Southeast : EARTH DAY

Sowing an interest in gardening, the county housing authority is throwing a three-day Earth Day celebration next week for the more than 900 children who live at the Carmelitos public housing development in Long Beach.

Youngsters will be given seeds, seedlings and gardening instructions to help plant the Children’s Garden, part of a two-acre Community Garden at the county’s oldest public housing project. The April 18-20 festivities will include painting and storytelling, and Carmelitos’ after-school 4-H Club will create flower beds in the shape of 4H.

“This is an opportunity to introduce the children at Carmelitos to a whole new experience,” said Sam Lucchese of the Los Angeles County Community Development Commission. “A garden is a nonthreatening environment. It’s something, I think, that will refresh them.”