Earth Day in Staunton: Give a thought to all the plastic we are dumping in the oceans
Bruce Dorries, Special to The News Leader
Published 8:13 a.m. ET April 14, 2018 | Updated 8:15 a.m. ET April 14, 2018
More snow coming? My forecast: This past Monday’s dusting was the last of the 2017-18 season.
During the first cold snap, days after the white fluff first fell way back in December, a local climate forecaster made a fateful prediction.
“How are you doing?” asked the well-bundled fellow as we passed in a grocery parking lot. “Cold enough for you?”
Before I could answer, he joked with eyes a twinkling, “Hey! Whatever happened to Al Gore?” He turned, and laughed his way to a warm car. The line is part of a practiced stand-up routine that he rolls out whenever the mercury drops.
The jolly old climate-change denier’s gibe proved to be foreshadowing….
Former vice president and Nobel-prize winning environmental activist, Al Gore himself, is “coming to town.” No kidding. Sort of.
Gore appears on the big screen showing of "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power," part of Earth Week Staunton. The film starts at 7 p.m. April 26 in Francis Auditorium of Mary Baldwin University. It’s free to the public.
The 2017 documentary follows up on "An Inconvenient Truth." A decade ago, that first film raised global consciousness about the climate crisis. The new documentary follows Gore as he champions the scientists, activists, businesspeople, and policymakers setting a course to combat climate change.
While it lays out the high stakes involved, the movie also celebrates the energy revolution that is underway. After the screening, a panel will discuss how our ingenuity and passion can address the challenges posed by global warming.
If Gore is not your favorite movie genre, then see "Straws!"
"Straws!" screens at the Staunton Public Library at 7 p.m. April 24. The animated, 30-minute movie, narrated by Tim Robbins, explains the many problems caused by plastic pollution. A “Trash Talk” will follow about how litter patrollers of all ages can refuse/reduce/recycle/reuse to decrease humanity’s synthetic polymer footprint.
“Plastic Pollution Solutions” is, quite fittingly, Staunton Earth Day’s theme for 2018.
The four-hour festival begins at 10 a.m. April 21, at the Gypsy Hill Bandstand. Music, food, edu-tainment, prizes, critters — most of it is free. The larger, weeklong celebration of the planet includes a dozen family-friendly events. Read more about them: earthdaystaunton.org.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one. There's no denying that the world’s oceans are clogging with plastic.
Of the 9 billion tons of synthetic polymer manufactured since 1950, only 9 percent has been recycled. Most went to landfills, litters landscapes, or floats at sea. By midcentury, 13 billion tons of discarded plastic will be strewn world wide, according to scientific prognostication.
Recently, oceanographers found a plastic garbage patch bigger than Texas floating off the coast of Chile. It rivals other plastic debris “islands” in the Atlantic and Pacific.
U.S. recycling is about 9 percent. The rate in China is 25 percent, 30 percent in Europe.
Global plastic contamination — on land, in water, and within our bodies — is rising, along with global temperatures. As for the long-term outlook: we’re in for glacial melt downs, forest firestorms, wide-spread desertification. Hardest hit will be the lands and poorest peoples closest to the equator.
How are we doing? Sad enough for you?
1on1: Earth Day Staunton is Saturday WHSV-TV3 April 21, 2017
Find out about the event, why this year's theme is 'We're For the Birds!', and learn how you can help birds.
For more information on Earth Day Staunton this Saturday, you can follow this link: http://www.earthdaystaunton.org/
For more information on Earth Day Staunton this Saturday, you can follow this link: http://www.earthdaystaunton.org/
STAUNTON, Va. (WHSV) -- Staunton is gearing up for a full week of Earth Day related events. Parks and Recreation kicked off today with an Arbor Day celebration at Montgomery Hill Park. Children and their families had the opportunity to learn more about the vital role trees play in our ecosystem. They took home seedlings to plant, created handmade bird feeders and went on a walking tree tour. Matt Sensabaugh, the city's horticulturist and arborist, said Arbor Day is all about the trees and that this event is a great way to get that point across. "Just to kind of prepare them for the future and kind of give them a little bit better appreciation for what the trees actually do for us and how important they are to clean air and clean water and that we do need them," said Sensabaugh. To learn more about the events happening in honor of Earth Day, click here here. By Holly Stouffer |
Posted: Fri 7:11 PM, Apr 14, 2017
Earth Day Staunton moves to a greener venue
By Bruce Dorries, Special to The News Leader
Published 5:59 p.m. ET April 13, 2017 | Updated 6:03 p.m. ET April 13, 2017
“That’s for the birds” should not be confused with “We’re For The Birds!”
