More than eighty vendors are signed up. The fields are being prepared. The promotional bookmarks are ready to hand out at the train station. The giant paper-shredding truck is headed our way.

Only five days to go until Maplewood Green Day 2010.

Yes, in just five days, all of Maplewood will be headed for Memorial Park (from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Dunnell Road and Oakview Road, to be precise) for the 4th Annual Green Day Fair.

The point of the fair is to "demonstrate simple ways that every person can make more planet-friendly, sustainable choices in their every day lives." But for all its noble intentions, the event itself has never felt like homework, taking your medicine or the dull exercise in do-gooder-ism that that description might imply.

Live music, rock climbing, crafts, face painting, petting zoos, electric car demonstrations, fencing, BMX bike acrobatics and more make for a fun family event—one that attracted thousands of residents last year and a hard-campaigning Jon S. Corzine.

If the weather holds (the event goes rain or shine), event planners are expecting more than 3,000 attendees this year as Maplewood's green efforts, Green Team and recognition from Sustainable Jersey grows.

Local bands will include: Half Step Up (that's the a cappella group of local students), Aubrey Sinclair, Miera, David Easton Band, Deux Guitares Manouches and Martin Leyes Quintet.

Kids will enjoy the eco-entertainment shows provided by Kid Power and the Planet Protectors and Live Animals of the Rain Forest.  New this year, Liberty Science Center will be providing planet-friendly kids activities and the fair will have a variety of electric cars on display including the Tesla.

Demonstrations all day will include backyard composting, local food cooking, rain gardens/rain barrels and fitness demos in yoga, kids fitness, hooping, dancing and IntenSati. 

There will be an eco-bike tour to visit local examples of solar, native plantings and xeriscaping. 

One of the most anticipated events is the Shredathon—featuring a paper shredding truck that will eat up all your old paperwork and outdated financial statements. The very popular "Shredathon 1" took place at the Department of Public Works last spring and DPW Director Eric Burbank is predicting it will be just as popular—if not more s0—this Saturday.

Planet-friendly fun activities include a giant 40-foot tall rock climbing wall, a petting zoo, face painting, chair massages, kid's environmental games, and much more.  And as if that isn't enough, the fair will also present the Regional Open Fencing Tournament and a BMX Ramp Trick Show with the Grove Street BMX team.

 The fair is organized by a volunteer committee made up of members of the Maplewood Green Team and municipal leadership and staff, and is headed up this year by Kerry Tilden (who famously had solar panels affixed to her roof earlier this year). The Green Team also hopes to inspire fair attendees to take the Maplewood Green Challenge.           

Peruse the event schedule attached here and look for volunteers handing out Maplewood Green Day promotional bookmarks at the Maplewood Train Station on Tuesday and Friday.

And while you're at the Fair on Saturday, look for major event sponsors including the Maplewood Township Committee, Cadwalader, PUR 2O, Seton Hall University, HK Community Fund, Words Bookstore, and Sayle & Wimmer Printing, Inc.—and tell them, "Thanks!" (The event is free to the public.)