Earth Day Sustainability Fair April 22 at Nicolet College

After a two-year hiatus due to COVID, the Earth Day Sustainability Fair is returning to Nicolet College with numerous environmentally-friendly activities and presentations on campus throughout the day Friday, April 22. 

The public is invited to attend the event from noon to 4 pm in the Lakeside Center. 

“It’s really exciting to be able to bring the fair back with such a strong lineup of presenters as well as all of displays by green-oriented organizations and businesses,” said Patrick Burns, one of the fair organizers and Nicolet’s Financial Aid manager. 

“This is the 10th year of the fair, and while we had to take a couple years off, it feels like we didn’t even skip a beat bringing everybody back together.” 

The theme for the 2022 fair is Sustainability: A PERMAnent feature of Northwoods CULTURE, focusing on permaculture in the Northwoods and the self-sufficient and sustainable growth of agricultural ecosystems. 

The event is being sponsored by Nicolet College, the Northwoods Community Garden, MMK Solar Thermal, the School District of Rhinelander, WXPR, ArtStart, and Holiday Acres. 

At noon, environmental engineer Dan Margoni from WEC Energy Group will give a presentation on the recently completed Hodag Solar Farm, the 50-acre site just south of Rhinelander that features 21,000 solar panels. It’s projected that the farm will produce enough electricity to power 1,500 homes. 

This will be followed with a presentation at 1 p.m. on wild mushrooms by mycology expert Emilymae King. 

At 2 p.m., former Wood County Board chairman Doug Machon will talk about the development of the solar array in south Wood County. Machon was part of the effort to stop a 2,500-cow Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) to locate on the site and instead convince the county to buy the land for the solar array. 

At 3 p.m., Mike Haasl, founder of the Northwoods Homesteading Club, will conclude the day with a presentation on a variety of permaculture practices. 

Food for purchase will be available from Jessica's Cucina and music will be performed by Shannon Hauser and musicians from the Earth Day Band. 

Morning activities will be reserved for area K-12 students and will kick off at 10 a.m. with a Native American opening drum ceremony. 

Students will view a Ted Talk on climate change and be invited to participate in a panel discussion after the talk. Other events will include environmentally-themed art and gardening activities. 

Informational tables at the event will include those from the Northwoods Homesteading Club, Farm Fresh Atlas of Northern Wisconsin, Oneida County Lakes and Rivers Association, Baby Bird Designs LLC, D.B.A., The Kindred Cottage, University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension Oneida Co., Pine Soup, Oneida County Aquatic Invasive Species Program, Green Design Center, Oneida County Biking & Walking Trails Council, Vilas County Master Gardeners and Friends, Roots of Change and Koz’s Mini Farm, along with several others. 

Anyone interested in having a display at the fair can receive information by send an email to sustainabilitynorthwoods@gmail.com.