Monica LaSalle, Nederland. Being one of the most dedicated environmental activists in the Front Range, Wild Bear Nature Center held their annual Earth Day celebration with live entertainment, live animals and live representatives from local and regional environmental organizations. 

Always a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, Emmy Award winning children’s musician David Williams kicked things off with tunes inspired by Wild Bear’s tireless efforts toward environmental community action and education. 

Strolling through the center listening to these fun jams brought me back to my son’s time spent learning and playing with the gang, where he was instilled with an incredible sense of understanding and responsibility for cooperative living on our planet. 

We stopped to “pet” Belle the Hedgehog, and caught some of the hilarious antics from Brent Warren’s Wandering Magic act – how he gets that fish to work on a leash is beyond me. Outside, we encountered Yak Pack Outfitters and their yaks in a petting coral. Woody Woodward and Anthony Ricketts were there showing support for alternative modes of transportation by offering free yak pats while at the same time getting some socialization for the youngsters – the yaks that is. 

Afternoon entertainment featured Bethy Love Light, an eco-herbal hip hop musician rocking out to support the planet. 

On a more serious note,  NCAR scientist Heather Lazarus and Independent Producer Ava Hamilton held a discussion on the topic of knowledge in reference to indigenous peoples and the world of science. This topic that has been showing up with increased frequency as the world population and modernization continues to displace indigenous peoples, causing valuable knowledge of their ways of life to be lost. 

At the Wild Bear Booths, visitors could visit with Boulder County Resource Conservation Division, Nederland Farmer’s Market, Nederland Food Pantry and Community Gardens, Wildfire Partners and more. B.O.A.T. was set up all day for the event, educating people about their efforts to support outdoor activities. All in all, it was a very pleasant day to be alive on this lovely planet, learning how to make everyday Earth Day.

(Originally published in the May 2, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)