NORWAY — A sidewalk parade will be held Saturday, April 26, to celebrate Earth Day and the Alan Day Community Garden.

Scott Vlaun of the Moose Pond Arts & Ecology, and his son, Jasper, met with the Board of Selectmen last week to get permission for the parade. It is planned from 9:30 to 11 a.m.

The parade will be on the sidewalk between Witherall Park, site of the town’s Civil War Memorial on Main Street, and the Alan Day Community Garden on Whitman Street. Vlaun called the event a “human power parade” and encouraged people to come celebrate Earth Day, a worldwide event since 1970.

The garden at 26 Whitman St. was developed in 2009 by the late Alan Day’s twin teenage daughters, Emma and Ruby DayBranch, and their mother, Katey Branch.  The garden honors the memory of Alan Day, a community activist who loved gardens.

According to the garden’s website, the mission of the nonprofit is to “cooperatively create an educational demonstration garden using organic, sustainable methods to support an enduring community food system.” Families can grow their own food on a plot. The garden also supplies food to the local pantries, community dinners and other organizations.

In previous years, the community has gathered on Earth Day at the Fare Share Market for food, song and dance, but in 2013 organizers decided to celebrate at the garden.

“I believe the world needs more parades,” Selectman Warren Sessions Jr. as the board gave its support for the parade.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link