by Chris Ulmer

Organizations throughout Centre County conducted various events to celebrate this past Earth Week.

EcoAction, the main environmental awareness club at Penn State, helped Clearwater Conservancy put together its Earth Jam event , a free concert, on the HUB lawn April 24.

"It is just great to be here playing for a great cause," guitarist Isaac Bishop said after his band, Felix and the Fire Escape, finished playing their set.

Although the Penn State Marketing Association originally planned to fund the show for Clearwater, the arrangement fell through. When Elle Maney, a member of Ecoaction, heard this news, she did not sit idly by.

"It is great being able to have a college audience," said Jeremy Fretz, a Penn State student who helped organize the event. "It is very fitting that this is able to happen in an outdoor place such as the HUB lawn. We kind of just fell into this venue."

Donations collected from the audience went straight the Clearwater, and the Clearwater Conservancy Executive Director Jennifer Shuey was very grateful for the efforts of Fretz and Maney.

"Clearwater is not normally geared towards students, so this is a good opportunity," Shuey said. "There are plenty of Penn State students that are outdoor enthusiasts. Many of these people do not know the damage that is being caused to the local environment," she said. "Hopefully this event can bring some of these problems to their attention, and to let them know Clearwater is on their side," she said.

Fretz said the event got a lot of support from EcoAction.

"Everything we needed they provided." Fretz said. " Elle Maney was an incredible help. This would not have been possible without her."

Shuey spoke very passionately about the damage being done to the local environment.

"If there was one thing that students could take away from this, I hope it is that it is not acceptable to throw waste into sinkholes," Sheuy said. "For decades, people thought it was acceptable behavior to throw their trash into sinkholes. It is now known that this produces very damaging result, affecting not only the earth but our drinking water. We know now of these affects, yet people today still continue on with this behavior."

Earth Jam was not the only Earth Week event held in Centre County. Earlier the same day, also at the HUB lawn, EcoAction sponsored a kid friendly event also on the HUB lawn.

Although this event was intended to be entertaining for children, it also kept many adults very amused. There was a hawk at one stand wired to its keeper by a leash. Lectures about the hawk were held throughout the day. At another stand children were shown how to make their own trail mix.

"Ecoaction has been holding an event every year for 39 years." Maney said. "It is very cool to be holding this specific event which is aimed at children. When it comes down to it, they are the future. We have to start instilling the lesson of being environmentally smart in children."

In addition to events on Penn State campus, Millbrook Marsh held an Earth Day event on April 17. This event was coordinated to promote healthy environmental habits. At this event was a beekeeper, nature center for birds, water conservatory and education on energy efficiency.