With last weekend’s regional clean-up behind them and the main event approaching fast, Sooke’s Planet Earth Party team is pulling together the many colourful threads involved in this Sunday’s Sooke Region Earth Day Celebration at the Sooke Community Hall.

Doors at the Community Hall, 2037 Sheilds Rd. in downtown Sooke, open at 10 a.m. The exhibition, the Repair Cafe, speaker presentations, clothing exchange, EV displays, and tiny home tours will continue until 3 p.m. Musical entertainment (starting at 11 am) and food trucks will continue during a break while the hall is prepared for the upcycled fashion show and sock hop dance from 4:30 to 8 pm.

Admission is by one-time, pay-what-you-can donation at the door. Net proceeds will be dedicated in large part to a legacy program that will provide zero-waste essentials — rainwater collection barrels, high-efficiency composting systems, recycling bin systems — to as many public institutions in the Sooke region as funding allows.

The PEP team is working towards a genuine zero-waste event as evidenced to date by its hand-painted recycled street signage and bare minimum of printed materials. Attendees are invited to bring water bottles and reusable cups, and to walk, ride a bike or carshare to the Community Hall on Sunday.

Organizers still need more helping hands in a variety of capacities before and on event day. Explore the options on the volunteer request form.

 

Our Exhibitors (upstairs in the Community Hall, 10 am to 3 pm). In alphabetical order: Amber Academy for the Arts, the Artisan’s Garden, Burlap Shoe/Zero Waste Emporium, Coastal Crunch Granola, Cordivae Environmental Consulting, Capital Regional District, Creatively United for the Planet, Dakini Tidal Wilds, District of Sooke, Fair Vote Canada, Girl Power/Spirit of the Water Yoga, Go With the Flow Technologies, Greater Victoria Green Team, Harbourside Cohousing, Jora Canada, Jean Gig Clothing, Juan de Fuca Salmon Restoration Society, Living the Dream Farm, Myk Rhodes, Norwex Canada, Brenda Parkinson, Phoebewood, Project HOWL, Pure Elements Spa, Sacred Transitions, Save Our Coast – Sooke, Scrapnaturally Coastal Decorations, SFRS Community Thrift Store, Site C Education Group, Sooke Children’s Garden Club, Sooke Country Market, Sooke Fall Fair Association, Sooke Knitting Group, Sooke Region Multi-Belief Initiative, SunMar Composters, Three Sisters Farm, Touch of Class Wind Chimes, Transition Sooke, Transition Sooke Pesticide Education Group, Victoria EV Club, Viridian Energy Cooperative, Watershed Watch Society Vancouver Island, Weston A. Price Foundation, Wild Wise Sooke, Zero Waste Sooke.

Sooke Repair Cafe (downstairs in the Community Hall, 10 am to 3 pm). The third (first anniversary) Repair Cafe hosted by Zero Waste Sooke. Attendees are welcome to bring personal items that aren’t working and which they can carry in themselves. Anyone who walks away with a successful repair is invited to bang the Repair Cafe gong and drop a donation into the tip jar. The volunteer crew will feature Elgin Ambrose (wood repairs), Cyal Cassette (bike tune-ups), Dan Cotterell (soldering), Pam Fitzgerald (sewing/mending), Paula Johanson (knitted goods), Triston Line (networking demonstration), Jeremy Newell (general repairs), Benoit Renault (electro-mechanical) and Tina Saikaley (appliances).

Planet Earth Party(4:30 to 8 PM upstairs in the Community Hall). An all-ages celebration! DJ Ron Larson will play kid-friendly dance music early on before switching to more adult tunes as the night progresses. An upcycled fashion show and an awards presentation will also be part of the evening.

Clothing Exchange (downstairs in the Community Hall, 10:30 am to 1:30 pm). Stop fast fashion in its tracks! Drop by the Community Hall on Sunday morning between 8 and 10 am with unwanted clothing and accessories suitable for adults and teenagers (limit 10 items per person). “We’re looking for cool, fresh, fun stuff,” says coordinator Lisa Yakimovich. Each item will be tagged and, in return, donors receive tickets for use in the swap between 10:30 am and 1:30 pm.

