Sherman -- Crisp spring weather and blue skies greeted the crowd in Sherman Saturday as North Texans gathered to learn how to protect the environment, listen to live music, appreciate the arts and enjoy great food at the 2013 Texoma Earth Day Festival.
Bands such as Allen Hurt and the Mountain Showmen, as well as Melody Ranch's Bits and Pieces took turns on the Oliver Dewey Mayor Gazebo stage to provide a fitting soundtrack for the festival as visitors sampled products at many of the booths.
Freda Riley's spinning wheel was a crowd favorite as the Leonard, Texas native spun a combination of bamboo and merino wool into yarn.
"You'll never buy yard again once you learn how to spin," the fiber artist remarked.
While most people at the festival were learning how to enhance vegetable and flower gardens, Riley is planting a dye garden in order to use natural dyes produced by indigo and pomegranates to color her fiber creations. She also plans on growing red cotton and green cotton to provide natural hues.
Riley learned to spin yarn on a Navajo spindle before advancing to a production model, the Louet spinning wheel.
The City of Sherman's mobile Adopt-a-Pet trailer is always a popular part of Texoma Earth Day and the staff was busy locating forever homes for cats and dogs. The adoption trailer was made possible by a gift from the estate of Allan G. Smith and, in March alone, 125 dogs and 23 cats were adopted from the trailer.
Covenant Presbyterian Church hosted two art shows -- a Mail-In Art Show inspired by Grayson College Art Department's irrepressible Steve O. Black and a Youth Art Show with ecology as its theme -- as well as a wide variety of children's activities.
The youth art show created a lot of interest in the Sherman-Denison area, but several entries were also submitted by budding artists in Bonham and Whitesboro.
Meanwhile, out on the bright green grass of Municipal Lawn, festival goers were enticed to try kale chips by cries of "Kale, yes!" from the Farmacy Fountain booth. Located in Van Alstyne, the Farmacy Fountain specializes in smoothies, juices, teas and treats such as Wheat Grass & Ginger Shots.
Honey Bee Coffee Cafe was another fascinating small business featured at this year's Texoma Earth Day Festival. Located in Howe, Texas and operated by owners Austin and Kira Hawkins, Honey Bee Coffee Cafe was in Sherman Saturday giving out samples of a full-bodied Texas Pecan Coffee and a delicious Peppermint Jasmine Tea sweetened with a splash of honey. For more information, please visit www.honeybeecoffeecafe.com.
Even though this was Earth Day, several people set their sights on the sun, thanks to the expertise of North Texas Star Gazers. Telescopes were aligned to allow novices to stop by for a glance at sun spots and solar flares.
Two workshops sponsored by American Bank of Texas offered information about native trees and plants, rain barrels, permaculture farms and the advantages of grass-fed beef. The keynote address was delivered by Terry Jensen of DFW Ecovillage, an intentional community built on the concepts of sustainable living.
