Happy Earth Day

Over 70 merchants, community organizations, and individuals throughout Newburyport and the surrounding region rallied together to set a standard this weekend for future Earth Day celebrations.

From a garden restoration...


...to a craft sale...


...to educating...



...to singing...


...Newburyport's 2008 Earth Day Celebration had something for everyone.

And it's not over yet. Today through 3 p.m., volunteers get dirty with Salisbury officials to extend the Salisbury Point Ghost Trail to Lion's Park. And at 5 over at Michael's Harborside, Mayor John Moak will present the city's first annual green awards to five recipients.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be meeting with various Earth Day volunteers to ascertain what worked and what didn't, and to begin preparations for next year.

Of the local bloggers, Gillian Swart praised Sunday's farmer's market on Bartlet Mall and opined it would be wonderful to have a regular farmer's market on the Mall.

And, Tom Salemi, while unable to attend the market, heard from one attendee that this was less veggie and more flowers/herbs? True?

The original intent of the farmer's market, according to state law under G.L. 101, Section 15 was for farmers to sell their fresh fruits and vegetables and for fishermen to sell their caught products. To no fault of Arrowhead Farm's Dick Chase, who spearheaded this initiative, we failed to involve the Board of Health earlier, so due to various local permits, the fruits, veggies, and fish were not allowed to be sold.

That said, with future planning in advance, such markets with plants, herbs, food, and fish are very likely. Whether it would be weekly, monthly, or quarterly, is to be determined but discussions, it should be noted, have already commenced.

It's also worth responding to one of Gillian's other comments on her blog:

Newburyport Pedicab made a pre-season showing to run people laden with purchases back to their cars or homes. I hope it was as successful as it looked to be.

The pedicabs were heavily used on Saturday, transporting families and other residents from downtown locations to the Mass Audubon's Joppa Flats Education Center; and on Sunday, going back and forth to and from the farmer's market.

Now, granted I've only lived here for about seven months, but Newburyport Pedicab only debuted last year, so it's amusing to read Gillian's sentence as if the pedicabs have existed for years.

My understanding is the pedicabs started operating last year concurrent to the Newburyport Literary Festival weekend (which occurs this weekend), starting a series of fairs and festivals lasting through the Santa Claus jumping off a boat parade in December. If this year's success is any indication of future years, it will be Earth Day, not the literary festival, which would jump-start the pedicabs.

On a side note, check out the Google search page today and you'll see how the clever programmers transmogrified the 6-letter brand name into an image of green shrubbery. (Wow, did I just use "transmogrified" and "shrubbery" in the same sentence?)