Girls and friend peek out of Green Fest photo op board.
Horizon Goodwill collects computers for recycling.
Valley Co-op workers recruit new member.
Youngsters working on bottle-top mosaic in Kids Zone.
Customers check out t-shirts at Recycling Task Force tent.
Christena Morris with her painting of a Monopoly game board.
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U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (center, left) and Green Fest Co-Chair Janeen Solberg cut the ribbon at the band stand in Shafer Park to open last year's annual festival. Joining the ceremony are other members of the Green Fest Committee (green t-shirts) and many local and state officials and other festival supporters. Tim Rowland (far right), author and newspaper columnist, served as honorary guest master of ceremony. Photo by Otto Solberg
Showing off Green Fest t-shirts from the first three years of the festival are (l-r) vendor Susan Simonson (2009), Darrell Jones (2010) and wife Amy Jones (2011). Amy is a founder of both the Green Fest Committee and the Boonsboro Recycling Task Force, the general sponsor of the festival. Photo by Barbara Wetzel
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Scenes from 2011 Boonsboro Green Fest
Photos by Henry Stiles
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Festival highlights
sustainable living,
conservation, recycling
The Boonsboro Green Fest was established on the Saturday of Mother's Day weekend in May 2009 to promote conservation, recycling and sustainable living within our community. Every year since, the Green Fest's attendance, number of vendors, variety of activities and recycling opportunities have increased.
The 4th annual spring festival, sponsored by the Boonsboro Recycling Task Force, will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.on Saturday, May 12, 2012, rain or shine, at Boonsboro's historic Shafer Park. Admission is FREE.
The festival will feature more than 100 vendors, a variety of food concessions, children's activities, speakers, door prizes, entertainment, and the Recycling Zone, which will include an array of recycling stations.
Photo by Barbara Wetzel
The Yardslippers, an eclectic band from Frederick, Md., give a lively performance at the Bandstand during the 2011 Green Fest.
Everything from solar energy systems to composting to fair trade products to heirloom tomato plants to clothing and sports equipment swaps to jewelry and rain barrels to information booths and exhibits will be featured throughout the park.
Vendors wishing to participate may apply on line beginning on Jan. 1, 2012. The deadline for applications is April 2, 2012. Vendors will be required to pay a $20 registration fee for each 10-foot-square space. See the Vendor Standards and Practices here.
A printed program guide, including a map and list of vendors and sponsors will be available to attendees. In advance of the festival, committee members will be distributing bookmarks and posters promoting the events of the day.
Lapel sticker worn
by the 2,200 attendees
at last year's festival
Volunteers needed
Scores of volunteers will be needed throughout the day, helping vendors with setup, passing out programs, collecting recyclables in the Recycling Zone, helping in the Kid Zone with the children's activities, directing traffic and cleaning up the park. Volunteers must sign up in advance and by May 9, 2012. Volunteer Form
Donations welcome
The committee is determined to produce an event that is free and open to the public. To help defray expenses associated with promotion and production, the committee gratefully accepts monetary donations and in-kind contributions. Five levels of giving have been established. They are Green Leaf ($300 & over), Gold Leaf ($200-299), Silver Leaf ($100-199), Bronze Leaf ($50-99) and Green Fest Patron ($49 & under).
Special sponsorship opportunities are available, including underwriting the program guide printing cost and purchasing green lamp post banners. Go to the sponsor page for details.
If you are able to help in any way, please make checks payable to "Boonsboro Green Fest" and mail to: Boonsboro Green Fest, PO Box 64, Boonsboro, MD 21713-0064. If you have questions or would like to make a comment, please email the committee or write to the above address.
Photo by Barbara Wetzel
Several members of the 2011 Green Fest Committee proudly show off the official green t-shirts during their final meeting before the third annual festival. They are (l-r) Kathy Vesely, Leslie Haardt, Brigitte Schmidt, Amy Jones, Laura Schnackenberg, Rosemary James and Janeen Solberg.
Green Fest organizers
Working with Green Fest 2012 Co-Chairs Janeen Solberg and Barbara Wetzel again this year are returning committee members: Sieg Gooding, Sean and Leslie Haardt, Harvey Hoch, Rosemary James, Amy Jones, Frances Lynch, Dan Murphy, Brigitte Schmidt, Laura Schnackenberg, Rick Schulman and Kathy Vesely. Washington County liaisons to the committee are Anthony Drury and Cliff Engle.
Ms. Solberg also is the founding chair of the Boonsboro Recycling Task Force, which sponsors the Green Fest, and serves on the Boonsboro Town Council with Ms. Wetzel; Ms. James is the current chair of the Recycling Task Force; Ms. Vesely serves as chair of the Washington County Solid Waste Advisory Committee, and Ms. Schnackenberg is a member of the town's Park Board, which oversees the operation of the expanding Shafer Park, location of the annual festival.
