April 3, 2024
By Heath Scofield
On Saturday, April 20, bring your family to Combustion Brewery and Taproom (80 West Church Street) for the third annual Pickerington Earth Day Community Cleanup. Join friends and neighbors for a day of helping the planet, education and fun.
Plant Native Trees
At Sycamore Creek Park, David Hague and Tammy Miller of the Coyote Run Nature Preserve will be overseeing the planting of 400 native trees.
“This is our chance to give back to the environment,” Hague said. “We humans tend to be pretty hard on Planet Earth so let’s plant a few trees!”
Since January, the two have been spearheading an effort to clear invasive plants from the park. The saplings will be planted where the invasives have been removed.
“Sycamore Creek Park, like most every other riparian area, is choked with bush honeysuckle, autumn olive, privet, wintercreeper and Callery pear,” Hague said. “While there are many maturing trees there are relatively few younger trees. This is because the invasives have been allowed to crowd them out.”
The trees were donated by Green Columbus, the Bill & Joyce Hague Foundation, the Pickerington Lions’ Club and Anna Gasser’s BSA Eagle project. To sign up for tree planting, volunteers 14 and older can register on Sign Up Genius or they can email editor@pickeringtononline.com.
The ground will be uneven, so please wear sturdy shoes. Head coverings and long sleeves are recommended as a precaution against poison ivy and ticks.
Help Pick Up Litter
On April 20, community members can volunteer for litter clean-up shifts starting at 8 am and ending at 3 pm. The shifts are one hour, but you can sign up for as many openings as you wish. Green Columbus will provide gloves, grabbers, and garbage bags or you may choose to bring your own equipment. Wear long sleeves and pants. Insect spray, sunscreen and drinking water are highly recommended.
Trash cleanup is open to all ages, however participants under 10 must be accompanied by an adult.
Litter removal will focus on public areas of Violet Township including city parks, Pickerington Village, the main library and school buildings. You can register either individually or as a group on Sign Up Genius.
Learn about Victory Gardens
Carrie Brown from the Fairfield County Extension of the Ohio State University will offer materials and information about how to grow a Victory Garden.
Per the Ohio State website, “Victory Gardens originated during World War I, an answer to a severe food shortage at the time. People were encouraged to find any usable space, plop in some seeds and contribute homegrown fruits, vegetables and herbs to the effort. The idea was wildly successful, growing an army of amateur gardeners and serving to boost morale and patriotism.
While we’re not in wartime, we can all commiserate. The past few months have been tough, mood-boosters are welcomed. So, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and Ohio State University are reviving the effort and once again inspiring people to get their hands dirty, realize the fruits of their labor and share with others if inspired. We believe a good day in the garden is good for the soul.”
Sign up for Free Shrubs
The Greener Violet Environmental Collective will be distributing FREE native shrubs at Sorso Coffee (in Sycamore Plaza – adjacent to the Kroger on the corner of Refugee and Pickerington Roads).
“We will be giving out five different types of shrubs which will be provided to us by Green Columbus- 50 Common Sweetshrub, 50 Buttonbush, 100 Spicebush, 50 Roughleaf Dogwood, and 50 Nannyberry,” said Michelle Hill of Greener Violet. “Each shrub will be tagged with a QR directing to Green Columbus planting instruction videos and a QR directing to Leaves for Wildlife to share all pertinent plant information.”
To reserve one of these plants, you can sign up at the Native Shrub Giveaway webpage or email pro.pollinator.initiative@gmail.com. Hurry! – Many have already been claimed.
Opportunities with Greener Violet
Greener Violet will also be providing free native seed packets at both Sorso and Combustion. There will be two native wildflower blends plus beneficial non-native options including Cosmos and Zinnia.
Members of Greener Violet will be on hand to answer questions on a variety of topics including the importance of pollinator gardens, what constitutes an invasive plant, and how to volunteer year-round.
“Earth Day is one day on our calendar,” Hill said. “For a few hours we volunteer to remove waste from our land and waterways, remove harmful vegetation and plant helpful vegetation. We gather on this one day to do work that is integral to our existence, BUT to do the best practices- to make true change, it takes a full community actively working towards a goal. It is called ‘Earth Day’, truly it should be 365 Earth Day without NO Plane(t) B. There is hope in these efforts. We can do this,”
Food, Freebies and Fun
Sorso Coffee’s new mobile cafe will be at Combustion from 8 am to noon to offer caffeine and pastries. The Explorer’s Club food truck will serve delicious Cajun and Caribbean fare from 11 am to 9 pm.
Combustion will provide every volunteer with a free drink token (must be 21 for alcohol) and Flyers Pizza will generously gift workers free pizza.
Strader’s Garden Center will set up a pop-up plant shop from 11 am to 3 pm and the Oxbow String Company will perform live music from 7 pm to 10 pm.
More special events will be announced in the upcoming weeks from village businesses including Humble Crate Artisan Marketplace and Ruby Joy Boutique.
Lancaster-Fairfield Public Transit will provide a shuttle service for those who prefer not to drive back and forth from Combustion to the clean-up sites.
For more information and updates on the event, please follow the event’s Facebook Page.
Pickerington Online is scheduling the volunteers, so if you have any questions related to helping out, please email editor@pickeringtononline.com.
Thanks to Pickerington Area Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring the event.
