Saturday’s sunny weather was the perfect setting, as families came together practically for Earth Day Omaha.
The traditional celebration of Omaha Earth Day has been changed to a virtual meeting due to the COVID-19 limits on personal meetings. Families involved in yoga sessions, learned how to compost at home and watched live performances on the live recording of Earth Day Omaha. Internet network location.
Annabel Lee Major, a certified naturalist from Nebraska, said she was impressed with how the celebration was organized virtually. Major is a volunteer with the Nebraska Master Naturalist Program and participates annually in the celebration of Omaha Earth Day.
“They did a great job of representing many industries and nonprofits that would normally be present,” said Major.
Major said that demonstrations on composting and making a rain barrel were her favorites and motivated her to sign up for Hillside Solutions’ Compost Club. It is a composting program in which Hillside Solutions transforms household waste, such as food and paper products and yard waste, into dense soil into nutrients.
“I think these organizations, like Hillside Solutions, give us an idea of how the world can move forward in an ecologically responsible, resilient and sustainable way,” said Major.
Brent Crampton, a member of the Earth Day council in Omaha, said the event was already planned when the council decided in mid-March to move to a virtual celebration.
“We saw that people were switching to virtual spaces as substitutes,” said Crampton.
Earth Day The organizers of Earth Day in Omaha and Sarpy County decided to collaborate and create a single virtual Earth Day event with the help of Sonburst Communications. Earth Day celebrations in Omaha County and Sarpy are usually a week apart.
“What we love about Earth Day is that it is the only time that all of Omaha’s sustainability comes together in the same place and that is unique,” said Crampton.
Participants were encouraged to share their family meetings and activities on Earth Day on Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #VirtualEarthDayOmaha.
Omaha Earth Day also found a way to include suppliers, setting up a virtual map of Elmwood Park with blocked areas representing each supplier. Individuals could select a supplier area and information about the supplier appeared on the screen.
“I’m glad this option is available because it introduced me to some suppliers that I didn’t know existed,” said Major. “It is good to see the sense of community in Omaha, even though they are all spread out.”
Nebraska National Landmarks
Pony Express National Historic Trail
Don Parmenter, left, by Gering and Casey Debus, by Morrill, waits momentarily at Scotts Bluff National Monument while the backpack transfers horses. In 2008, the two pilots participated in a Pony Express reassembly that began in Sacramento, California, and ended in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Pony Express Station on Willow Island
Willow Island’s Pony Express station is located in a city park in Cozad, Neb. Used for the first time as a trading post, the station also served as a bus stop for Central Overland California and the Pikes Peak Express Company. The cabin was originally built on a bank of the Platte River, south of present-day Darr, Nebraska, and was moved here in 1938.
Pony Express National Historic Trail and Oregon National Historic Trail
The markers south of exit 231 on Interstate 80, between Lexington and Cozad, designate the locations near the Willow Island Pony Express station on the left and the Oregon trail.
Ash Hollow State Historical Park
Cyclists travel the Oregon Trail at Ash Hollow State Historical Park during the Convergence on Sacred Ground event in 2017. In full, the Oregon Trail covered more than 3,000 miles and spanned six states, in which trails, settlements, wagon trenches and other traits can still be seen today.
Oregon National Historic Trail
The Oregon Trail Wagon Train runs over a bed of white “bee balm” on the first day of a four-day hike. Once a popular tourist attraction, participants were able to experience a little of what was the pioneer journey on the prairie near Chimney Rock.
Scotts Bluff National Monument
For Native American tribes and pioneers traveling west, Chimney Rock, now a National Historic Site near Bayard, was the first of two major markers along the Oregon, Mormon and California trails in the Nebraska Panhandle. The unique geological formation, along with the historic landmark at the Scotts Bluff National Monument, less than 50 kilometers away, appears mentioned in the writings of many early settlers.
Scotts Bluff National Monument
Evening light and storm clouds create a scenic backdrop for the prairie landscape at Scotts Bluff National Monument. The monument is 100 years old this year.
