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The 10 Annual Earth Day Festival, organized by the Middleton Stream Team, was an afternoon of fun and learning for all! Attendees enjoyed the Creighton Pond Camp setting and the opportunities the natural setting provided.  Essex Tech environmental students and their science equipment filled the pond side learning building to continually educate visitors with on-site experiments. Masconomet environmental students also had an educational display.  Boy scouts and girl scouts of all ages demonstrated camp-outs, did crafts, and talked about scouting opportunities in the town. New vendors included Sound Play Children’s Music, Moonshadow Yoga with dwarf goats, Green Meadow farm with chickens, Lasting Legacy Soaps and nature jewelry, and Sanctuary Yoga. Loyal participants returning included Sol Bean, Essex County Beekeepers, Cellar Door of Ipswich, and the Flint Library. Massachusetts Wildlife and Fisheries, with the help of the local Peary family, taught many children to fish.  The gigantic beaver, aka Liz Cameron, enjoyed entertaining children! This year, for the first time, IRWA performed a puppet show with a water conservation theme and due to the brief shower, a third show was added and enjoyed in the nice lodge. Owl pellet dissection was taught by Sandy, also known as Mrs. R, and some amazing discoveries were made about the food cycle! One middle age adult asked to join the older children. He was the most excited about what he found, declaring it an activity he had always wanted to do! The raffles, which are the primary funding source for all the free activities the Stream team sponsors, brought in a record amount of sales. Mr. John LeBlanc was awarded the distinction of being hardest working event volunteer, as he had a line for popcorn for a solid three hours! Mother Earth reminded us of her gifts with a shower, we think it was her way of thanking all the people that came out to learn, appreciate, and protect this watershed we all live within. We think we heard her giggle as the people out in the rowboats hunkered down in the rain out on the pond! We would like to thank the  Lynn Boys and Girls clubs for letting us use their beautiful facility. Two hours of sun and a bit of rain, laughter and learning in the great outdoors!  It was an inspiring celebration of the human and nature connection!