Valleys will observe Earth Day

Various educational programs are planned.

YOUNGSTOWN — Earth Day, a day set aside to celebrate the Earth and its environment, is officially still a week away, but area colleges and organizations have scheduled a number of events leading up to the annual celebration.

The list includes:

WEDNESDAY

UYoungstown State University will hold a National Wildlife Federation broadcast showing what various universities are doing to reduce their contribution to global warming. The program is set for 7 p.m. in Schwebel Auditorium in Moser Hall.

SATURDAY

UMill Creek MetroParks will be getting some attention as the Boy Scouts hold their annual park cleanup from 9 a.m. to noon. A total of 25 locations throughout the park will be visited by 22 Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout troops and a Girl Scout troop with units coming from all over Mahoning County as well as Girard, Hubbard and Alliance.

Other spots targeted for cleanup are Yellow Creek Park in Struthers, Vickers Nature Preserve in Canfield, the MetroParks Farm in Canfield and the MetroParks Bikeway running from Canfield through Austintown.

Students from Chaney High School will also be helping to clean the park.

U“Earth Day Now and Then,” featuring Mill Creek naturalist Bill Whitehouse, will begin at 2:30 p.m. at the Ford Nature Education Center in Mill creek. Whitehouse will review the history of Earth Day and the park during a three-mile trek.

UHoward Lyman, the Mad Cowboy, a self-proclaimed cattle rancher who won’t eat meat, will speak at 4 p.m. in the Gallery Room of Kilcawley Center at YSU. He will discuss factory farming, vegetarianism, the environment and health.

U“Land of Blessing” will feature Grace Williams of the Nanticoke Indian tribe from 1 to 5 p.m. in the Woods Pavilion at Villa Maria Community Center, Villa Maria, Pa. Williams will talk about her native culture and heritage. Frank Romeo, director emeritus of Villa Maria Land Management, will address “Who Will Speak for the Land?”

UFamilies, Scouts, other youth groups and area organizations are invited to learn what small things they can do to help make every day Earth Day in a program from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Munnell Run Farm, a facility owned by Mercer County, Pa., and on Pa. Route 58 in Mercer County. Tree planting will be a focal point of the event.

SUNDAY

UThe Sierra Student Coalition from Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa., will be cleaning up its adopted section of Interstate 80 from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Those wishing to help should meet at the McKelvey Campus Center information desk at 2 p.m. The highway cleanup will be followed by tree planting at the College Field Station near campus at 6 p.m.

TUESDAY (Earth Day)

UThe BBC Planet Earth series will be shown from 3 to 5 p.m. in Ward Beecher Planetarium at YSU.

UThe Audubon Society of the Mahoning Valley will offer “10 Easy Ways to Help Birds and the Environment” at 7 p.m. at the MetroParks Farm in Canfield. A social time is set for 6:30 p.m.