Farm and Ranch Museum
Max Cawiezel operates an old John Deere beet digger, with the help of Belgian horses Bob and Ben at the Farm and Ranch Museum, near Gering, Neb. Historical equipment and agricultural techniques were part of the museum’s eighth annual harvest festival in 2004.
Homestead National Monument of America
The Homestead Act of 1862 offered incentives, in the form of 160 acres of free land, to pioneers who moved west. The Homestead National Monument commemorates this historic event, hosting an extensive collection of property artifacts and offering interactive exhibits that document the lives of the first settlers. On display, here is a 1945 Allis Chalmers Model C tractor, used in Alaska on the country’s last farm.
Homestead National Monument of America
In August 2017, a rare total solar eclipse crossed a wide strip of Nebraska, bringing record amounts of tourism to small towns and state parks along the way. Bruce Cardwell, downtown Omaha, Nebraska, expects the eclipse to reappear behind the clouds. The Homestead National Monument organized a party for the eclipse, inviting NASA scientists and presenting programs led by famous guest Bill Nye.
Homestead National Monument at the Homestead Heritage Center
The sky over the Homestead Heritage Center at the Homestead National Monument is lit by a lunar eclipse on January 31, 2018, as seen through the center window. Open grasslands and clear skies have made the site popular for watching stars and telling stories, as well as daytime astronomy programs.
Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail
The pioneering Mormon national historic trail traces the path of Illinois’ first Mormon settlers, through Iowa and Nebraska, to Wyoming and Utah. Two notable campsites – Winter lodgings in northern Omaha and Kanesville at Council Bluffs – served as vital stops along the way.
Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail
Amber Lutke, left, and Russ Leger lead a wagon train on the Pioneer Trail, toward the Grand Camp at the Iowa Deaf School in Council Bluffs. The event marked the 170th anniversary since Mormons left Nauvoo, Illinois, to camp in what are now Council Bluffs and northern Omaha.
California National Historic Trail
Dave McKeag, track chief and wagon master at Council Bluffs, prepares to lead the 150th anniversary of the Gold Rush Days wagon trail to California. The tour started at the Western Historic Trail Center in Council Bluffs and included an overnight stop in Omaha.
Missouri National Recreational River
The Missouri River, seen from the Chief Bear Bear Bridge that connects Nebraska and South Dakota, near Niobrara, on the Lewis & Clark trail. Two segments of the river, totaling just over 160 kilometers, make up the Missouri National Recreation River.
Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail
The replica of Lewis and Clark’s keel from The Discovery Expedition of St. Charles, Missouri, pushes the Missouri River in front of downtown Omaha. As part of the Lewis & Clark Expedition’s 200th anniversary celebration, the reenacters followed the expedition’s original route down to the river, stopping in several cities along the way.
Niobrara National Scenic River
The rapids attract visitors to the Rocky Ford area, on the Niobrara River. Only a fraction of the river segments in the United States can be designated by the National Wild and Scenic River System – the 76-mile stretch near Valentine qualifies as a free-flowing segment with accessible undeveloped coastline and clean or managed water . Rocky Ford, a popular spot for canoeing and boating, is privately owned, but previous negotiations have considered handing it over to the federal government to ensure continued public access.
Niobrara National Scenic River
Members of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Wildlife Club take canoes and kayaks on the Niobrara River.
Niobrara National Scenic River
The Niobrara National Scenic River is also home to geology of national and regional importance, fossil sites and wildlife. Several species of plants and animals, including moose, can be found at the Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge.
National Monument of Agate Fossil Beds
Millions of years ago, the abundant riverbanks and lush vegetation in northwest Nebraska provided a perfect habitat for mammals that eventually became fossilized and are now being discovered along the “Fossil Freeway”, a corridor of paleontology sites that extend from Kimball, Nebraska, to Rapid City, South Dakota.
National Monument of Agate Fossil Beds
This collection of fossils was collected at the National Monument of Agate Fossil Beds and is housed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. It contains bones from several different groups of animals, including squirrels, giant pigs, oreodons, cats and dogs. Most of the bones, however, are from Menoceras, a rhinoceros the size of a pony.
National Monument of Agate Fossil Beds
Sunset shadows at the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument.
