By Sean Sullivan

Natick’s Earth Day celebration will be branching out this year.

In place of the usual festivities centered on and around Natick Common, volunteers have decided to host the event where the real work happens - out in the community itself. In lieu of the village of tents and tables that would sprout up in this hamlet’s hub, they’ll this year be dispersed throughout the town. In the popular parlance of the environmentally conscious, one might say the event is being reclaimed.

The move is an effort to decentralize the day’s doings, get citizens to think and learn more about what’s happening in their own backyards.   

“Look out any window,” goes the song, “to see what’s going on in and around you.”

The day won’t be just about knowledge, but action as well. The ecological challenges facing the planet and its inhabitants can seem overwhelming, and often are. But in seeking to meet those challenges, said Debby Marion, we sometimes discover power and purpose.

“There’s a certain paradoxical joy in doing something. That’s how I became an activist and thought ‘what can I do?’”

Marion is the lead volunteer organizing the newly-imagined event, which has been aptly renamed “Earth Day All Around Natick.”

While the name doesn’t lend it itself to a snappy acronym, the new and novel approach just might add some energy and new experiences to the annual event.

“We have decided to re-imagine Earth Day,” said Marion. “Now, Earth Day will be all around Natick.” On a recent weekend trip to NYC in mid-March, the longtime Natick resident noticed the Central Park forsythia beginning to bloom. 

“That’s an April thing,” she recalls thinking.

Such irregularities in nature’s rhythms can be recurring reminders of a changing climate.   

Among the constellation of Natick events will be resident-hosted show and tells, with homeowners welcoming neighbors to learn about the solar installations and energy-efficiency systems they’ve adopted.  

Activities that eschew motor-powered movement will also be featured at the event. These include group hikes, bike rides, and trail cleanups. Econatick.org is a new website launched to promote and provide info about the Earth Day weekend events, and the site includes a map that will point attendees toward their particular interests. 

While Earth Day falls formally on April 22nd, Natick will host its event a week later. The timing is an effort to maximize attendance, avoid competing with April vacation travel plans. Earth Day All Around Natick will be held over the weekend of April 30th and May 1st, and will feature between 20 and 30 events.