Riverbank goes Beyond Earth Day

By MICHAEL R. SHEA
mshea@modbee.com

last updated: April 13, 2008 03:17:22 AM

RIVERBANK -- Two years ago, Kyle Lingg walked out of Al Gore's documentary on climate change, "An Inconvenient Truth," stunned and amazed.

"I thought, my head's been in the sand too long," she said. "Yet it's obvious something is going on. Our seasons are changing. Where are the salmon? What happened to the honeybees?"

With help from friends and the city, Lingg started Beyond Earth Day, an informal day in the sun to raise awareness of Earth issues through education and fun. More than 1,000 people moved through the second annual Beyond Earth Day on Saturday in the parking lot of the Galaxy Theatre.

The Banana Slug String Band, a four-man group from Santa Cruz, clapped to songs about loving nature, hugging trees and eating vegetables.

"Plants! Plants! Plants!" 5-year-old Mia Mendoza clapped along and sang with the band. Plant Man, a lead singer with a wreath of vines on his head, was her favorite, she said. Eating vegetables? Not so much. "I eat bananas though," Mia said.

Kids rode bicycles through a safety course, ate chicken-on-a-stick and drank lots of water in the hot weekend sun. Riverbank and Sylvan Union school districts sponsored a poster contest, which organizers said drew out a lot of kids and their families Saturday.

Earth Day is April 22, but every day people need to focus on issues such as recycling, water conservation, driving less and walking more, said Carla Strong, Beyond Earth Day committee chairwoman.

Festivalgoers were asked to commit to doing something positive for the planet. A long, plastic banner was filling up slowly with pledges such as "I will only do (the laundry) and dishes when there's a full load."

The movie theater hosted free movies such as "Ice Age," "Planet Earth" and documentaries on climate change. Toyota demonstrated how hybrid cars work. The Center for Human Services ran a popular bike safety course. The Greater Modesto Tree Foundation held a raffle for 15 ginkgo trees. Riverbank had its natural gas fleet on display, including the old trolley, which also runs on natural gas.

"Cities now are really starting to realize how important this is," City Manager Richard Hol- mer said. "We don't want to create a Shanghai or Beijing for the next generation."

Holmer said he saw what can happen when pollution runs rampant on a 2004 trip to China. Riverbank's sister city, Fuyang, had a beautiful river through the middle of it, but all the fish were dead, he said.

The city is pushing to turn the Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant on Claus Road into a green industrial park, Holmer said. Already there's an oil recycler and plastics recycler nearby.

Green, it seemed, was the color of the day.

Bee staff writer Michael R. Shea can be reached at mshea@modbee.com or 578-2391.

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