A beautiful day to protect the planet

By MICHAEL R. SHEA
mshea@modbee.com

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Young men sat cross-legged on the grass, eating steak sandwiches and hot dogs.

Little girls with blue balloons tied to their wrists skipped up the Mancini Bowl stairs.

Organizers wrote out parking passes on white sheets of scrap paper for the entertainment.

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Fathers walked with toddlers on their shoulders, and mothers carried babies in baskets.

A set of twins in matching pink dresses with painted cheeks and sleepy eyes rode in a double stroller.

In all ages and colors, shapes and sizes, nearly 10,000 people milled through Graceada Park on Saturday for the 19th annual Earth Day in the Park.

"Educate, educate, educate," said Beverly McCullough, Modesto's recycling program coordinator and organizer of the event. "It's a fun, festival atmosphere to invite them in, then educate, educate, educate."

Taking action was this year's theme: Eyeglasses were collected for the Modesto Lions Club, cell phones for the Agency on Aging and blankets for the Stanislaus County Animal Shelter. Electronic and hazardous waste was gathered nearby at Modesto Junior College.

Ashley Feliciano pulled 2-year-old daughter Gionna in a red Little Tikes wagon. Does Gionna like cotton candy? She nodded and reached a sticky hand back in the bag for more.

"Lots of activities for kids," her mom said. "Rides, cotton candy, music, food all over the place."

A crowd of people stood four deep around the Salida Middle School Reptile Education Club. Godzilla, a big tegu (think friendly gila monster), seemed to be the crowd favorite. Corn snakes, king snakes, rat snakes, boa constrictors, beaded dragons and tarantulas kept Godzilla company.

"Most people ask if they're poisonous," eighth-grader Kyle Hadley said. "They're not."

His favorite reptile: the hog snake, because it looks like a cobra and you can hold it.

"The two most visited places in any zoo," said his teacher Laurel Peterson, "are the monkey house because people like to be entertained and the reptiles because people like to be scared."

Spreading the word

Basketball hoops made of recycling bins and soda-bottle basketballs made shooting

free throws earth-friendly and fun. Natural soy candles were for sale, and electric and water companies were on hand to talk about saving money through conservation. Representatives of groups such as Tuolumne River Trust spoke with visitors about preserving all things natural, and Habitat for Humanity spoke about working in the urban.

Cold Shot, a Modesto-based band, set the early afternoon soundtrack with tambourine thumping, bass heavy, thunder-drum blues. The bluegrass Fog Valley Drifters came on later, followed by a Modesto Police Department K-9 demonstration.

"This is a hands-on Earth Day," McCullough said.

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