Saint Vincent College will host the 7th Annual Westmoreland Earth Day from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 19 in and around the Robert S. Carey Student Center. The Barn at the Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve will also be open from noon to 5 p.m. and the nature trails will be open for participants’ enjoyment at their leisure.

This year’s Earth Day theme is “Greening Your Footprint” that will include educational activities, live shows and informative displays and booths for all ages and interests. The event is free and open to the public.

Organizations that will be participating in this year’s event include Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Loyalhanna Spinners, Women of the Cloud Forest, Tri-County Trout Club, Pennsylvania DCNR Bureau of Forestry, Westmoreland County 4-H, Westmoreland Bird and Nature Club, Penn State Master Gardeners-Westmoreland County, Botanical Society of Westmoreland County, Wildlife Works, Inc., Kiski-Conemaugh Stream Team, Loyalhanna Watershed Association, Amphibians Alive and others. Each organization will contribute to a wide variety of booths featuring information on environmental education, youth activities, gardening, arts and crafts, environmental products, outdoors, camping and more. The live show schedule includes Polar Bears at Churchill by Joe Stefko of the Pennsylvania Game Commission from 12:30 to 2 p.m. and an American Indian Reenactment by Todd Johnson from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.

In addition, sixth grade students in Westmoreland County schools entered their original Earth Day artwork in a contest. The winner’s design will appear on commemorative Westmoreland Earth Day “oat bags” that will be handed out to the first 100 attendees on the day of the event.

The 2008 Westmoreland Earth Day Committee includes representatives from: Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve, DCNR-Keystone State Park, Pennsylvania DEP, Kiski-Conemaugh Stream Team, Loyalhanna Watershed Association, Penn State Cooperative Extension, Westmoreland Conservation District, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy Freshwater Conservation Program, and Westmoreland Cleanways. The event is supported in part by Pittsburgh 250 Community Connections and The Sprout Fund.

Community Connections is a grassroots initiative of Pittsburgh 250 supporting projects that encourage civic engagement throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania, commemorate the region’s 250th anniversary, and provide lasting value to communities and the region as a whole. More than 500 applications for funding were submitted by individuals, community groups, and organizations to celebrate the “Pride and Progress” of Southwestern Pennsylvania – the theme of Community Connections. A region-wide community decision-making process selected 100 projects to share $1 million in funding for events and activities occurring throughout the anniversary year of 2008.

For more information visit the official Westmoreland Earth Day website www.westmorelandearthday.org or contact Angela Belli, Environmental Education Center Director at Saint Vincent College, at angela.belli@email.stvincent.edu.

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