Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library celebrated the planet this weekend during their sixth annual Earth Day Fest in Boothbay Harbor. Locals and visitors came downtown on April 22 to learn about local issues, see what environmentally friendly resources are locally available and have fun outdoors.

“It’s just a great day to celebrate and get everyone out together talking about something we all have in common: Earth,” said Bethany Schmidt, programs and technology manager at BHML. “We all live on Earth, we all love earth, so that’s why we celebrate.”

The library lawn was filled with booths and representatives from local organizations such as Boothbay Region Clean Drinking Water Initiative, Bigelow Laboratory, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Lincoln County Gleaners, Healthy Lincoln County, Knox-Lincoln Soil & Water Conservation District, Saffron & Honey Homestead and more

“We wanted to make our community partners shine,” Schmidt said. “They have a lot of great activities, prizes crafts and games, so they are doing just that.”

BMHL encouraged Kids and adults to show their creative side with sidewalk chalk art honoring the planet and crafts activities with the Boothbay Sea and Science center.

Volunteers from the Boothbay Region Amateur Radio Station showed visitors how to communicate with amateur radio operators across the planet. Messages were taken down to be delivered that night to recipients as far as Salem, Oregon and even Ireland.

Erica Berman came to represent Veggies to Table, a non-profit farm she helped found in Newcastle that uses organic, sustainable practices to provide food to those in need. She said about one in five children and one in seven adults in the community don’t have enough food to eat and the organization is there to help them.

“Everything we grow we donate,” she said, adding that they have given away over 44 thousand pounds of vegetables since they started in 2019.

Veggies to Table and other groups like the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and Knox-Lincoln Soil and Water Conservation District were giving away seeds or sharing how to grow your own food and plants, especially native ones.

"A lot of times people think a native plant is just going to be that weed they don't like in their yard,” said Leslie Volpe. “Actually, there are some really beautiful native plants, especially if you have the space to let them go a little.

Native plants have benefits beyond their looks, according to Volpe. She said they last longer year after year, are more resistant to pests and drought and are better for the local environment.

Volpe was one of a handful of representatives from the Boothbay Region Clean Drinking Water Initiative, there to educate the public about the fragility of the local water supply efforts to protect it.

On the Boothbay Peninsula, Adams Pond and Knickerbocker Lake are the sole sources of public drinking water, serving the towns of Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor and Southport. However, the lakes are threatened due to pollution around land development, according to the group.

"They're nearing the tipping point,” said Jean Hawley the Southport representative for the organization. “If we don’t change our habits, within five to 10 years, we may run into difficulties."

The group is a collaboration of Boothbay Region Water District, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, local land trusts, Bigelow Laboratory, the three towns and other organizations. Many of them were also present at the day’s event and stressed the importance of land conservation.

Boothbay Region Land Trust had a booth at the event to show the conservation land around the peninsula and encourage its use. They had activities to help identify animal tracks and signs, as well as resources to help people connect to nature.

"It's important in this area to have free, public access to both forested and waterfront areas for recreation and enjoying what the peninsula has to offer,” said their representative Gray Ferris. “It's a beautiful spot."