LODI SANDHILL CRANE FESTIVAL AT A GLANCE
Find out about the stately, ancient cranes that make the Lodi area their winter home. Enjoy tours of crane roosting grounds, along with activities including wildlife presentations, speakers, rock painting, origami, vendors, taiko drumming and more.
The festival runs from Nov. 3 through Nov. 5 at Hutchins Street Square, 125 S. Hutchins St., Lodi.
Admission is free, though there are fees for tours.
For more information, visit www.cranefestival. com. •••
Janine Jacinto, a teacher at Lodi’s Heritage Elementary School, will be honored for her efforts to teach conservation and awareness of nature at the festival.
Janine Jacinto, a teacher at Lodi’s Heritage Elementary School, will receive the Lodi Sandhill Crane Association’s Conservation Award at the Sandhill Crane Festival opening dinner on Nov. 3.
Jacinto is being honored for her commitment to inspiring students to explore, understand and appreciate nature and take action toward a healthy environment.
She began her teaching career at Oakwood School in North Stockton and served at Needham School before coming to Heritage.
Though her father was a counselor at San Joaquin Delta College, Jacinto came to education only after exploring other career paths, including a successful stint in restaurant equipment sales. After her return to college — majoring in anthropology at California State University, Sacramento — Jacinto considered social work and environmental law before focusing on teaching.
Among her inspirations are Norm Walker, a former sociology teacher at Lodi High School and member of the Lodi Lake Nature Area Docents.
Reflecting on an early interest in nature as a self-described “hippie kid,” Jacinto recalls slogans such as “Ecology Now!” in the 1970s when a growing awareness of troubling environmental concerns pointed toward the need for action.
She also recalls a college class — International Environmental Problems — that sparked her own awareness and appreciation of environmental challenges that need to be met with solid scientific knowledge and committed individuals.
Together with local environmental activist Kathy Grant, Jacinto has organized student study trips to the White Slough Wastewater Treatment Facility, Lodi Lake, Cal-Waste Recovery Systems in Galt, Pardee Reservoir, the Mokelumne River Hatchery, Cosumnes River Preserve, the Marine Science Institute and other sites throughout the Delta and San Francisco Bay. Her students, in turn, were inspired to form EarthKeepers, whose slogan, “Save the World,” spurs their involvement in monitoring the health of local waterways.
Jacinto can often be seen with Grant and an entourage of students at Lodi Lake gathering data or releasing classroom–reared salmon into the Mokelumne River. She has also been engaged in producing the Mokelumne Current, an annual student-generated newspaper included in the Lodi News-Sentinel that keeps locals apprised of the river and its relationship to the community and beyond.
Sandhill Crane Festival organizers are pleased to recognize Jacinto’s passion for providing children both an awareness of and appreciation for wildlife and nature and for inspiring them to act on behalf of a healthy environment.
Tickets are available for the Sandhill Crane Festival opening dinner.
For more information about the festival or to purchase tickets, visit