The former phrase judges something as worthless, crappy.
It’s an antiquated statement, a quaint putdown these days. It refers to how birds peck for undigested seed in horse droppings. Large urban areas that once relied on herds of equine power as primary transportation also hosted massive flocks of sparrows. The birds made their living from scratching at horse apples in the streets. As they became fruitful and multiplied, “bird berries” rained on all below.
History trots on, but we occasionally keep a bit of the past alive in idioms that still serve. Proverbial droppings from the past….
As for the other phrase, “We’re For The Birds!”, it serves as a rallying cry for bipeds who care about the future of feathered creatures. Earth Day Staunton adopted the “We’re For” declaration as the theme of this year’s local event.
Matter of fact, the green teach-a-thon has “flown the Wharf,” nesting in a better site. Good-bye parking lot location. Hello Gypsy Hill Park.
Starting in 2007, Staunton hosted a Saturday morning earth/family-friendly earth day in downtown, next to the farmer’s market. Great company — and turnouts — for this community effort. But not much greenery on the asphalt, hard angles skyward. Too many horseless buggies motored by with kids flying across Byers Street, and at the abrupt confluence of Middlebrook Avenue and South Lewis Street on another side.
(Caution: Nervous Parents Crossing.)
Gypsy Hill’s bandstand will serve as the main stage this year, with activities and booths laid out in a circle to get folks more connected to the water and the soil, birds, bees, sycamore trees, etc. The city’s Parks and Rec staff have been instrumental in making a wise and timely migration.
(Good P.R. for P&R.)
As luck and the calendar would have it, this 10th anniversary of E.D.S. will coincide with the international recognition of Earth Day, always on April 22, starting in 1970. Finally, a Earth Day Staunton in sync with the rest of the planet! Runs from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
(Also, food trucks for the first time! Kid-fare, and some victuals for the more discriminating and locavore palates. Discrimavores welcome.)
Caroline Sheridan has been leading the volunteer E.D.S. committee these many years. Her environmental list of credentials and connections stretches deep into our community. She’s “The Earth Lady of Staunton.”
Which brings to mind…“The Bird Lady of Staunton,” YuLee Larner. She passed away four years ago this month.Time truly flies.
A conservationist who helped to found the Augusta Bird Club (A.B.C.) back in the '60s, and wrote a column for the News Leader about birding starting in the 1970s, YuLee once served as the president of the Virginia Society of Ornithology. When we moved here in ’03, I became one of her many readers, as well as a fan of YuLee’s green ethos.
I think she would be pleased to see how the A.B.C., E.D.S. and Kites and Critters (or K&C)* have taken off in recent years. All of them are “for the birds” (F.T.B.) — in a good way.
*K&C, by the way (btw), is sponsored by the V.C.C. (Valley Conservation Council). It’s on Bells Lane, at the Moore Farm, 1-5 p.m. April 23. Expect more of the family green scene — a time to touch some of the earth’s finest: food, fins, feathers, flocks, farmers, and things that take flight — weather permitting.
(Careful how you touch the farmers. Handshake usually best.)
Don’t forget to fly by the Wild Virginia Film Festival (WVFF), which screens a series of cool short documentaries at the Visulite (thanks, Adam Greenbaum, a.k.a., “The Queen City’s Movie Man”), at 7 p.m. April 30. I’m all for the films, especially “Ace and the Desert Dog.”
(So much F.T.B.)
Email Augusta County columnist Bruce Dorries at [email protected].
By Bruce Dorries, Special to The News Leader
Published 5:59 p.m. ET April 13, 2017 | Updated 6:03 p.m. ET April 13, 2017
“That’s for the birds” should not be confused with “We’re For The Birds!”
The former phrase judges something as worthless, crappy.
It’s an antiquated statement, a quaint putdown these days. It refers to how birds peck for undigested seed in horse droppings. Large urban areas that once relied on herds of equine power as primary transportation also hosted massive flocks of sparrows. The birds made their living from scratching at horse apples in the streets. As they became fruitful and multiplied, “bird berries” rained on all below.
History trots on, but we occasionally keep a bit of the past alive in idioms that still serve. Proverbial droppings from the past….
