ECO-BULLETIN FROM OTSEGO COUNTY CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION

March 14, 2012: Vol. 5, No. 4

Eco-bulletin headlines this issue:

ENTRIES SOUGHT FOR ECOART CONTEST

BEEKMAN BOYS KICK OFF SPRING GARDEN DAY, EARTH FESTIVAL

SHOWING OF ‘A CHEMICAL REACTION’ SET FOR APRIL 9

CONFIDATA SHREDDER RETURNS TO EARTH FESTIVAL

‘ART OF LOGGING’ SHOW IS THIS WEEKEND

STEINGRABER TO SPEAK ON DANGERS OF HYDROFRACKING

RENEWABLE ENERGY IS FOCUS OF INFORMATION SERIES

START SAVING NOW FOR OCCA GARAGE SALE

ENTRIES SOUGHT FOR ECOART CONTEST: Submissions in this year’s Escort/Trendy Trash contest, to be displayed at Earth Festival 2012 on Saturday, April 14, will be accepted up to and including the day of the event. As in past years, prizes will be awarded to winners in several categories including “Best of Show,” “Judges Choice” and “People’s Choice.” This trash-to-treasure challenge to create something practical or artistic from items that have outlived their original purpose is open at no charge to students, with a $5.00 fee for adults. “Last year’s winners were a basket woven from old T-shirt material, a headband crafted from rolled paper and wire, and “Patches” the dog, made from Styrofoam stuffed with newspaper, then covered in fabric scraps and decorated with bottle caps and toys headed for the landfill,” said OCCA Executive Director Darla M. Youngs. “The Escort/Trendy Trash has become an Earth Festival favorite, and we welcome submissions from artists and inventors of all ages,” Youngs said. Visit the Otsego County Conservation Association home page, www.occainfo.org, for an entry form, e-mail admin@occainfo.org or call (607) 547-4488 to learn more. Earth Festival is an environmentally-focused, interactive event featuring exhibits, activities, vendors and entertainment, all with a fun, earth-friendly twist. Financial contributions are most welcome, and an open invitation to earth-friendly exhibitors, food, and retail vendors is extended. Earth Festival 2012 is sponsored by Otsego County Conservation Association and WildLearn.com.

BEEKMAN BOYS KICK OFF SPRING GARDEN DAY, EARTH FESTIVAL: Spring Garden Day, hosted by the Master Gardeners of Cornell Cooperative Extension Schoharie and Otsego Counties on Saturday, April 14 at Milford Central School, will feature The Fabulous Beckman Boys as keynote speakers beginning at 9 a.m. The Beckman Boys – Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Dr. Brent Ridge – will discuss heirloom seeds. Their presentation is free and open to the public and will be followed by a book signing. Spring Garden Day workshop topics include Garden Design, Vegetable Gardening in Containers, Edible Gardening, Flowers, Magical Gardening: Nature at Work for You, and Composting. The fee for workshop participants is $10 and pre-registration is required. For more information, visit http://occainfo.org/documents/SpringGardenDayflyerwBeekmans.pdf. Spring Garden Day is being held in conjunction with Earth Festival 2012, which is co-sponsored by OCCA and wildlearn.com.

SHOWING OF ‘A CHEMICAL REACTION’ SET FOR APRIL 9: “A Chemical Reaction” is a 70-minute documentary about how the Town of Hudson, Quebec, goaded by a relentless woman physician, voted to ban the cosmetic use of pesticides and herbicides within town limits. Although legally challenged by the chemical industry, the right of the town to pass the ban was ultimately affirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada, based on the “precautionary principle.” The film will be shown on Monday, April 9 at Templeton Hall, corner of Pioneer and Church streets, Cooperstown, beginning at 7 p.m. A discussion will follow.

