Muddy feet and sore muscles gave way to smiles and laughter at Clark Public Utilities’ annual StreamTeam Earth Day Fest on Saturday.
The annual volunteer project and nature fair is a staple for Clark County and, based on the crowd perusing booths and helping plant trees at Salmon Creek Regional Park, remains as popular as ever.
“It’s become an awesome thing to do on Earth Day,” StreamTeam coordinator Ashley King said. The event is in its 18th year.
It was also one of several Earth Day events across the region, where volunteers pulled weeds, picked up trash and planted trees in support of the planet.
In Washougal, a small troupe of community members traipsed through English ivy and blackberry vines to clear out a lot at 2036 Main St. that will become a downtown park.
Suzanne Grover with Washougal Public Works said the city’s park board wanted to find a way to give city residents a chance to work on the planned park themselves.
“We thought this would be a great opportunity to get residents out to see the park before,” Grover said.
Washougal City Councilor Paul Greenlee was among the volunteers there helping collect trash in the lot and on nearby streets. When asked why he spent his Saturday volunteering, the answer was simple:
“It’s my city,” Greenlee said.
Similar efforts were underway at Kiwanis Park in Battle Ground, Whipple Creek and LeRoy Haagen Park in east Vancouver.
At the StreamTeam event, where a band called Recycleman and the Dumpster Drivers crooned about composting, families visited booths with an environmental focus, played with puzzles provided by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, and tried their hand at building a watershed in a box.
Andy Pedersen and his children explored the fair after planting trees near Klineline Pond.
Pedersen’s 11-year-old son Ethan, whose pants were caked with mud from working in the dirt, is a Boy Scout.
“It’s a great way to do his service projects that are conservation-minded,” Pedersen said.
“We need trees,” Ethan added. “We have to treat them nicely.”
