Nearly 100 people took part Saturday in Durango Nature Studies’ Earth Day 5K run and 1-mile Family Fun Run Celebration at Rotary Park. The event was, in part, a fundraiser for DNS.
“This is the best one so far,” said Sally Shuffield, DNS executive director. She said about 25 percent of those running were taking part in the family event. About 60 people preregistered, while the rest registered on site just before the 11 a.m. run.
The race was started by newly appointed District Judge William Herringer, a former president of the DNS board of directors.
The Earth Day Network said the observance started April 22, 1970, and claims it activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement.
That movement included passage of such laws as The Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.
Music at the Rotary Park activities was provided by Flume Canyon Boys in conjunction with this weekend’s Bluegrass Meltdown.
Elsewhere in the county, Pine River Library in Bayfield hosted an event that featured free “Earth chocolates,” a musical jam session with Tom Molinelli and David Pfeifer, seed-paper crafts for kids taught by Frosty Pines Wilderness Education leaders and free food from Baked bakery and deli.
There also was a groundbreaking ceremony in the Bayfield Community Garden, which offers space for 20 garden beds for community members. Anyone interested in a plot in the community garden needs to fill out an application. Each spot is assigned through a lottery. Applications for the garden plots can be found at www.prlibrary.org and are due by 5 p.m. Monday.
The library also hosted a free screening of the documentary “Bidder 70.” The film is about college student Tim DeChristopher who, on Dec. 19, 2008, “disrupted a highly disputed Utah BLM Oil and Gas lease auction, effectively safeguarding thousands of acres of pristine Utah land that were slated for oil and gas leases,” according to the film’s website.
DeChristopher was convicted of two felonies and is scheduled to be released today from a halfway house in Utah, completing a two-year sentence.
South of the state line, Aztec Ruins hosted its fifth annual “Footprints on the Earth.”
Visitors viewed demonstrations of how to minimize impact on the planet by learning from Ancestral Puebloans and exploring new technologies.
Free admission included booths providing environmentally friendly activities for families. Several alternative-fuel vehicles were on display, and community members taught visitors how to make recycled and Earth-friendly household items.
Visitors were taught how to build their own adobe bricks, lay stone for a core-and-veneer, play games from the modern Pueblo people and participated in a recycling challenge with prizes.
In addition, local food producers and gardeners also participated, and Aztec Ruins gave out free packets of native plant seeds.
Entertainment was provided by the Haak’u Buffalo Dance Group from Acoma Pueblo.
rgalin@durangoherald.com
