It was the most jubilant moment I’ve had in some time reading the newspaper.
It was Dec. 6., last month, the day Ollie Perrault’s picture was in the news.
A photo of a teenager from our very own Easthampton — at a Boston Celtics’ game at TD Garden in Boston. Then a story about her meeting for five minutes with Prince William and Princess Kate of Wales.
“Well, will you look at that?” I told myself out loud.
In another photo from that game, there’s Ollie smiling and waving to the sellout crowd in her farmer jeans, T-shirt, and stylish cap, standing next to one of her idols, Maura Healey, the then soon-to-be governor.
That, hands down, was my favorite image of the year because it was a local young person being recognized for the greatest and most important endeavor of our times — a youth-led fight against the climate crisis.
That image brought me, a grown man, to tears. Tears of joy. Liz, Ollie’s mom, says she cried too. Tears of pride. And joy. And an image for all of us to hold onto for inspiration in this new year.
Ollie, the founder of Youth Climate Action NOW, was in the big city to receive the Heroes Among Us Award — a very big deal. It was a big surprise, too. She had absolutely no idea she was receiving the award until the day before.
Mass Audubon nominated her for the distinction, which recognizes people across the state for making a difference in our communities. My kudos to Mass Audubon for taking the time and effort to mentor such a star in our Valley. And to Ollie’s mother and father, too.
“It was all very last minute, and I’m so incredibly grateful because my parents had to drop everything to get me there,” she says.
I told her I didn’t think her parents, owners of Mountain View, a community sustained agriculture farm, minded. Her parents were beaming, I’m sure, as all parents should when you see your children get on any big stage in life.
In sports crazy Boston, there’s no bigger stage than professional sports and standing ovations are normally reserved for Boston sports legends and current standout athletes. Think Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown. But everyone was standing that night for Ollie when the public address announcer introduced her to the crowd.
I’m not positive about this, but I’m guessing it’s the first time, a teenager has received a standing ovation at a Boston sporting event for being a youth climate activist. And one from western Massachusetts to boot.
Maybe, just maybe, that’s a sign that adults are finally recognizing what’s at stake not only for today’s youth but for all of humanity, present and future.
Her goals this year are to empower more youth from ages 12 to 18 to become more actively involved in the climate action movement, to cultivate more partnerships with other youth-led groups and to establish collective action so that everyone, from all walks of life, are part of the solution in bringing environmental justice to bear for our region.
She’s planning a “creative climate action festival” on April 23 at the Mass Audubon Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary in Easthampton to bring these ideas together with youthful enthusiasm.
“There’s an overwhelming sense of grief with young people when it comes to climate, which, after that, spirals to fear and this unbelievable sense of what are we going to do with a crisis of this scale,” she says. “And that fear then leads to anger.”
The festival, she says, will give an outlet and platform for youth to express what they are feeling with such a full range of emotions.
Ollie’s grief started when she was 11 years old, the year she became a Mass Audubon Youth Climate Leader. All she had to do was look out her window to the fields of her family’s 17-acre farm to know things weren’t right in the world.
Increasingly warmer temperatures, periodic heavy rains followed by weeks of drought conditions have made it increasingly harder for farmers right here in the Valley, Ollie points out.
Couldn’t we all see it, too? If not then, certainly now.
On the day we meet, in late December, the thermometer was approaching 60 degrees and the ground was a muddy brown and not frozen. It’s mid-January, and we still haven’t experienced a major snowstorm this winter.
She says people often think of climate change as something that happens with extreme weather patterns causing damage to people, the environment, animals, and crops “far, far away from us.” But that’s the most dangerous mindset anyone can have, she says.
“This is happening right here in our backyards, in our farmers’ fields, and it’s in the air we are breathing,” she says. “Climate change is impacting real people in real places. Right here, today. We need to personalize this and say this is affecting everyone no matter where you live.”
Take a bow, Ollie. You deserve all the accolades for leading Youth Climate Action NOW. But she’ll be the first to tell you that words of encouragement and platitudes aren’t enough.
“It’s the goal of our youth activism to spark action now,” she says.
The Youth Climate Action NOW “Creative Climate Action Festival” will be held April 23 from 1 to 9:30 p.m., at the Mass Audubon Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary in Easthampton. Anyone is welcome to join YCAN in celebrating creativity and intersectionality for environmental justice. For more information, email youthclimateactionnow@gmail.com.
John Paradis, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, lives in Florence and writes a monthly column for the Gazette. He can be reached at columnists@gazettenet.com.