Notes

On March 16th, Rider University hosted the annual Mercer Green Fest--an event that unites local artists, officials, businesses, and public project groups in the name of helping the environment.

During the free, five-hour event, Pam Mount--one of the event organizers--holds public discussions and workshops on issues of organic food, electric cars, etc.

"Who doesn't love food? I know I do, and I can tell that all of you do too. I've been getting plenty of people asking me about this growing interest in locally grown organic food, and they ask, 'What exactly is organically grown food?' I also get a lot of calls about how new Teslas and electric cars, and people ask how to tell which car is best for them. My purpose in being here is to answer these questions."

Sustainable Lawrence, an organization dedicated to teaching people about how they can be more environmentally friendly, started The Mercer Green Fest started--formerly known as the Living Local Expo--in 2006.

About 70 booths promoting eco-friendly artists, businesses, and organizations–ranging from solar companies to public works projects to a company that makes clothing and wall installation out of hemp fiber–offered information and incentives to help Mercer County go green.

There are also booths that promoted walking and bicycle trails, composting, and exercise. The event also held the largest display of electric cars in New Jersey history with 43 cars on display.

Artists who take “found objects” and re-use those them to create their art can be found scattered around the event space as well. One such example was that of Margarete Napers, a resident of Langhorne, Pennsylvania who picked up art after retiring. "After I turned fifty-five," Margarete said, "my back gave out, and I had to quit working. So I moved, you see, to live closer to my son who was then in college. And there was this old barn house that was decaying, and the mortgage people told me I needed to remove it... So I think to myself, 'Well, hell, let's just cut it down.'" Margarete makes paintings, boxes, and sculptures out of wood that she says is at least a hundred years old.

Meanwhile, the local farmers market offered fresh, artisan food products like cider donuts, Parmesan facciata bread, gluten-free chocolate brownies, etc. Terhune Orchards, one of the vendors, also invited all of its customers to attend one of the summer programs where people can help grow food, feed and assist livestock, and much more.

And since the Mercer Green Fest is at its heart a family event, there was entertainment for children. From the Eyes of the Wild traveling zoo to Solar Man–who showed children how solar energy is generated through solar panels–the children at the event were thoroughly entertained.