Arroyo Colorado

April 15, 2009

Hello Arroyo Partners:

There quite a few Earth Day events that will be taking place over the next week.  Hopefully you will find an event close to you.  It is really exciting to see so many cities and organizations hosting so many different events.

Scheduled activities include:

April 17:

  • City of Pharr Public Works Department and Fire Department and the Pharr Elementary School students will install markers near the school. Other festivities include planting grass, flowers and trees.
April 18:
  • City of San Benito and Girl Scout Troops will install markers at 10 a.m. at the San Benito Municipal Building, 401 N. Sam Houston
  • City of La Joya and La Joya High School science class will install markers at 10 a.m. at the La Joya Municipal Park on Coyote Boulevard.
  • City of Weslaco is sponsoring "Green Family Festival" 8 a.m. to noon at the City Hall, 255 South Kansas Ave. Volunteers will be installing storm water markers and planting flowers. There will be live entertainment, food and refreshments.
  • City of San Juan and Pharr-San Juan-Alamo High School National Honor Society students will meet at 8 a.m. at City Hall to begin installing markers. The targeted area will be between Business 83 and Hall Acres Road and between Wyoming Street and San Antonio Street.
  • City of Harlingen and Harlingen Independent School District students will meet at 10 a.m. at the city's new Centennial Park to kick-off the marker installation. The city will also have vehicles on display from Public Works, Harlingen Water Works, the Fire Department, and Police Department.  Information on recycling, water conservation, native plants, composting, and other green living ideas will be provided by Harlingen Proud, Valley Proud Environmental Council, Texas Water Development Board, and Harlingen Park and Recreation. Texas A&M University-Kingsville's Javelina Express Mobile Go Center, a 42-foot trailer that provides outreach to prospective students, will be staffed by the A&M-Kingsville College of Engineering faculty, students and staff.
  • The City of McAllen would like to invite everyone to their 2nd Annual Green Family Festival "Vida Verde" on April 18th from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Quinta Mazatlan McAllen wing of the World Birding Center.
  • STC will be holding an Environmental Education Fair at their Mid Valley Campus on April 18th from 10 am-2 pm.  They will have several guest speakers and numerous activities.
April 22:
  • City of Alton and Alton Junior High School students will install markers at 9:30 a.m. on the Alton Junior High campus, 521 S. Los Ebanos Blvd.
In a precursor to Earth Day, the city of Mission and volunteers installed storm drain markers and picked up trash April 4 as part of its 2009 Mission Trash Bash.

More than 1,000 markers will be installed throughout the Lower Rio Grande Valley during these events with 20,000 markers eventually installed over the next several years.

I would also like to remind everyone that a Habitat Workgroup meeting and Steering Committee meeting will be held on April 27th.  I will send out reminder e-mails with more information next week.

Looking ahead,

Jaime J Flores