Celebrate Earth Day in Woodbury This Weekend (Sponsored)

Written by Paula Antolini

The 19th annual Woodbury Earth Day will take place at Hollow Park in Woodbury, CT from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 27, 2013.  

Woodbury has gathered great vendors from many different areas of interest for this year's event, which promises to be even better than the last. "Last year was an absolute grand slam," said Woodbury First Selectman Jerry Stomski. "It gave us an opportunity to look at, how do we make it better? I mean, it's hard to make it better than a grand slam, but we've opened it up and expanded it.

With all the hype this year, "We moved it from the Hollow Parking lot to the Hollow Fields to give it much more expanse, so we're really excited about this. We think that this is absolutely turning it into our premier event here in town." 

This event has grown quickly from it's early beginnings in the New Morning Market parking lot to a much larger event with more than 120 vendors and 6,700 visitors last year. It has approximately the same amount of vendors this year and is expected to receive at least that many visitors.This marks the second year in Hollow Park, and the event will again be brought to you by the Woodbury Business and Economic Development Committee (WBEDC), and sponsored in part by New Morning Market. 

MUSIC: With nine different musical acts, you are sure to find a favorite. The music ranges from aboriginal Louisiana funk to Japanese, bluegrass, Celtic, gospel, country, folk, and drum beats. See the complete list of musicians below.

"The entertainment is really top notch and is going to be better than ever, with live music," said John Pittari, committee member and owner of New Morning Market. "And we have really good food this year." FOOD: Your palate will be in for a treat with the wide selection of natural, organic and eco-friendly foods. Try some kettle korn made from non-GMO Nebraskan corn, or pick up some delicious preserves. If cheese is your fancy, there will be grilled cheese sandwiches and other dairy delights.  

Got a sweet tooth? Try wood-fired maple syrup, fat-free and dairy-free Italian ice, or "the best ice cream in the Northwest corner of Connecticut." Have some mouth- watering chocolate truffles and award-winning baked goodies that are gluten-free and allergy-friendly. 

And for something spicy, try Dragon’s Blood Elixir hot sauce, made with locally grown apples and habanero peppers.

The Community Services Council of Woodbury (also known as the Food Pantry) will be accepting donations of any nonperishable foods at this year’s celebration. Please bring what you can.

BODY & MIND: Pamper your body with chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture treatments and massage therapy. Learn about tools for self-healing through tui na acupressure. Pick up some handmade soaps, body care items or products made with honey. 

Are you athletic? There will be kayak demonstrations, and Connecticut Outdoors, LLC will offer several different lines of kayaks, canoes, and paddle sport accessories. Learn about social responsibility and taking care of the earth at the Waterbury YMCA tent. Plan a nature walk such as a river walk or a weed walk.  

"It is kind of like a scavenger hunt that will be led by an herbalist that knows about edible plants that will go and look at the plants that are growing in the hollow and along the river and talk about the plants that are edible, and plants that are medicinal and such," said Pittari.

GARDEN/FARMING: Do you garden or farm? Learn about the development of local sustainable agriculture, and ecologically sound farming and gardening. Pick up some plants for a garden or learn about tree pruning. 

PETS: Don't forget the doggies! There are grain-free dog treats made with the best local and/or organic ingredients. Find out more about animal rescue groups and animal control at the event. 

ARTISIANS & HOME: View and purchase beautiful custom jewelry pieces designed by a silversmith or goldsmith. Pick up some whimsical felted wool garments, organic shirts, and browse collections of handmade, ethically sourced, renewable, recycled jewelry. 

GREEN LIVING: You can learn about water systems, watersheds and a pathway to affordable clean energy.

SCHOOLS/GROUPS: Talk to individuals from a local Montessori school, or learn out about a place that uses horses and ponies to help people with special needs.

HEALTHY WOODBURY: "This event coincides with the Woodbury town initiative called 'Healthy Woodbury,' which provides opportunities for families to spend time together without spending money," Stomski said. "Families are spending so much time having to be away from home, working to pay their bills, there's not a lot of time to spend with their families, so one of the things we are doing is a free movie night."  

The Woodbury businesses are only about 150 yards away from Hollow Park, Stomski said, so families will be able to go into town easily from the Earth Day event, to see even more great products and services in the area. 

RECYCLE: "The committee has done a great job in organizing this event," said Pittari. "Last year, to my horror, the recycling bins that we were supposed to get never materialized, so this year we have recycling bins that are sponsored by Springer Sanitation. It's going to be paper, plastic, glass and metal that can all go into one container, and there will be plenty of them. There will be 15 recycling bins throughout the park."

HISTORY: Pittari stated, "The park is a great place. The park has not only a very interesting natural history of the geology of it forming—because it truly is a hollow, it goes down in all directions to get to the park—but it also has very significant human history. It's where the first Europeans settled and the first nation's people and they summered in the area because the river was very productive with chad and herring and salmon, and so, it really is very fitting to have in our modern era people coming together to share and learn about living a more sustainable life."ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: "In regards to the town's position on this, when we look at economic development in our town, we are certainly aware of what our attributes are, Stomski said. "And when I came into office, those are one of the things we were going to market and advertise: our parks, our history and culture. So this actually works very nicely in promoting the town of Woodbury. In fact, after the events of Earth Day last year, the week after, there were actually five people that contacted our office that had never been to Woodbury before, and liked Woodbury so much that they were inquiring about opening a business here and three of the five did so.""This is one of many events we host," Stomski said. "We host Summer Fest, in which we had a concert with the cast of Beatlemania and the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra. The Earth Day event brought in $400,000 revenue to the town last year. Those were people coming in attending the event, going to restaurants, shops and antiques stores."

The Woodbury Earth Day event has free admission, and activities for all ages.  All proceeds go to charity.

You won't want to miss this year's event. It promises to be one of the best Woodbury Earth Days ever!

For information about volunteering contact Carol Haskins at woodburyearthdayvolunteers@gmail.com or 203-263-0076

Also, be sure to check out this video of Jaden Smith from the upcoming movie 'After Earth' supporting Earth Day and the Canopy Project.