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HAMMONTON—Green Day was a beautiful day where people learned about the environment and bought environmentally friendly products on Nov. 4 at Veteran’s Memorial Park located at 333 Vine St.
Throughout the day, there were free workshops, book talks, crafts and more. There was even senior yoga.
Green Committee chairperson Amy Menzel said she was happy how the event turned out.
“We’ve got beautiful weather, and we have so many great vendors and things are going great,” Menzel said.
Every year there is a lot of planning that goes into Green Day.
“It’s nice to see everyone enjoying themselves,” Menzel said.
Alpacas from Oak Hill Alpacas, LLC were one of the new additions to Green Day.
“The alpacas are back. When we were on South Second [Street] last year, they needed to have grass, so it’s nice to be back in the park where there’s trees and grass. That was a beautiful spot there too, but it’s nice to be in the park. There’s plenty of room to stretch out and spread out and opportunities to grow here too,” Menzel said.
Joyce and Jerry Calderwood of Oak Hill Alpacas, LLC who brought the two alpacas to Green Day also sold socks and other items made from the alpacas’ fur.
Michael Lazarchick who lives 10 minutes away from Hammonton has been going to the annual Green Day event for years.
“I just got here, but I like the alpacas. They’re so cute. My favorite part about it is I’ll see what’s new, what’s happening, what people are doing and get to talk to people who are like minded because people who are interested in green are coming here,” Lazarchick said.
Lazarchick decided to come to Green Day because he likes the idea of being green.
“I live on a 3-acre wildlife sanctuary, which is all organic, and we have native plants and we’ve been doing it for 30 years. We have solar panels on our roof. I have an electric car. We’re into green,” Lazarchick said.
Another animal besides the alpacas who made an appearance at Green Day was Phoebe Moofay, a 5-year-old skunk from the Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge who recently celebrated their birthday.
Rileigh Leach and Ally Reagle gave information about Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge to attendees.
During Green Day, Jean Boerner and Deborah Ein sold apples, apple cider and other farm products from Pleasant Valley Farm.
“We’ve done this for the last couple of years that they’ve had it, and we were in this location pre-pandemic and did pretty well with the farm products,” Ein said.
Ein also provided pages from her recent children’s book, and she did a book talk sharing the story of Mary Treat’s work as an ecologist in the 1800s.
“I’m actually doing a workshop a little bit later with my coloring book I just did,” Ein said.
Greg Vizzi also gave a book talk on his book called The Original People written with Chief Quiet Thunder, which provides insights into Lenni Lenape culture.
At one of the tables, Cassandra Pichardo and Copelia Morales provided information about Allies in Caring.
“There’s a lot of resources. There’s a lot of vendors. I really like how they take the time to explain everything. There are a few places that they’re advocating for ocean life or wildlife, and they take their time to really explain how they got the items, and I’m like, ‘Oh wow!’ There’s also a lot of green items,” Morales said.
Some of the items Morales picked up from the event include brochures, coloring books, hand sanitizers, business cards, pens and candy.
One of the vendors at Green Day included Christian Mauriello of RetrofutureUSA who sold vinyl records, books, vintage clothing and comics at Green Day. This was his first time being a vendor at Green Day.
“I studied sustainability in college and love attending community events and seeing what everybody is up to,” Mauriello said.
Other vendors sold handmade soap, plants, record album bowls, windmills made from reused materials and more.
During Green Day, Angela Donio of the Historic Preservation Commission provided historic walking tours. The walking tours take place on the first Saturday of the month, weather permitting.
The next walking tour will be on Dec. 2, and she said people do not have to register; they just have to meet at the Eagle Theatre located at 208 Vine St.
For food, people enjoyed tacos from the Tacos Al Carbon food truck. There were also sweets specifically cookies from J Bakes.
Children enjoyed making crafts at the Hammonton Arts Center table using CDs, feathers and other recycled materials.
There were also plenty of opportunities to recycle items like gently used plastic toys, reusable bags, denim, sneakers, plastic bags and plastic film.
For more information about Green Day and other ways to recycle, visit the Hammonton Green Committee’s website at hammontongreencommittee.com.
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