Spring into action at Scarlet, Gray and Green Fair
Local residents will have the opportunity to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day early this year (Earth Day is April 22) at the third annual Scarlet, Gray and Green Fair on Tuesday, April 20. The fair, which is free and open to the public, will be held at The Ohio State University's Fisher Auditorium and Lawn, located at 1680 Madison Avenue in Wooster, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.The fair will feature a variety of speakers, exhibitors, an extensive recycling drop-off program, demonstrations and educational activities that promote sustainable and energy saving practices, the benefits of eating locally and much more. Attendees will also have the opportunity to learn more about OSU's green research.
The event will kick off with an opening ceremony to be held from 11-11:30 a.m. in the Fisher Auditorium. Keynote speaker Bill Spratley, executive director of Green Energy Ohio, will welcome attendees with a lecture about "mainstreaming green energy." Spratley, who is a graduate of The College of Wooster and The Ohio State University College of Law, has served on several U.S. Department of Energy advisory boards.
"We're very excited that Bill is going to be our keynote speaker, and the really neat part about this is that he's a Wooster native and attended Wooster High School," said Allen Zimmerman, a professor of Engineering Technology and Technical Physics at OSU's Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI) campus in Wooster. Zimmerman, who is the chair of the fair's steering committee, noted that Spratley is known statewide and nationally for his support of green energy. "Bill has spent his entire career in this--he's been very effective," said Zimmerman.
The exhibits will open at 11:30 a.m., following Spratley's keynote address, and will appeal to the senses as attendees can see, touch and hear from more than 65 exhibitors. Attendees will have the chance to see wind turbines, alternative vehicles, rain barrels, green building materials, and learn about green recreational opportunities and lawn and garden supplies. Hands-on exhibits will feature live animals, organic fiber clothing, locally grown food, camping gear, birdhouses, and renewable bio-products. For those who like to listen and learn, there will be opportunities to hear about green manufacturing, farm loans, waste reduction, energy efficiency, organic farming, land conservation and trail building.
"We're happy to welcome back 55 returning exhibitors from last year's fair," added Zimmerman. "Many of these exhibitors have been with us since the first year of the fair, and that pleases us. We have a number that have been with us all three years--they obviously feel it's a worthwhile event and we appreciate their support. We also have many generous sponsors who have supported us from the beginning, and that feels good."
Student environmental awareness projects will feature creative art projects, posters, 3-D displays, skits, songs, poems and videos. School teams will reveal their original designs for wind turbines in a competition that will be held from noon to 3 p.m.
An awards ceremony and concert will be held from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in Fisher Auditorium and will conclude the day's festivities. Wooster High School's Concert Choir and Women's Chorus will perform under the direction of Amy Gilbert, director of choirs for Wooster City Schools.
New to this year's fair is a recycling station which will allow attendees to drop off a wide variety of items to be recycled in one convenient, centralized location. Green fair organizers have partnered with nonprofit organizations and businesses in order to make this program possible.
"I really want to emphasize this new recycling program," said Zimmerman. "This is a very robust program and the steering committee is pleased to be able to work with so many community organizations and industries on this project. It's a win-win situation. It's an opportunity for these nonprofits and businesses to generate some revenue, and we're also keeping these items out of landfills."
The items that can dropped off for recycling include blue jeans, old/worn sneakers, plastic grocery bags, rechargeable batteries, printer ink cartridges, cell phones and accessories, non-toxic/usable paint, CFLs and fluorescent tubes, aluminum beverage cans, expandable polystyrene packaging, magazines, newspapers, and phone books, computers, printers and computer accessories and sensitive documents (shredding is limited to two boxes). The recycling station is for personal and household materials only. In conjunction with the recycling station, Medway will conduct a prescription drug disposal program, including vet prescriptions for pets.
Last but not least, an array of mouth-watering organic and locally grown food from Broken Rocks Cafe, Des Dutch Essenhaus, Hartzler Family Dairy, Reichert's Lamb Sandwiches, and Sue-Min's Gourmet, featuring vegan cuisine, will certainly delight hungry fairgoers. Live cooking demonstrations will be held at the food tent and will spotlight Chef Jeannine Snyder from OSU/ATI at noon and Chef Peter Wallin from Ashland University at 4 p.m.
Coordinating sponsors are OARDC, the Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute (Ohio State ATI), Ohio State University Extension and the Wayne County Sustainable Energy Network. OARDC, Ohio State ATI and OSU Extension are part of Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
For more information on the new recycling program, visit www.wcsen.org/WCSGGF/Recycling/index.html. For more information about the Scarlet, Gray and Green Fair, call 330-287-1263 or visit their website at www.wcsen.org/wcsggf.