Earth Day events commence with environmental fair 132 countries to celebrate April 22

AUGUSTA — A sunrise Indian pipe ceremony atop Cadillac Mountain, sermons from churches across the state, and an environmental career day at the University of Maine are among the statewide events that will mark the 20th anniversary of Earth Day next month.

The April 22 event was heralded Wednesday at the State House during an environmental fair sponsored by Augusta-area environmentalists.

Gov. John R. McKernan and Senate President Charles P. Pray joined members of 30 community-based environmental and conservation groups at the fair.

Jym St. Pierre, one of the fair’s organizers, said the event gave activists an opportunity to meet face-to-face with state legislators as well as begin Earth Day celebrations in Maine.

“We really wanted to focus on the grass-roots organizations,” said St. Pierre, who added that no industry representatives were invited to participate.

Earth Day was conceived by former Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, who developed the idea as a nationwide effort to teach Americans about environmental issues.

More than 20 million people participated in the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. That event has been credited by national politicians as the birth of the modern American environmental movement, Pray told a State House news conference.

Earth Day now is a worldwide event celebrated in at least 132 countries.

The Portland-based state office for Earth Day activities in Maine acts as a clearinghouse for information to local communities, churches, schools and environmental groups.

Dena Allis, director of the Maine Earth Day office, said 300 schools have been sent lesson plans to use in conjunction with Earth Day. She said her office also has sent Earth Day information to churches statewide.

“Because Earth Day is on a Sunday, we’re encouraging churches to participate. We’ve sent them prayers and sermon suggestions,” Ms. Allis said.

In addition, Ms. Allis said her group was working with Maine Street ’90, a non-profit corporation designed to encourage community pride in the state’s 16 counties, and planned to give away seedlings to Maine towns during Arbor Week in May.

Ms. Allis said countless activties across the state have been planned in honor of Earth Day, ranging from Boy Scout and 4-H outings to university lectures.

Cynthia Borden-Chisholm, coordinator of Earth Day activities at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, said the school would have its annual sunrise Indian pipe ceremony on top of Cadillac Mountain on Mount Desert Island on April 22.

“It’s the first event in the U.S. on Earth Day because the tip of Cadillac Mountain receives the first rays of light in the United States,” Borden-Chisholm said, adding that the college chorus also would sing at sunrise.

Borden-Chisholm said the school, a liberal arts college devoted to environmental and social problem solving, was founded in 1970 as a result of the first Earth Day celebrated that same year in Washington.

Other planned events statewide include:

A poster contest for grade school and high school students organized by the Department of Environmental Protection;

A rally to demonstrate environmental concerns at the State House in Augusta on April 14;

A lecture series and a multi-media presentation on the environment, including information on related career opportunities at the University of Maine, Orono, during the week of April 22;

Community-based environmental fairs to be held on Earth Day in Owls Head, Winthrop, Bar Harbor, Old Town, Falmouth, Portland, Wells, Machias, Farmington and Brunswick.