Learn About the City of Fort Wayne's New Rain Garden Incentive Plan at GreenFEST '-09 -

On April 25, 2009, the 1st Annual Green Festival will be taking place right here in Waynedale at the Southwest Conservation Club, 5703 Bluffton Road.

Waynedale Green Alliance & the Southwest Conservation Club have united to bring a panorama of sustainable living concepts to the locale.

The festivities will begin at noon with a proclamation by Mayor Tom Henry. Speakers, such as Abigail Frost of the Save the Maumee Grassroots Organization, Betsy Kachmar of Citilink, Allen County Solid Waste District, Little Rivers Wetland and a few other surprise speakers. Music by Cathy Serrano, Dan Dickerson, Skip Calvin, and Bill Certain will follow with food provided at minimal cost by the Southwest Conservation Club, featuring their 'secret slaw'.

A highlight of this 1st Annual Green Festival will be Laura Stein, senior landscape designer from Neuhouser Nursery. Stein will be discussing rain gardens, the equipment and plants necessary for their construction and the new incentive program being offered by the city of Fort Wayne.

This should prove to be a special segment of the Green Festival for the folks of the Waynedale area who so often are the recipients of flooding and are prime prospects for the city's rain garden incentive program.

Other presentations will be given by Karl Blust of Phoenix Mechnical who will be discussing renewable energy forms. Blust of Phoenix will also be giving away a Kill-O-Watt. Also, on-site will be The Energy Doctor who is giving away a free Energy Auditing package. A talk by participants of the Garden Angels Project, organized by Ephriam Smiley will also take place.

Arby's , Halls Original Drive In, Just For You Mobile Massage, Nana Creations, McNamara's Sandpoint, Wow Green Distributors, Citilink, Summit City Bicycles, Bobick's Golf, Waynedale Green Alliance, and Save the Maumee will also be giving away free door prizes between musical sets.

Admittance to this historic event will be a canned good or non-perishable food item that will be donated to Community Harvest of Northeast Indiana.

The unique draw of this first ever green event in Fort Wayne is not only the admittance fee of a canned good -but the overwhelming generosity of those businesses that are giving away sustainable products to the citizens who participate.

We hope to see you there.

For more information please visit the GreenFEST site at http://www.fortwaynegreenfest.webs.com or write April D. Langschied at aprilsmythe@gmail.com or call Christopher F. Langschied at 494-6249.