By Dan Barth, Rib Mountain-Marshfield CCL
CCL has organized an Earth Day Celebration in Wausau, Wisconsin for the past eight years. We have always centered our event around people and tree planting. We plant in various city parks with the cooperation and assistance of the Parks Department. We started with one tree and a handful of people, but over the years our Earth Day has evolved.
Several years ago, with the help of another organization we network with, we received a grant for enough money to plant 15 trees. About the same time, Wisconsin CCL offered a presentation that inspired us to recruit 15 planting teams with inclusivity foremost in our minds. Since then, we have raised the money for the annual tree plantings from donations and the sale of reusable shopping bags.
We partner with the local Native American Community who ceremonially bless us and the trees, and lead a Talking Circle after the planting. We celebrate our wonderful, nurturing planet and the diversity of life it so lavishly supports.
We plant trees and form a Talking Circle to express our environmental concerns and to celebrate our own amazing diversity. We are African American, Hmong, LBTGQ, Native American, Hispanic, Palestinian, Jewish, Christian and White, and have representatives from a wide variety of allied groups. One of our Indigenous friends always jokes that every time he sees us, he gets his hands dirty.
This year, over 100 folks took part. It was a superb day, graced by beautiful weather, and we raised almost enough money for next year’s celebration!
No matter our cultural background, no matter our politics, no matter our spiritual preferences or gender identity, we come together as a community in our reverence for our home amidst the stars.
Citizens' Climate Lobby Wisconsin 