Shavano Park Arbor/Earth Day 2025

April 12, 2025

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This year's Arbor/Earth Day celebration was a tremendous success! The theme of this year's event was birds of prey. The weather was ideal for celebrating Arbor/Earth Day in Shavano Park.

Our families had a wide range of activities to enjoy, including educational booths, kid's crafts, face painting, a petting zoo, pony rides, balloon twisters, caricatures, tree and plant giveaways.

Residents had the opportunity to drop off paper for shredding, as well as batteries and e-waste. Additionally, compost was available for citizens to take home.

The Shavano Park Women set up a butterfly-themed selfie booth that was very popular with attendees. Additionally, we handed out pinwheels provided by the Live Oak Garden Club. SPW extends heartfelt gratitude to the Live Oak Garden Club for their generous contribution. The pinwheels were enjoyed by both the young and old.

Birds and birds of prey were represented by Bexar Audubon South Central Texas and Sky Kings Falconry. Bexar Audubon provided education to attendees about local bird species and emphasized the importance of the "lights out" initiative to reduce excess lighting during bird migration. Sky Kings showcased various birds of prey in their bird show. The Bexar Audubon South Central Texas also gave a guided bird walk to help encourage everyone to appreciate the beautiful surroundings of our city hall.

At lunchtime, we consumed 325 hot dogs in only 20 minutes! The crowd had built up quite an appetite from all the festivities.

The Texas A&M Forestry Service awarded our city the Tree City USA designation, and a ceremonial planting of an Anacacho Orchid Tree took place on the city hall grounds.

Organizing one of these events requires extensive planning. Several SPW members generously volunteered their time to be part of the planning committee. Additionally, we had a team that came to set up and take down the SPW booth the day of the event. We want to express our deep gratitude for all your hard work. Finally, a special thanks goes to our Vice President, Becky Kassner, for coordinating with our City Secretary, Kristen Hetzel, on this event, and to all our volunteers who made this event memorable for everyone who attended.

Learning how to properly use binoculars from the Bexar Audubon South Central Texas

Making an entrance

Collecting a donation

Swooping down after checking out the ceiling fan

For more information on the Live Oak Garden Club, visit their website at: https://liveoakgardenclub.wixsite.com/website

Bexar Audubon South Central Texas is the official chapter of the National Audubon Society. To learn more visit their website at: https://bexaraudubon.org

The birds featured at our Arbor/Earth Day event are trained and looked after by the Sky Kings Falconry team, who are committed to education and wildlife conservation. Click here to discover more about Sky Kings Falconry.