FIREFLY FESTIVAL: The FREE Virtual Stay-At-Home PA Firefly Festival will take place online today.
Starting at 6 p.m., go to pafireflyevents.org, or the festival’s Facebook page orYoutube channel to get connected to the playlists.
Participants will be able to view video presentations from firefly experts and enjoy the art and music that would have been happening at the live in-person festival.
Included in the viewable presentations are “Art After Dark,” presented through a grant by the Elk County Council on the Arts and Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts; The “Art After Dark virtual art exhibition” with music by Matt Miskie and Lighted Stained Glass creations by Jeffrey Calta and “My Fireflies,” an animated film by United Nations Ambassador of Art, author and producer Ibiyinka Alao.
Firefly Experts videos include “Firefly Myths” from the 2017 PAFF presentation by Sara Lewis, PhD, Tufts University and “Secret Lives of Fireflies” from the Boston Museum of Science presentation by Don Salvatore, Firefly Watch Citizen Science Project.
There will be virtual firefly walks, held by PAFF board member and firefly walk guide Peggy Butler and macro photography and videography of fireflies in the Allegheny National Forest area from Radim Schreiber, FireflyExperience.org.
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FOOD FOR THOSE IN NEED: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on June 16 that it has purchased more than $2.2 billion of meat, fruits, vegetables, specialty crops and dairy products in fiscal years 2019 and 2020 in its ongoing efforts to feed people in need and assist American farmers and ranchers suffering from damage due to unjustified trade retaliation by foreign nations.
“Over the past two years, USDA has issued more than $2 billion in payments to American farmers, ranchers, and producers for U.S.-grown food that is used to help Americans in need,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue.
“Our farmers work hard, and are the most productive in the world, and we crafted the FPDP to help protect them. The FPDP represents just one of the many ways USDA is working hard to fulfill its mission to do right and feed everyone.”
