13.2°C Not observed 
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Earth Hour 2010 is Saturday, March 27, and once again it is time to turn out your lights for the Earth.
Part of this year’s Earth Hour celebration will be a lantern procession for children and families at the municipal square (outside the library) in Sechelt. The District of Sechelt and the Sunshine Coast Astronomy Club invite the community to celebrate with your family from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at their free community event. Get your lanterns ready for an evening of family fun. There’ll be prizes for the kids, music and astronomy.
Lanterns can be made using recycled or repurposed material, such as milk cartons, paper bags, plastic milk jugs, papier mâché, tissue paper, bamboo, chopsticks, aluminum cans, sealer jars — you get the idea. Light them with a small flashlight, turtle light or battery-operated candle instead of candles. The District will provide a small supply of glow sticks to illuminate the lanterns if needed. Be creative and plan to get in on the fun. Try an astronomical theme like the moon or stars or an earth theme, such as animals, insects or clouds.
We’ll assemble at the Spirit Square by the Seaside Centre at 7:30 p.m. The procession to the library will start at 8 p.m.
Check www.coastastronomy.ca for details as they are confirmed and plan to plan to turn off your lights for Earth Hour. Don’t forget to register your participation for Earth Hour at www.EarthHourCanada.org.
— Submitted
afrogirl says... 
Yes afrogirl, your meteorological senses served you well and you correctly confirmed the Saturday Earth Hours in the past two years (2008&2009) were overcast and a disappointment for star gazing to the kids, but although the hour(s)for us went by indoors, it was spent without making lantern paraphernalia (without lights on)and it did present time for discussions on the constellations, Greek mythology, and just good mind-opening stuff that kids can really use along with their imagination, etc. As luck would have it, the next day, on Sunday, two years in a row, clear skies happened to let us view the skies in the back yard.
I guess I failed to mention in our case that the "2 (Earth)hours" was spent over two days, in each of those two years ….. perhaps breaking the purists' view of having only one Earth Hour day per year. I won't, however, mention how may more lantern-free-dark-sky-and-bat-watching-with-kids-evenings happened beyond this, for fear of being accused of saying something else that might offend the lantern making cartel or no-bats-until-summer-movement.
In the clear sky Sundays after Earth Hour Saturdays of 2008 and 2009, all took place in Vancouver, but it was also mostly clear on those following Sundays in Sechelt. The same weather buddy as yours, tipped me off on this one!
And Oh…BTW, bats at the end of March….you bet! Despite common documented observations….IE: http://www.ecologicresearch.ca/bat_biology.html , under certain conditions (OMG!! Should I say it??…..Global Warming Conditions!!!) in Spring, they can sporadically appear. I saw one (not a bird) just last Sunday in Roberts Creek…..also saw a lot of what they fed on, flying around, this early! Winter bats are in BC (only one of 8 species are in hibernation in winter out of 16 species for the entire year)…..read on ……..http://www.jstor.org/pss/3536599
As for your suggestion of my next years’ astronomy involvement…Na!… In the dark, I really just like watching them blinking lights in the sky, without a lot of formality and homemade lanterns!
To summarize from my original post…sigh!….once again! Earth Hour is a choice….everyone has a choice! I’ve just given you another view of what a quality Earth Hour could be. Nothing more...nothing less.
Posted on April 1, 2010 @ 6:27 pm PST | Report post to Editor | 3612418