Plans are underway for the second annual Saugerties Earth Day Week, set for April 20-26, featuring a lineup of nature tours, expert talks, award-winning films, and hands-on activities aimed at informing and inspiring individual and collective action on sustainability.
The spirit of this year’s theme is reflected in the Jane Street Gallery event, “The Joy of Fighting Climate Chaos,” according to Mary McNamara, an environmental activist and a lead organizer of Earth Day Week.
“The reality is that we’ll be spending the rest of our lives dealing with climate change,” McNamara said. “Earth Day Week offers a variety of ways for us to have the important conversations about how we will come together as a community to respond to all of the challenges—food scarcity, floods, droughts, immigration, tainted water, getting rid of our waste, and the list goes on.”
On Earth Day, April 22, Upstate Films Orpheum Theatre will host “Earth Day Action: Act Local, Small Steps, Big Impacts” from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The event will open with the short film, “The Story of Stuff,” and include a panel featuring Marc Rider, executive director of the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency; Melissa Everett, executive director of Sustainable Hudson Valley; and Ulster County Legislator Ann Peters.
“The subject matter is serious but the mood will be kept light as we learn about local, county, and state projects,” said McNamara. Local environmental activists will facilitate conversations and local poets are set to perform.
Last year’s inaugural Saugerties Earth Day Week featured 34 events, 20 speakers, and 12 venues, with support from more than three dozen local businesses and community organizations. Gail Grice, a retired project manager who helped organize the first Earth Day Week just a year after moving to the area, said she hoped this year’s practical focus would draw in even more residents.
“Our focus on local initiatives and ways to get involved brings the abstract down to the actual,” Grice said. “We want people to learn about things that are happening and ways they can be involved, from repair cafes to the new community fridge in town and other resources and projects that will help us get through these times.”
This year’s offerings include pollinator garden tours, family-focused educational events at the Arm-of-the-Sea Tidewater Center, a tour of Anchorage Farm, tree planting, poetry gatherings, and a free training on best practices for well-water maintenance.
On Saturday, April 25, organizers will hold an evening of mocktails, food, and other festivities to support the Saugerties Village Tree Commission. More than 100 original works donated by local artists and collectors will be raffled off.
Organizers said they hoped participation would continue to grow among residents and business owners alike.
Noah Mintz, manager of Inquiring Minds Bookstore & Cafe, which is hosting three Earth Day Week events, said broad community involvement matters.
“As a bookstore, we’re not shy about our values and politics. A huge pillar of that is environmental justice,” he said. “Earth Day Week is a great opportunity to get more conversations going within our community about what we can all actually be doing to save our planet.”
The bookstore will sell signed copies of Judith Enck’s book, “The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It Is Too Late,” on Saturday, April 25, at Upstate Films Orpheum Theatre. Enck, president of Beyond Plastics, is scheduled to appear in a live discussion with County Executive Jen Metzger. The full calendar of events is available at Saugerties Earth Day Week’s website.
Chana Widawski is a contributing reporter for The Overlook. Send correspondence to reporting@theoverlooknews.com.
