Chincoteague Island .Net

The Chincoteague Cultural Alliance’s 3rd Annual Mother Earth Day Festival will take place on Saturday, May 8th at the Robert Reed Downtown Park on Chincoteague Island from 10am to 5pm.

The festival combines environmental education demonstrations, arts & crafts, live music and community service on the “weekend the mothers collide.”

ART – MUSIC

This year’s live music includes Mama Dupree and the PhD’s, Hemlock Hollow, the Celtic Islanders, Greg Shupe and the Fair and Balanced Band, and the Mother Earth Band, all powered by solar panels!

Artists-vendors will be selling unique creations, many made from recycled materials. This year’s auction features mailboxes decorated by local artists; the auction takes place at 3:30pm.

MOTHERS – KIDS

As always, kids can participate in the Mother’s Day Gift Making booth, this year featuring bamboo vases and bamboo honey bee house-making. MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) is again sponsoring the play area and invites entries in the 2nd Annual Recycled Object Play House Competition. (All entries must be kid friendly, assembled and ready for play by 9:30am in the park.

Suggested materials include cardboard boxes, plastic, fabric, paint, but no sharp edges please. The winner will receive a $20 gift certificate from Island Creamery, to be awarded at 3pm. For more info contact Karen Muth at 757-990-0723 or karenhmuth@yahoo.com.) Bring your kids to see the Virginia Marine Science Consortium’s touch tank!

SAVE the PLANET

Environmental demonstrations include solar energy and wind turbines by Energy Options & Construction. NASA, the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Waste Watchers, the Virginia Marine Science Consortium and others will be on hand to provide information on our coastal geology and how to protect it. Also, check out our Shop Local Map to see where your money goes, take a home energy audit and calculate your carbon footprint.

SPECIAL EVENT – EASTERN SHORE OF VA HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE COLLECTION

This year, Mother Earth Day and the Eastern Shore of Virginia Ground Water Committee are teaming up to bring household hazardous waste collection to the Island on Mother Earth Day. The first 30 pounds are free ($1 per pound thereafter). Collection will take place in the parking lot next to the old bridge from 10am to 2pm. For a list of accepted waste, visit chincoteagueculturallalliance.org.

This hazardous waste collection is made possible through generous donations from the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce, the Kiwanis Club of Chincoteague, the Chincoteague Natural History Association, the Chincoteague Historic Main Street Merchants Association, Spangler Construction, Windwater Architects, Allen Clark Contracting and a grant from the Eastern Shore Soil & Water Conservation District.

Mother Earth Day’s media sponsor is Davis Disposal. Discounted mailboxes for this year’s auction were provided by Rommel’s Ace Hardware of Chincoteague. CCA is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization formed to enhance community life by fostering and promoting the growth and vitality of arts and culture on Chincoteague Island and Delmarva’s Eastern Shore. Program support is provided by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Town of Chincoteague.

For more information, visit www.chincoteagueculturalalliance.org.