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Roots of a Movement: Camas library exhibit celebrating local Earth Day ties opens April 4

Camas Earth Day Society ramps up visibility with projects at the library, Prune Hill Elementary and an upcoming exhibit featuring Camas native Denis Hayes, a key organizer of the first Earth Day event

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category icon Camas, Environment, Life, News
Contributed by Molly McKay Williams Camas School District Superintendent John Anzalone, right, visits a group of Prune Hill Elementary School fifth-graders at the school’s outdoor living lab in an undated photo. Spearheaded by Molly McKay Williams, the president of the Camas Earth Day Society and the mother of a former Prune Hill student, the living lab offers students a way to connect with the natural world and learn about the environment in their school’s own backyard.

Contributed by Molly McKay Williams Camas School District Superintendent John Anzalone, right, visits a group of Prune Hill Elementary School fifth-graders at the school’s outdoor living lab in an undated photo. Spearheaded by Molly McKay Williams, the president of the Camas Earth Day Society and the mother of a former Prune Hill student, the living lab offers students a way to connect with the natural world and learn about the environment in their school’s own backyard.

Molly McKay Williams, right, president of the Camas Earth Day Society, greets Camas native Denis Hayes, a key organizer of the first Earth Day. (Contributed by Molly Williams)

Molly McKay Williams, right, president of the Camas Earth Day Society, greets Camas native Denis Hayes, a key organizer of the first Earth Day. (Contributed by Molly Williams)

Post-Record files Camas native Denis Hayes, a key organizer of the first Earth Day event, attends a street-dedication ceremony across the street from Hayes Freedom High School in Camas in September 2015, where Ione street was ceremonially renamed after the famous environmental activist.

Post-Record files Camas native Denis Hayes, a key organizer of the first Earth Day event, attends a street-dedication ceremony across the street from Hayes Freedom High School in Camas in September 2015, where Ione street was ceremonially renamed after the famous environmental activist.

A Prune Hill Elementary School student kneels next to a Backyard Habitat sign at the school’s outdoor living lab. (Contributed by Molly Williams)

A Prune Hill Elementary School student kneels next to a Backyard Habitat sign at the school’s outdoor living lab. (Contributed by Molly Williams)

Kelly Moyer/Post-Record Molly McKay Williams, president of the Camas Earth Day Society, shows a young Oregon white oak growing inside the Prune Hill Elementary School’s outdoor living lab in Camas on March 21.

Kelly Moyer/Post-Record Molly McKay Williams, president of the Camas Earth Day Society, shows a young Oregon white oak growing inside the Prune Hill Elementary School’s outdoor living lab in Camas on March 21.

Contributed by Molly McKay Williams A Camas lily grows at the Prune Hill Elementary School’s outdoor living lab, a project spearheaded by Molly McKay Williams, the mother of a Prune Hill Elementary graduate and president of the Camas Earth Day Society.

Contributed by Molly McKay Williams A Camas lily grows at the Prune Hill Elementary School’s outdoor living lab, a project spearheaded by Molly McKay Williams, the mother of a Prune Hill Elementary graduate and president of the Camas Earth Day Society.

A sign spotted Friday at Prune Hill Elementary’s outdoor living lab in Camas asks people to be aware of overwintering insects. (Kelly Moyer/Post-Record)

A sign spotted Friday at Prune Hill Elementary’s outdoor living lab in Camas asks people to be aware of overwintering insects. (Kelly Moyer/Post-Record)

Contributed by Molly McKay Williams Prune Hill Elementary School fifth-graders plant native plants at their school’s outdoor living lab in an undated photo.

Contributed by Molly McKay Williams Prune Hill Elementary School fifth-graders plant native plants at their school’s outdoor living lab in an undated photo.

If it weren’t for their shared passion for creating a healthier, more sustainable environment, Glen DeWillie, Randal Friedman and Molly McKay Williams — leaders of the recently formed Camas Earth Day Society — may have never even crossed paths.

When they formed the Earth Day group in 2024, DeWillie, an engineer with a background in environmental science and water resource management, was mostly concerned about the toxic, man-made chemicals known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) that have been found in the city of Camas’ public drinking water supply.

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