| | Published April 11th, 2012
| The Environment - Where We All Meet
Orindans to roll up sleeves at fourth annual Orinda in Action Day
| | Laurie Snyder |  | | Last year's Orinda in Action event Photo provided
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"The environment," said Lady Bird Johnson, "is where we all meet; where we all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share. It is not only a mirror of ourselves, but a focusing lens on what we can become."
In Orinda, one such focusing lens is provided each spring by organizers of the City's annual Orinda in Action Day. This year's event will begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, April 21 with coffee and bagels at the Orinda Library Plaza, and is expected to draw between 400 and 500 area residents.
Following check-in at tables manned by volunteers from the Orinda Women's Club, participants will fan out across the City from 9 a.m. to noon. Although no e-recycling or goodwill donations will be accepted this year, plenty of good deeds will still be done.
Moms, dads and even grandparents will work side-by-side with Orinda's littlest ones to collect twigs and other green waste while teens and adults clean up creeks, wipe down Orinda Community Center chairs, refill park sandboxes, and pick up litter from Orinda's historic bridge through the downtown and beyond. Those with green thumbs will plant flowers or drought-resistant plants.
"It gives children a real close-up view of places that they drive by often, and allows them to help the community at the same time," said Molly Griffin Wilson, a member of this year's organizing committee. "We make sure that everyone gets to do something that works for their level."
Students will earn community service hours for Miramonte High, the Orinda Intermediate School's Others First initiative, and other school-based projects. Signed certificates for service hours worked will be provided at the event's conclusion.
Afterward, volunteers will be treated to a light lunch at the Plaza with entertainment by Orinda Idol's own Steve Harwood, Master of Ceremonies and DJ.
The timing to roll up one's sleeves couldn't be better. Throughout 2012, America is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Lady Bird Johnson, one of America's most ardent advocates of community and national beautification. A major force behind the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, which banished billboard blight and minimized junkyard eyesores, Johnson is also credited with inspiring generations to brighten our world, sustainably, with colorful wildflowers and other native plants.
"There is much," said Johnson, "the government can do and should do to improve the environment. But even more important is the individual who plants a tree or cleans a corner of neglect. For it is the individual who himself benefits, and also protects a heritage of beauty for his children and future generations."
All who live, work or attend school in Orinda are welcome. To join in the fun of Orinda in Action Day 2012, register online at: www.orindafoundation.org, or e-mail orindainaction@gmail.com.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA