Events

Since 1970 when it was first officially celebrated, Earth Day has become one of the most prolific world-wide events to promote environmental conservation. Finding ways to celebrate Earth Day in the Finger Lakes is pretty easy, because our region is packed with nature! Getting out and going for a walk in the woods is great, but there’s so many other ways to get involved. This of course is by no means a complete list. Finding an exhaustive list in the Finger Lakes would make this an entire book! Instead, we tried to collect a few ideas that maybe weren’t already on your radar. Hopefully there’s a few things listed here to inspire you this April while you’re looking to celebrate Earth Day! Learn Something New One of the key tenets of Naturally Green’s mission is education. The better we are at understanding the world around us, the better we’ll be at preserving it. There’s a number of museums and learning centers around the Finger Lakes dedicated to nature and the environment. Plan a trip around visiting at least one of them on Earth Day, and check ahead because they might even have a special event planned! Cayuga Nature Center – Ithaca The Cayuga Nature Center has some great outdoor activities including a six-story treehouse and live animal exhibits. If it happens to be raining, there’s still plenty to see inside like turtles and snakes. Museum of the Earth – Ithaca The Museum of the Earth is a good option if our April weather isn’t cooperating. This indoor museum is filled with interactive exhibits that tell stories of our planet’s history. This is a great one for all ages! Cumming Nature Center – Naples The Rochester Museum and Science Center in Rochester owns the Cumming Nature Center in Naples. They’ve got a lot of great educational programming and a small visitor center with some exhibits. Around their visitor center they’ve also got some great trails for walking. Even More… Though we’re not hosting any right on Earth Day, we’ve got some classes in April you can checkout! Visit our classes page to see the upcoming workshops we’re hosting or our helpful links page to find other places to learn. We’ve also got a glossary to help you tune up some of your knowledge! Eat Local Food The way we produce and consume food makes a huge impact on our environmental health. There’s a long list of amazing producers of maple products, wines, honey, and livestock in the Finger Lakes to support. If you’re going to be out and planning things to celebrate Earth Day in the Finger Lakes, make sure you plan to eat! Many local producers in our area recognize the importance of environmental stewardship. They incorporate a lot of best practices into their work. Here’s just a few stops you’ll enjoy while you’re out and about. Honey Bee Embassy – Trumansburg Anyone with even a casual understanding of our local ecology knows how important bees are. You can visit […]

One of the first signs of Rochester’s upcoming spring is actually indoors. The show is typically an anticipated respite from the dead of winter. Even with an unseasonably spring-like February the Dutch Connection flower show at George Eastman Museum is still a breath of fresh air. The show just opened on February 10th and is open to visitors through February 26th. Naturally Green is a proud sponsor of the Dutch Connection flower show in 2023. Even though it just opened we’ve already been a couple times! If you’re not already familiar, here’s what you can expect and why you should make it a point to visit. It won’t take much for first-timer to recognize why it’s nearly a ritual for so many locals to visit. History Of The Dutch Connection The tradition of the show is an homage to a practice that George Eastman himself started. During a trip to Holland in 1895, Eastman took a bicycle ride through the hillsides near where he was staying. On that ride he was taken by the fields of tulips and daffodils. According to the museum’s website, he talked of the experience in a letter to his mother. After returning to his home he started an annual tradition. Each year he ordered flowers for himself each year from Dutch bulb companies. Each year he was ordering tens of thousands of bulbs. Even with the outside air being cold and grey, inside Eastman could enjoy fresh flowers all winter. The first Dutch Connection flower show at George Eastman Museum was in 1995. Since then the museum has annually carried the show each February. Countless volunteers assist with potting the bulbs as far back as the previous June. With many different varieties of bulbs needing to bloom for the February show, they put a ton of planning in ahead of time. Visiting In 2023 This year’s show opened on February 10th. It will be open 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Tuesday through Sunday until February 26th. George Eastman Museum members can get access at no additional cost. Non-members can purchase tickets here in advance or at the reception desk. The majority of this year’s 14,000 bulbs will be found on the first floor, but don’t forget there’s some to be seen on the second floor too. Even with the outside air feeling a bit springlike, this year’s Dutch Connection show really is a great reminder that spring will be here before we know it!