Family-Friendly Earth Day Birthday Party on April 27 Kicks Off Save The Bay’s 50th Anniversary Celebration

Providence, R.I. – March 18, 2019 – On Saturday, April 27, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Save The Bay will kick off its celebration of the organization’s 50th anniversary with a free, community-wide Earth Day Birthday Party at Easton’s Beach in Newport, R.I.

The family-friendly event will start with a beach cleanup from 10 a.m. – noon, followed by an afternoon of games, activities, live music, performances, and more, in and around the Easton's Beach rotunda complex. Save The Bay’s Exploration Center and Aquarium will be open and free to the public from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., as will the Carousel at Easton's Beach. The Earth Day Birthday Party will also feature all entries and announcement of winners of Save The Bay’s Old School Art Contest, which invites children in kindergarten through high school to submit artwork capturing the theme "My Bay," with markers, crayons, pencils or paint.

At its founding in 1970, Save The Bay was an offshoot of an internationally-recognized victory by a group of citizens who defeated the construction of an oil refinery in Tiverton. At the time, "bookies were making bets that the little group wouldn’t last longer than six months," according to an article in Save The Bay’s December 1979 Sentinel. Since then, Save The Bay and its supporters have been at the vanguard of a half-century of improvements to Narragansett Bay. Since its beginnings, the organization’s vision has been a fully swimmable, fishable, healthy Narragansett Bay accessible to all.

Save The Bay officially turns 50 on October 15, 2020, and will honor and acknowledge its founders, members, supporters, and victories throughout the next 18 months. "Save The Bay owes all of its success over the past five decades to the remarkable Narragansett Bay community. We’re looking forward to celebrating the milestone with all of those who have supported and celebrated the improvement and protection of the Bay all these years," said Save The Bay Executive Director Jonathan Stone.

The Earth Day Birthday Party’s growing list of performers and activities includes: face painting, puppets, science and educational experiments, outdoor obstacle course, relay races, Newport County and Cranston YMCA activities, kayaks, Irish dancers, Zumba, karate demonstrations. Guests can enjoy celebratory cupcakes and donuts from Sarcastic Sweets and Knead Doughnuts and birthday beverages by Granny Squibb Company. Other food fare will be available for purchase at the Easton's Beach Snack Bar and FanCheezical food truck.

The Earth Day Birthday Party is made possible by the generous support of Save The Bay’s 50th Anniversary sponsors Navigant Credit Union, the Sage Family Foundation, and REI. Additional Earth Day Birthday support is provided by Corvias, Newport Tent and City of Newport. More details and information regarding the Earth Day Birthday Party and Save The Bay’s 50th Anniversary celebration is available at: https://www.savebay.org/50-years. More information about the Old School Art Contest can be found at: https://www.savebay.org/art-contest/