Charlotte to celebrate the Earth for whole month of April

As spring awakens from winter in April, much of the world is getting ready to celebrate Earth Day, but one day is not enough for Charlotte.

On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day was celebrated in the United States by an estimated 20 million people calling for environmental reform. Fifty-five years later, Earth Day is a global celebration in more than 190 countries with over a billion people exalting the planet and the need to protect it.

However, in Charlotte a coalition of organizations decided last year that one day is not enough, so here, this year again, the earth will be celebrated for all of April, with the month designated as Earth Month. The whole month will be chock full of activities and events with something for everyone — contests, speakers, demonstrations, walks and more.

While fully recognizing all the negative trends and challenges, from climate change to pollinators disappearing to invasives moving in, organizers are sponsoring a month of celebrating the beauty of Charlotte and the many positive local actions being taken.

Kids will compete to draw pictures of their favorite trees, volunteers will plant trees and shrubs and wake up the town’s pollinator gardens.

There’s a Repair Café for mending and renewing “stuff” and a demonstration of how to prune trees to promote their health and vitality.

If you want to go for a walk to revel in the glory of being outdoors in Charlotte, there will be an opportunity to climb Pease Mountain with the Charlotte Trails Committee and the Chittenden County Forester or to take a walk in the Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge with the Burlington arborist Vincent “VJ” Comai.

A beaver walk is planned. There are also opportunities to hear experts speak about the health of our water, the birds of our region and the plants in our gardens. The new Chittenden County Forester and the trails committee will lead a Tree Identification walk on Pease mountain.

This will be a month of participation; folks can meet the committee members that volunteer in our town, have one-on-one conversations and give back, a little or a lot, to the places they love.

This year the coalition will formally kick off the month’s celebration at 9 a.m., Saturday, April 5, at the library with oodles of information about local Charlotte organizations, a talk by nationally recognized garden writer, speaker and radio and television personality Charlie Nardozzi; fun activities; as well as more info on the month’s events and opportunities for participation for longer-term volunteer roles available throughout the Charlotte community.

More information about Earth Month and the various events can be found on the Charlotte Public Library website at charlottepubliclibrary.org.

The Coalition sponsoring the event includes the Charlotte Public Library, Charlotte Energy Committee, Lewis Creek Association, Sustainable Charlotte, Rutter Family Tree Fund, Pollinator Pathways, Charlotte Grange, Charlotte Land Trust, Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge, Charlotte Trails Committee, and Charlotte Conservation Commission.

Earth Month calendar:

Tree Art Contest – submissions due by Tuesday, April 1, 5 p.m., at the Charlotte Library. Sponsored by the Grange

Pease Mountain update
Wednesday, April 2, 7 p.m., Charlotte Library
Sponsored by the trails committee

Earth Month Kick-Off
Saturday, April 5, 9 a.m.-noon, Charlotte Library
Events will include a pruning demonstration at 9 a.m., exhibit tables, a talk by Charlie Nardozzi at 11 a.m.

Bird Diva
Wednesday, April 9, 7 p.m., Charlotte Senior Center

Hank Kaestner
Friday, April 11, 7 p.m., Charlotte Library

Tree Art Award presentation
Saturday, April 12, 4 p.m., Charlotte Grange

Water Matters! Lewis Creek Association
Tuesday, April 14, 7 p.m., Charlotte Library

Book Talk: ‘The Serviceberry’
Wednesday, April 15, 7 p.m., Charlotte Library

Charlotte Walks
Friday, April 18, 8:30 a.m., Williams Woods Natural Area

Beaver talk & walk
Saturday, April 19, 1 p.m., Charlotte Library

Dark Sky Vermont
Monday, April 21, 7 p.m., Charlotte Library

Pollinator Pathways planting days
Monday-Friday, April 21-25, various gardens around town

Film: ‘Wrenched’
Tuesday, April 22, 7 p.m., Charlotte Library

Arbor Day tree planting
Friday, April 25, 10 a.m., behind Charlotte Town Hall

Repair Café
Saturday, April 26, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Congregational Church

Trees on Pease Walk
Saturday, April 26, 2 p.m., Pease Mountain

These events are happening all month:

Flower seed bombs craft
Charlotte Library & Charlotte Central School

Tempistry Knitting project
Charlotte Library