FARMINGTON – A range of people from four-year-olds to Franklin Savings Bank employees gathered today on the front lawn of the Pierce House to celebrate planet earth’s 4.543 billion years of life.
As Fred and Matilda’s baby goats were fed and cuddled on the Pierce House lawn, community members, town employees, families and friends spread throughout town to clean up trash in celebration of Earth Day. The six-year event, spearheaded by Annie Palmer, provides trash bags, organized routes, educational information and baby animals for motivation.
“I love seeing the kids here. We always get a lot of participation,” Palmer said.
This year’s event included planting blueberry bushes donated by the town’s Public Works Department, which Palmer said she hopes to put more of a focus on in the future.
“I have an environmental science background, and when we moved back to Farmington the litter was driving me crazy. I was feeling overwhelmed and realized I wasn’t making a dent. So rather than complain I decided to do something about it,” she said.
The event drew more than 30 people, collecting hundreds of bags of trash and putting in nearly three solid hours of baby goat cuddling.
Thank you to all the fantastic, enthusiastic volunteers! Someone let a nice pair of prescription sunglasses on the table. I have them and can return them to you. Call at 778-2200. And a special thanks to Waste Management who bought the blueberry bushes for the town to plant.
Effective citizenship is often the simplest
…………..Arlo learned his lesson!
I only wish they hadn’t done it when teachers and older children would be in school. Some of my students expressed disappointment that they couldn’t take part, and although I know it’s perfectly possible to do something on one’s own, it’s always fun to be part of a group.
I was glad to go and pass can out the bags and gloves it was a nice day out!