CONFIDATA SHREDDER RETURNS TO EARTH FESTIVAL: Earth Festival 2012 will be held on Saturday, April 14 at Milford Central School. In keeping with the earth-friendly theme, a number of items will be collected for recycling. Event organizers invite attendees to drop off Styrofoam (white only), bubble wrap, empty inkjet cartridges, cell phones, eyeglasses, videotapes and CDs, and used nylon monofilament fishing line at no charge, and Empire Recycling will be back with the Confidante Shredder from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information about Earth Festival, visit http://www.occainfo.org/EarthFestival.htm, call (607) 547-4488 or e-mail admin@occainfo.org.

‘ART OF LOGGING’ SHOW IS THIS WEEKEND: An opening reception for “The Art of Logging: Lavern Kelley’s Drawings and Sculpture” will be held this Friday, March 16 from 5-7 p.m. at 689 Beaver Meadow Road Garage Gallery in Cooperstown. Kelley lived on the family farm at Kelley Corners in Oneonta. Starting at age 7, he began to make art depicting myriad farming activities and equipment common in the mid-20^th century. This included working in the woodlot, and logging off the farm to supplement income. Over his lifetime he carved hundreds of trucks and farm scenes and made two-sided drawings. After 1953, he gave up drawing to exclusively focus on carving and better achieve the realism he sought. This exhibit features drawings of logging scenes created between 1948-1953, mostly two-sided, and log truck painted sculptures carved between 1953-1998.“The Art of Logging” will also be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, March 17 -18, from noon to 4 p.m., and by appointment through April 8 by calling (607) 547-5327 or via e-mail at sydney.l.waller@gmail.com.

STEINBRABER TO SPEAK ON DANGERS OF HYDROFRACKING: SUNY-Oneonta’s Red Dragon Reading Series will feature Sandra Steingraber, PhD, in a special Earth Week lecture on the potential dangers of hydrofracking in Upstate New York. Ecologist, author and cancer survivor, Steingraber is an internationally recognized authority on the environmental links to cancer and human health. The Sierra Club has heralded Steingraber as “the new Rachel Carson” and, indeed, she is a recipient of the Rachel Carson Leadership Award as well as the Heinz Award, the Hero Award from the Breast Cancer Fund, and the Environmental Health Champion Award from Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los Angeles. The reading begins at 7:30 p.m. in the SUNY-Oneonta Hunt Union Ballroom and will be followed by a reception and book signing. For more information, contact George Hovis, (607) 436-2571, or Ruth Carr, (607) 436-3446.

RENEWABLE ENERGY IS FOCUS OF INFORMATION SERIES: A series of day-long sessions aimed at giving local officials and business leaders an overview of community-sized renewable energy projects have been scheduled by Hometown Energy Group at the Foothills Performing Arts Center in Oneonta. The first session focuses on wind power and is set for Tuesday, April 17, followed by solar and geothermal energy on June 19, biofuels on September 18 and a workforce development initiative on November 13. For more information, visit www.hometowneg.com.

START SAVING NOW FOR OCCA GARAGE SALE: OCCA’s Annual “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” Garage Sale will be held on Saturday and Sunday, April 28 and 29 in the Cooperstown Farmers’ Market building at 101 Main Street, Cooperstown. Please begin setting aside items now for this fundraising event. The official collection dates for the OCCA garage sale will be April 22-26. All donations are tax deductible: OCCA will provide a donation voucher upon request. Those interested in dropping off materials sooner, or who would like more information about volunteering to assist with the event, should call (607) 547-4488 or e-mail admin@occainfo.org for further details. In addition to raising funds for OCCA programming, the garage sale also benefits the environment through waste prevention, or “source reduction.” Source reduction, including reuse, can help reduce waste disposal and handling costs, because it avoids the costs of recycling, municipal composting, land filling, and combustion. Source reduction also conserves resources and reduces pollution, including greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

OCCA NEEDS YOUR HELP TO KEEP FIGHTING THE THREATS TO OUR NATURAL RESOURCES. Got a minute? Visit our website and look at everything else OCCA is doing – and please consider an online donation whenever you can. Click on www.occainfo.org and look for the Network for Good logo at the top right of the home page.