Announcing the North County Harvest EarthFair
EarthFair becomes a biannual event with a new venue in Vista. Why two
EarthFairs a year? Because one is not enough.
by Julaine Chattaway and Alice Martinez
id you know that the month of September is Organic Harvest
Month (A.K.A. "Let's not put poisons on our foods and eat them"
Month) and September 16-22 is Pollution Prevention week (A.K.A. "If
you are not part of the solution, then start now" week)? A few of you
might have known, but we want everyone to know.
This makes September the ideal month for San Diego Earth
Day's first annual Harvest EarthFair. The fair will be held in Vista on
September 14, 1996 from 10am - 5pm at the Antique Gas & Steam Engine
Museum located at 2040 N. Santa Fe Avenue. As always, the EarthFair is free
and open to the public.
To kick off the whole event there will be a special
"Good Food BBQ" on the night prior to the fair, September13, at
6:00pm at the fair site.
At last ...
Ever since the first EarthFair in Balboa Park in 1990,
we have had requests from North County residents for a similar event in
their area. The difficulty of driving for an hour, then having to deal with
the limited parking and crowds at Balboa Park, has discouraged many from
attending.
We have been anxious to fill this need. Our main problem
in scheduling a North County event has been finding an appropriate venue:
one with lots of space, lots of parking - and not too expensive. Thus, it
was with great pleasure that we were able to join forces with the Antique
Gas & Steam Engine Museum, who occupy an ideal site for a fair.
The same ... but different
The Harvest EarthFair will share many of the same features
as the Balboa Park event: exhibits by groups with environmental causes,
products and services, demonstrations, music and entertainment for the whole
family, food, etc.
However, in recognition of Organic Harvest Month and
the importance of agriculture to our lives, the fair will place a special
emphasis on farming. Harvest EarthFair will introduce consumers to farmers,
and will show attendees how their food choices affect their neighborhood's
environmental and economic health. There will be natural foods exhibits,
cooking demonstrations and organic food samples.
We will also be able to offer more earth-friendly goods
and services for sale - something severely restricted at Balboa Park due
to city regulations about the use of public lands. We anticipate that our
exhibitors will offer a much wider variety of items for sale: from plants
to recycling containers to hand-made crafts. And, of course, anyhing made
of recycled or reused materials!
Since this is our premier event, there are sure to be
other special surprises. Currently, it looks likely that a straw bale house
will be constructed on the site during the fair.
Wanna play?
Attending the Harvest EarthFair will be a great day
for the whole family, However, there are lots of ways that you can participate.
Volunteering. Like all SDED events, the Harvest EarthFair will be
produced entirely by volunteers. We need about two hundred volunteers to
help with set-up, clean-up, staffing the San Diego Earth Day booths and
much more.
To be a volunteer, please come to our introductory meeting
on Monday July 29, 1996 at 6:30pm in the meeting room at the Carmel Valley
library located at 3919 Townsgate Drive in the Del Mar area. For directions,
please call the library at 552-1668.
Can't make the meeting? That's OK, we still need you.
Please leave your name and phone number on our voicemail system at 496-6666
and we will contact you.
Exhibiting. If you have an environmentally related cause, produce
or service of interest to the public, we invite you to exhibit at the fair.
(If you have exhibited at an EarthFair, please return the postcard we recently
sent you). If you farm, or have a farm-related business of public interest,
we want you to be there. If you have an earth-friendly product or craft
you would like to sell, you're invited, too. Leave your name, mailing address
and phone number on our voicemail system at 496-6666.
Attending the Kick-off BBQ. Tickets for this event will go on sale
August 1. Call 496-6666 for more information.
Thanks for helping make every day Earth day!
