Earth Day displays set today

CANTON — A group of St. Lawrence University students is getting a jump on Earth Day.

Scores of students will staff booths in the Canton Pavilion today to reach out to community members and other students about living in an environmentally friendly way. Volunteers from other organizations, including GardenShare and the Sustainable Living Project, also will be there.

"The whole week surrounding Earth Day is really big on campus and also in Canton because of the nature of the community," senior Jillian S. Reich said.

The event, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., will be the first time students have reached out to Canton residents for the day of awareness. It was the brainchild of five students who belong to the campus chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa, the National Leadership Honorary Society.

Originally, the event was supposed to be in the town square. It was moved to the pavilion because of the threat of rain.

A speaker from the Colorado-based organization EcoEvents will headline the event with a band, Morsoul. The duo arrived in a vegetable-oil-powered bus.

The students also will help children paint pencil holders made of recyclable materials and make bracelets. There will also be a few bicycles on display at a booth where the topic is alternative transportation methods.

The students have been organizing the event since January to ensure that they are in compliance with all village codes and that all the necessary permits were obtained. Because of health codes, no food will be served at the Earth Day event, but a barbecue, free and open to the public, is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. on the campus quad as part of Greek Week celebrations.

Students are accepting donations of nonperishable food for the Canton Food Pantry.

"We're hoping people will go to both," said Miss Reich, a biology major from Vermont. "The community members are so supportive of the events we do on campus, they come and support us as students so this is our way to give back."