Educational event to benefit Pacolet Area Conservancy with speakers, art and music

TRYON – Black Coffee owner Adam Marcello is hosting an Earth Day celebration at his business at 15 S. Trade St. in Tryon on Saturday, April 22 in conjunction with the Pacolet Area Conservancy.

The event will include speakers, arts and crafts by local artists, and live music. Participants are asked to provide $5, which will benefit the Pacolet Area Conservancy.

“We didn’t see any events on Earth Day here in the area. We’re doing it because we want to bring awareness to the issues we face every day when it comes to our environment,” Marcello emphasized. “These issues aren’t getting a lot of focus.”

Kristen Mode, owner of Kristen’s Kreations in Saluda, is doing a potting and seeding class from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Bands scheduled to perform starting at noon include Mercury Rising, Jamil Apostol and the Goodwills, and Turtle Power.

Marcello is one of three speakers scheduled and will host a seminar on coffee and the environment. One of the most wasteful aspects of making coffee is boiling water, something he noted most people would not have guessed until research was done.

“It takes so much energy to boil water because we have to get it to a certain temperature,” Marcello said. “Thousands of times a second across the world, coffee shops are boiling water for the next cup. Growing crops, hauling the coffee on trucks and harvesting takes less energy than boiling water.”

Jonathan Gerst, hydrogeologist in Tryon, will speak on hydrogeology, which is the study of water on earth. Joseph Burdett,  an acupuncturist from Saluda, will teach the five elements of health to attendees.

“It’s going to become an annual thing for us,” Marcello explained. “We always talk about how we can change our behavior to bring more balance between us and the environment. We can’t stop pollution, but there are behavioral things we can do to slow it down.”

The point of a festival, according to Marcello, is to be “fun, educational and engaging.” He added the event is not going to be “preachy” and will bring people together.

“Education is supposed to be fun, not just lectures, and this will bring people together,” Marcello said. “I’m not someone who is a doomsday kind of person, I don’t think we’re killing the planet, but we are making it more difficult than it needs to be on the earth through our decisions.”