Ironically, the seed that became Earth Day occurred to Senator Gaylord Nelson while on a conservation speaking tour out West in the summer of 1969. At the time, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, called “teach-ins,” had spread to college campuses all across the nation.

“Suddenly, the idea occurred to me - why not organize a huge grassroots protest over what was happening to our environment? I was satisfied that if we could tap into the environmental concerns of the public and infuse the student anti-war energy into the environmental cause, we could generate a demonstration that would force this issue onto the political agenda. It was a big gamble, but worth a try,” Nelson wrote, addressing the Envirolink network.

“At a conference in Seattle in September 1969, I announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and invited everyone to participate. The wire services carried the story from coast to coast. The response was electric.

“On April 22, 1970, Earth Day was held, one of the most remarkable happenings in the history of democracy…” – American Heritage Magazine, October 1993

Nelson had at that time concern that the environmental issue was not to be found on the nation’s political agenda. The people were concerned, but the politicians were not. Now, on the 33rd anniversary of the first Earth Day, those that remember the days of long-playing records might note that they played at 33 1/3 revolutions.

As our nation is at war, it gives cause to remember the climate which accompanied those early Earth Days and the exuberance of the American people who expressed concern about what was happening to the land, rivers, lakes, and air.

“Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself,” Nelson added.

This month will again follow the tradition set forth by the thirty-two preceding, with celebrations, forums, recognition, and festivals held throughout the world.

One small, but of special note, will center around the conversion of a Kitsap County stormwater retention pond into a nature and culture reserve located on the grounds of Suquamish Elementary School. “Gel’kali”, the name of the pond, comes from the Suquamish Tribe and the Coast Salish language which means a place for weaving.

During the last three years, the pond was transformed into a magical place populated with indigenous plants, reeds and grasses suitable for basket making. Dubbed the “Basket Marsh” by the “Pond Kids” who represent all of the classes at Suquamish Elementary, who along with their parents have been the backbone of all the work performed at the Basket Marsh.

Their work was so successful that in May of 2002 the Kitsap County Commissioners awarded the Suquamish Elementary School Pond Kids Project their 11th Annual Earth Day Award in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Youth Leadership.

Classes throughout the school have begun to plan for this year’s Basket Marsh service learning projects. Each project allows the students to create something that benefits our environment while learning about the world around them. Pond Docents will be assisting with the classroom projects that will be showcased on April 22, Earth Day. If you would like to become involved, please call Jan Jackson at 598-4219.

The Miller Bay Citizens Action Group and Poulsbo North Kitsap Rotary will sponsor an artistic contest for the school focusing on the project and Central Market in Poulsbo will host the contestants work through Earth Day 2003.

This month, The Suquamish Tribe awarded the Basket Marsh projects a $4,400 grant for the ongoing operation and improvement of the environmental and cultural learning center of the school. In December, the Pond Kids attended IslandWood, an environmental learning camp on Bainbridge Island for three days.

For many years Jan Jackson, the Librarian at Suquamish Elementary School, together with Ron Hirschi, Naturalist, Biologist and Children’s author have been conceptualizing and planning for this place of community education. The intention was to weave and preserve the beautiful aspects of nature with local Native American culture and celebrate the coming together of the lives of the people of North Kitsap.

Erika Scott, a charter Pond Kid and typical of the 20 or so others, will be moving on to Kingston Junior High next year. Asked what her favorite memories are, Scott recalled “For me the best was going to Islandwood. We earned a special scholarship to stay for three nights and learn about our Northwest Environment. We took field trips to Stillwaters, Valley Nursery and Kitsap Memorial State Park and for the Ecofest at Stillwaters, we made a model of the Marsh Pond.”

“We were excited when the pond started to fill up with rain for the first time,” she said, “During the project we all kept journals, painted pictures, and wrote poetry and songs and my Dad took pictures. I think I’ll remember this for the rest of my life.”

“The marsh is like a puzzle piece that fits into the big picture. The plants protect the pond from harm. The trees grow, give shade, and hold the pond together with their strong, immense roots. The dirt absorbs nutrients and, sometimes, pollution… even the smallest of small bugs help the world,” wrote one Tyler Smiley, Student Advisory Board a.k.a. “Pond Kid”.