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Kids dress for outdoor Earth Day SHADY COVE -- School children donned animal costumes and paraded into a 50-foot-long fabric salmon to listen to American Indian stories. Some even had a hug from Smokey Bear and a chat with Charles Lundy, the new superintendent at Crater Lake National Park. Hundreds of students from Elk-Trail School, Shady Cove schools and the Renaissance School in Eagle Point participated in the outdoor fair Thursday sponsored by the Upper Rogue Watershed Association. "Earth Day is an effort to enhance kids' awareness of the environment," said Kevin Verlander, a volunteer with the Applegate Ranger District. The England native helped Elk-Trail students into eagle, hawk, turtle, beaver and ladybug fabric costumes, then herded the pack into a 6-foot wide fabric fish to talk about the importance of keeping the rivers clean. Students received an orange card when they arrived, earning a stamp for each activity they participated in, said Paula Trudeau of the Prospect Ranger District. When students turned the orange card back in, they received a raffle ticket for drawings held throughout the day. Students listened while Forest Service rangers talked about the life cycle of a salmon, showed slides about wildlife that live along the upper Rogue River and described a watershed. "Teachers have been doing activities in the classroom this month to prepare students for this fair," Trudeau says. "We're all working together to help students understand what Earth Day is all about." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA