First Annual Earth Day celebration in downtown Front Royal draws a crowd

Those with an affinity for the natural environment around us and its preservation gathered in the Town of Front Royal Historic Downtown Business District, Saturday, April 23rd, for the Town and its recently created Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee (ESAC’s) first annual Earth Day celebration. – Well, Earth Day-plus-one so it could be accessible to more citizens on a Saturday, as opposed to a Friday workday. As noted in Wikipedia: “Earth Day is an annual event celebrated around the world on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First celebrated in 1970, it now includes events in more than 193 countries.”

And in our corner of one of those countries, a broad range of environmental organizations, support groups, and educational endeavors – around 40 – set up shop in the downtown Village Commons area between 10 AM and 3 PM. A display of electric vehicles also attracted a steady stream of interested car and environmental enthusiasts as a crowd estimated at over 350 made its way from exhibit booth to exhibit booth over the inaugural five-hour event.

The array of exhibits rounded the Village Commons parking lot as shown here near the 10 AM opening. Below, the electric vehicles site was a popular stopping point for car and environmental enthusiasts. Royal Examiner Photos by Roger Bianchini

Rescued wildlife was on display by Blue Ridge Wildlife Center staff, all the way over from Boyce in Clarke County. They drew an interested crowd of children and their young-at-heart elders. A fine time was had by all under clear skies and spring temperatures climbing toward the mid-to-upper 70s, in acknowledgment of what many around the world consider the defining global issue of our time – the short and long-term survival of our planetary ecosystem. Enjoy our photo tour of Earth Day-plus-one in Front Royal.

Unlike many areas around the nation, as we often do in the Shenandoah Valley between Massanutten and the Blue Ridge Mountains, Front Royal caught a weather break for its Earth Day celebration. Couldn’t have been a nicer mid-spring day, regardless of how you traversed the exhibits.

Stewart the Squirrel seemed unaware of some of the attention he drew wandering the exhibits. Rumor had it Stewart escaped from the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center display of rehabilitated rescues from the regional wildlife community.

The Blue Ridge Wildlife Center exhibit of rescued wildlife drew a crowd. Here, BRWC staff coax this shy one out of its cage with a little snack. This photographer wasn’t the only surprised to hear that this one wasn’t playing possum, but rather was a breeding color-anomaly skunk – and not a stinky boy at all. A possum did make a later appearance – and it didn’t stink either.

Reptiles can be your friends too. That snake looks pretty comfortable coiled around that BRWC staffer’s arm. That turtle looks as if it’s ready to try some air swimming. Further below, dogs take a sniff. – No, we’re not BRWC exhibits, we’re visitors like you.

Live entertainment was provided from the Gazebo stage by, first the duo of Sally Mae Foster and Wayne Turner, and later the band Mandatory Fun, pictured here. – And fun was MANDATED and had by all

Enjoy our walk around the Earth Day exhibits …

We ran into local singer-songwriter-musician and Hanna Signs proprietor Shae Parker, not long off a Thursday evening performance of original material at The Blue Wing Frog, not far up Chester St.

Earth Day draws generations of some families because, after all, eco-preservation is a multi-generational issue that our children and grandchildren will increasingly inherit the consequences of if the current global leadership generation continues to fail to act proactively and on a united front. Oh no, not my generation, young Jamison seems to be indicating below.

And if you got tired of walking the 40 or so exhibits, there’s always the downtown train, at least the caboose to play on.