WHAT’S IN THERE? — Nora Daily is a bit inquisitive about what is in the ground while Alexis Matney prepares to plant a tree during the 2017 Earth Day Festival. This year’s event will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 21, at the Wawasee Area Conservancy Education Center, one mile south of Syracuse on SR 13. There is no admission and free participation in all events. (Photo by Deb Patterson)

Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation, SR 13, Syracuse, will host its third annual Earth Day Festival Saturday, April 21. The event, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., will take place at the WACF Levinson-LaBrosse Educational Center.

This year’s theme is plastics. The first 200 families attending will get a free re-usable grocery bag. It will be a day for the entire family with free admission and free participation in all activities.

Bring the kids and the center is pet friendly. Some items will be available to purchase. Syracuse Boy Scouts will be selling hot dogs along with several food trucks offering additional items to purchase.

Among the events and presentations available on the property will be: Make seed balls by the Syracuse-Wawasee Garden Club, learn information about the watershed with Nancy Brown, nature photography by the Wawasee High School Art Club, feeling the grit with WHS FFA members, try your hand at archery with John Blunk, Wawasee Middle School archery instructor, all boards with WHS gone boarding class, learn about fly tying with Kim Nguyen and have some fishing fun with the Webster Lake Musky Club.

Learn about rain barrels hosted by Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams, clean water with the WACF, duck and goose calls with Randy Cesco, wakeboard information by Barts Water Sports, nesting boxes with Ducks Unlimited, muzzle loading by Stones Trace Regulators, arrowhead making with Jeff Mesaros, and trails information by the Syracuse-Wawasee Trails Committee. Duck decoys carved by Jeff Moore and spear fishing decoys by Duane Turnock will be available to purchase. The Northeast Indiana Geocachers will host geocaching.

WACF education center is located one mile south of Syracuse on SR 13.