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CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) Valley City State University will host its third annual Earth Day Festival Today from 5:30–9:00 p.m. at Medicine Wheel Park in Valley City.

Earth Day Festival activities begin Monday at 5:30 p.m. at Medicine Wheel Park. (In the event of inclement weather, the festival will shift to VCSU’s Student Center.)

Featured performers are the Buffalo River Dancers, a Native American group from the Fargo–Moorhead area, who will perform at 7 p.m.

earth day photo

Free hotdogs and chips will be served to the first 200 attendees compliments of Sodexo, VCSU’s dining services provider. Free tree seedlings will be given to the first 100 families attending.

Children attending the festival will have the opportunity to do hands-on projects using recycled materials, and they may also participate in a variety of old-fashioned games and win earth-friendly prizes at 6:30 p.m.

Entertainment will include music performances by Jamestown musicians Marie and Mike, and members of Buffalo Road. The festival will conclude with opportunities for star-gazing through telescopes.

Geocachers are encouraged to search the Valley City area for three Earth Day geocoins that have been place in area caches. Bring found geocoins to the Earth Day Festival to receive a prize.

Informational Tables

Throughout the evening numerous artisans, groups and businesses will present earth-friendly practices and products at information tables. These include:
    • Marney’s Sonshine & Sweet Pea, featuring vintage wreaths, paper flowers and button bouquets constructed using repurposed and recycled materials
    • North Dakotans for Clean Water, Wildlife and Parks, with information about putting the the North Dakota Clean Water, Wildlife & Parks Amendment on the November 2014 ballot
    • Norwex—earth-friendly cleaning products
    • Jackie Owen, VCSU education instructor, with information on vermicomposting, the use of worm bins to compost food waste
    • VCSU’s American Fisheries Society Student Subunit with “recipes” for and samples of homemade, earth-friendly cleaning supplies
    • VCSU’s Environmental Task Force with examples of WHAT?
    • VCSU’s Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation Club with the free tree seedlings
    • VCSU’s Prairie Waters Education and Research Center—program information and give-aways
    • “What in the World is Going On?” group—information about their upcoming presentation of the documentary “The Economics of Happiness”

Other Activities

The VCSU community is invited to wear color-themed apparel Tuesday through Friday, April 22–26. On Tuesday individuals are encouraged to wear green in support of keeping the planet green; Wednesday the color is blue in support of clean, healthy water supplies; Thursday is white in support of a clean planet, and Friday is yellow in support of a sun-shining, healthy atmosphere for our planet.

On Tuesday, April 22, members of the VCSU community will be encouraged to check their ecological footprints online at www.earthday.org/footprint-calculator. Members of the Valley City community are urged to do the same.

Jackie Owen, VCSU education instructor, will present “iWorm: Do You?,” a brown bag presentation on vermicomposting at noon on Wednesday, April 23, in the President’s/Norway rooms of the VCSU Student Center.

On Thursday, April 24, members of the VCSU community will be encouraged to walk or ride their bikes to and from work that day.

Also on Thursday, members of VCSU athletic teams will do clean-up work at city parks, and the VCSU Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation Club is organizing an afternoon campus clean-up.

The Earth Day Festival and Earth Week activities are coordinated by the VCSU Environmental Task Force Committee chaired by Rhonda Fairfield, executive assistant to the president, and Greg Vanney, director of marketing and communications.

VCSU Earth Day Festival and Earth Week activities are subject to change; visit www.vcsu.edu/earthday for complete, up-to-date information.

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