Berks County Earth Day event fights against pollution
Earth Day-themed celebrations featured superheroes cleaning up trash
It’s not every day that your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man swings by Reading to fight pollution.
But on April 23, an array of Earth Day-themed events began with not one, but two of those superheroes — Dwayne Marston and Brandon Lesagonicz, of the Reading-Berks Association of Realtors — who bagged trash with machinelike efficiency around City Park.
Over 500 volunteers from the Great American Cleanup program racked up dozens of trash bags, leaving the park pristine for the start of the Berks County Earth Day celebration.
The event featured 68 conservation groups, activist organizations, businesses, and vendors, as well as an expected turnout of 1,500 — double the attendees of last year’s events, according to city Public Works officials.
Demonstrations from Berks Nature, Friends of Nolde Forest and other local environmental groups highlighted the importance of environmental stewardship, and local efforts to protect the planet.
“We’re actually working on a pollinator garden for birds and bees and butterflies, because in the middle of the city you don’t really get that” said Cheyenne Krow, a farmer with Alvernia’s Bog Turtle Creek Farm, which aims to make healthy produce available for low-income families.
Bog Turtle Creek Farm was handing out snap pea seedlings at the event.
No one captured the spirit of the day quite like Jessica Logozo, who wore an headdress pasted with empty bottles, plastic lids and other common waste items.
Logozo said the outfit, designed by local artist Dev Leviner, was designed to draw community attention to the costs of littering.
Families gathered to watch a presentation featuring special guests from the Elmwood Zoo in Norristown — including a skunk and a large tegu lizard — as animal keepers described how the creatures use their unique traits to survive and thrive in nature.
Browsing the stands in rapt attention was Megan Renniger of Reading and her daughter Savanah.
“We tried planting a tree at home, and we try and teach the kids about not littering,” Renniger said. “We come every year.”
A similar passion for nature was also on display at the county agricultural building in Bern Township, where local farmers, conservationists, and organizers from the Berks County Conservation District introduced the county to the first Conservation Celebration.
Several families attending enjoyed a petting zoo with two goats, while children laughed and tossed beanbags and played raingarden pachinko on a large, wooden pachinko board.
In the corner sat a line of rain-garden barrels decorated with artistic depictions of trees, seas, Mother Earth and more.
Environmental outreach coordinator Jennifer Brooks said the rain gardens were designed by students from Berks school districts, and attendees could purchase raffle tickets
Honeybees buzzed within glass displays next to amber jars of honey at the stand from Funny Farm Apiaries LLC., manned by Mark Fujita.
Fujita said the key to keeping native bee populations healthy — including the bumble bee, whose population has plummeted more than 90% in recent years — is to plant more native pollinators and stop using pesticides.
Another native species in severe decline is the little brown bat, according to Steph Stronsik, with Pennsylvania Bat Rescue, which are endangered due to white nose syndrome, a deadly fungal infection.
Stronsik brought out live bat Ring Ding, a little brown bat who recovered from white nose syndrome, which she said is nearly always fatal for bats who contract it in the wild.
“We need to start paying attention to our bat populations,” Stronsik said, “Berks County is an important site, it’s a migratory pathway for a lot of bats.”
For Lori Snyder, who came to the Conservation Celebration all the way from New Tripoli, Lehigh County, this year’s Earth Day was a nothing short of a great learning experience.
“The food is great. The music is great. I learned a lot,” Snyder said.