One of the many activities for families taking place at West Sacramento’s Earth Day & Spring Celebration at Bryte Park on April 19 is decorating starter plants. Photo courtesy of City of West Sacramento/Professional Events

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) – West Sacramento area residents are invited to the city’s Bryte Park on Saturday, April 19, rain or (hopefully) shine, to have fun, win prizes, learn about creating sustainable living and hunt for 2,500 brightly-colored eggs.

West Sacramento’s Earth Day & Spring Celebration is taking place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 19 at the park. The city has hosted the event since 2013, event consultant Jeni Tickler-Threadgill said, beginning at City Hall and then moving to Bryte Park when the Earth Day event partnered with the Parks and Recreation Department’s egg hunt.

“It was just a more successful event when we joined our events,” said Tickler-Threadgill.

The free celebration features music, food, shopping from local vendors and artists, and activities for everyone. There will be prizes, beginning with free Chando’s tacos to the first 50 people who arrive when the information booth opens at 10 a.m., with a limit of four tacos per family.

Youth attending the April 19 Earth Day & Spring Celebration will get a chance to search for some choice goodies among 2,500 eggs. Photo courtesy of City of West Sacramento/Professional Events

The first 50 attendees to visit the Sacramento River Cats booth and sign up for the team’s newsletter will get a free ticket to a May home game, with a limit of two tickets per fan. There will also be a free raffle with prizes including tickets to upcoming A’s, River Cats and Sacramento Republic FC games.

There will be arts and crafts for the kids, and of course, the egg hunt. The hunt begins at 10:30 a.m. for ages 4 and under, 11 a.m. for ages 5 to 7 and 11:30 a.m. for ages 8 to 12.

One booth will give event attendees the opportunity to meet the non-releasable birds of prey ambassadors from Hawks, Honkers & Hoots. Founder and educator Kelli Moulden said the organization will have half of their currently housed 10 birds on hand, along with a variety of bird items such as feathers, talons, wings and skulls from birds who didn’t survive, as well as to-scale bust carvings.

“We have display things people can touch because we’re mostly tactile,” Moulden said. “People can really see what makes these birds up.”

Volunteers will conduct lessons with a unique approach about the birds’ aspects, such as what they eat and their natural defenses.

As an example of eating, Moulden said they present bird “restaurants,” such as a restaurant for the turkey vulture called “Road Kill Café,” with the motto “No carry out, just carrion.”

For natural defenses, Moulden said, there is “Owls in Camo” with pictures of owls in their natural environment and attendees challenged to spot them. There will also be a grip-strength meter where you can test your grip against that of a raptor. 

Hawks, Honkers & Hoots founder and educator Kelli Mouldin holds onto Murphy, a red-tailed hawk currently at the nonprofit organization. Hawks, Honkers & Hoots will have up to five birds of prey, along with other bird displays, at the April 19 Earth Day & Spring Celebration. Photo courtesy of Hawks, Honkers & Hoots

“All of the birds are from the Sacramento area, so you have the potential to see them right here,” Moulden added.

One of the sustainable living organizations with a booth at Bryte Park will be Our Water, Our World, providing information about “less-toxic, eco-friendly products and techniques” for pest control and taking care of yards and gardens. Master Gardener Julie Barbour has 15 years working with the University of California’s IPM (Integrated Pest Management) program to bring to help homeowners and gardeners with better solutions to their issues.

“This is all in the name of keeping pesticides out of the water,” Barbour said. “Pesticides can go dormant. When the right environmental conditions occur, they can then spring back to life and do the job they were intended to do, but where they weren’t intended to be.”

At Earth Day, Barbour will provide information on better practices so the use of pesticides can be avoided, such as adjusting sprinklers for proper irrigation, proper plant feeding and using products such as wood chips to stop weeds.

Barbour encourages event attendees to bring pictures of their environmental problems so she can figure out what is going on and provide a more environmentally appropriate solution. Barbour likened the approach to dealing with a medical condition through specific, proper treatment.

West Sacramento's Waste Management's food sorting games is just one of several fun activities for youth at the Earth Day & Spring Celebration event. Photo courtesy of City of West Sacramento/Professional Events

“You don’t go to a pharmacy for a headache and get something that will kill everything,” Barbour said.

Additionally at Earth Day, the West Sacramento Fire Department will have an engine on hand and Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates (SABA) E-Bike Experience will have a booth with information about e-bikes and test rides. For those who want to ride their bikes to Bryte Park, a bike valet will provide parking and security.

“We really have a well-rounded community event for families,” Tickler-Threadgill said.