Helpful workshops at Earth Day Texoma April 25

Workshops offered during Earth Day Texoma 2015 (EDT) will include how-to advice on building a butterfly-friendly garden, using natural-healing techniques for pets, and converting a house to geothermal heating and cooling.

The seventh annual free, family-oriented festival takes place on April 25 this year, 8:30-5:00 at Sherman Municipal Grounds, 405 N. Rusk in Sherman.

The event draws exhibitors of environment-friendly products and services, plus attendees, from throughout north Texas and southern Oklahoma. Festival director Amy Hoffman-Shehan estimates last year’s crowd at 7,500 and expects even more people to attend this year.

Volunteers are still needed to help with setting up for the festival on Friday, April 24, and to assist with tasks during the festival on Saturday (such as providing water to performers and exhibitors). Anyone wishing to volunteer should contact Carole Harner at carole.harner@gmail.com or 903-436-6304.

In keeping with the festival theme of “Learning Green,” EDT workshop presenters will focus on ways that the average person can help preserve the earth’s scarce resources. Door prizes will be given out at many of the workshops.

The day’s schedule begins with “Garden for Birds and Butterflies,” 9:50-10:40 a.m., with Dick and Sue Malorey answering basic questions such as: What is a “green” garden? Why go “green”? and how to make your garden attractive to birds and butterflies?

The Maloreys have been volunteering at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Grayson County since 2004. Dick is a lifelong birder, Sue a lifelong gardener, and they have transformed their Sherman home into a tree-shaded landscape that attracts birds and butterflies.

Also, Dick has installed a butterfly garden at the Hagerman Refuge that includes a water feature, a teaching circle, and shaded seating areas.

The workshops take a break from 11:00 to noon, so that festival participants can hear EDT’s keynote speaker, Dr. Keith Kisselle of Austin College, who will be addressing the topic of “Climate Change: A Challenge for Our Time” in the Sherman Municipal Building ballroom.

An Associate Professor of Biology and the Academic Chair of Environmental Studies at Austin College, he will address common questions about climate change and the effects it is having on plant life and wildlife in the Sherman area.
He will also discuss ways that ordinary citizens can prepare for and help address climate change.

From 12:30 to 1:20, local writer and certified animal behavior consultant Amy Shojai will offer “Pet Peeves,” a workshop offering easy solutions to complaints of pet owners (such as potty accidents, digging, and barking).

An award-winning writer of best-selling books on pet care and behavior, Shojai has appeared on numerous national radio and television programs as an expert on training and caring for cats and dogs.

At her workshop, she will be giving away fat-free dog treats and eco-friendly cat litter as door prizes.

From 1:30 to 2:20, Marianna Perkins will repeat the hands-on workshop on “Sleeping Mats for the Homeless” that she offered at EDT last year. She and other members of the Membership Care and Community Outreach of Grace United Methodist Church in Sherman will assist workshop attendees in making mats for homeless people from unwanted plastic shopping bags.

The plastic is cut into strips, looped together to make “plarn” (plastic yarn), and crocheted into a mat. Workshop attendees are encouraged to bring scissors and, if they crochet, a size 10 crochet hook. Perkins stresses that anyone can help make mats, whether they know how to crochet or not.
The mats will then be distributed to the homeless by the church’s outreach program.

From 2:30 to 3:20, Marci and Jason Pearson will explain what geothermal HVAC units are, how they benefit the environment, and how a homeowner can save money with them through lower operating costs and tax credits. Jason Pearson has been in the HVAC industry since 1996 and has many certifications and awards to his credit.

The final workshop of the day, from 3:30 to 4:20, will be “How to build a tower garden” using a 55-gallon plastic drum. The technique produces an easy-to-maintain standalone garden with a weed-free structure that requires little water. The workshop is taught by Sarma Gunturi, a representative of the Dallas Sai Center, which works with the Plano Unitarian Universalist Church Community Garden project in Dallas to benefit the local community.

A tower garden will be given as door prize at this workshop.
Red River Unitarian Universalist Church is EDT’s main sponsor. Other sponsors are listed on the www.earthdaytexoma.org website and on materials distributed to publicize the festival.