Earth Day Parade Held at Sci-Port

The Shreveport Times
Kristi Richie
04/29/2008

Seven-year-old Duncan Hernandez, of Shreveport, said recycling is important because "it helps the Earth."

That's why he, with a little help from his mother, turned a little red wagon into a float of recyclables for Sci-Port Discovery Center's Earth Day Parade on Sunday.

Kids were encouraged to dress up themselves or floats as their favorite things in nature or other "Earthy" concepts for the event, also sponsored by SBfamilies.com, Shreveport Green and SPAR.

 

Chase Harner, 6 of Shreveport, dressed up as a turtle and towed a wagon transformed into a blue water lake full of fish.

 

"We have a pet turtle. We caught him out of the lake on Cypress," Chase said of why he chose the costume. "The inside (of the float) is foam and wood, foam that goes on a bed, and we used yarn and put fish on it and used paint to make fish bubbles."

 

Mother Nature (Tiffany Cheri Veillon, of Shreveport) served as the parade's grand marshal.

 

"I love nature and plants, and this is definitely something to be excited about - a parade at Sci-Port," Veillon said. "We just want to get the kids excited and involved."

About 20 children circled the lobby of Sci-Port, some chanting "Save Our Earth." Costumes ranged from recycling promotions to strollers and wheelchairs decorated in greenery and flowers.

 

Matt Starr, dressed as Andy Oakley the oak tree, was the parade's caboose and visited with children prior to the parade to tell them about trees and what's found in them, such as fruits, animals and insects.

 

"I teach them about oxygen and carbon dioxide and ask them what their favorite tree is," Starr said. "One kid said 'a strawberry tree,' so if strawberries grew on trees, I would be one. Usually, when I pull the apple out of my pocket, they say their favorite is an apple tree."

 

Earth Day will be celebrated Tuesday, and the parade and book swap was held to bring awareness to that.

 

"This is our first event for Earth Day. We're already planning something even bigger and better for 2009," Allison Cate, of SBfamilies.com, said. "With curbside recycling coming in August, we wanted to bring attention to Earth Day and recycling. We also have a book swap going for the kids, and books are the easiest thing to recycle and promote reading too obviously."