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ERC outlines Green Wave festival plan, divides outreach into five volunteer 'buckets' and seeks sponsors
Summary
At its January meeting the Sunset Beach Environmental Review Committee agreed to divide outreach for the annual Green Wave event into five themed teams, set an application deadline of Jan. 31, and pursue sponsorships to offset an $8,000 event budget; members also debated resident-priority plant giveaways and logistics.
Sunset Beach’s Environmental Review Committee on Monday moved to organize outreach for the town’s annual Green Wave community event by assigning committee members to five themed “buckets” of invitees and vendors, and to seek sponsorships to reduce the committee’s $8,000 budget outlay.
Amy, who led the planning presentation, told members she would send a formal invitation and application to prospective participants and asked each committee member to take responsibility for contacting two to three organizations in one of the buckets — “waters,” “plants and trees,” “water life,” “green lifestyle” and an “other” category that includes local groups and scouts. “The idea…is that everybody could sign up for one of the areas and then that would kind of disperse the work amongst everybody and no one would have to be reaching out to 20 organizations,” Amy said.
Why it matters: The Green Wave is the committee’s largest annual outreach event and draws vendors, state and local environmental groups, school participation and families. Committee members said better organization will make follow-up contacts more reliable and increase the chance of securing educational booths and hands-on activities for children.
Committee discussion focused on practical items: creating a master invitation email, assigning follow-ups, updating the shared spreadsheet, and staging plant giveaways so supplies last throughout the day. Members proposed charging vendors a modest booth fee (last year vendors were not charged) and designing multi-level sponsorship packages to offset expenses. Amy said applications will be sent by January 31 and that follow-up calls to nonresponding invitees were planned for March.
On funding, Amy outlined the current $8,000 event budget and said the committee hoped sponsorships would reduce the committee’s net cost. “If we got a $1,500 sponsorship, then that would mean we’d spend $6,500,” she said, noting any increase in spending beyond the budget would require a council-approved budget amendment.
Members also weighed event logistics — shaded vendor areas for animals, extra tables for groups such as the Bluebird Society and the algae/education booth, and student volunteer support from West Brunswick High School. They debated whether plant giveaways should be limited to Sunset Beach residents, ultimately favoring visible signage and an honor-system approach rather than checking IDs.
Public input: Resident Mary Hughes of Lakes Shore Drive suggested additional children’s activity ideas and pointed the committee to environmentamerica.org as a resource for bucketed, age-appropriate activities.
Next steps: Amy will send the application and invitation to prospective participants by Jan. 31 and circulate an updated spreadsheet; committee members will follow up with assigned contacts in March. The committee will finalize sponsorship levels and booth fees at subsequent meetings.