Mr. Hoch is the retired Washington County recycling coordinator, while Mr. Drury is the current recycling coordinator. Mr. Engle is the director of landfill operations for the county.
Come learn ways to help Mother Earth on Mother's Day weekend.
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What a day!
4th annual Green Fest
a smashing success
BOONSBORO, Md. (May 14, 2012) - Mix together 142 eager Eco-friendly vendors with plenty of inquisitive spectators, a multitude of recycling opportunities, a generous amount of fun and music, and what do you get? A successful Green Fest, that’s what.
Well, it wouldn’t hurt to have perfect weather, lots of tasty food, homemade ice cream and lemonade, and 100 volunteers, either.
The fourth annual Boonsboro Green Fest went off without a hitch on Saturday, May 12, in beautiful Shafer Park, according to Green Fest Committee co-Chairs Janeen Solberg and Barbara Wetzel.
Opening ceremony
A ribbon-cutting ceremony emceed by local broadcaster and weatherman Lou Scally launched the event and was attended by local, state and federal officials, as well as the committee members, some sponsors, local school administrators, and a group of Brownie Scouts, who helped school superintendent Dr. Clayton Wilcox cut the ribbon.
The Boonsboro Recycling Task Force is the general sponsor of the Fest. There were also 55 sponsoring partners who contributed funds and in-kind services, and were underwriters for the printed materials, lamp-post banners, entertainment, the paper shredding service, and the trailer and tent that formed the new stage.
“Every year we are amazed by the number of sponsors who come forward to help us with operational and promotional expenses,” said Wetzel, adding that the number of sponsors has increased from 12 the first year to 55 this year. More than 70 businesses, vendors, organizations and individuals also contributed door prizes.
'I love Green Fest' label count
Estimated attendance was close to 3,500 for the seven-hour event, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Last year 2,200 attended. The festival used the lapel sticker method again this year, whereby each attendee received an “I love Green Fest” sticker and then the remaining stickers were counted to determine the attendance figure.
“We couldn’t be happier,” said Solberg. “It was terrific to see the turnout. It just goes to show how much people are trying to do the right thing where our environment is concerned. I was especially impressed with how many families are getting in the habit of saving things all year to be recycled at the Green Fest.”
A wide variety of recyclable items were collected in the drive-thru loop, including electronics, sneakers, TVs, bicycles, sewing machines, unwanted prescription drugs, eyeglasses, block Styrofoam, flower pots, medical equipment, books, cell phones, ink cartridges and denim.
Swaps were big hit
The St. James Catholic Church gathered clothing during the week preceding the Fest for their Gently Used Clothing Swap and Sale. The tables in a large pavilion were piled high with clothing and accessories. Nearby, the Boonsboro Athletic Boosters were collecting and distributing sports equipment and clothing during their own swap and sale. In addition, the Boonsboro Band Boosters collected used instruments to be used the school’s music program.
Vendors were selling herbs, vegetable plants and shrubs, solar and geothermal systems, garden sheds, original art bird houses on weather-worn barn wood, handcrafted wooden ballpoint pens, jewelry made from sea glass and old silverware, refurbished wooden trunks of all sizes, handbags made from recycled materials, food co-op memberships, rain barrels, and fair trade coffee, among hundreds of items.
People staffing informational booths talked about land preservation, saving waterways, forests and tree planting, composting and recycling.
New stage popular
A new covered stage - using a 48-foot flatbed trailer and a similarly-sized white tent - was home to two musical acts, the Yardslippers of Frederick, and Ray Owen, a one-man musical act from York, Pa. Spectators could listen to music as they had a bite to eat. The PA system carried the music throughout the park.
During the day, five featured speakers made presentations about composting, Boonsboro’s new curbside recycling program, careers in alternative energy, stink bugs and getting motivated to do good works in the community. More than 70 door prizes were also given out after each presentation.
The food vendors were extremely busy in the middle of the day when attendees were looking for lunch or a snack. Lines were 30 people long at times. Food choices included Greek salads and pita sandwiches, hot dogs, pulled pork sandwiches, pizza, fried Cajun catfish, cupcakes and soft ice cream.
Kids stay busy all day
With only bottle caps, children created a huge mosaic of “The Scream,” the famous painting by Edvard Munch, which sold at auction this month for $119 million. An outline of the painting was drawn on a large bulletin board by the Boonsboro High School art students of Todd Geiman, and the kids glued on hundreds of brilliantly colored bottle caps.
Kids of all ages were drawn to the puppet shows put on by the Boonsboro Middle School students of Sabrina Blair, and to The Twister game on the lawn near the Kids Zone pavilion. Children and adults alike were entertained by West Virginia singer-songwriter Tony M. Music, who performed throughout the day at the pavilion.
Admission was free to all. The First Hose Fire Company opened its lot behind the gas station for free parking.