As for the other phrase, “We’re For The Birds!”, it serves as a rallying cry for bipeds who care about the future of feathered creatures. Earth Day Staunton adopted the “We’re For” declaration as the theme of this year’s local event.
Matter of fact, the green teach-a-thon has “flown the Wharf,” nesting in a better site. Good-bye parking lot location. Hello Gypsy Hill Park.
Starting in 2007, Staunton hosted a Saturday morning earth/family-friendly earth day in downtown, next to the farmer’s market. Great company — and turnouts — for this community effort. But not much greenery on the asphalt, hard angles skyward. Too many horseless buggies motored by with kids flying across Byers Street, and at the abrupt confluence of Middlebrook Avenue and South Lewis Street on another side.
(Caution: Nervous Parents Crossing.)
Gypsy Hill’s bandstand will serve as the main stage this year, with activities and booths laid out in a circle to get folks more connected to the water and the soil, birds, bees, sycamore trees, etc. The city’s Parks and Rec staff have been instrumental in making a wise and timely migration.
(Good P.R. for P&R.)
As luck and the calendar would have it, this 10th anniversary of E.D.S. will coincide with the international recognition of Earth Day, always on April 22, starting in 1970. Finally, a Earth Day Staunton in sync with the rest of the planet! Runs from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
(Also, food trucks for the first time! Kid-fare, and some victuals for the more discriminating and locavore palates. Discrimavores welcome.)
Caroline Sheridan has been leading the volunteer E.D.S. committee these many years. Her environmental list of credentials and connections stretches deep into our community. She’s “The Earth Lady of Staunton.”
Which brings to mind…“The Bird Lady of Staunton,” YuLee Larner. She passed away four years ago this month.Time truly flies.
A conservationist who helped to found the Augusta Bird Club (A.B.C.) back in the '60s, and wrote a column for the News Leader about birding starting in the 1970s, YuLee once served as the president of the Virginia Society of Ornithology. When we moved here in ’03, I became one of her many readers, as well as a fan of YuLee’s green ethos.
I think she would be pleased to see how the A.B.C., E.D.S. and Kites and Critters (or K&C)* have taken off in recent years. All of them are “for the birds” (F.T.B.) — in a good way.
*K&C, by the way (btw), is sponsored by the V.C.C. (Valley Conservation Council). It’s on Bells Lane, at the Moore Farm, 1-5 p.m. April 23. Expect more of the family green scene — a time to touch some of the earth’s finest: food, fins, feathers, flocks, farmers, and things that take flight — weather permitting.
(Careful how you touch the farmers. Handshake usually best.)
Don’t forget to fly by the Wild Virginia Film Festival (WVFF), which screens a series of cool short documentaries at the Visulite (thanks, Adam Greenbaum, a.k.a., “The Queen City’s Movie Man”), at 7 p.m. April 30. I’m all for the films, especially “Ace and the Desert Dog.”
(So much F.T.B.)
Email Augusta County columnist Bruce Dorries at [email protected].
Light pollution is focus of Earth Day Staunton by Monique Calello
STAUNTON NEWS LEADER GO! MAGAZINE, April 9, 2015
Each year, during the week surrounding Earth Day Staunton, many groups and organizations work together to bring different types of activities for a wide variety of age groups to participate in and enjoy. Earth week events run April 8-25 focusing on nocturnal animals, stargazing and the problem of light pollution.
April 8
The events kick off with the award-winning film "The City Dark" at 7 p.m. April 8 at Staunton Public Library.
April 14
Frontier Culture Museum hosts "How Fast, How Far, How Big – Stars in the Night Sky" at 7 p.m. April 14. Earl Downs, from Shenandoah Valley Stargazers astronomy club, gives a presentation on stars in the night sky. Telescopes will be available for the public's viewing of Jupiter and it's moons, Orion Nebula and Venus.
April 15
Beginning at 9 a.m. April 15, there will be an auto tour of North River and Staunton Dam followed by a short hike in the North River Gorge. Meet at at TasteeFreez.
April 16
Local bat expert Rick Reynolds will give the presentation, "What's Happening to Our Bats?: The Biology and Conservation of the Furry Night Fliers," at 7 p.m. April 16 at Frontier Culture Museum.
April 18 — Earth Day Staunton
Celebrate Earth Day at Earth Day Staunton from 9 a.m. to noon April 18 at the Sunspots Pavilion. Enjoy hands-on activities, live native wildlife shows, face painting, puppets, native plant sale and more.
