Earth Day Celebration

Sturgeon Bay, Wis. (April 14, 2023) – To those of us involved in environmental stewardship, every day really is Earth Day, but each year around April 22, the date Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson designated as Earth Day back in 1970, many of the conservation organizations of Door County join together for a four-day celebration called Every Day is Earth Day. www.everydayisearthdayfest.org/

This year, festivities will take place Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at the Kress Center and the Northern Sky Gould Theatre, but on Sunday afternoon, April 23, the Earth Day Celebration moves to Crossroads at Big Creek.

Between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m., the Main Campus of Crossroads will become an environmental festival with educational activities for learners of all ages. There will be guided nature hikes during what we expect to be the height of the sucker run (no promises!), kids’ activities, exhibits, composting instructions, and the opportunity to participate in a BioBlitz.

Participants can take part in the Climate Change Coalition of Door County’s Big Plant, by planting a native tree at Crossroads, and also taking home a free seedling.

At the native plant exhibit co-sponsored by the Door County Master Gardeners, Door County Seed Library, and Wild Ones of the Door Peninsula, participants can learn about native wildflowers and their habitat requirements while selecting appropriate free packets of wildflower seeds.

At 3:30 p.m., Crossroads will show Peninsula Filmworks’ new “Ridge and Swale” documentary celebrating the legacy of conservation in Door County. The two-part documentary is just under two hours with a short intermission. A wine, lemonade, cheese and other delectables reception begins at 3:00 p.m. in the Collins Learning Center.

Every Day is Earth Day events at Crossroads are free and open to the public.  

Master Gardeners and Wild Ones will be back at Crossroads on Tuesday, April 25, when naturalist Charlotte Lukes present the lecture, “Spring Woods Wakening,” which includes images of upland hardwoods wildflowers, birds, trees, shrubs, moths, butterflies, frogs, mushrooms and animals you might encounter from March to late June. Co-sponsored by the Wild Ones of the Door Peninsula and Crossroads at Big Creek.

Free and open to the public.

On Thursday, April 27, at 7 p.m., Dr. Nicole Nietlisbach DVM, from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, will present “Largemouth Bass Virus and Smallmouth Bass of Green Bay: Current Knowledge and Remaining Questions.”  Learn how prevalent LMBv is in Green Bay smallmouth bass since first being detected in 2019, how it impacts smallmouth bass populations, and how the WDNR will manage it into the future.