Mantua – Sunshine, warm weather, and easy access to a playground, combined with lots of volunteers made the Earth Day celebration at Crestwood Primary & Intermediate Schools a big success. As participants checked in at the Welcome Booth of the free after-school community program, they received an Earth Day Passport that issued a challenge to, “Get Ready…Set…Let the Earth Day Celebration Begin!”
The program kicked off at 4:30 pm with a musical performance by local musician Dale Lacan, after which attendees were invited to visit the twenty-two hands-on stations lining the perimeter of the playground between Crestwood Primary and Intermediate Schools. Organizations featured included Portage County Recycling, Ohio Department of Natural Resources – Division of Natural Areas and Preserves, Portage County Soil and Water Conservation District, Akron Water Supply, and the Holden Arboretum.
Students and their families had the chance to play games, win prizes, and get their faces painted at this Earth-friendly carnival. In addition, they had the chance to repurpose items to create crafts including hand painted flower vases and candleholders. Families also had the opportunity to plant spruce seeds, pick put a free sapling, sprout a radish seed necklace, and learn about their local environment.
More than three hundred people enjoyed the fun and educational booths manned by school staff, community volunteers, Hiram College students, and representatives from the area’s Earth-minded organizations. Sunshine and pleasant weather helped make the ninth annual celebration at Crestwood Schools fruitful. Parents chatted and enjoyed the spring sunshine while their jubilant children enjoyed the event, the playground, and just generally being outdoors, making Earth Day a fresh-air-infused day of family fun.