"Earth Day Staunton is a fun day with activities for all ages," says organizer Caroline Sheridan. "It gives the many local groups in our community an opportunity to show off the work they do year round to keep Staunton and Augusta County a beautiful place for future generations."
Buy PhotoChildren paint rocks at The Natural Garden's table during last year’s Earth Day Staunton. (Photo: Mike Tripp/The News Leader)
The theme for this year is "Starry Nights." Earth Day Staunton is joining a number of Valley organizations in bringing attention to the impacts of light pollution on humans and the environment. Light pollution not only blots our view of stars, it also has negative impacts on our health and wildlife.
Paul Bogard, JMU professor and author of the book, "The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light," said in his book, "In ways we have long understood, in others we are just beginning to understand, night's natural darkness has always been invaluable for our health and the health of the natural world, and every living creature suffers from its loss."
Earth Day Staunton will continue the Starry Nights theme. The Wildlife Center of Virginia will bring "Who's Awake: the Secret Lives of Nocturnal Creatures," using owls and other nocturnal animals. Augusta County Library's Puppet Pandemonium will also be on stage. Families can enjoy an earth-friendly puppet show along with a book reading and some sing-along songs.
Buy PhotoA red-tailed hawk and education animal named Ruby looks around with her one good eye as she is held by Chapin Hardy of the Wildlife Center of Virginia during last year’s Earth Day Staunton. (Photo: Mike Tripp/The News Leader)
Exhibitors will provide many displays and activities from looking through a solar telescope provided by the Shenandoah Valley Stargazers to face painting, a native plant sale and native fish and stream critter touch-tanks. Children can also make their own Starry Nights button.
Earth week events will continue throughout the day on April 18 with Solarize Augusta hosting a self-guided tour of solar homes from 1 to 5 p.m. At 7 p.m., Wild Virginia's "Wild & Scenic Film Festival" takes place at Blue Ridge Community College.
April 19
Enjoy the outdoors and see the conservation and farming that go on in the city's agricultural district at "Kites and Critters" from 1 to 5 p.m. April 19 at Carolyn Moore Ford's farm on Bells Lane. Watch the big kites or fly your own, release a trout, plant a tree, go on a habitat walk, identify stream critters or pet a lamb. Rain date is April 25.
April 22
At Staunton Public Library at 7:30 p.m. April 22 the "Owls: Birds of Mystery and Majesty" presentation by local birder John Spahr explores our fascination with owls and learning about the owls in Virginia.
April 25
On April 25 there will be free morning and afternoon walks with Shenandoah Mountain Wildflower. Sponsored by the Virginia Native Plant Society, the Shenandoah Chapter and Friends of Shenandoah Mountain, registration is required.
Also, Shenandoah Valley Stargazers host an open house at the Stokesville Observatory at 7 p.m. April 25. Visitors can view planets and stars through telescopes. Free and open to the public, go to http://valleystargazers.com/direct.htm for directions.
IF YOU GO!
What Starry Nights at Earth Day Staunton
When 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, April 18. Earth week events run April 8-25.
Where Sunspots Pavilion, Byers Street, Staunton. In case of rain, event will take place at Sunspots Studios.
Cost Free.
More info www.EarthDayStaunton.org or (540) 885-0678
STAUNTON NEWS LEADER GO! MAGAZINE, April 9, 2015
Each year, during the week surrounding Earth Day Staunton, many groups and organizations work together to bring different types of activities for a wide variety of age groups to participate in and enjoy. Earth week events run April 8-25 focusing on nocturnal animals, stargazing and the problem of light pollution.
April 8
The events kick off with the award-winning film "The City Dark" at 7 p.m. April 8 at Staunton Public Library.
April 14
Frontier Culture Museum hosts "How Fast, How Far, How Big – Stars in the Night Sky" at 7 p.m. April 14. Earl Downs, from Shenandoah Valley Stargazers astronomy club, gives a presentation on stars in the night sky. Telescopes will be available for the public's viewing of Jupiter and it's moons, Orion Nebula and Venus.
April 15
Beginning at 9 a.m. April 15, there will be an auto tour of North River and Staunton Dam followed by a short hike in the North River Gorge. Meet at at TasteeFreez.
April 16
Local bat expert Rick Reynolds will give the presentation, "What's Happening to Our Bats?: The Biology and Conservation of the Furry Night Fliers," at 7 p.m. April 16 at Frontier Culture Museum.
