Life begins at 40, they say, and Earth Day’s 40th birthday looks to be an enlivening one on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Interfaith rejoicing in Port Townsend, master composters and murals in Port Angeles, hiking in the Olympic National Forest and an “eagle whisperer” in Gardiner are all part of the Earth Day festivities today through Sunday across the Peninsula.
Today, the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, an interfaith gathering will take place at the Northwest Maritime Center, 431 Water St., in Port Townsend.
Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. so participants can see the exhibits set up in the lobby, and then reprensentatives of 11 spiritual traditions — Christian to Buddhist to Jewish, Quaker to Hindu to Sufi — will join in the celebration from 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.
“This is the first time in Port Townsend that we’ve had this many traditions come together,” said organizer Deborah Shomer. She added that everybody, regardless of faith, is invited.
“Come, come, whoever you are,” she said, quoting the Sufi poet Rumi.
The organizers of the interfaith event also invite the public to a “service in action” project Saturday at H.J. Carroll Park, off state Highway 19 on H.J. Carroll Road in Chimacum.
The work party will go from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and participants can catch a bus at the park-and-ride in Port Townsend at 8:55 a.m.. More information is available by e-mailing eva@olympus.net.
Also today, the Coast Guard Group/Air Station Port Angeles personnel will clean up Ediz Hook. The public is invited to meet the Coasties at 9 a.m. at the station gate on the Hook.
Saturday is the day when Port Angeles’ City Pier will be given over to the North Olympic AmeriCorps Earth Day festival.
It starts with a fun run/walk for all ages at 8 a.m., with free registration at 7:15 a.m. at Hollywood Beach.
Then comes a procession of hands-on activities and take-home information about composting, making art out of recyclables and many other ways to care for the community as well as the planet.
Live music and plenty of food are also part of the celebration from noon to 4 p.m.
Also on Saturday, the Sierra Club’s North Olympic chapter will take a moderate hike along the West Twin River in Olympic National Forest.
Participants will meet at 9 a.m. at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St.
The outing, about an hour’s drive west of Port Angeles, will cover one to two miles, and allow plenty of time to explore both the forest and stream.
For details and to RSVP, e-mail Sierra Club outings leader Ben Greuel at ben.greuel@sierraclub.org or phone 206-378-0114, ext. 319.
Sunday brings the Earth Day weekend’s finale at Wild Birds Unlimited in Gardiner. Wild Birds co-owner Christie Lassen listed an array of things to see, including rehabilitated hawks and owls from the Northwest Raptor Center in Sequim, a demonstration honeybee hive and the “eagle whisperer,” aka Tim Brown, a Seattle-area rescuer of eagles.
Wild Birds’ event — free to all — also features show-and-tell booths from Around Again, a recycled-furniture store in Sequim, the Tribal Edge Primal Arts Training Center of Blyn, Jefferson County Beach Watchers, the Lazy J Farm east of Port Angeles and the Kaboom salon of Sequim, which offers reportedly Earth-friendly-ink tattoos.
The international organization Save the Frogs! will also have representatives on hand, Lassen said, while Cort Armstrong and Friends, a bluegrass-and-beyond band from Sequim, will play all day.
Wild Birds Unlimited is 10 miles east of Sequim at 275953 U.S. Highway 101. For information, phone the store at 360-797-7100.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladaily news.com.