MoDOT was one of several state agencies that participated in the Missouri Earth Day celebration Friday, April 21 at the capitol in Jefferson City. Thousands of grade-school children and other visitors flocked to the celebration, sponsored by the Department of Natural Resources.

The 2006 Earth Day slogan was “You are the Solution to Pollution,” which was submitted by Dalton Stafford, a fifth-grade student at Fairview Elementary School in Carthage. Stafford’s jingle was recognized during the opening ceremony as the winner of the 2006 Earth Day slogan contest beating out hundreds of fifth-graders across the state.

Survivor: Vanuatu's Twila Tanner, a MoDOT road crew worker, assisted in Earth Day again this year. Tanner joined KRCG-TV's Rod Smith as co-host of this year's Environmental Survivor game.

MoDOT personnel participated by handing out more than 3,000 white pine seedlings, compliments of the departments of Conservation and Transportation. Hundreds of people also signed the MoDOT Litter Pledge agreeing not to litter and help keep Missouri litter-free.

Visitors to Earth Day also enjoyed live entertainment on the Earth Day stage by the Earth-Tones, a band of Department of Natural Resources employees who played environmentally themed versions of popular rock songs, and the World Bird Sanctuary, which brought birds of prey back to Earth Day for the first time in several years.