Earth Day Celebration Will Also Be an Education on Threats to Local Resources

As a prelude to a morning of hard work Saturday, cleaning up, weeding and planting in Hart Park, Wauwtosa's community of dedicated conservationists and naturalists invites everyone to enjoy a Friday evening celebrating Earth Day.

The Great Waters Group of the Sierra Club is hosting a party for the planet with a lineup of speakers, music, dance and activities for kids from 5 to 7:30 p.m. in the Riverview Room of the Muellner Building, 7300 W. Chestnut St.

This year's event was inspired by the Preserve Our Parkways community action group, said Dianne Dagelen, conservation chairwoman of the Sierra Club chapter.

The grassroots preservation group sprang up to , which would involve clearing a broad, permanent right-of-way through what is now woods and wetlands.

The proposed power route also parallels a portion of the Oak Leaf Trail and is opposed by neighbors and recreation groups on aesthetic grounds. Citizen action led the Wauwatosa Common Council, along with the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, to pass .

The evening's events "will focus on local river parkways and parklands," Dagelen said. The Sierra Club and other area conservation groups want to highlight concerns that local natural areas are being threatened by power lines, clear-cutting, storm water ponds and coal plant pollution.

But the evening is billed as the Earth Day Celebration, and the serious business of will be leavened with amusements.

"Mock high-voltage transmission lines will be part of our 'eco-puppet' parade," Dagelen said.

Dagelen said that newly sworn Mayor Kathy Ehley will introduce the keynote speaker for the event, Wauwatosa's own Eddee Daniel, noted author and photographer. 

Daniel published Urban Wilderness: Exploring a Metropolitan Watershed in 2008 and has just followed up with a new book, The Milwaukee County Grounds: Island of Hope. Both can be previewed on his website.

Daniel calls his new book "A photographic essay that documents a unique urban wilderness and envisions a healthy and sustainable future."

The full lineup of speakers is:

• Eddee Daniel, photographer and writer
• Barb Agnew, founder of The Monarch Trail
• Erin Lee, organizer for "Fight Asthma Milwaukee Allies"
• Rev. Willie Brisco, president of Milwaukee Inner City Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH)

Activities planned for Earth Day Celebration are:

• Eco-Puppet Pageant
• Inter-Faith opening ceremony
• Musicians Jahmes Finlayson and Jeff Bray
• Children’s Dance Class of Core/El Centro
• Poet Suzanne Rosenblatt
• Author Eric Hansen
• Children’s Re-cycle Art Activities
• Free 2012 Kids Guide to the Outdoors

For more information visit greatwatersgroup.com or contact
Dianne Dagelen at ddagelen@sbcglobal.net.