April 18 — Earth Day Staunton
Celebrate Earth Day at Earth Day Staunton from 9 a.m. to noon April 18 at the Sunspots Pavilion. Enjoy hands-on activities, live native wildlife shows, face painting, puppets, native plant sale and more.
"Earth Day Staunton is a fun day with activities for all ages," says organizer Caroline Sheridan. "It gives the many local groups in our community an opportunity to show off the work they do year round to keep Staunton and Augusta County a beautiful place for future generations."
Buy PhotoChildren paint rocks at The Natural Garden's table during last year’s Earth Day Staunton. (Photo: Mike Tripp/The News Leader)
The theme for this year is "Starry Nights." Earth Day Staunton is joining a number of Valley organizations in bringing attention to the impacts of light pollution on humans and the environment. Light pollution not only blots our view of stars, it also has negative impacts on our health and wildlife.
Paul Bogard, JMU professor and author of the book, "The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light," said in his book, "In ways we have long understood, in others we are just beginning to understand, night's natural darkness has always been invaluable for our health and the health of the natural world, and every living creature suffers from its loss."
Earth Day Staunton will continue the Starry Nights theme. The Wildlife Center of Virginia will bring "Who's Awake: the Secret Lives of Nocturnal Creatures," using owls and other nocturnal animals. Augusta County Library's Puppet Pandemonium will also be on stage. Families can enjoy an earth-friendly puppet show along with a book reading and some sing-along songs.
Buy PhotoA red-tailed hawk and education animal named Ruby looks around with her one good eye as she is held by Chapin Hardy of the Wildlife Center of Virginia during last year’s Earth Day Staunton. (Photo: Mike Tripp/The News Leader)
Exhibitors will provide many displays and activities from looking through a solar telescope provided by the Shenandoah Valley Stargazers to face painting, a native plant sale and native fish and stream critter touch-tanks. Children can also make their own Starry Nights button.
Earth week events will continue throughout the day on April 18 with Solarize Augusta hosting a self-guided tour of solar homes from 1 to 5 p.m. At 7 p.m., Wild Virginia's "Wild & Scenic Film Festival" takes place at Blue Ridge Community College.
April 19
Enjoy the outdoors and see the conservation and farming that go on in the city's agricultural district at "Kites and Critters" from 1 to 5 p.m. April 19 at Carolyn Moore Ford's farm on Bells Lane. Watch the big kites or fly your own, release a trout, plant a tree, go on a habitat walk, identify stream critters or pet a lamb. Rain date is April 25.
April 22
At Staunton Public Library at 7:30 p.m. April 22 the "Owls: Birds of Mystery and Majesty" presentation by local birder John Spahr explores our fascination with owls and learning about the owls in Virginia.
April 25
On April 25 there will be free morning and afternoon walks with Shenandoah Mountain Wildflower. Sponsored by the Virginia Native Plant Society, the Shenandoah Chapter and Friends of Shenandoah Mountain, registration is required.
Also, Shenandoah Valley Stargazers host an open house at the Stokesville Observatory at 7 p.m. April 25. Visitors can view planets and stars through telescopes. Free and open to the public, go to http://valleystargazers.com/direct.htm for directions.
IF YOU GO!
What Starry Nights at Earth Day Staunton
When 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, April 18. Earth week events run April 8-25.
Where Sunspots Pavilion, Byers Street, Staunton. In case of rain, event will take place at Sunspots Studios.
Cost Free.
More info www.EarthDayStaunton.org or (540) 885-0678
Starry nights on the Earth Day horizon by Bruce Dorries
STAUNTON NEWS LEADER, March 7, 2015
To catch a disappearing act, keep an eye on the heavens. Gazing up at the night skies over the years, you’ll notice that the stars fade away, then vanish.
Right before our eyes, untold security lights erase the darkness that maintains life’s balance and humanity’s connection to the cosmos. Obsolete lighting technology diminishes the night sky, endangers health, and unwittingly threatens the lives of wild creatures that rely on darkness and the heavens’ guidance for survival.
For more than a century, we’ve celebrated the disappearance of darkness as progress, thinking that as the night shrinks our security expands. Thankfully, though, we’re beginning to see that too much of a good thing is bad for us.
Mounting scientific evidence proves that the natural cycles of light and dark, night and day, promote our well being. Sleep disorders, mental illness and increased risk of cancer are just some of the consequences of broadcasting artificial illumination into the night sky and blue screen lighting within our homes well into the wee hours.
