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POKEMON GO GLOBAL FEST AT THE NEW BEDFORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Written by Emily Gerrior


This past Saturday (July 13th,2024), the New Bedford Free Public Library hosted a Pokémon GO Global Event, in which participants explored downtown New Bedford in search of buttons and Pokémon! NECWA was given a table on the second floor of the library, which was themed around environmental conservation and protection. Unfortunately, fellow NECWA volunteer Ethan and I were met with a downpour as soon as we arrived, thus we rushed to move our materials from the car to the library. As we began to set up our station, a librarian gave us a bin of buttons featuring a Pokémon (a shiny Trubbish to be exact) and a recycling emblem to pass out to attendees as a reward for visiting our table. 

We decided to put some of our terrapin shells and a horseshoe crab exoskeleton on display. As a life-long Pokémon fan, I added my own contribution: a Squirtle plush which I put just behind the real turtle shells. We also brought coloring pages of Cetee the Water Monster, NECWA’s official monster designed by Jonah Carson, and other small goods. With the rain continuing outside, Ethan and I were unsure about how the day would go. The first half hour or so of the event was mostly quiet and still. We decided to speak with the representatives of the other organizations present on our floor, exchanging our mission goals and passion for protecting the world around us. Suddenly, people began to flood into the room!

As fate would have it, the rain mostly held off for most of the event’s duration, and the day proved to be a success for the New Bedford Library and for NECWA. Pokémon fans of all ages were curious about our terrapin shells, and eager to hear about our work. I was especially enthused when attendees would take just as much interest in the real coastal wildlife of our world as the Pokémon in the fictional one! Plenty of people were picking up our business cards and magnets, and, at the end of the day when I was packing up, I noticed we had filled out an entire mailing list sign-up sheet! 


When I was younger, Pokémon played a large role in developing my interest in the sciences and the unique animals in the world around me. I hope that some of the people who heard us speak that day received that same spark of interest. 

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