Ogden Nature Center Celebrates Earth Day

By Kelly Cannon | [email protected]

Ogden - The Ogden Nature Centered hosted a special event to celebrate Earth Day on April 16. Every year since 2005, the center has held an Earth Day celebration full of activities, crafts and loads of information about going green. 

“It was something the staff talked about and we felt it was important for the community,” said Sabrina Foster, the development and events coordinator at the Ogden Nature Center. 

The annual event drew over 2,000 attendees and is the largest Earth Day celebration in the state. 

The event had over 60 exhibits and vendors, each focusing on an Earth-friendly topic. Many of the booths were sponsored by nature centered business or nonprofits. However, those businesses whose main enterprise was not nature related were asked to offer something environmentally centered. This included nature crafts for children and tours of the nature center. A plant sale offered attendees a chance to purchase something for their homes and one woman sold goat milk products such as lotions and creams. 

Other booths offered educational opportunities. People learned about how to make a building more environmentally friendly and reduce the carbon footprint. This included changing light bulbs for energy efficient ones, adding a recycling program and remembering to unplug anything that isn’t needed at the end of the day. Other booths taught about sustainable recycling programs that neighborhoods can take part in. Attendees also received information about creating their own compost. Another vendor brought in a few of his sheep and taught attendees about how to shear a sheep and spin the wool into yarn. 

“We want people to take something away and have fun,” Foster said. “We want them to have fun while learning.” 

New to this year’s event was the addition of professional storytellers. These artists told various nature-related stories to both adults and children. 

The biggest attraction was the live animal demonstrations. This included owls, raptors and various reptiles. Employees at the Ogden Nature Center explained the different diets and sounds each of the animals makes and where they can be found in nature.

“That’s always a big hit,” Foster said. “It’s held in the auditorium and it’s always packed.”

 The Ogden Nature Center is home to several animals that are used for educational purposes. These animals typically were injured in the wild and after they had recuperated, were deemed to be unable to return to the wild. They are cared for at the center and used to educate the public about wildlife and the environment. 

For more information about the Ogden Nature Center and the different programs and events it hosts, visit http://www.ogdennaturecenter.org.