BELFAST—A few Belfast citizens lugged bunches of bare tree branches into the Belfast Boat House while other crafty folks sat around tables transforming colored tissue paper and streamers into exotic paper flowers on Tuesday afternoon, April 22. This informal gathering was meant to encourage the public to come and make natural creative decorations out of sticks and flowers that they could then carry for the Waldo Earth Day Celebration parade later on.

David Smith, a Belfast resident and retired school teacher, encouraged people to come into the Boat House and grab a tree branch.

“I had this idea for the Harbor Walk parade. I remember Earth Day, which started in 1970 and it’s not really celebrated that much. But, we have the new Harbor Walk in Belfast so we thought, ‘Let’s see if we can get kids and adults to come in and just have an Earth Day parade.’”

He pointed out his friend, Heidi, who was busy making tiny flowers at the far table.

“She’d done these branches in the Earth Day in Boston years ago,” he said. “She had the idea of decorating the branches. It’s just going to make a colorful, beautiful parade.”

See photos of the parade here.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com