EARTH DAY 1990 : Over 50,000 Pack Park at EarthFair

An eclectic alliance of earth’s citizens--from big business to Hare Krishnas, from new-age musicians and a British choral group to “cosmic comic” Timothy Leary, from 6,000 participants in a 5-K run to 800 children in a downtown parade--celebrated Earth Day Sunday in San Diego.

EarthFair at Balboa Park attracted more than 50,000 persons--if not tens of thousands more, organizers said, and if it was a celebration, it was also part swap meet--with home-made jewelry and crafts being hawked, part zoo--with traffic and parking headaches, and part trade-show, with private companies selling their services and wares to save the earth.

In all, there were over 220 booths and stands where representatives of various organizations and businesses held forth.

It was both high-tech--with companies selling alternative energy and water conservation devices--and deja vu original Earth Day 1970, right down to the tie-dye T-shirts and at least one booth warning young people to be wary of the military.

And it was undisputably a success, organizers said.

“A lot of people said this couldn’t be done, that we wouldn’t be able to get this many people interested in Earth Day,” said Carolyn Chase, director of San Diego Earth Day 1990 and whose husband, Chris Klein, served as production manager for the EarthFair.

“We wanted people to leave with a new experience, of how diverse people are who have to get along on this planet, that somehow we all have to share this planet. And I think we showed a mandate to our political leaders that yes, people will vote to solve our environmental problems,” Chase said.

The event involved the work of 400 volunteers and cost $40,000 to stage, and organizers hoped they would recoup that through T-shirt sales and fees paid by exhibitors, ranging from $35 from the most benign nonprofit group to $300 for the largest commercial business.

Chase said organizers caught some flak from the strictest environmental groups because some businesses not perceived to be environmental champions shared the same exhibit areas as traditional and sometime militant environmentalists.

“But some of the people who cause the problems are going to have to be the ones who help solve them,” she said. “So we wanted them here, too.”

Indeed, dichotomy and irony were evident throughout, all in the name of Earth.

A number of animal protection organizations shared the same sidewalk as the food vendor grilling up fresh hamburgers; San Diego Gas & Electric Co. gave away 10,000 free pine trees--all it had on hand--by 1:20 p.m., while just 50 feet way, UCAN (Utility Consumers Action Network) displayed an amended SDG&E; logo, “SD Gags on Edison.”

The San Diego Herpetological Society set up a booth to promote the virtues of amphibians and snakes--just a few feet removed from the America Rat, Mouse & Hamster Society. But the rats, mice and hamsters were safe in their cages, and the only snake in evidence was an intimidatingly large boa that had wrapped itself around the neck of a bare-chested man who was strutting around the grounds as if he were Father Earth.

Exhibit booths proclaimed, “Save our Ocean,” “Save our Wilderness,” “Save the Dolphin,” “Save the Wolf,” “Save the Children” and “Save the toner cartridge”--a spiel by more than one exhibitor to recycle photocopier toner cartridges rather than buy new ones.

“It’s stupid to throw out five pounds of plastic when you can recharge the toner cartridge for your copier,” said John Buzzard, handing out his brochures to passers-by.

Indeed, just about any business that could work an Earth angle seemed to have set up shop at Balboa Park.

There was, for instance, Executive Images, a firm that consults executive women on their most flattering colors. “Earth tones aren’t any more popular than the other colors,” said a smartly-dressed woman in black and fuchsia. “What’s important to our customers is that we don’t use animals in our testing.”

Say what?

A termite control company pitched that it doesn’t use pesticides to kill the pesky bug. It freezes them. Hey, man, that’s cool.

Around one booth, half-a-dozen people sat quietly in folding chairs, eyes closed, as they received free therapy massage from assistants who held their shoulders, their heads, their chests, their necks and their backs. “Reiki Universal Life Energy,” said the banner. People were signing up for their free massage. More people just stood and watched.

A few booths over, Terrence C. Burns was selling portfolios featuring mutual bond investments in environmentally conscious companies. “You can talk all you want about the environment,” he said, “But it’s money that’s going to make it happen. “A lot of money. A lot of investments. But maybe you can make some money, too.”

Sign up here.

One exhibitor sold “hologram earth watches” and yes, some watch faces depicted globes. Others had a single, large eyeball, and others featured the classic peace symbol of the ‘60s.

Vendors sold Dove Bars and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream novelties--some of them which, on Sunday, were renamed “Peace Pops.” One food booth featured Cosmic Veggie Dogs and BBQ Earth Balls.

There were Democratic Party and Republican Party booths, and one to help create a “Green Party” in California.