Other costs stack up: We waste $110 billion worldwide each year in excessive, misdirected artificial light. Much of that financial burden shows up in government budgets and consumers’ bills. In addition to light pollution, misguided electric illumination, generated with fossil fuels, spews more than 750 million tons of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere, accelerating global warming. Black magic is costly.
Want to see the worst and best of outdoor lighting in Staunton? Start downtown on Beverley Street.
Low-quality fixtures on our main street cast unattractive, blinding glare. “Light trespass” reaches into upper-story apartments, which makes living there less than dreamy. The unnatural sky glow rising above roof tops screens the night sky view from residents and visitors alike. It’s a scene that’s bad for business, lousy for slumber and not a good look for the Queen.
Churchville Avenue’s lighting creates a night-and-day contrast. High-efficiency fixtures there reflect the town’s historic preservation ethos. The stretch from the public library to Gypsy Hill Park demonstrates how outdoor lighting can be done with class. Gentle but effective illumination funnels down to reveal people, sidewalks and traffic. It concentrates focus for drivers and pedestrians. Less is clearly more.
Staunton needs more such lighting in many places. Want more evidence? Then plan to pack your calendar with 10 programs during the next month to learn more about the health, waste and environmental problems associated with light pollution.
First, featured at “Starry Night Staunton,” will be Shanil Virani, the director of the John C. Wells Planetarium at James Madison University. The Shenandoah Valley Stargazer Club will help Virani with the nocturnal wakeup call at 7 p.m. March 26 in Francis Auditorium at Mary Baldwin College.
“In the Valley, we are at a crossroads,” Virani notes. “Our light fixtures are antiquated and need to replaced. With our next moves we have a tremendous opportunity to be a positive example to the rest of the state and the nation. Now is the ideal time to learn more about the lighting plans of [cities and counties] in the Valley.”
Virani and Paul Bogard, author of the critically acclaimed book “The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light,” will raise awareness about light pollution all that week with talks and slides in Harrisonburg, Charlottesville, Lexington and Staunton.
Earth Day Staunton picked up on the JMU duo’s title, making “Starry Night” the theme for this year’s extended teach-in and green activities. Here’s what’s been given the green light for 2015:
“The City Dark,” a one-hour documentary about why night skies matter, will screen at 7 p.m., April 8, at the Staunton Public Library.
“Stars in the Night Sky,” a program and telescope viewing, will be led by the Shenandoah Valley Stargazer Club at 7 p.m. April 14 at the Frontier Culture Museum.
At 7 p.m. on April 16 at FCM, Rick Reynolds with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will shed light on what’s happening to our bats. The biologist will show and tell about the night fliers’ biology, discuss a disease that is killing large numbers of the winged mammal and demonstrate how to build a bat house.
Earth Day Staunton ’15, the crowning event, runs from 9 a.m. to noon on April 18 on Byers Street and at the Sunspots Pavilion. Get your greens at the Farmers’ Market as well as celebrate Earth Day at the family-friendly event. Solarize Augusta will sponsor a self-guided solar home tour that afternoon. Come sundown, Wild Virginia’s Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival will showcase short movies on green themes, some darker than others, at 7 p.m. at Blue Ridge Community College.
Kites and Critters, a family event sponsored by Valley Conservation Council, will celebrate spring — let’s hope — and protected open spaces inside Staunton city limits, 1-5 p.m., April 19, on Bells Lane.
For the finale, April 22, renowned globe-trotting birder Dr. John Spahr will share images and discuss “Owls: Birds of Mystery and Majesty” at 7:30 p.m. at the Staunton Public Library.
STAUNTON NEWS LEADER, March 7, 2015
To catch a disappearing act, keep an eye on the heavens. Gazing up at the night skies over the years, you’ll notice that the stars fade away, then vanish.
Right before our eyes, untold security lights erase the darkness that maintains life’s balance and humanity’s connection to the cosmos. Obsolete lighting technology diminishes the night sky, endangers health, and unwittingly threatens the lives of wild creatures that rely on darkness and the heavens’ guidance for survival.
For more than a century, we’ve celebrated the disappearance of darkness as progress, thinking that as the night shrinks our security expands. Thankfully, though, we’re beginning to see that too much of a good thing is bad for us.
