Next weekend, Liberty County will join millions of people around the world in celebrating the earth for International Earth Day.

I do not know how you like to celebrate, but to me, the word "celebration" means FUN in capital letters, so that is what we aim to do.

I hope you will join us because we think this event really has it all — fun, games, crafts, entertainment and wacky activities — and it is free.

But secretly there is also a whole lot of education going on that you will not recognize as learning – until you wake up the next day knowing so much more about taking care of the earth and what you can do every day as an earthkeeper.

This event has taken months of planning, prepping, thinking and re-thinking, and even a little bit of swearing, but I think it will be something you do not want to miss no matter what your age.

Earth Day is for our community and by our community. More than 70 organizations, businesses, agencies and churches partner with us at Keep Liberty Beautiful to host the wide variety of games, crafts, displays and activities in our biggest education event of the year.

Hundreds of volunteers are using their time to accomplish our mission of undercover environmental education disguised as fun. We could not do this event without that kind of commitment from our community, so to all of those volunteers and partners, thank you so much.

We have a number of new games and crafts that share information about water conservation, stormwater pollution, litter prevention, recycling and waste reduction and community improvement.

Those topics may not sound that interesting to some of you. But when you learn about the problems that litter and stormwater create by actually journeying through a "storm drain," or fishing for healthy non-polluted fish or take a look at animals and their needs in a "shaving cream world," education gets a little more interesting and knowledge becomes fun, too.

You can learn about water conservation and also the difference that recycling can make by going through an earth friendly obstacle course that includes toilets and recycling bins and "tires" and a "tarp" river.

You can take a turn at shooting up recycling items at an arcade-like event or take some hoop shots and learn a little about stormwater pollution. There are loads of different activities for kids of all ages.

And for you parents and young-at-heart adults, there are plenty of things you will enjoy, too, including a variety of garden containers, like our backyard veggie garden possibilities, fairy gardens and herb gardens.

There are loads of displays on ideas you can use at home for waste-free lunches, composting and using rain barrels to capture water for your landscape.

There are also a number of groups that will be entertaining everyone throughout the afternoon, including Sheri Love, a professional aerialist.

There are so many cute and entertaining components of this event. I wish I could share them all here, but you will just have to join us on Friday and see for yourself. Taking care of the earth should be a joyous task for all of us! It is our home after all and we are its stewards.

So plan to join us for the 12th annual Earth Day Celebration from 3:30-6:30 p.m. Friday at the YMCA field on the corner of Mary Lou Drive and Tupelo in Hinesville. Mark your calendar now to attend.

If you would like to learn more, contact us at Keep Liberty Beautiful at klcbdirector@gmail.com or 912-880-4888. All booth spaces are now committed, but volunteers are always appreciated at an event like this.

Also, this is a last call on the upcoming citywide cleanup in Hinesville on April 28. All of our cities in Liberty County and many unincorporated communities and neighborhoods have already hunkered down for their area cleanups, so be sure to sign up now for this one in Hinesville.

All organizations, churches, businesses and civic clubs are encouraged to register now to participate in this volunteer cleanup to spruce up the city. Sure, we pick up litter, but we also make a valuable statement about litter when citizens come out and cleanup up: Litter is not acceptable here!

Contact us at 912-880-4888 or klcbdirector@gmail.com to register today.