Jack Golden’s EnviroGanza teaches Bath-area students recycling through comedy and magic

A recycling lesson wrapped in clowning, mime and magic drew about 300 elementary students at a time to the Chocolate Church Arts Center in Bath, where Jack Golden used his EnviroGanza show to keep local children engaged while teaching them how to handle waste, litter and water more carefully.

Golden performed at the historic arts center at 804 Washington Street on May 5 and May 6 for students from Brightfield School, Dike-Newell Elementary School, Fischer Mitchell School and Woolwich Central School. The show mixed song, dance routines, circus skills and tricks with a message about recycling, litter prevention and water conservation, turning an environmental talk into a live performance built to hold the attention of young audiences.

The performances were free for Bath and Woolwich students because Casella Waste Systems paid for them, making the program accessible to families and schools that might otherwise have had to cover the cost. A Casella raccoon mascot greeted students at the door with high fives, setting a playful tone before the show began. Theresa Galvin, Casella’s municipal account manager for southern Maine, said waste and recycling are a team effort and said the company was glad to support education.

Golden’s approach fit the kind of work the Chocolate Church says it wants to do in midcoast Maine. The venue, which says it has served the region for more than 40 years, describes its mission as building community by cultivating the arts for everyone. It has also described Environganza as a fast-paced, educational, environmental performing arts program for kids, and it scheduled a similar Jack Golden performance there on Nov. 8, 2024.

Golden’s background helps explain why the format works. His Chocolate Church biography says he learned clowning at San Francisco’s Pickle Family Circus, studied mime, movement and improvisation with Tony Montanaro in South Paris, and joined the New Vaudeville troupe The Wright Brothers before becoming a solo performer. He has said, “Laughter can be a surprisingly effective teacher.”

For Bath and Woolwich parents and educators, the model points to a practical way to reach children on climate and conservation topics: use live arts to make the lesson memorable, and pair schools with local sponsors and venues that can remove the cost barrier. With Maine still wrestling with rising landfill waste and long-running recycling challenges, a show that makes the basics stick may matter as much as the message itself.