On Saturday, May 9, at the Cuesta College Cultural and Performing Arts Center, endurance runner Peyton Thomas, who’s also a postdoctoral associate at the University of Colorado, Boulder, will be wearing her environmental activist hat when she speaks following the screening of the eight-minute film Breath of Gloster, which chronicles the polluting biomass industry in Gloster, Mississippi, and the trail race Thomas organized to raise awareness (doors at 12:30 p.m., event at 1; all ages; free entrance and parking).
The screening and discussion are organized by the SLO County Libraries’ Outside Together film series that “encourages inclusive discussions about the joy of outdoor recreation,” organizers explained. NAACP SLO County is co-host.
Attendees will also hear from educator-activist Dr. Krystal Martin of Gloster, who co-founded the Greater Greener Gloster Project in 2023 in response to the air pollution caused by the Drax Amite Biomass facility that creates wood pellets for fuel, which are manufactured there and shipped to the U.K.
Also hear local voices that include youth mental health clinician Jene Hinton-Railsback, environmental educator Celeste Royer, NAACP’s Tobin Johnson, SLO Climate Coalition’s Eric Veium, and Cal Poly kinesiology lecturer Dr. Nicole Hagobian, organizers added. ∆
This article appears in Best of SLO County 2026.