Food, educational exhibits and entertainment are planned as part of Pahrump’s Earth Day observance on Saturday.
Ian Deutch Memorial Park is once again the venue for the free family-friendly celebration from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Organized by the Pahrump Nuclear Waste and Environmental Advisory Board, Earth Day 2016 arrives one day after the official observance of April 22.
Board member Mary Duff said all things related to environmental protection and renewable resources will be the main focus of the 13th annual event.
“We will have lots of hot dogs available and we will also have fun and educational exhibits,” she said. “The exhibits will focus on recycling, gardening and ground water. There will also be free earth-friendly products and interactive games. There will be live music courtesy of the band, Incognito.”
Several area agencies will also be on hand for the observance.
Duff noted that attendees can also sign up for the upcoming annual Pahrump Town Cleanup while at the event.
“The Pahrump Town Cleanup will be on May 7th and we are going to handle different parts of the town and just try to spruce up our community a little bit,” she said. “The nuclear waste and environmental advisory committee has done it for the last few years and there are other groups in town who put on their own town cleanup project. We did one in the fall and we had over 60 volunteers so people are eager to be a part of this effort.”
During a recent committee meeting, Duff said members discussed methods of mitigating graffiti in the valley.
“We are in the process of that right now and we’re contacting UNLV to find out if some of their art students are interested in coming out and covering up some of our graffiti with their artwork,” she said. “It has been proven in other cities that simply painting over the graffiti provides just another blank canvas. If we actually replaced it with artwork, it would seem to work out a little better. Hopefully we can do something regarding that in the future.”
Earth Day’s first observance began in 1970.
Duff said she has always been an environmentally-conscious person.
“Earth day is always been around for me and while I was growing up, I was always part of our recycling club and doing things for Earth Day,” she said. “I just think it’s a nice reminder to take care of where we live and be good stewards of the planet that we live on. We had a pretty good attendance last year because about 200 people came out.”
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes