Although a cold, wet, blustery day, the environmental faithful turned out on the front lawn at Newtown Middle School at Queen Street on Saturday, April 27, to celebrate Earth Day.

Indicative of the weather, some of the folks attending and exhibiting at the event were bundled up for late winter weather rather than mid-spring conditions.

Earth Day actually was April 22, but locally, the event is observed on a Saturday in late April to stimulate attendance at the fair, which has a range of environmentally-oriented exhibits, displays, and activities. It was the 12th annual Earth Day event in Newtown. Earth Day began on a national level in 1970.

Among the fair’s activities, the Newtown Lions Club organized some Lose the Litter foot patrols, in which groups of people set out to designated roadsides to pick up the trash that had been tossed out the windows of passing vehicles.

At the fair, face painting was offered for children, various eco-crafts were displayed, and information on composting and gardening was provided.

The town’s Public Works Department distributed free, durable carrying bags, suitable for food shopping, which were made of recycled plastic bottles.

As fairgoers walked the soggy school grounds, they were entertained by a series of musical bands that performed in a variety of styles.

Laura and Darrell Baldwin of New Milford, doing business as Wood You Believe It, were among the many exhibitors at the event. They showed a range of wooden items that Mr Baldwin carved using chainsaws, including some novel birdhouses designed for tiny birds.

Major sponsors of the event included the Iroquois Natural Gas Transmission System, the Newtown Parks & Recreation Department, the Housatonic Valley Waldorf School, and the Newtown Lions Club.