Wind Plagues Earth Day Events : Activities: Rain wasn’t a problem, but crowds at celebrations in Topanga and Malibu are kept down by the gusts.

The forecast rain didn’t dampen Earth Day activities in the San Fernando Valley, but gusty winds blew many event-goers away.

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“The wind’s been awful,” said Stephanie Cooper, 45, of Calabasas, who brought her children to the celebration at Malibu Bluffs Park.

“Terrible and awful because it blows away all the schmutz. It’s kind of a trade-off.”

About half of the expected 2,000 people showed up at the joint Calabasas-Malibu event that featured dancers, a tree-planting ceremony, environmental booths, Native American exhibits and several contests.

The Malibu Gym sponsored a park cleanup contest where six teams competed for an hour to determine who could pick up the most garbage.

Jill Rand, who moved to Malibu two months ago, joined the competition and the day’s events to “get a little tan and make friends.” Although she had to settle for wind-chapped lips instead of a tan, Rand was confident her team would win.

“I’ve never in my life gotten so excited about finding garbage,” Rand said.

Jessica Kouba, 11, joined the contest late, but was determined to help her team win one of several prizes awarded by area merchants.

About 35 students from kindergarten through the 12th grade competed in the park’s art contest.

In Topanga, two dozen volunteers from the Great Los Angeles Clean Up retrieved a couch, a checkbook, several tires, fenders and a muffler from Topanga Creek.

“I was joking that we almost got enough to put a whole car together,” said Woody Hastings, who organized the event.

Hastings said he nearly canceled the cleanup because he thought it would rain.

The volunteers filled 30 bags of trash from a half-mile stretch of the creek, one of the last free-flowing creeks in Los Angeles County.

Wearing bright yellow rubber gloves, boots and a hat, Gretel Shanley waded through the creek for nearly two hours.

“I care about Topanga and I care about Los Angeles,” said the 30-year Topanga resident. “This is what we need that matters to this community.”