Rock Valley College hosts Earth Day event April 21

Staff Report

Tim Gruner, garden curator at Rockford’s Anderson Japanese Gardens, will be a keynote speaker at this year’s Earth Day event at Rock Valley College (RVC) Saturday, April 21.

Gruner oversees the ongoing construction of one of the highest-quality Japanese gardens in the world outside of Japan. His presentation is titled “Patterns in Nature that Inspire Japanese Gardens and the Connection between Garden and Architecture.”

RVC’s Earth Day celebration will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, April 21, in the Physical Education Center on the college’s main campus, 3301 N. Mulford Road, Rockford.

Other highlights of the event will include the following:

• Opening remarks from Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey (I) at 11 a.m.

• Brad Holcomb from the City of Rockford will discuss the city’s green efforts.

• Paper Recovery will be on hand from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to provide shredding services. Bring a stack of documents for shredding and let Paper Recovery take care of it for you.

• Bring old cell phones and batteries in and drop them off for recycling.

• Saavedra Gehlhausen Architects will present on the unique chilled beam and geothermal technologies implemented in the design of RVC’s Jacobs Center for Science and Math.

• A program about coastal raptors will be presented.

• Meghan Bowe will present a “Gardening Talk.”

• Jamie Johannsen will present a program titled “Hidden Gems and Native Plants.”

• Nancy Ballantine from Live Roof will present on Green Roofs.

• View new and innovative products from numerous exhibitors and vendors.

Admission to the event is free and open to the public.

For more information, call Jacki Minnihan at (815) 921-4482 or e-mail her at j.minnihan@rockvalleycollege.edu.

From the April 11-17, 2012, issue

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