Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day
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Today, April 22, 2020, marks the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. Through the years, this day has taken on the context of the time in which it’s celebrated. I looked up a newscast by Walter Cronkite on the first Earth Day in 1970—which I remember well—and was simultaneously thankful for how far we’ve come in our awareness of our natural environment and saddened by the fact that we are still not fully addressing deep concerns of the past and those that have come to light in the years since.
This Earth Day, April 22, 2020, is distinctly different. It’s quiet, and for many of us, the frenetic pace of the world has slowed down. There will be no official gatherings or celebrations to honor this place we call home; no group hikes on your favorite trail or in your favorite park or forest; no community cleanups of your favorite creek. We will be observing in line with the necessities of the times we are experiencing.
In crises, there is opportunity. That’s why Earth Day was created in the first place. Hopefully that will not mean that we lose this chance to take pause and consider the Earth on its day. In environmental organizations we used to say, “Earth Day Every Day.” While daily gratitude and action is the best way to honor that which we hold dear, our daily pace usually means we need a day to focus our attention. And today is that day.
At the Brandywine Conservancy—your Conservancy—our mission has been centered on this special part of the Earth for the past 53 years. Concerned local citizens created us and concerned local citizens sustain us to this day.
So today on this Earth Day, as we all take a moment to express our gratitude to the “Pale Blue Dot,” as Carl Sagan called it, please accept this quiet note of thanks for all that you’ve done with and for the Brandywine Conservancy over the years to protect our place on this Earth.
We hope you will continue to support us in the decades ahead. Since our work is “in perpetuity,” the charge of the Conservancy’s mission will continue to live on in the protection of this beautiful part of the country—and this beautiful part of the Earth—as long as you are there to support it.
Click here to donate to the Brandywine Conservancy to support its projects and programs.
With much gratitude and thoughts for your health and safety,
Ellen Ferretti
and the staff of the Brandywine Conservancy