Under the bright sun and towering redwoods, the Big Sur community came together at the Henry Miller Memorial Library for an Earth Day celebration on Sunday.
Envisioned and sponsored collectively by the Big Sur Community Emergency Response Team, environmental non-profit B-SAGE and the Ventana Wildlife Society, the event was a great success.
“This is the first event like this with so many organizations,” explained Magnus Toren, executive director of the Henry Miller Memorial Library.
Around 27 booths covered the deck and lawn of the cozy venue and attracted all age groups.
“This is a true community event where everyone is here for the good of the cause,” PacificValleySchool employee Lisa Gering commented.
The Captain Cooper Elementary School provided paint and sponges for all the youngsters and occasional adults to personalize free canvas bags, while the Ventana Wildlife Society explained their work with the endangered California condors and yet another booth handed out free condoms.
There was truly a little bit of everything.
The three sponsoring organizations pushed for the event when they realized it was time to come together and start the conversation concerning the environment and the help it needs.
“I thought, ‘Oh my god, I’ve got to do something about this,’” explained B-SAGE chair Lynda Sayre as she described her reasons behind organizing the event.
With the lively tunes of guitar and harmonica playing in the background, guests were able to wander from booth to booth and learn more about the non-profits in the area and how they can volunteer for an eco-friendly cause.
“We need to see how we can work together. Big problems get solved through communication and Big Sur needs to learn how to communicate,” Big Sur CERT representative LaVerne McLeod said.
This event successfully opened that line of communication.
The Henry Miller Memorial Library has been open since 1981 and has hosted an array of events ranging from music to creative writing seminars. The library emanates the laid-back vibe with floating books dangling above, posters from hip bands covering the walls and the words of authors like Ken Kesey and Hunter S. Thomson waiting on the shelves.
-CARLI HAMBLEY
