Edmonton’s Earth Day will tap into some pioneer spirit this weekend as the annual event sets up shop at Fort Edmonton Park.
Earth Day, an international event meant to raise awareness of the environment, falls on April 22. The event celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
Edmonton has six hours of celebration planned on April 18 as a result, said Janice Boudreau, event organizer and St. Albert resident, all set to songs played by bands on an all-acoustic, solar-powered stage. “It’s Earth Day unplugged,” she quipped.
Groups such as the Solar Energy Society of Canada and Raising Spaces will be on hand to talk about green energy and renovations. Kids will be able to stare safely at the sun thanks to the Royal Astronomical Society and tinker with tadpoles with the Big Lake Environment Support Society. The first 500 visitors will get a free tree from Alberta Environment.
In a major change from past years, this year’s event will be held in and around the Blatchford Hangar in Fort Edmonton Park.
Organizers moved the event from Hawrelak Park after years of bad weather, Boudreau said. A sudden snowstorm cancelled last year’s event altogether — it had to be rescheduled for September. “We’ve been searching for some sort of alternative that allows us to be inside or outside,” she said, and the hangar seems to fit.
Fort Edmonton Park itself reminds us of a simpler time where there wasn’t as much clutter or litter, Boudreau said. Many old devices, such as clotheslines, can save us energy today. Kids will have a chance to use clotheslines during a sock-drying rally at the event, she noted.
The park doesn’t open until May, Boudreau said, but visitors can still wander around its buildings. “It’s kind of like having a private party, but inviting the entire city of Edmonton, St. Albert and Morinville.”
The free event runs from noon to 6 p.m. on April 18. Some parking is available, but visitors are encouraged to either bike or take the bus. This year’s free shuttle departs every half hour from the south campus LRT station by Foote Field at the University of Alberta.
For details, call Boudreau at 780-460-1756.
Bird watchers might want to land at Big Lake before they head to Earth Day to put some spring into their life.
Amateur ornithologists will be at the Big Lake Environment Support Society’s viewing platform on April 17 and 24 for the annual Springing to Life bird count. The informal count, organized this year by St. Albert resident Alan Hingston, sees squads of bird-watchers gather on the shores of Big Lake to see what birds have returned during spring migration.
Veteran bird-spotter Peter Demulder said he had already spotted mallards, American widgeons (green and white head), goldeneyes (black and white), coots (black), and ring-billed gulls at the lake this month. “Yesterday we saw one great blue heron down there.” Muskrats are also visible swimming or scurrying over the ice.
At least three telescopes will be at the platform for anyone to use, Demulder said, as well as many learned bird enthusiasts. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own spotting scopes as well as warm clothes.
The event runs from 8:30 a.m. to noon on both dates. To reach the viewing platform, park at the BLESS shelter off Riel Drive and follow the trail west under Ray Gibbon Drive.
