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June 11, 2010
Judy Wu
Fremont’s Earth Day Fair celebrated Earth Day’s fortieth anniversary, April 24. It also featured the WHS New Leaf Club as one of the eco-friendly exhibitors.
The fair was held at the Teen Center in Central Park. The fair offered free admission and was coordinated by Fremont environmental specialist Chanel Kincaid.
“I was thrilled with the fair’s outcome. More schools participated this year compared to last year,” Kincaid said. “There was also music which entertained the guests.”
WHS New Leaf Club had a booth with games, such as spin-the-wheel, hangman and a water game with toy cars. They gave out brownies and Capri Sun coin pouches as prizes. The club also sold plants and lemonade. They will use profits to buy plants for the planting. Sophomore New Leaf vice president Bharathi Gandi asked senior Christopher Valdez to play the guitar to attract guests to the booth. Many WHS students came to represent the New Leaf Club and earn community service hours.
“The booth looked like a success. We earned a lot of money from selling plants, lemonades and brownies,” New Leaf president junior Julien Malard said.
Other Fremont high schools participated in the fair. Kennedy High School’s Green Ventures Academy sold healthy, organic food. They will donate the money earned to Tri Cities Food Bank. Irvington gave out plants and brought the hybrid bus the school won from America’s Greenest School contest.
American made paper and sold the paper cutouts for $1. They will adopt trees with the money earned. Fremont’s Got Talent vocalists Levi William, Ciara Lunger and Derek Chan also performed some original songs to entertain guests.
“The Earth Day fair was nice. I thought Levi William was very talented,” Gandi said.
Union City Transit, Alameda County Water District, Tri City Ecology Center and other corporations set up eco-friendly booths. The corporations gave out brochures to inform guests about being environmental friendly. Some corporations gave out free tote bags, pencils and other goodies to attract guests.
There was a native tree giveaway, bicycle safety check up and a lamp exchange. People could exchange their old 300-watt halogen floor lamp and their PG&E bill for a new energy-saving version for free. The Union Sanitary District hosted a pharmaceutical disposal and mercury thermometer exchanges.
There were also activities for children such as a puppet show and arts and crafts. Guests were also invited to vote for Earth Day fair posters designed by Kennedy and Washington High School students. Finalists included students from Washington, juniors Steven Lee and Cheng Tan.
The fair was a way for the city, high schools, non-profits organization and the county to provide event-goers with educational outreach about local programs or how to get involved in various environmental topics. It emphasized the importance of giving back to the planet.
“The planet provides water, air and so much more for us. We should be thoughtful in return on how we are impacting those resources that we so readily rely on,” Kincaid said.
