It was a rainy day last Saturday but the Earth Day Festival hosted by the Durant Sustainability Coalition at Carl Albert Park carried on.
Choctaw Tribal Council Member for District 9 James Dry spoke about the tribe’s Going Green program and he said that in 2023, more than four million pounds were recycled by the Choctaw Nation. The program started when they would go to different Choctaw sites and pick up recyclables.
“It’s been a big initiative for the Choctaw Nation to get behind recycling and protecting the mother earth and I appreciate all of the staff,” Dry said.
He praised Tracy Horst, the environmental compliance and recycling director for the Choctaw Nation.
“Tracy, I appreciate you so much,” Dry said. “We did travel a lot of roads with that trailer picking up all of that trash and stuff. It was worth it and it really planted that seed for the Nation, the community as a whole and everybody that got behind that, and it’s just been awesome with all of the recycling and everything that goes on in our communities.
“I believe there’s like a 167 Roll-Offs within the Choctaw Reservation and everything which is awesome. We have a lot just not within the tribe but they’ll take the Roll-Offs and the bins to other businesses. I know there’s a new barbecue place that started here in Durant and they called and ‘Hey, can we recycle all of these boxes because we’re tired of throwing them in the trash.’ They took a Roll-Off out there with all of the boxes and everything else so it’s just been a really great community project within southeastern Oklahoma and we’re just glad to do our part.”
Durant Vice Mayor Mike Simulescu also spoke.
“Thank you, folks,” he said. “I really appreciate everybody coming out here. I appreciate all of the volunteers that went out to different parts of town to help clean up and make our town look a little bit nicer. We do appreciate it. I appreciate all of the vendors here, our local clubs, businesses, everyone out here supporting. I also appreciate Choctaw Nation for supporting us as well.”
Simulescu then read an Earth Day proclamation from the City of Durant. Earth Day was enacted in 1970 and engaged more than 20 million Americans to advocate for a cleaner environment. Fifty four years later, it has become a worldwide annual event to confront environmental issues and to unite around a shared mission of protecting the environment, the proclamation states.
“I, Mike Simulescu, vice mayor of the City of Durant, do hereby proclaim April 22, 2024, as Earth Day in the City of Durant, Oklahoma, and ask our community members to rededicate themselves to finding ways to protect and preserve the environment by incorporating into their daily lives activities to conserve water and energy, eliminate the use of single-use plastics when feasible, minimize food waste, walk or ride their bikes, plant pollinatorfriendly plans, and reuse and recycle materials,” Simulescu said, reading from the proclamation.
Mark Mesiti-Miller, chair of Durant Sustainability Coalition, welcomed everyone to the Durant Earth Day Festival.
“We, along with 15 other organizations, are the ones responsible for this event,” he said. “This event is dedicated to educating and energizing the citizens of Durant and Bryan County and the entire world in sustaining our region.
He thanked Dry and Simulescu for their support and also others who made the event happen.
“I want to thank every single vendor out here, every single table, every single organization that braved the weather,” Mesiti-Miller said. “I don’t know about you all, but I woke up with a thunderclap and I thought to myself, ‘Oh my goodness. I wonder if anyone will come out today,’ and yet here we see a park full of people all dedicated to Earth Day.”
Jeremy Spence, manager of the Durant Area Chamber of Commerce, thanked all of the sponsors, including Simmons Bank for serving hot dogs. He said First United Bank was playing a big part in Earth Day.
“First United Bank is doing shred day and from what I heard, the lines are out the roof right there so that’s less paper that’s taken to landfills and more paper that is getting back into recycle area programs,” Spence said.
A Keep Durant Clean & Green event was also held Saturday and volunteers picked up trash throughout the community.
