Another Earth Day dawns in Rockland County – but then isn’t every day Earth Day?
Back in 1970 Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring helped kick start the environmental movement. Her warnings about pesticides and industrial pollution proved prophetic — just ask a honey bee.
Wednesday will be the shiny epicenter of Ramapo/Rockland environmental activists, politicos and people of all stripes as the Wild & Scenic Film Festival occupies the Lafayette Theater. Tickets can be purchased pre-event for $18 or cost $20 at the door.
There’s also a constellation of Suffern restaurants participating in a Dine In Suffern program that offers all sorts of dining specials and is co-sponsored by the Suffern Chamber of Commerce.
The days of people freely tossing trash out car windows is past. There was a time when litter along U.S. roadways was just part of the natural landscape. With increased environmental awareness, issues have become transformed. The 13 films that make up the Wild & Scenic Film Festival will explore more nuanced and complex environmental topics, with the festival being scheduled precisely in celebration of Earth Day. The various award-winning short films and mini documentaries explore natural landscapes, feature wildlife conservation efforts and protection of land and water resources, encourage outdoor adventure, and tell stories of people who are making a difference.
The event is hosted by ROSA (www.rosa4rockland.org), and supported by sponsors and conservation partner organizations. ROSA 4 Rockland, among other activities, is currently fighting what it considers to be the unsustainable, poorly planned development of Patrick Farms in the Town of Ramapo along Rt. 202 and 306.
Patrick Farms is a proposed multifamily, high-density housing development slated to house some 5,000 people. Now working it’s way through the Town’s Planning & Zoning department, Patrick Farms would be set amid 200 plus acres that contain a sole source aquifer that supplies water to a vast area of the Lower Hudson Valley (NY) as well as the northern parts of New Jersey.
The Wild & Scenic Film Festival runs from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Lafayette Theater in downtown Suffern. Visit www.suffernfilmfest.com for information and to purchase tickets. Local restaurants are providing special pre-order ‘Dine in the Theater’ take out.
Some of the 13 Films featured: “American Lawn,” “Birdsongs: Yosemite Nature Notes,” “Common Ground,” “Unfair Game: The Politics of Poaching,” and “Oceans North – Protecting Manitoba’s Beluga Estuaries.”
