The Green Ribbon Commission’s ‘You Powered’ community celebration is set from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. this Saturday, June 5, at the South-end shopping center. The event is a free community celebration to learn about environmentally friendly practices and will bring together local merchants and an eclectic mix of You Powered organizations to celebrate the benefits of shopping locally and getting there using alternative transportation options.

There will be electric bike demos, bike safety check ups, food, music, arts and crafts, and more.

Organizers encourage Islanders to bike, walk, run or skate to the events. Anyone who leaves their car at home will receive a prize. The first 10 to arrive walking a dog get a free Krebs leash, made from recycled climbing rope. Lakeridge students can bring their Healthy Ways to School Passport for extra credit.

The event was set to occur in conjunction with National Trails Day and the launch of Island Letterboxing Adventures in Pioneer Park.

All are encouraged to cross the street to visit Pioneer Park to celebrate trails day for a special medieval-themed trail event. Activities will include a Renaissance story along the trail, letterboxing adventures, arts and crafts, and Elizabethan games.

What is ‘Letterboxing’

Letterboxing is an outdoor hobby that combines elements of orienteering, or getting to a set location with few clues, art and puzzle solving. “Letterboxers” hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly accessible places (such as parks) and distribute clues to finding the box in printed catalogs, on one of several Web sites, or by word of mouth. Individual letterboxes usually contain a notebook and a rubber stamp. Finders make an imprint of the letterbox’s stamp, either on their personal notebook or on a postcard, and leave an impression of their own personal stamp on the letterbox’s “visitors’ book” or “logbook” as proof of having found the box and letting subsequent letterboxers see who have visited. Many letterboxers keep careful track of their “find count.”

The origin of letterboxing can be traced to England in 1854. William Crossing, in his “Guide to Dartmoor,” states that a well known Dartmoor guide (James Perrott) placed a bottle for visitors’ cards at Cranmere Pool on the northern moor in 1854. From this hikers on the moors began to leave a letter or postcard inside a box along the trail, hence the name “letterboxing.”

Letterboxing has become a popular sport, with thousands of walkers gathering for “box-hunts” around the world.