Mounting scientific evidence proves that the natural cycles of light and dark, night and day, promote our well being. Sleep disorders, mental illness and increased risk of cancer are just some of the consequences of broadcasting artificial illumination into the night sky and blue screen lighting within our homes well into the wee hours.
Other costs stack up: We waste $110 billion worldwide each year in excessive, misdirected artificial light. Much of that financial burden shows up in government budgets and consumers’ bills. In addition to light pollution, misguided electric illumination, generated with fossil fuels, spews more than 750 million tons of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere, accelerating global warming. Black magic is costly.
Want to see the worst and best of outdoor lighting in Staunton? Start downtown on Beverley Street.
Low-quality fixtures on our main street cast unattractive, blinding glare. “Light trespass” reaches into upper-story apartments, which makes living there less than dreamy. The unnatural sky glow rising above roof tops screens the night sky view from residents and visitors alike. It’s a scene that’s bad for business, lousy for slumber and not a good look for the Queen.
Churchville Avenue’s lighting creates a night-and-day contrast. High-efficiency fixtures there reflect the town’s historic preservation ethos. The stretch from the public library to Gypsy Hill Park demonstrates how outdoor lighting can be done with class. Gentle but effective illumination funnels down to reveal people, sidewalks and traffic. It concentrates focus for drivers and pedestrians. Less is clearly more.
Staunton needs more such lighting in many places. Want more evidence? Then plan to pack your calendar with 10 programs during the next month to learn more about the health, waste and environmental problems associated with light pollution.
First, featured at “Starry Night Staunton,” will be Shanil Virani, the director of the John C. Wells Planetarium at James Madison University. The Shenandoah Valley Stargazer Club will help Virani with the nocturnal wakeup call at 7 p.m. March 26 in Francis Auditorium at Mary Baldwin College.
“In the Valley, we are at a crossroads,” Virani notes. “Our light fixtures are antiquated and need to replaced. With our next moves we have a tremendous opportunity to be a positive example to the rest of the state and the nation. Now is the ideal time to learn more about the lighting plans of [cities and counties] in the Valley.”
Virani and Paul Bogard, author of the critically acclaimed book “The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light,” will raise awareness about light pollution all that week with talks and slides in Harrisonburg, Charlottesville, Lexington and Staunton.
Earth Day Staunton picked up on the JMU duo’s title, making “Starry Night” the theme for this year’s extended teach-in and green activities. Here’s what’s been given the green light for 2015:
“The City Dark,” a one-hour documentary about why night skies matter, will screen at 7 p.m., April 8, at the Staunton Public Library.
“Stars in the Night Sky,” a program and telescope viewing, will be led by the Shenandoah Valley Stargazer Club at 7 p.m. April 14 at the Frontier Culture Museum.
At 7 p.m. on April 16 at FCM, Rick Reynolds with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will shed light on what’s happening to our bats. The biologist will show and tell about the night fliers’ biology, discuss a disease that is killing large numbers of the winged mammal and demonstrate how to build a bat house.
Earth Day Staunton ’15, the crowning event, runs from 9 a.m. to noon on April 18 on Byers Street and at the Sunspots Pavilion. Get your greens at the Farmers’ Market as well as celebrate Earth Day at the family-friendly event. Solarize Augusta will sponsor a self-guided solar home tour that afternoon. Come sundown, Wild Virginia’s Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival will showcase short movies on green themes, some darker than others, at 7 p.m. at Blue Ridge Community College.
Kites and Critters, a family event sponsored by Valley Conservation Council, will celebrate spring — let’s hope — and protected open spaces inside Staunton city limits, 1-5 p.m., April 19, on Bells Lane.
For the finale, April 22, renowned globe-trotting birder Dr. John Spahr will share images and discuss “Owls: Birds of Mystery and Majesty” at 7:30 p.m. at the Staunton Public Library.
Staunton Celebrates Nature with Earth Day
By Lauren Berg Waynesboro News-Virginian 4/1/2014
Trees and all things green are this year’s stars at Earth Day Staunton’s celebration on Saturday, April 12. The 8th annual festival will be held behind the farmer’s market on Byers St in Staunton from 9:00 a.m. until noon and will feature a range of events to celebrate conservation and nature in Virginia.
Familiar faces from the area will host events at the festival including the Virginia Wildlife Center and the Augusta County Library. From 9:20 a.m. until 11:20 a.m., the Wildlife Center will present two programs about native Virginian wildlife, featuring some of their educational animals.
