Earth Day Front Royal 2023 draws a crowd before the rains came

Earth Day 2023 in Front Royal, Virginia, was greeted about 2-1/2 hours in by a necessary commodity to this planet and its life forms — rain. And while rain, accompanied by increasingly close thunder and lightening from the west, cut short the community celebration of the care and preservation of our home planet environment by some 4 hours, the 2-plus we got in beginning at 10 a.m. were a joyous gathering featuring informational booths on a variety of pro-environmental initiatives, a petting zoo of some of our fellow creatures, snacks, and initially sunny weather under which to mingle.

Town staff discussion of the event at the April 24 Front Royal Town Council meeting indicated 800 visitors in that 2-plus hours prior to the thunderstorms moving through. Town Manager of Community Development and Tourism Lizi Lewis told council that number was double last year’s total — not bad considering the shortened hours before vendors rushed to break down their stands after the public evacuated to dryer ground between 12:15 and 12:30 p.m. as the storm rolled in.

See some of that Earth Day mingling in the below photos…

Views of Earth Day 2023 in Front Royal before and as the rains came. Shots begin shortly after 10 a.m. opening and conclude around 1 p.m. as ‘Mother Nature’ cleared the Village Commons park area a bit before the slated 4 p.m. closing time. Royal Examiner Photos Roger Bianchini