A-State Plans 2014 Earth Day Celebration
JONESBORO, Ark. — Arkansas State University, area school children and the Jonesboro community will come together to “Act Locally” in celebration of 2014 Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., on the west side of the Carl R. Reng Student Union at the fountain. In the event of rain, the celebration will be held on the first floor of the Dean B. Ellis Library.
The formal Earth Day program gets underway at 10:30 a.m. with KASU’s Johnathan Reaves serving as emcee. Dr. Lynita Cooksey, Arkansas State Provost, will welcome the crowd at 11:30 a.m., followed by remarks by John Risi of Frito Lay at 11:45 a.m. David Tranthum, also from Frito Lay, will speak at noon. KAIT-TV plans to broadcast live its midday weather segment from 11-11:30 a.m.
Jonesboro Westside High School will make a presentation at 10:30 a.m. and Judith Linzy from Suddenlink will announce the Jonesboro community activities at 10:45 a.m.
“Earth Day is a day to reflect on how we treat the earth the rest of the year,” said Dr. Jennifer Bouldin, associate professor of Environmental Biology and director of the Ecotoxicology Research Facility. “It brings awareness of the importance of conserving our natural resources for future generations.
“A good quote is attributed to the Native Americans: ‘We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.’ For future generations to survive, we must conserve the earth’s finite resources for them.”
The focal point of the Earth Day event is the tree planting living memorial on the A-State campus. The site is located near the Marion Berry Overpass and donations for trees will continue throughout the Earth Day events. A $200 contribution will sponsor a tree, planting, and recognition on a plaque to be placed near the trees.
Donations should be payable to the ASU Foundation (reference “Facilities-Earth Day Account”). Checks may be delivered/mailed to Advancement Services in the Cooper Alumni Center (P.O. Box 1990, State University, AR 72467) or presented to the A-State Earth Day booth.
The ceremony is free and open to the public and several activities are available for those attending. In addition to vendor booths, door prizes are presented to participants. Everyone present will receive a ticket with an opportunity to win. Tickets are available at the Facilities booth. Also, Sodexo, Frito Lay, Textbook Brokers, and Coca Cola provide free food including hot dogs, chips and Coke products.
Vendor booths consist of Frito Lay, Textbook Brokers, Honda of Jonesboro, Central Toyota-Scion, Cavenaugh Ford, Irby Electric, Allscapes Nursery, MidSouth Nursery, Harmony Gardens, Wolf Bookstore, Delta Plastics & Clean Solutions, Marck Industries Inc. (recycling), Suddenlink, Lowe’s, A-State Stormwater committee, A-State Wildlife Club (students will demonstrate how to recycle a bird house from a half-gallon milk carton), A-State Science & Art Club, Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, A-State Marine Biology Club, A-State Facilities Maintenance recycling program and A-State Facilities for tree donations (display with area and photo of last year’s plaque).
Honda of Jonesboro, Central Toyota-Scion and Cavenaugh Ford will have a display of hybrid automobiles.
For additional information about Earth Day 2014, contact Dr. Bouldin at jbouldin@astate.edu or call (870) 972-2570.
The observance of Earth Day is the brainchild of San Francisco activist John McConnell and Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson. Both had an interest in environmental issues. In 1970, each requested that Americans join in a grassroots demonstration. McConnell chose March 21 (the spring equinox) and Nelson selected April 22. Millions of people participated, and today Earth Day continues to be widely celebrated with events on both dates. The most common form of celebration is to plant new trees for Earth Day.
