Earth Day Honors | Local hero appreciation

||| FROM MARCY MONTGOMERY for SAN JUAN MAKERS GUILD |||

Earth Day Orcas is a unique and inclusive embrace of nature, arts, music, science and dance that celebrates a shared commitment to protecting the Salish Sea’s environmental wonders, and the Earth at large. We invite you to join in honoring the organizations and individuals who helped create the month-long Earth Day Orcas celebration.

These Local Heroes ‘Earth Day, Everyday’ work protecting and honoring our Islands and the Salish Sea is a reminder of the power of human innovation, compassion, and belief that we can create a wiser world.

April local event heroes, who are all busy doing the hard work of environmental and cultural services every day, being recognized with Earth Day Orcas kudos include:

SCIENCE: The Sea Doc Society with special recognition to Deborah Giles, Marine Scientist, for the Science Uncorked talk at The Barnacle about state of the Southern Resident Orca and PNW rivers and ocean routes they rely on for sustenance. Friends of the San Juan with special recognition to Tina Whitman for leading the low tide walk morning exploration for the Edge of the Salish Sea science, art and poetry day. (And thanks to the Friends for bringing the Salish Sea story dome to the Library).

CLIMATE: The day the County lost power and we all experienced a stark reminder of our tenuous connection to the electrical grid on April 15, twenty folk showed up at the Fire Hall for the Climate Solution talks. SJC Environmental Stewardship’s Tyler Davis, Friends of the San Juan’s Tina Whitman, and SJC Land Bank’s Peter Guillozet contributed to a conversation about sea level rise in the islands and tools for understanding the forecasts that predict significant flooding and destructive impacts for the Orcas Airport and for Crescent Beach road on Orcas. Plus, the Orcas EV Network and Green Car Share projects spearheaded by Bruce Benton and the Port of Orcas shared news on their grant funding and EV network installations for charging and vehicle access, including plans for an island wide EV shuttle.

ART and POETRY: A special thanks to Debra Babcock for spearheading the community mural project, and Abigail Morgan Prout for hosting the poetry workshop. And we thank Pete Welty, Dwight Duke, Daniel Marty, Eric Morris of Earth Ball, and John Berry for sharing their sculpture and paintings throughout the month for the pop-up Peace Garden on the Emmanuel grounds.

ECO FAIR EDUCATORS: Thanks to all of the groups who shared special knowledge and project accomplishments with Eco Fair visitors – The SJC Land Bank, Friends of the San Juans, Opal Community Land Trust, Island Rides, Andy Heister solar projects, Debra Babcock with the community mural project, Orcas Island Garden Club, SJC Master Gardeners, The Food Bank, and Salmonberry School with three fun herbal projects for the kids.

SPECIAL PRESENTERS and SUPPORT: We were fortunate to enjoy two days of deepening indigenous collaboration conversation, music and storytelling with Rena Priest (Lummi), Chenoa Egawa (Lummi, S’Klallam) and Paul Chiyokten Wagner (Saanich) thanks to support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, and Eye of the Whale Arts. We hosted four special event presenters and thank Debra Babcock and Richard Track, Kangaroo House, Che Blaine, and Monica and Jeffry Steele for providing accommodations.

FILM: Friday Harbor Film Festival for hosting the online environmental documentaries that enriched home viewers awareness about regional-to-national forest and ocean challenges and successes.

DANCE: The Orcas Island Dance Collective brought six wonderful young performers to the labyrinth at noon for a Forest Fairy series of dances that added magic to the Eco Fair event on April 25 th . Dances of Universal Peace filled the Parish hall with music, song and dance beneath the Earth Ball to open the day. And Orcas Ecstatic Dance hosted a preceding ‘Dance for the Earth’ at the Orcas Center.

MUSIC: Kudos to the island musicians who brought song, instruments, and several sound systems to fill the morning and afternoon of the Eco Fair with moving, beautiful, and call-to-action music – Clint McCune, Carolyn Cruso, Sharon Abreu, Michael Hurwicz, Darcy Leach and Dave Roseberry. (Fun surprise – a huge harbor seal swam up to listen too!)

PEACE WALK PARADE: Honors go to the 100+ Peace Walk participants of all ages who demonstrated a dedication to Peace with their feet and voices during a one-hour loop through Eastsound, with prayers for peace, and songs that touched the heart. Appreciation to Camp Indralaya for joining the walk enforce, and to the kids who continued the Orcas tradition of supporting a giant Earth Ball for the procession.

FOOD and FLOWERS: A big thanks to the Orcas Food Coop for their donation of organic foods served throughout the Eco Fair. And thank you to Tekla Farm and Botanical Bar for flowers for the Peace Garden.

LOGISTICS: Gratitude to Emmanuel Episcopal Church for sharing their beautiful waterfront campus with our events for the fourth year. Cheers to the Oddfellows for their continued support of Earth Day celebrations over the years, and helping with peace walk, Earth Ball, and sign logistics this year. Special thanks to Didier Gincig and Richard Track for coordinating. Appreciation goes to Ayn Gailey for invaluable support with set up and take downs. Big thanks to the Lions Club and the Fire Department for manning parade route safety points, and to the Chamber for safety equipment.

Our hands are on our hearts with gratitude for this wonderful community of generous, dedicated, positive change agents.

Onwards! From Earth Day Orcas, the San Juan Islands Makers Guild, and Eye of the Whale Arts.

To enjoy videos of the celebration, go to earthdayorcas.org/gratitudes-2026.