Sunday, April 27th dawned with overcast skies and a damp 45 degree chill – a marked change from the previous two weeks of sunshine, and a foreboding atmosphere for the Great Earth Day Bike Parade.
But everything went amazingly well!
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Avery Yale Kamila has written a great piece on Green Streets for the Maine Switch – check it out! Thanks to the several Green Streeters who participated and/or made themselves available to be photographed & interviewed!
And for other news that’s appeared on the Green Streets movement over the past few months, check our “Press” page.
MENSK is organizing Portland’s 2008 Urban Earth Day Celebration around sustainable modes of transportation, with it’s April 22nd: “You CAN Get There From Here!” event.
There will be kids activities, local bands, a key-note speaker, street performers, local farmers, craftspeople, exhibitors, and vendors will set-up in Congress Square and along Congress Street from High Street to Forest Ave. MENSK anticipates representation from 50-60 organizations, individuals, and businesses.
Transportation-themed exhibits and performers will set-up on Congress Street from 11am to 2pm. Participants support conservation, locally owned business, locally grown food, art, and SUSTAINABLE MODES OF TRANSPORTATION BY TRAIL, RAIL, AND WATERWAY.
Bike-Ped Committee at previous year’s Earth Day:
On March 28th, the color green could be seen all over Harrison Middle School in Yarmouth – green hats, green shirts, green ties, green pants, even green stickers. In all, 193 green-clad students and staff arrived by bus, on foot, by bike, and in carpools – a Green Streets Day celebration organized by the school’s eTeam.
In the weeks and days before March 28th, the eTeam put up posters and made visits to different classrooms. They educated fellow students with a Carbon Cube about the carbon cost of their parents’ dropping individual kids off at school and general car trips around town. On Green Streets Day they set up a station at the school entrance to sign in Green Streets participants and hand out cool Green Streets stickers.
Merry Kahn, staff advisor to the eTeam, said of the student organizers, “They are absolutely great, and continue to give me the hope and inspiration I sometimes need when I think about what’s happening to our wonderful Earth.”
Janet Lohmann, parent of Harrison student Jake Griffin shared later, “I was helping Jake cook some food to take to school and I said, ‘There’s not enough time to get this ready before the bus comes – I’ll just have to drive you in.’ And Jake’s response was, ‘I have to take the bus today, Mom, it’s Green Streets Day!’ So we got everything together and he made the bus!”
Ms. Kahn said she worried people would be discouraged from participating when she saw the wintry precipitation that morning, “But it was actually pretty heart-warming to see all the student enthusiasm in spite of all that snow!”
Ms. Kahn also reports, “One teacher who had planned to ride her bike that day decided to walk instead…3.5 miles to school. That was amazing!”
Inanna-Sisters in Rhythm happened to be performing at Harrison that day, at an afternoon assembly. One of the leaders of the ensemble looked out at the entire school seated in the bleachers and asked, “Why is everyone wearing green?” Students yelled out, “It’s Green Streets Day!” and she nodded in recognition and seemed very impressed, going on to discuss an upcoming event on climate change.
And the further good news from the Harrison e-Team? “We are planning to do this again in April!”
Congratulations to Harrison Middle School for being the first local school to organize a Green Streets Day! You inspire the rest of us – keep up the amazing work!