Mason City, IA, 3/25/2011 – This year, The Music Man Square is joining the City of Mason City by switching off the lights for Earth Hour. At 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, the iconic electronic billboard at The Music Man Square will darken for one hour as part of the world’s largest public action for the environment.
Members of the Environmental Stewardship Advisory Commission will gather on the west steps of The Music Man Square (308 S. Pennsylvania Ave.) at 8:20 p.m. for a “countdown to the shutdown.” The public is welcome and encouraged to attend this event. When the billboard goes dark at 8:30, Commissioners will facilitate an informal one-hour discussion about what individual citizens in Mason City can do to be effective custodians of the planet. This citizen-based forum will allow businesses,individuals, parents and children to hold meaningful discussions about the ways that our community can be a part of the solution.
Earth Hour is a global movement that in 2010 saw hundreds of millions of people from community, business and government, all over the world joining together and switching off the lights for an hour in a show of support for environmental action. By taking part in this global ‘lights out’ event people world wide will be acknowledging their commitment to a personal action that benefits the planet in the year to come.
Earth Hour began as a single-city initiative – in Sydney, Australia – in 2007 and has since grown into a global movement with hundreds of millions of people from more than 4,500 cities and towns in 128 countries across every continent switching off their lights for Earth Hour 2010, creating history as the world’s greatest ever environmental action.
In Mason City, Earth Hour observance began last year, with the members of the City’s Environmental Stewardship Advisory Commission takingindividual action to shut off non-essential lighting. The Commission also discussed the impact of global climate change on the Community. This year, Mayor Eric Bookmeyer has proclaimed March 26, 2011, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. as Earth Hour in the community.
The City of Mason City will be darkening City Hall from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Non-essential lights will also be extinguished at the Mason City Public Library.|
