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Touch Mother Earth 2018 Celebrates its Third Year

Touch Mother Earth 2018 is where a learning center and music festival meet. Now in its third year, the gathering continues to inspire and raise awareness about sustainable living, reducing waste and caring for our planet through live music, transformative workshops and lectures, learning activities for kids, eco-friendly and spiritually-minded vendors and services, plus delicious, healthy food. This exciting, zero-waste event takes place June 1 to 3 on the grounds of Mount Eden Retreat, 183 partially forested acres in the hills of Warren County.

Participants can experience life-enhancing, hands-on workshops that include tools for sustainability, along with informative seminars, body movement classes, sound healing, do-it-yourself activities and nutritional advice.

This high-vibe gathering will ignite spirit through dance, live music and drum circles around the fire. Featured artists include the VooDUDES, Answer the Muse, Dalien 13 Hands, David Young, Sharon Silverstein and the Peace Project, Solar Circuit, Way of the Sacred, Bright Hawk, Gypsy Funk Squad, The Mystical Kirtan of Mirabai Moon, Wild Moon, Tabitha Booth, Dominick Antonelli, Laurie Cagno and Richie Olivera.

The festival runs from Friday, 5 pm until Sunday, 8 pm. Participants are welcome to come for just one day or for the full weekend. Onsite camping and inside lodging are available.

Cost: Tickets start at $25, kids under 16 free. Location: 56 Mill Pond Rd., Washington, NJ. Vendor and volunteer opportunities are available. For information, complete list of activities and tickets, visit TouchMotherEarth.com or contact [email protected]. See ad, page 23.

News Briefs
Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

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