Croton's Conservation Advisory Council put its spring in order at its March 17 meeting, confirming Earth Day for Saturday, May 2 at Vassallo Park, committing a $263.60 trail donation to native plantings, and tallying a Repair Café that drew 68 guests and 72 successful repairs at the Croton Free Library. Earth Day takes shape Earth Day 2026 is set for Saturday, May 2 at Vassallo Park, with May 9 as the rain date. John Ealer reported that a vendor list has been finalized and sent to the village manager's office, and the committee approved his draft event flier. Students from House of Rock and the Mario Giacalone trio are confirmed to perform, at roughly $100 each, with a children's performer still awaiting a reply. Food stays local: Tapsmith will offer pizza from its shop, Blue Pig will bring a cart, Black Cow may run an Earth Day special, and Ealer will reach out to Frankie's deli. The committee passed on an outside food truck, citing concerns about competing with local businesses and the noise and emissions of gasoline generators. Mayor Brian Pugh, one of the council's liaisons from village government, suggested the recreation department could add a popcorn stand and water station — an idea the committee welcomed. The village will handle social media, calendar listings and banner installation; the committee will distribute fliers and yard signs, which must be placed on private property under village code. Rachel Bernstein will coordinate neighborhood sign assignments, and Halle Clarke and Shiloh Shea are planning a letter to the editor for the Croton Gazette, to be finalized at the next meeting. Clarke also proposed a centralized volunteer recruitment table where attendees could learn about opportunities across the council's committees and other local organizations rather than each table recruiting on its own. Clarke volunteered to spearhead the effort and suggested placing the tree giveaway at the back of the event to pull foot traffic through the exhibits. Repair Café drew a crowd — and a thank-you from the trustees Halle Clarke reported that the Repair Café held in late February at the Croton Free Library, run in partnership with the library, repaired approximately 100 items. Notes from organizer Sherry Horowitz, distributed to the committee and entered into the minutes, put finer numbers on it: 68 guests brought 94 items, 72 were successfully repaired, and 10 of the owners whose items could not be fixed left with guidance on next steps. "The social benefit of bringing people together in community, with neighbors helping neighbors, fixers sharing skills, guests sharing stories, might just be as important as repair in these politically polarized times," Horowitz wrote. Guest comments collected after the event ranged from gratitude to delight: "My sick lamp is healthy again!" and "I now have my favorite earrings back!" The library, according to the minutes, was enthusiastic and is looking forward to hosting future cafés. The event had already drawn a thank-you at the March 11 Board of Trustees meeting, where the council was credited for a successful event. Members praised Horowitz for navigating a learning curve after the departure of the prior organizer. To ease future handoffs, Clarke is assembling a Google Docs folder documenting all Repair Café procedures and suggested rotating lead organizers, since two events a year could strain committee resources. On pre-registration, Clarke suggested eliminating it to cut prep work and paper waste; Mayor Pugh recommended keeping some form of registration to screen out inappropriate items — treadmills came up — and speed check-in, with options including a one-page walk-in form or digital check-in via Google Forms or a forthcoming Repair Café consortium app. Pugh also raised the draft committee guidelines' call for a dedicated committee email account that could serve as persistent storage for documents across chair transitions. Trails: five cleanups and a native-planting fund David Daly reported five spring trail cleanups scheduled for March 28, April 11, April 25, May 30 and June 13, focused on removing invasives early while the soil is still wet. The committee agreed to put a $263.60 Eagle Scout donation designated for trail improvement toward native plantings in disturbed areas along the trails, with the option to add $250 from the committee budget. Members discussed hardy, low-growing, shade-tolerant choices such as ferns; Thaddeus suggested Mid-Atlantic Natives as a source for root stock. A guided hike is planned for Saturday, June 6, National Trails Day, likely departing from the Municipal Building. Trail markers are needed at several connection points, including where Reuben's Ridge meets Upper North Highland, and Daly will coordinate with the Department of Public Works. A flooded stretch of the Upper Highland Loop near the northern end of North Highland may require rerouting or an Eagle Scout project; Daly asked for an introduction to the new village engineer to confirm land ownership before proceeding. An updated trail map is ready for the village website, and Thaddeus suggested connecting trail volunteers with the high school's Tiger Tuesdays workshop program. Inventory consultants seek the village's ecological priorities Madalyn Bozinski reported that consultants on the Natural Resources Inventory are moving into its next phase, developing narratives to accompany the GIS maps, and want the council's input on priority ecological areas. Members pointed to the Croton River corridor, where hydrilla is a concern; the brook on Brook Street; protected areas around the golf course at Prickly Pear Hill, where land-status questions arose during an earlier solar panel proposal; and Croton Point Park. Planning Board liaison Steve Krisky noted that governmental wetlands are already stipulated and will be included in the GIS overlays, and Bozinski added that the consultants will independently overlay multiple data layers to identify high-priority areas. CLEAN, the monarch pledge and dark skies For CLEAN, Krisky said a partner in an earlier cleanup is interested in organizing another this spring, possibly with a local temple, and Ealer will follow up; on his own, Ealer collected roughly 50 pounds of debris along Route 129. The first organized CLEAN event of the season is April 4 at North Riverside, with a second on May 2 in upper village areas as part of Earth Day, and a local Boy Scout and Cub Scout group has expressed interest in a planting project, ideally in April. Shiloh Shea, the council's point person on the Mayor's Monarch Pledge, which was recently renewed, has secured community garden plots behind the Municipal Building and at Silver Lake — including restoring a former pollinator plot that had fallen into disrepair — and several residents have offered to convert parts of their own gardens into habitat. Public planting events are planned for mid-to-late April, with pamphlets and donated plant supplies in the works. Mayor Pugh suggested routing final details through the chair to the village manager for the village calendar and community communications, and offered the village's online registration platform; Thaddeus named Prairie Moon Nursery and Eco59 Ecosystems in Connecticut as good sources for native seed. Dark Skies got no formal update — Jason Mencher was absent — but Shea connected the two initiatives, noting that light pollution during the May-through-October migration season disrupts monarch navigation and circadian rhythms, and floated the possibility of seasonal lighting restrictions. Mayor Pugh confirmed such restrictions would be legally feasible. Garden Club and a film for Earth month Thaddeus reported that the Gotwald Gardens sign, designed by Ealer, is complete and ready for installation by the Department of Public Works, and that the Arts and Humanities committee has asked whether the Garden Club could advise on plantings around the Peace Pole at Croton Landing — the council is willing to advise and possibly do a one-time planting, but not take on ongoing maintenance. The council hopes to revive its Green Living series with a screening of "The Extraordinary Caterpillar," a documentary from the Homegrown National Park organization about native plants and monarch habitat, on Sunday, April 19 in the downstairs community room at the Municipal Building, paired with a milkweed seed giveaway. Ealer noted the $150 screening fee is a standard educational film exhibition charge. Mayor Pugh said draft committee guidelines include a policy against paying for speakers and that the village manager will be consulted on whether a film fee is treated differently, adding that the village has historically paid for movie rights and does not view the cost as a significant concern. Shea also volunteered to take over as the council's recording secretary, beginning with the next meeting. The council meets Tuesday, April 21 at 7:45 p.m. in the Recreation Conference Room, with Earth Day plans — including table assignments — dominating the agenda. In the meantime, residents can watch for the monarch planting events in mid-to-late April and the season's first trail cleanup on March 28.