One exhibit was for the “Project on Youth and non-military opportunities,” which admonished young people to “check out the facts about military life . . . before you sign up.”

Save the earth by riding trolleys? Visit the booth staffed by the Citizen’s Light Rail Committee. Insist on still driving your car? Visit the Bureau of Automotive Repair booth, a few feet away.

Who were the single most interesting characters of the day? The couple dressed up as Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd? Or the three young men, naked except for some very short grass skirts? (“Fronds of the earth,” Chris Klein quipped.) Was it the man wearing the gas mask and carrying the placard, “Ugly Smelly Air”? Or was it Captain Healthy, dressed in black leotards, black tights, gold lame cape and the black Zorro mask? (He was Maurice Luten, Smokey to his friends, drumming up some business for his weight control center.)

At the Organ Pavilion, Robert Plimpton put the organ’s pipes through their paces, playing pieces such as “Seventh Dance of Creation.” “I didn’t find any music inspired by smog,” he said, “and I didn’t find any music inspired by acid rain.”

Across the park, a 1960s folk group was singing “Sixteen Tons,” their music amplified through speakers powered by solar-energized batteries.

Next to the reflecting pool--not far from the Toastmasters booth and the La Jolla Republicans booth, Cynthia Lynn Douglass produced celestial sounds on her Celtic harp. Donations appreciated.

And bongo drums were everywhere. Dogs, too. Bongo drums and big dogs, meeting nose-to-nose, as friendly as could be like maybe this was Dog Day.

A mounted San Diego police officer sat proud on his non-polluting horse, posing for pictures for kids visiting the park for the first time. “Stay clear of the rear,” he advised them, as one youngster yanked on the horse’s tail. A hundred yards away, a utility truck ran a mechanical snake through an overflowing sewage drain. “Too many people using the restrooms,” a worker sighed.

Ah, Earth Day at the park.

There were performing cats taught to teeter on basketball-size globes, and face-painting opportunities, and a place you could paint the burlap or canvas bags you bought on the other side of the park ($16.95 plus tax, shipping and handling) so you wouldn’t have to answer, “Paper or plastic?”

T-shirt booths did brisk business. There was the souvenir edition, “Think Globally, Act Locally,” that pitched Earth Day 1990--San Diego. Then there was the keepsake version for tourists: “Earth Day on the Bay,” featuring a silhouette of tall sailing ship and of the Hotel del Coronado, to take back home to Kansas.

Maureen Colt, 28, of El Cajon, bought 14--count ‘em, 14--Earth Day T-shirts and sweat shirts. “This is something I want my children and nephews and nieces to remember,” she said. “We all need to learn what we can do as individuals to help the earth. If every individual did just one thing, then as a whole we can contribute what we’ve learned to save the earth. And these T-shirts will be a reminder.”

Other souvenirs would come in the form of reborn commitments to be lived out.

“I was raising my children during the first Earth Day,” said 47-year-old Bonnie Brennan of Clairemont. “Now I find myself much more involved. Now I know that my own little world is global. I missed out 20 years ago, but now I know things I can do.” Among them, she said, was to set up an ongoing Earth Day Committee at Sharp Memorial Hospital, where she is a nurse, to better recycle paper, cans and other material. “I don’t want Earth Day to be a one-day celebration,” she said. “I want it to go on from here.”

Matthew Kalnik, 27, of Mira Mesa, was cooling off from his 5-K run earlier in the day and reflected on what lessons he had learned. “I’m a lot more aware of how I’ve got to separate toxics, like paint cans and pesticide containers, from my garbage,” he said.

Younger people--including some not even born by the first Earth Day--said they learned their lessons too. Nineteen-year-old Janae Green said she learned just how low San Diego’s water supply is, and of how people waste it.

There was some cynicism during the day, too. “I’m afraid a lot of this is going to wash off people in a few days,” worried Tom Smith, 26, of Rancho Bernardo. Kody Peterson, 22, of La Jolla, griped: “A lot of companies are here, like they’re big environmentalists, but all they are are hypocrites.”

Perhaps most affected by the day were Mike and Kathy Schearing--who, nine months ago, made plans to get married at Balboa Park’s Cafe del Rey Moro on April 22, and not realizing until last week that they’d be battling with EarthFair.

“They only reason we could get the limo in here was because my sister knew the police officer,” said the bride, resplendent in her white gown as thousands of casually dressed people walked by, gawking at the stretch limousine that maybe was carrying Mother Earth herself. “A bunch of our friends never got here for the reception. They didn’t want to fight the traffic.”

Added the groom, “We’ll never forget Earth Day. We sent out a few invitations and instead, we got the world.”