(Clearwisdom.net) On April 17, greater Kansas City Falun Gong practitioners participated in the 4^th Earth Day Festival in the city of Lawrence, Kansas. In the morning, practitioners divided into two groups: one group participated in the parade while the other group manned a booth in a designated park. Practitioners displayed newly designed Falun Dafa introduction posters, distributed Falun Gong truth-clarifying materials and collected signatures to rescue U.S. Falun Gong practitioner Charles Lee who is being illegally detained in China.

Among the parade groups, the practitioners' float was very eye-catching: The blue "Falun Dafa" banner, pink lotus flowers, serene music and relaxing exercises brought the people of this small city a new realm. What was even more unforgettable for the local people was that with a flower basket in hand a Falun Gong practitioner in blue traditional Chinese attire stood on the float and cast out flower petals, just like a "heavenly beauty scattering flowers!" People were happy to accept Falun Gong materials and many exclaimed, "This float is so beautiful!"

After the parade, the organizer of this event found practitioners and invited them to participate in another upcoming parade. Practitioners manning the booth were also very busy--almost every passersby took Falun Gong fliers happily and many took initiative to leave their contact numbers and wanted to learn Falun Gong.

In the afternoon, except some practitioners who were manning the booth, all practitioners went to another city to participate in Northland Ethnic Festival. About 2,500 people attended the festival. Practitioners' solemn and peaceful Falun Gong exercise demonstration delivered the "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance" principle into people's hearts.

The next day, the largest local newspaper Kansas Star published a news report about this event on the cover page of its metropolitan edition. The report started with a huge color photo (6 in by 7 in) of a young Falun Dafa practitioner doing the sitting meditation, the caption above the photo read: "Understanding who I am." The title of the report is "Ethnic Festival Teaches Tolerance." This report caused a sensation among the residents. Practitioners, especially Lois, the young practitioner in the photo, received many phone calls. Many classmates and teachers in Lois' school asked her about Falun Gong. Some classmates told her, "We are so proud of you!"