“They’re ‘Home Sweet Habitat’ programs that focus on animal habitats, how important habitat conservation is for animals, and how people can help. We’ll also talk about the Wildlife Center a bit and what we do,” said Amanda Nicholson, outreach director for the center. She added that the presentation will feature a reptile, opossum, and bird of prey from their animal ambassadors.
The Augusta County Library will perform “Puppet Pandemonium” at 10:30 a.m., which will feature an earth-friendly puppet show, book reading, and sing-along songs.
“The puppet show will feature themes about trees and conservation. I hope it teaches them an appreciation for nature,” said Robin Post, children’s programmer at the library.
Other festival activities will include a live beehive, a monarch butterfly display, native plant sale, native fish and stream critter touch- tanks and an earth-friendly printing demonstration. Earth Day Staunton will also provide a button making station and a “Wishing Tree,” where people will be able to hang their wishes for a greener Staunton.
“We’re going to have a bare tree branch, and we’re going to have little tags that people can write on for a greener Staunton and then hang them on a tree,” said Caroline Sheridan, chairperson with Earth Day Staunton, “Ultimately we’ll probably post them to our website or Facebook page.”
Transition Staunton will hold Staunton’s second annual “Tweed Ride,” a free leisurely bike ride through town, which will meet at Black Dog Bikes at 10:30 a.m. and depart at 11:00 a.m. Participants are encouraged to dress in vintage-inspired clothes from the 1880’s to the 1960’s and all ages are welcome. The ride will celebrate simple, low-energy pleasures, and to promote bike lanes.
During the Earth Day festival, the local branch of the Arbor Day Foundation will host activities on Sears Hill in Woodrow Wilson Park from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Activities will include professional tree climbing demonstrations, tree seedling giveaway, proper tree planting, and the history of the big white oak, which dates back to the 1830’s. The Arbor Day celebration will be accessible from the Earth Day Staunton festival by walking across the renovated Sears Hill Bridge from the train station.
Trees and all things green are this year’s stars at Earth Day Staunton’s celebration on Saturday, April 12. The 8th annual festival will be held behind the farmer’s market on Byers St in Staunton from 9:00 a.m. until noon and will feature a range of events to celebrate conservation and nature in Virginia.
Familiar faces from the area will host events at the festival including the Virginia Wildlife Center and the Augusta County Library. From 9:20 a.m. until 11:20 a.m., the Wildlife Center will present two programs about native Virginian wildlife, featuring some of their educational animals.
“They’re ‘Home Sweet Habitat’ programs that focus on animal habitats, how important habitat conservation is for animals, and how people can help. We’ll also talk about the Wildlife Center a bit and what we do,” said Amanda Nicholson, outreach director for the center. She added that the presentation will feature a reptile, opossum, and bird of prey from their animal ambassadors.
The Augusta County Library will perform “Puppet Pandemonium” at 10:30 a.m., which will feature an earth-friendly puppet show, book reading, and sing-along songs.
“The puppet show will feature themes about trees and conservation. I hope it teaches them an appreciation for nature,” said Robin Post, children’s programmer at the library.
Other festival activities will include a live beehive, a monarch butterfly display, native plant sale, native fish and stream critter touch- tanks and an earth-friendly printing demonstration. Earth Day Staunton will also provide a button making station and a “Wishing Tree,” where people will be able to hang their wishes for a greener Staunton.
“We’re going to have a bare tree branch, and we’re going to have little tags that people can write on for a greener Staunton and then hang them on a tree,” said Caroline Sheridan, chairperson with Earth Day Staunton, “Ultimately we’ll probably post them to our website or Facebook page.”
Transition Staunton will hold Staunton’s second annual “Tweed Ride,” a free leisurely bike ride through town, which will meet at Black Dog Bikes at 10:30 a.m. and depart at 11:00 a.m. Participants are encouraged to dress in vintage-inspired clothes from the 1880’s to the 1960’s and all ages are welcome. The ride will celebrate simple, low-energy pleasures, and to promote bike lanes.
During the Earth Day festival, the local branch of the Arbor Day Foundation will host activities on Sears Hill in Woodrow Wilson Park from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Activities will include professional tree climbing demonstrations, tree seedling giveaway, proper tree planting, and the history of the big white oak, which dates back to the 1830’s. The Arbor Day celebration will be accessible from the Earth Day Staunton festival by walking across the renovated Sears Hill Bridge from the train station.