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Eleven years ago, the guest speaker of the first Annual HOPE Festival, Helen Nearing, urged people to “live simply and frugally with an eye to the needs of others to come.” Since then, the festival has expanded to feature over 80 organizations.
“Each year, organizations have participated in the spring festival by sharing information, selling buttons, T-shirts and other products and encouraging participant involvement,” said HOPE Festival Coordinator Ilze Petersons. “Earth Day was organized over 35 years ago to raise awareness about the need to take care of the earth and practice conservation, the HOPE Festival has expanded to raise awareness around Earth Day about the many organizations working to take care of the earth and each other in our community.”
People could visit different booths set up around the Field House and learn more about many of the organizations. Many had T-shirts, pins and bumper stickers for sale. For example, a booth was set up featuring the fight against “fat discrimination,” which was put up by the Maine People’s Alliance. Joanne Dauphinne, assistant coordinator for the Greater Bangor National Organization for Woman, ran the booth.
“The health threat of obesity is greatly exaggerated,” she said.
She said the organization is working to make people aware that it is very important for us to be careful about how to talk about fat and thin, especially with children.
“Pay attention to nutrition and exercise. It doesn’t matter what size you are,” Dauphinne said.
She also explained that many people prefer the word “fat” over the word “overweight.”
“Overweight doesn’t work,” she said. “Over what weight?”
Rape Response Services also had a booth to let people know about the services that they offer to rape victims and their families and loved ones. This month is Sexual Awareness Month. In honor of that, next Saturday at Borders, 15 percent of purchases will go towards this organization to help them with their three different types of services: legal, medical and the hot line. They will support rape victims at the hospital, in the police department during their report and support them in court as well.
A large display was also up to identify U.S. military interventions within the past 100 years. Susan Lehnen worked to complete this project to go along with a larger project being completed this summer. Students and anyone interested will complete a sheet on the history of a specific intervention, which will be displayed in the Bangor Public Library when complete. This product is titled “Vast are the Shadows-Evil Doers.”
“[It will] bring out the relationships in our interventions,” Lehnen said.
She said this project is not one-sided, and it will stay as neutral as possible.
“It’s a citizens project,” Lehnen said.
Many environmentalists also were there, showing in their own way how to protect Earth. In one display, protecting Earth is coming a lot closer to home in Old Town.
Deb Gibbs, spokesperson for “We the People,” said the Old Town landfill was a problem.
“[It has] opened up the door for millions of tons of waste from out of state to come into Maine,” she said.
She said Georgia Pacific has a biomass boiler, which will burn 215,000 tons of fuel a year, meaning that it will produce 500,000 tons of waste a year, all going into this landfill. She said “We the People” wants to intervene to stop the use of so many biomass boilers. A public hearing will be held at the Elks Club in Old Town on May 9 at 1 p.m. on the Beneficial Use License to burn this waste.
Another booth that was dedicated to an environmental issue was Maine Interfaith Power and Light, urging people to move to more “green” power, meaning solar, wind and hydropower. Essentially, while these kinds of power are slightly more costly, they are being used to stop the threat of global warming.
“This is the most significant way that individuals can make a change in their life to reduce emissions and stop the global warming problem,” said spokesperson Andy Burt, who is also on the board for Maine Interfaith Power and Light.
This spring, a bill will offer tax credits and incentives for people to put solar power in their houses.
“The governor put up a solar panel and challenged all governors throughout the country to use solar power,” Burt said.
Along with 75 other organizations that were present, the day was also filled with singers and storytellers, ranging from Celtic fiddling music to powerful activist songs.
“Organizations and participants have fun and affirm the importance of taking care of the earth and each other and so strengthen the culture of peace in our community,” Petersons said.
Bangor Daily News