T.J. Duckett, Anthony Herron, Kim Herring, Antwan Lake, Brian Waters, Derrick Brooks, Tyrone Poole, David Rivers, Randy Moss, Eric Moulds, Mat McBriar, Scottie Vines, Rashaun Woods, Skyler Fulton, Michael Cloud,...

To celebrate Earth Day, businesses on Elliott Parkway came out on Friday to clean up the street. “As a father of four, I really want to leave my kids a clean environment,” says Jason Clark, who works in the warehouse and the freezer at Dot Foods. “Everybody wants their community to be clean.” The event is hosted by Dot Foods, which is a distribution company. Once a year they get all the businesses in the area to go out and clean up the street they work on, and then they have a cookout afterward.

With the distinction of being the first official "green school" in Washington County, Western Heights Middle School is working hard to keep that designation. Seventh-grade science teacher Amy Hilliard said the school applied for and earned "green school" status in 2006. It must reapply every three years, demonstrating efforts in three categories to be a Maryland Green School - integrated environmental education; environmental best management practices modeled in the operation, design and maintenance of the school building and grounds; and the school and/or students extend their learning into the community, according to MAEOE.

As redbuds flash purple along our roadways and tulips blink red and yellow at our doorsteps, I am reminded that natural beauty is awe-inspiring and worth protecting.  Not just on Earth Day, but every day. Gardeners are some of the best environmentalists, choosing smart practices that help, not harm, our natural resources. Every choice you make as a gardener can tip the balance toward conservation. Healthy gardens grow healthy plants. So build healthy soil to keep your gardens productive and part of a vibrant ecosystem.

Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce welcomed 10 new members in April, bringing the membership to 944. New members are: • Ad Pros LLC, McConnellsburg, Pa. • Bob Evans, 1131 Wayne Road, Chambersburg • Caledonia Power Sports LLC, Fayetteville, Pa. • Georgina's Mexican & Latin Cuisine, 875 Lincoln Way West, Suite 129, Chambersburg • iWAT LLC,...

It was a day of education and fun Saturday at Renfrew Institute's Earth Celebration Day and Festival of Art. Now in its 23rd year, about 40 exhibitors and environmental artists set up on the lawn at Renfrew Park from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. About 500 people attended Saturday's event. Renfrew Park is the most beautiful park in Waynesboro, said Melodie Anderson-Smith, executive director of Renfrew Institute, and she said it's the perfect place to bring people outdoors to celebrate the Earth.

Since its inception in 1970, Earth Day has led to enormous growth in understanding the consequences we face if we do not take care of our natural resources. It has led to more action to protect our planet's land, water, air, wildlife and human beings, and it has strengthened farmers' and ranchers' already strong commitment to being good environmental stewards. Farmers observe Earth Day every day. Where asphalt and pavement turn to gravel and dirt, you will find men and women rising early, greeting the day and working the earth.  Their office space is outdoors in the sun, wind, rain and sometimes snow.

Students from St. John's Preschool in Hagerstown recently took a trip to the U.S. Silica Co. plant in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., as part of their study about Earth Day. Al Gwizdala, operations director, showed the students all the products made using sand and the ways the company uses processes that demonstrate environmental responsibility. The children were given a tour of the plant, including the large machinery and the highlight of their visit included a chance to stand in the bucket of a front-end loader.

As we celebrated Earth Day on Sunday, I was reminded of this Native American proverb: “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” Salem students celebrate Earth Day Students at Salem Avenue Elementary School in Hagerstown celebrated Earth Day April 20 by cleaning up the school grounds. Teachers in each grade level discussed how important it is to keep the Earth clean and what each of us can do each day to keep it that way. Then, during recess time, all Salem students walked around the school grounds with their teachers picking up litter.

Earth Day will be celebrated at Discovery Station on Sunday at 3 p.m.  The science program with student activities is based on the book “A River Ran Wild” by Lynn Cherry. The book encourages children to be aware of and how to care for their environment. The book is the true story of changes in New England's Nashua River over the centuries, and how man has destroyed and later reclaimed the river and the land around it. The children will document these changes on a map. To help children remember the importance of caring for their environment, they will create a 3-D model using trash in a constructive way instead of using it to pollute the environment.  All children participating in the class will receive their own tree to plant to beautify the environment.

Esquire magazine recently published an issue titled “For Our Divided Times,” which featured 79 things “We All Can Agree On.” OK, I'm buying. The cover choice, however, was a little odd: Bill Clinton, who was one of the most polarizing leaders in modern history. While I might not agree with all of the 79 things (I'm all in on Ashley Greene, National Parks, Woody Harrelson and how amazing the young Eddie Murphy was in his early movies), one thing is sure about the idea: we could all use a common cause around which to rally.

You've already dyed all the eggs in the house, and the kids still want something to do because school's out and they're BOOOORRRED. Julie Cantrel has an idea: Make flowers using aluminum soda cans. Cantrel, art teacher with Winter Street Elementary School in Hagerstown, said this project combines two holiday themes - flowers for Easter and recycled materials for Earth Day. And since Earth Day is a few weeks away - on April 22 - there's lots of time to round up more cans and make more flowers.

“Go outside and blow the stink off!” Those are the words my mother would teasingly hurl at my three-years-younger twin sisters and me if she thought we were missing a pretty day's fresh air when we were children. Although she never could have imagined that decades later, people's - and especially kids' - disconnection from the outdoors would be the stuff of books and a worldwide movement, Mom's instincts were right on. There were no computers, video games or cell phones in the olden days of my youth.