Outdoors in the Community Hall parking lot (10 am to 4:30 pm). Enjoy fine local music, dine out in style from food trucks, and sit back and enjoy both under our big tents.  Food Trucks: BuddhaBox, Indecent Risotto, Greek on the Street and Mai Mai’s Bistro. Bonus option: Sunday brunch at the Legion. Entertainers: Starting at 11 a.m. in order of appearance ~ Bob Menzies, Ed Fury Band, Eric & Linda James and Gord Phillips. All welcome to bring their voices and guitars for an open mic session starting at 3 pm approx. (Thanks to entertainment coordinator Peter Jonassen from the Sooke Music Festival.)

Outdoors on Eustace Street (section from Otter Point to Sheilds closed to traffic for the day). Victoria EV Club: Get behind the wheel of a (stationary) Tesla Model X and Model S, a Nissan LEAF and a Hyundai IONIQ, and go for a joyride (as a passenger) in a 2014 LEAF. Learn about deluxe Van Isle daytrips offered by Tesla Tours.  Micro Home: Step inside “Cathedral Grove,” a micro-retreat space (125 sq. foot) designed and built in Sooke by Forest Adam. Rather than a fully functional home, it’s intended to be an artist’s studio or Airbnb rental property with its rounded walls, loft, lounge, kitchen prep area and wood stove.

PEP Talk (every half hour, 10:30 am to 2:30 p.m. downstairs in the Community Hall). Featuring in order of appearance: Author Guy Dauncey, Project HOWL’s Finn and Chloe Unger, Wild ARC’s Samantha Webb (presented by Wild Wise Sooke), Homes With Love’s Forest Adam, Viridian Energy‘s Steve Unger, kombucha expert Melanie Fast, T’Sou-ke Nation Solar City‘s Andrew Moore, zero-waste giftwrap expert Wendy O’Connor, and Jenny Ambrose from Victoria’s The Makehouse.

Family Fun. Engaging activities for the young and youth-at-heart! Orca Art Paint-In with Save Our Coast – Sooke’s Deb Wood and friends. Arts and crafts project with the SFRS Community Thrift Store‘s Bev Lewis. Sooke Children’s Garden Club table with Anne Boquist. Introducing a child’s-sized wooden recycling truck built by Mel Hull.

Raffle & Silent Auction. Purchase tickets ($2 each) for a magnificent red cedar bowl created by Sooke’s Phoebe Dunbar (value: $500). And bid on a silent auction that will include gift certificates to Sooke region dining spots and a deluxe roadtrip (value: $300) with Tesla Tours. (All proceeds to PEP Sooke Region Legacy Fund.) 

Hartland Landfill Tour (Sat. April 28, 9 am to 1 pm). Curious to explore the chain-of-life of your trash and recycling at its regional end point? Our team is organizing a bus tour to the Hartland Landfill on Sat. April 28 (departing Sooke at 9 am, returning at 1 pm). On site, the tour will be led by the Capital Regional District’s Elaine Stuart. Meet Elaine on Sunday along with tour organizer Lesley Hering, then sign-up for a trip priced at $10 per adult (no charge for those 18 and under).

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Planet Earth Party: A Sooke Region Earth Day Celebration is co-presented by Transition Sooke and its working group Zero Waste Sooke in cooperation with the Sooke Fall Fair Association and Creatively United for the Planet.

Sincere thanks to our sponsors: The District of Sooke (foundational funding), the Capital Regional District, HiWay Productions, Home Hardware Sooke, Interactive Construction, PMD Recycling Solutions, Phoebewood, the Rotary Club of Sooke, Speed Source Fitness, Sooke Disposal Limited, VanCity Credit Union, Viridian Energy Cooperative and Wittich Environmental Services.

And to our supporters: Amber Academy of the Arts, BC Transit, Go with the Flow Technologies, SEAPARC, Sooke News Mirror, Sooke PocketNews and Westshore Voice News.