2008 Earth Day Rally Celebration |
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About the Rally and Pickup Mother Earth! Each year, AWS and its Earth Day partners select a theme for the Anacostia Watershed River Cleanup & Rally Celebration. Each theme works to focus all of that year's Earth Day activities and environmental. The theme chosen for 2008—'Pickup Mother Earth'—is particularly inspiring because it so thoroughly epitomizes both events planned for the day. During the morning hours of April 26, all of our volunteers will literally be out picking up Mother Earth by removing trash from the local landscape. In the afternoon, these same people will act as a kind of pick-me-up—a tonic—for Mother Earth as they gather together to draw public attention to the plight of the Anacostia at our annual Rally Celebration. The annual Earth Day Rally is particularly important not only because it provides a place for our volunteers to celebrate the hard work they've done, it publicly demonstrates wide-spread support for cleaning the local environment and healing the ecological wounds of "the other river" in the nation's capital. This year's rally will be hosted by our friends at the historic Seafarers Yacht Club in the District of Columbia. Our partners in this event from its very beginning more than a decade ago, Seafarers not only serves the Anacostia as a center for community life, its standing as the oldest African American yacht club on the East Coast (est. 1945) makes it one of America's important sporting institutions. Our thanks Commodore Billy Cobb and the rest of Seafarers captain-owners for their hospitality and fantastic barbecuing skills! (Click here for more about Seafarers.)
Directions to the rally site are available using Google Maps or MapQuest. Shuttle Bus Schedule - From Navy Yard Metro Maritime Plaza has generoursly donated round-trip shuttle bus service between Navy Yard Metro Station (Green Line) and our Earth Day Celebration site at Seafarers Yacht Club between 11:00AM and 2:30PM, Saturday April 26, 2008. Earth Day Shuttle Bus Travel Tips
Green Dance: A Performance in Honor of Lewis T. Green Entertainment at this year's rally will be presented by Global Site Performance (GSP)—a nonprofit arts organization devoted to the creation of large, outdoor (and indoor) site-specific dance performances. According to GSP Founder and Artistic Director Marylee Hardenbergh, the performances she develops enliven the spirit of a place by drawing attention to its resident—though often unseen—beauty. Ms. Hardenbergh appeals to talent—dancers, school groups, and other performers—living near the performance site to help her create these magical events. For Earth Day 2008, GSP has choreographed and scored a brand new dance that will shine a spotlight on the beauty of the Anacostia River. Titled, "Green Dance," in honor of Seafarers Yacht Club Founder, Lewis T. Green, and our Earth Day activities, this performance will feature dancers, aerial dancers, banner carriers, and local school children stationed on boats in the river, on the shoreline, and on the pedestrian walkway of the Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge. Music for the event has been created by District of Columbia-based composer Gregg Martin and African-American women's a cappella quintet In Process..., and will be simulcast live by our media sponsor WPFW 89.3 Pacifica Radio in Washington, D.C. The performance of "Green Dance" will start promptly at 12:30PM on and around our Earth Day rally site at Seafarers Yacht Club (directions above). Please arrive early (the rally begins at noon) to make sure you have a good viewing spot along the riverbank. For added enjoyment, audience members may want to consider bringing binoculars and/or cameras. In addition to the free food supplied by Seafarers Yacht Club and the dance entertainment provided by GSP, the 2008 Earth Day Rally Celebration will include several other special activities. Following "Green Dance," rally hosts Robert Boone (AWS President) and Jim Connolly (AWS Executive Director) will invite our special guests to take the stage. In honor of the cross border nature of the Anacostia River and the importance of its watershed to the State of Maryland, Washington, D.C., and the Chesapeake Bay region, we have invited several of our important elected officials to speak to rally participants about the government's commitment to creating a clean, healthier environment for all. Invited speakers* include District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty, Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, Maryland Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown, and U.S. Representative Chris Van Hollen. Our speakers also will help us distribute awards to the winners of our children's art and poetry competition, known as the River of Words (or ROW). Our local ROW competitors have been working since January on visual art and poetry projects that fit our Earth Day theme 'Pickup Mother Earth' and honor the multifaceted spirit of the Anacostia River. Cash prizes will be awarded to first, second, and third place winners in both categories. First place winners in each category have their work reproduced on our Earth Day 2008 collectible tee shirt. All of the top submission for this year's competition will be displayed at the rally. Throughout the rally, participants will have a opportunity to learn more about several of our Earth Day sponsors and partner organizations at our community fair. The fair will contain information tables and exhibits from more than a dozen ecological- and civic-minded groups operating in Maryland and the District of Columbia. *Roster of speakers subject to change without notice. |
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To learn more about the Anacostia Watershed Society, click here. To become a member of the Anacostia Watershed Society, click here. |
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Anacostia Watershed Society