Vernon - This year’s Earthfest, presented by the Vernon Chamber of Commerce, got under way this past weekend with outdoor events at various locations around Vernon and the main celebrations taking place at Mountain Creek’s north base area on Saturday. Some of the outdoor activities included a mountain top hike with naturalist and Vernon native Scott Angus and a scavenger hunt covering five locations sponsored by the Vernon Township Recreation and The Vernon PAL Youth Leadership Council. Inside were a variety of exhibits and demonstrations by local businesses and organizations, including a booth manned by the Dog Owners Gathering Society of Vernon (D.O.G.S of Vernon) who played a looped video of an actual dog run of the type the group hopes to build in Vernon. “The video lets people see exactly how the dog run works and we hope we will get a lot of support as a result of it,” said Lynn Nowak, a member of the set up committee of D.O.G.S. of Vernon. The newly crowned Miss Vernon, Christine Donat of Highland Lakes, was there to meet the Earthfest visitors and enjoy her first day as Miss Vernon. “I have always wanted to be a pageant girl since I was little, and since I am 20 years old now I decided that if I don’t do it this year I will over the entry age and will regret that I didn’t give it a try,” said Donat, who is a junior majoring in teaching education at Montclair University. Donat will go on to represent Vernon at the Queen of the Fair in August. A vegetarian cooking class, a birds of prey show and a water-testing presentation were among the activities going on throughout the day. Music was provided by a selection of entertainers, including Gaia Wolf, Wonderband and Drum Circle.